Our Body's Calorie Sensitivity - Over/Under 100 Calories Make a Difference?

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How sensitive is our bodies to 100 calories? If we are over or under 100 or 200 calories a day, is that going to have a significant impact on our weight loss goals?

I have calculated my daily calorie goal from a few different formulas and calculators and they all differ by about 50-150 calories per day. So I was wondering if I am under my daily calorie goal by 100 calories a day, would that "remove" my muscle tissue and be "under eating?"

Replies

  • mewkiyoko
    mewkiyoko Posts: 6 Member
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    If you're under your calorie goal, unless you are working to build muscle, you will be losing muscle as well as fat. So yes, the more of a deficit you have, the more muscle tissue you lose. This is why exercising beyond just cardio is important for losing weight in a healthy manor.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Depending on how much you have to lose, no, at least not severely. That would just be an extra 700 calories you would burn, which equates to less than a quarter of a pound. But that's also assuming your logging is 100% accurate.
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
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    I doubt that anyone could ever truly eat exactly at maintenance simply because calorie burn is an estimate at best. You will be over, or under in some form, and that surplus/deficit will cause you to gain/lose weight. The smaller the difference, the more incremental the results.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    These are all just calculators and until you play with the numbers for awhile, you're never really sure what your true BMR or TDEE is, (You need to test them out). If you were consistently over 1-200 calories, you would eventually creep up in weight. Same is true in the reverse for under.
    When you lose, it's fat, water and muscle, thus it's a great idea to weight train and make sure you're getting enough protein to help maintain as much muscle as possible.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    Isn't the deficit needed to lost 1 pound 500 calories a day. So if your eating a deficit of 400 what's that like .8 of a pound instead of 1 pound lost?

    So a difference of 10 pounds over a year?

    Or is my math off?