I'm confused about the right calorie deficit

gvizzle74
gvizzle74 Posts: 123 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just finished reading several articles about calories deficits for weight loss and they all say different things:
- MFP recommends i eat 1220 calories a day - as do other sites
- Other sites say not to eat less than your RMR
- Other sites say you should eat 25% less than your TDEE

So which is it? I'm frustrated because in the past 7 days i've only lost 0.4 pounds. I know i still lost but i should have lost more.

I track, and measure, everything i eat. i exercise daily. I eat back all my exercise calories. At the deficit i'm at, i should be easily losing 2-2.5 pounds per week but i'm stuck. I thought some research would help but now i'm frustrated and confused.

Should i eat my exercise calories? is starvation mode really not a myth after all? should i start lifting weights? arg.

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    How do you determine your exercise calorie burns?
    Are you weighing your solid foods on a food scale?
    Did you just start working out?

    It's also only been 7 days. Relax a bit. It takes 4-6 weeks at least to determine a trend in your weight loss. I say trend because some weeks you will lose a lot, some only a little, some you may stay the same, and there are even some weeks that you just might see a slight gain. Weight fluctuates. That's just how it is.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    If, by your calculations, you should have lost 2 lbs, but you lost .5 instead, it's likely your calculations are off. You could have under estimated your food, over estimated your calorie burns, or a combo of both.

    Or it's possible you just need to give it a couple more weeks to really gauge whether or not what you're doing is working.
  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 683 Member
    I lost all my weight at 0.5lb a week I think you're on track. 7 days is not long at all keep going for 28 days then review it
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Oh and
    TDEE minus a percentage takes your exercise into account and essentially gives you a fraction of them every day of the week. With this you get one calorie goal everyday regardless of activity.
    MFP + exercise will generally get your average total consumption to be close to the TDEE method. This method means you eat more some days and less others.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited June 2015
    How much do you have to lose?
    What did you choose as your activity level?
    What did you choose as your weight loss goal?

    If you use TDEE it is usually suggest to do TDEE -20% unless you have 100+ lbs to lose than TDEE-25-30% might be okay. If you have less than 15 lbs to go TDEE -15% is a better goal. If TDEE is what you use, don't eat back exercise caloires.


    If following MFP follow the guideline below and eat back most of the cals burned from exercise and be sure to weigh solid foods and measure liquids so you know what you are really eating:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    Oh and
    TDEE minus a percentage takes your exercise into account and essentially gives you a fraction of them every day of the week. With this you get one calorie goal everyday regardless of activity.
    MFP + exercise will generally get your average total consumption to be close to the TDEE method. This method means you eat more some days and less others.

    Agreed, MFP way you will eat more than TDEE on workout days, but less on non-workout days, assuming you choose the correct weight loss goals and activity level.

    As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif).

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above
  • Hagbeard
    Hagbeard Posts: 4 Member
    Also keep in mind that weight is an inherently imprecise measurement. It's pretty easy to eat more than a pound of food in a single meal, and factor in water retention and it's easy to fluctuate by more than a pound. What's more important is tracking the overall trend of weight measurements and understanding that your actual weight is somewhere between your high and low measurements. Don't get discouraged by the scale, I can measure myself at different times of day and be 4-6 lbs heavier through the day. Watch the trend and understand loss takes time. You probably didn't gain the weight you want to lose in a week, so be patient.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    How much do you have to lose?
    What did you choose as your activity level?
    What did you choose as your weight loss goal?

    If you use TDEE it is usually suggest to do TDEE -20% unless you have 100+ lbs to lose than TDEE-25-30% might be okay. If you have less than 15 lbs to go TDEE -15% is a better goal. If TDEE is what you use, don't eat back exercise caloires.


    If following MFP follow the guideline below and eat back most of the cals burned from exercise and be sure to weigh solid foods and measure liquids so you know what you are really eating:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    That is not the MFP guideline. That is the answer someone gave to a Yahoo Answers question several years ago and it has no science to back it up.

    As for eating below RMR, ignore that, it doesn't matter.

    About 1% of your body weight per week (or less) is a reasonable amount to lose. For every 500 calories under your TDEE you eat, you will lose 1 pound per week. But women should eat at least 1200 calories per day and men should eat at least 1500 calories per day.

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