1000 calorie deficit?

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capriqueen
capriqueen Posts: 974 Member
edited April 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone, how doable do you think 1000 calorie deficits are? I started off with a 1000 calorie deficit so I could lose 2 pounds a week and I have been successful the first two months, but now I've noticed I'm not able to maintain it over the weekends. My weight is 168-170 pounds and I'm 5'6.5, planning to get down to 130.

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  • cwagar123
    cwagar123 Posts: 195 Member
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    I think that with 40 lbs to lose a 1000 calorie deficit is too aggressive.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    With 40 pounds to lose, you'd probably be best on a 500-calorie (1 pound a week) deficit to properly fuel your body and prevent muscle loss.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    cwagar123 wrote: »
    I think that with 40 lbs to lose a 1000 calorie deficit is too aggressive.

    This^

    No one should try for 2 pounds a week indefinitely. It's not healthy. As you get closer to goal you run the risk of lean muscle loss when your deficit is really large.

    Step it back to 1.5 pounds a week (750 calories) at the very most.

  • holly55555
    holly55555 Posts: 306 Member
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    Why not do a 500 cal deficit with your diet and add in 500 cal of exercise for the 1000 cal deficit? Like, set your goals to 1 lb a week and then when you workout, that's just an additional loss.
  • capriqueen
    capriqueen Posts: 974 Member
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    holly55555 wrote: »
    Why not do a 500 cal deficit with your diet and add in 500 cal of exercise for the 1000 cal deficit? Like, set your goals to 1 lb a week and then when you workout, that's just an additional loss.
    That's essentially what I'm doing. 600 calories through food and 400 calories of exercise.
  • rocknlotsofrolls
    rocknlotsofrolls Posts: 418 Member
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    I know, for me, it's very possible, because that is what I'm doing. I'm short, 5'3", and I eat 1200-1300 calories a day, and walk 30 min a day, and I do Zumba most days. I sometimes go up to 1500 calories a day when I do my Wii Zumba because of the extra calorie burn. I make sure to have protein with lunch and dinner, and save a couple hundred calories for junk food, otherwise I will lose my sanity and be one mean grumpy gal!
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    1000 calorie net deficit is too aggressive for most people. Luckily most people overestimate their exercise burns from low intensity activities so they keep the deficit closer to reasonable.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    holly55555 wrote: »
    Why not do a 500 cal deficit with your diet and add in 500 cal of exercise for the 1000 cal deficit? Like, set your goals to 1 lb a week and then when you workout, that's just an additional loss.

    Either way it is a 1000 calorie deficit, which is pretty aggressive for your height and weight. I started at your current weight, at 5'7, and MFP wouldn't allow me to eat that little as it put me well under 1200 calories net.
  • gle8442
    gle8442 Posts: 126 Member
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    I am 5'7, SW 190 CW 145. I find a deficit of 500-700 calories/day to be pretty sustainable, I think 1000/day would be tough for me to maintain. That said, I think it's ok to play around with your deficit a bit until you find the level that is good for you.
  • deaniac83
    deaniac83 Posts: 166 Member
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    At a 1,000 calorie deficit, what is your daily calorie allotment? When you say you have been successful the first 2 months, does that mean you have been satisfied with your food or have you found yourself hungry or craving and having to forcibly deny yourself things? If it's the latter, your body will find a way to give in at some point. The best thing to do is to create a sustainable eating habit while you are in a moderate deficit so that you can continue that habit even after the pounds have been shed.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    I've been at a 1000 calorie deficit for several months. It seems pretty doable to me.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    TimothyFish wrote: »
    I've been at a 1000 calorie deficit for several months. It seems pretty doable to me.

    I didn't realize you were a 5'6 woman, good to know!
  • foxandflora
    foxandflora Posts: 183 Member
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    It is important to note that as you work out more, you also start to gain muscle mass. Depending on the exercise, you will have a great thing happen as you become stronger and the excess fat turns to muscle. Losing 2 lbs. a week is definitely do-able but you also run the risk of sabotaging yourself because you become too obsessive and overwhelmed. There's been great advice in this thread, and I would personally advocate for eating 1200-1500 calories a day and build in targeted strength exercises. The work your doing will be best if you are gaining muscle but that does make weight loss appear slower since muscle weighs more than fat.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
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    blankiefinder wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    I've been at a 1000 calorie deficit for several months. It seems pretty doable to me.

    I didn't realize you were a 5'6 woman, good to know!

    I was thinking something similar.. lol
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    edited April 2015
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    With 40 lb to lose, don't aim for more than 1 lb per week (eat 500 cal below maintenance), and even that might be
    too much (too big of a deficit) pretty soon.

    When I started in JAN14, 110 lb overweight, MFP said my BMR was 1969, and I was aiming for 1700, because my
    doctor & dietician told me I should be eating 1000 below my maintenance, which was 2750. I did that for months,
    but dropped 50-100 cal at a time as I lost weight & hit plateaus.
    I usually don't take exercise or 'net' calories into account, which is what my doctor & dietician said is best.

    Currently, MFP is saying that my BMR is 1608, and my calorie goal has been 1400 for several months now.
    With only 30 lb left to my initial healthy goal weight, 1400 gives me about a 600-cal deficit on most days.
    Most of the time I can do that, but there are days I don't, and that's OK. Overall, my weight is going down and I'm
    generally satisfied, not hungry.


    Here's a calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine which will tell you not only your maintenance calories for
    any weight, but how many servings of the food groups you should be eating. If you put in your healthy goal weight,
    and use the "inactive" calories (or the 'low activity' setting) it should help you get to that weight healthfully.
    https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

    There are also links to useful info I've compiled here.
    Definitely go read sexypants right now.
    .
    51637601.png
  • Annr
    Annr Posts: 2,765 Member
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    I have noticed as I exercise more, the daily allowances are there for a reason. I mean, you need the fuel that the calories gives you, in order to function and tell your body you are full or you are hungry. Aggressive deficits just make the body go into hybernation mode, and save everything. I know everyone is different, and I do have a lot of weight to lose. But at the end of the day, I am happy, proud, not hungry I could eat my husband in his sleep kind of feeling. :-)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    It also matters what your maintenance calories are. If they are something like 2500, then a 1000 calorie deficit is doable. 1600 maintenance calories, well not so doable...
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,721 Member
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    For me, it wouldn't work since my maintenance calories being 1750...

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