Calorie deficit help

desy617
desy617 Posts: 60 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
What does eating in calorie deficit mean? im suppose to eat 1490 calories a day and i burn about 300-600 calories a day, do i eat more or less?

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    It means eating less than your body uses in a day.

    Your body is always expending energy - not just when you're exercising. When you set up your MFP profile, entered your height/weight/etc. and activity level - MFP estimated how much energy you use in a day. Then you said you wanted to lose weight, so MFP arrived at 1490 for you to eat. This has your deficit built in. If you exercise, that means you use more energy than what MFP assumed, so yes you can eat more if you feel you need it. Just be careful as its easy to overestimate calories burned for exercise. Perhaps only eat part of the extra.
  • desy617
    desy617 Posts: 60 Member
    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    It means eating less than your body uses in a day.

    Your body is always expending energy - not just when you're exercising. When you set up your MFP profile, entered your height/weight/etc. and activity level - MFP estimated how much energy you use in a day. Then you said you wanted to lose weight, so MFP arrived at 1490 for you to eat. This has your deficit built in. If you exercise, that means you use more energy than what MFP assumed, so yes you can eat more if you feel you need it. Just be careful as its easy to overestimate calories burned for exercise. Perhaps only eat part of the extra.

    ok thanks,i been a little confused :)
  • Equus5374
    Equus5374 Posts: 462 Member
    Eating at a calorie deficit means you eat less calories than what your body requires and burns on its own just being alive. You can find this number by utilizing MFP's guided goal setup or by calculating your TDEE (Google TDEE calculator). Go to "goals" and choose "guided" -- MFP will have you put in your weight, age, etc. and ask you to choose how much weight you want to lose (0.5 - 1lb/week is usually sustainable). It will spit out a number and this is the amount of calories you want to eat. This number is a calorie deficit.When you exercise and if you log your exercise, be aware that caloric estimates for exercise are usually overestimated, so if you do choose to eat back your exercise calories, do so about about 50-75%. Keep in mind that losing weight is not about starving yourself or restricting food choices (unless you have to per medical reasons). Does this help?
  • HamsterManV2
    HamsterManV2 Posts: 449 Member
    edited June 2015
    Step 1: Calculate TDEE (this includes putting in your level of activity)
    Step 2: Eat -500 calories of your TDEE a day for a loss of -3500 calories a week - This equates to 1 lb loss of mostly fat, some muscle (you lose less muscle if you exercise during that time)
    Step 3: Repeat until goal weight

    Note that if you are a woman / small, -500 calories may be too much so instead go -20% of the TDEE which is something more manageable... a 200lbs man has more to lose than a 130lb girl. As long as you are losing, just stay consistent and you will get where you want to be!

    P.S. The calorie burner counter on machines are VASTLY inaccurate... do not rely on them (I don't even factor them in at all, I just put in how many days I exercise). Also weigh yourself daily to see how effective the level of calories you chose is. Some days your weight will go up, but if the general trend is downward, you are losing weight!
  • desy617
    desy617 Posts: 60 Member
    Equus5374 wrote: »
    Eating at a calorie deficit means you eat less calories than what your body requires and burns on its own just being alive. You can find this number by utilizing MFP's guided goal setup or by calculating your TDEE (Google TDEE calculator). Go to "goals" and choose "guided" -- MFP will have you put in your weight, age, etc. and ask you to choose how much weight you want to lose (0.5 - 1lb/week is usually sustainable). It will spit out a number and this is the amount of calories you want to eat. This number is a calorie deficit.When you exercise and if you log your exercise, be aware that caloric estimates for exercise are usually overestimated, so if you do choose to eat back your exercise calories, do so about about 50-75%. Keep in mind that losing weight is not about starving yourself or restricting food choices (unless you have to per medical reasons). Does this help?

    thanks, it does help
  • belinda_73
    belinda_73 Posts: 149 Member
    what does that 1490 consist of? make sure you have good macros entered in. I try for 120 grams of protein, 60-70 carbs and the rest fat. when I first started I did 30, 40, 30. now I do the 40,30, 30.
  • desy617
    desy617 Posts: 60 Member
    HamsterManV2 wrote: »
    Step 1: Calculate TDEE (this includes putting in your level of activity)
    Step 2: Eat -500 calories of your TDEE a day for a loss of -3500 calories a week - This equates to 1 lb loss of mostly fat, some muscle (you lose less muscle if you exercise during that time)
    Step 3: Repeat until goal weight

    Note that if you are a woman / small, -500 calories may be too much so instead go -20% of the TDEE which is something more manageable... a 200lbs man has more to lose than a 130lb girl. As long as you are losing, just stay consistent and you will get where you want to be!

    P.S. The calorie burner counter on machines are VASTLY inaccurate... do not rely on them (I don't even factor them in at all, I just put in how many days I exercise). Also weigh yourself daily to see how effective the level of calories you chose is. Some days your weight will go up, but if the general trend is downward, you are losing weight!

    thanks for the advice, i am 250lb with alot of weight to lose.
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