Question for you all! (Caloric Deficit?!)

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perfectionxforever
perfectionxforever Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I’ve been doing a lot of reading on tumblr and google and what not, and it seems like people are saying that in order to lose weight you need to have a caloric deficit (AKA burn more calories than you eat - eat 1,200 burn 1,700 or something along those lines) .. Is this really true? I know you have a BMR which is the amount of cals your body burns a day from just functioning, so that combined with your workout should equal more calories than the amount that you’ve taken in?

Just wondering because that seems awfully hard. And rather dangerous. Lol and on MyFitnessPal whenever you work out, they give you MORE calories that you are allowed to take in, so why would they do that if you’re trying to end the day with a negative amount of cals? Hmm I’m very confused haha I don’t know what to believe anymore. I really think this is why so many of us struggle - no one knows exactly how to lose weight. Yeah, diet and exercise, but how much of each exactly?! yannno? haha alright well if anyone has an answer (an educated one, as in you’ve learned this in school or from a trainer or nutritionist or something, not off some bogus website or blog) then PLEASE let me know! thanks everyone, have a healthy day :)
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Replies

  • Boo_08
    Boo_08 Posts: 102
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    MFP has a built in Deficint when you enter your information under your goals
  • Forensic
    Forensic Posts: 468 Member
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    MFP already builds in the deficit necessary to lose weight based on your base level of calorie burned based on height, weight, gender, and activity. When you exercise you get those calories back because the deficit is ALREADY THERE and too much of a deficit can send your body into starvation mode.
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    I used to burn more than I consummed and all it did to me was made me GAIN weight back. Ever since I made sure I netted 1200, I've been losing.

    When you exercise your body is burning fuel, and if it runs out of fuel, it stores the fat already in your body, therefore causing you to plateau or even gain. So always make sure you eat your 1200 net!
  • perfectionxforever
    perfectionxforever Posts: 35 Member
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    Really? Then how come when I go to reports and click on Net Calories I'm always over :/ is that different than a deficit?

    Thanks for the replies!
  • xcountrymom2
    xcountrymom2 Posts: 29 Member
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    Agree with Precious Kitten. What I tell people is you can always mess around with your calorie intake by adding things in and pushing the green button to see what your weight would be in "five week" if you ate those extra calories.
  • perfectionxforever
    perfectionxforever Posts: 35 Member
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    When you do that, do you personally find that if you take in more calories it tells you you will weigh less or more?
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    Really? Then how come when I go to reports and click on Net Calories I'm always over :/ is that different than a deficit?

    Thanks for the replies!

    Can't say for sure, can't see your diary to see what you are eating etc etc....

    If you don't net 1200 calories, MFP will tell you that you are eating too few calories. As long as you have the 1200 net you are fine. Try not consumming the same amount of calories everyday either. But whatever you burn, eat back at least half, trust me!
  • perfectionxforever
    perfectionxforever Posts: 35 Member
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    Hmm that's really interesting, I feel like the myth is that you have to work your *kitten* off in the gym and eat as little as possible to take in a negative number of calories but it seems that that's not exactly true.. Thanks
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    Hmm that's really interesting, I feel like the myth is that you have to work your *kitten* off in the gym and eat as little as possible to take in a negative number of calories but it seems that that's not exactly true.. Thanks

    Your body will go in starvation mode if you burn burn burn and not eat. took me awhile to understand that
  • zacherybinx
    zacherybinx Posts: 215 Member
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    Well in Mathematical terms the only way to lose weight is to have a negative caloric deficit. Now when you set your goals on MFP. i.e. if you want to lose 2 Lbs a week for instance. It will lower your caloric intake rate by approximately 2 Lbs/week or approximately 7000 calories as there are around 3500 calories in a pound. So it will have you eat (7000/7=) 1000 less calories a day, this works on MFP I believe within limits as it only goes to the healthy minimal caloric intake of around 1200/day. So if you did nothing but what you've regularly been doing and ate 1000 less calories a day, which in most cases I'd say would be unhealthy then you'd lose 2 lbs/week. Now, if you're working out your body is using up more of the calorie deficit so then MFP says you can eat this many more calories without going over because you're using up more energy/calories thus your body needs more to refuel in a healthy manner.

    I think the key thing to understand with losing weight/eating healthy is that nutrition/exercise are a symbiotic relationship. If you're fueling your body in a manner more healthy then you used to be it will become healthier, if you exercise more then you used to your body will thus become better equipped to deal with whatever workouts/exercises your doing. Combining a good nutrition and consistent exercise is truly the key though.
  • 1sisrat
    1sisrat Posts: 267 Member
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    i thought I understood it.... now it hit me like a light bulb and I really understand it. heh, I swear I got a masters degree. lol.
  • perfectionxforever
    perfectionxforever Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks so much for all of your responses! This is making much more sense now. haha I think I just saw my "Net Calories" under reports yesterday and got a bit freaked out and thought that I didn't have a deficit and was doing all this work for nothing. But though I still don't really know or understand what Net Calories are and those numbers mean, I'm not gonna look at it anymore and just keep doing what you guys and MFP has told me to do. I want to lose this weight for good and don't want to have to worry about going into starvation mode or gaining it all back once I get there! Thanks again!
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
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    BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate
    TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (also called Maintenance calories)
    Calorie = (unit of measurement), a unit of energy or heat variously defined. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is commonly used to refer to a unit of food energy. (The word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie.)

    BMR and TDEE are two different things..

    BMR is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function in a coma.

    TDEE is the amount of energy (calories) that your body actually uses (burns) each day by living your life.

    Eating less than your TDEE will give you a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

    Eat less than your BMR and you risk slowing your metabolism down; making it that much harder to continue to lose weight and that much more likely that you will regain that weight when you get to maintenance.


    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


    The beautiful thing about MFP is that it does all the math for you and builds in a deficit for you based on the information you gave it: height, weight, lifestyle, goal weight loss, etc.. All you need to do is follow the calorie goals it gives you.:

    Your NET calories (on your home page) should be as close to the daily goal MFP set for you as possible.

    Your REMAINING calories (on your homepage and food diary page) should be as close to zero as possible.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    Thanks so much for all of your responses! This is making much more sense now. haha I think I just saw my "Net Calories" under reports yesterday and got a bit freaked out and thought that I didn't have a deficit and was doing all this work for nothing. But though I still don't really know or understand what Net Calories are and those numbers mean, I'm not gonna look at it anymore and just keep doing what you guys and MFP has told me to do. I want to lose this weight for good and don't want to have to worry about going into starvation mode or gaining it all back once I get there! Thanks again!

    "net calories" are the calories your body has to survive on. These should NEVER be below 1200 for the day.
    Your "deficit" is already built into your goal. You need to actually EAT your goal calories AND your exercise calories to have the correct deficit. Your diary should be at or close to ZERO by the end of the day.
    you NET (on your homepage) should be at or close to your daily calorie goal at the end of the day.

    netting less than 1200 can ruin your metabolism and screw up your body bad. You need at LEAST that many calories bare MINIMUM just to breathe, beat your heart, repair cell damage, etc. Eating less than that is essentially starving yourself.

    I eat 1600-2200 a day depending on how much I work out, and I am 5'2" 107 lbs.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate
    TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (also called Maintenance calories)
    Calorie = (unit of measurement), a unit of energy or heat variously defined. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is commonly used to refer to a unit of food energy. (The word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie.)

    BMR and TDEE are two different things..

    BMR is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function in a coma.

    TDEE is the amount of energy (calories) that your body actually uses (burns) each day by living your life.

    Eating less than your TDEE will give you a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

    Eat less than your BMR and you risk slowing your metabolism down; making it that much harder to continue to lose weight and that much more likely that you will regain that weight when you get to maintenance.


    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


    The beautiful thing about MFP is that it does all the math for you and builds in a deficit for you based on the information you gave it: height, weight, lifestyle, goal weight loss, etc.. All you need to do is follow the calorie goals it gives you.:

    Your NET calories (on your home page) should be as close to the daily goal MFP set for you as possible.

    Your REMAINING calories (on your homepage and food diary page) should be as close to zero as possible.

    Yep. I've seen this question a lot. Yes, you have to burn more than your intake. But most of the time, people forget to include ALL of the amounts burned. BMR + activity level + purposeful exercise = total energy requirements

    And I'll throw these in here for a little extra oomph. :laugh:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works
  • perfectionxforever
    perfectionxforever Posts: 35 Member
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    Oh my god okay wow this is all making so much more sense to me now - I'm gonna have to force myself to eat even when I'm not hungry! Haha thank you all SO MUCH! I completely get the net calories and will try be as close to the goals that MFP sets for me as I can from now on.

    And as cheesy as this is gonna sound, you all are so nice. I wish people in real life were this supportive! But I'm glad we can help and motivate each other! haha just had to throw that out there :) Thanks again!
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    Oh my god okay wow this is all making so much more sense to me now - I'm gonna have to force myself to eat even when I'm not hungry! Haha thank you all SO MUCH! I completely get the net calories and will try be as close to the goals that MFP sets for me as I can from now on.

    And as cheesy as this is gonna sound, you all are so nice. I wish people in real life were this supportive! But I'm glad we can help and motivate each other! haha just had to throw that out there :) Thanks again!

    When you eat back these calories, make sure they aren't "empty" calories either. Make them good nutritional food for you :)

    Glad we can help! It's hard to get good support when it comes to lifestyle changes!
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Oh my god okay wow this is all making so much more sense to me now - I'm gonna have to force myself to eat even when I'm not hungry! Haha thank you all SO MUCH! I completely get the net calories and will try be as close to the goals that MFP sets for me as I can from now on.

    And as cheesy as this is gonna sound, you all are so nice. I wish people in real life were this supportive! But I'm glad we can help and motivate each other! haha just had to throw that out there :) Thanks again!

    Remember, you don't necessarily have to increase volume a lot to increase cals. You can increase cals in a healthy way. First, start planning - when you know you're going to work out, add cals in throughout the day, so you aren't left with a bunch in the evening. Adding just 25-50 cals more per meal/snack adds up. And eat frequently - 5-6 times a day - and try to make each meal/snack balanced with protein/fat/carbs in each.

    Also, increase your healthy fats. Use olive/canola oil in cooking or a protein shake. Eat nuts and nut butters. Avocados are excellent. All of these are very nutrient dense and can give you a good boost in cals and good fats.

    Try drinking some cals when necessary. It's often easier to drink something even when you aren't hungry. Chocolate milk, a good protein shake, a fruit smoothie or fruit juice.

    It usually only takes a week or two to adjust to a higher intake of healthy foods. :wink:
  • perfectionxforever
    perfectionxforever Posts: 35 Member
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    Remember, you don't necessarily have to increase volume a lot to increase cals. You can increase cals in a healthy way. First, start planning - when you know you're going to work out, add cals in throughout the day, so you aren't left with a bunch in the evening. Adding just 25-50 cals more per meal/snack adds up. And eat frequently - 5-6 times a day - and try to make each meal/snack balanced with protein/fat/carbs in each.

    Also, increase your healthy fats. Use olive/canola oil in cooking or a protein shake. Eat nuts and nut butters. Avocados are excellent. All of these are very nutrient dense and can give you a good boost in cals and good fats.

    Try drinking some cals when necessary. It's often easier to drink something even when you aren't hungry. Chocolate milk, a good protein shake, a fruit smoothie or fruit juice.

    It usually only takes a week or two to adjust to a higher intake of healthy foods. :wink:

    That's a good idea - thanks so much! I don't like chocolate actually, but I have been drinking these Special K vanilla protein shakes which I love, however they are very high in sugar and protein - both of which I tend to go over in :/ - same with skim milk (I'm big on dairy unfortunately lol)

    The smoothies sound great though, I'm gonna look up some more healthy food ideas on here as well as online. Thanks!
  • allisong83
    allisong83 Posts: 11
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    I find that I tend to get really close to going over on my sodium intake. For instance including all meals and snacks that I will eat today (I like to plan ahead) here's how I am looking:

    Calorie Goal : 1690
    Food: 1225
    Exercise: -152
    Net: 1073
    Total Fat: 21g left out of 61g
    Saturated: 7g left out of 19g
    Cholesterol: 168 mg left out of 300 mg
    Sodium: 208 mg left out of 2500
    Potassium: 2040 mg left out of 3500
    Total Carbs: 84 left out of 252
    Fiber: I am 6 over. I am allowed 19 g a day
    Sugar: 4 g left out of 34 g
    Protein: I am 1 over. I am allowed 68 g
    Vitamin A: 432%
    Vitamin C: 412%
    Calcium: 151%
    Iron: 151%

    I am 5'6 and 167 lbs

    So going by what was said I need to eat 617 calories more today? I cannot even imagine doing that!

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