How much of a deficit should I be aiming for?
clawsgirl
Posts: 3 Member
I've been using MFP to track my food for about a week now and consistently getting a deficit of around 200-300, some days more, some days less. I'm looking to lose 30 lbs (currently 170 and 5'7, f) and oobviously the sooner the better. I was reading another thread that said they were aiming for a deficit of 1000-1500! That seems insane. I do cardio a couple times a week (every time for an hour and calories usually come out to be 400+) and I'm willing to do more, but I don't really know what to aim for. I am basing my calorie intake on losing 2 lbs a week.
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Two pounds a week would be a 1000 calorie daily deficit.
You're closer to reasonable where you are, but you could increase it a bit if you wanted.
I'd be careful of exercise estimates. They are often way too high.0 -
When you say that you are getting a deficit of 200-300, do you mean that you are eating 200-300 under the goal that MFP gives you? Or are you eating 200-300 below your TDEE? Your last sentence has me confused.0
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I mean the number labeled as remaining on here.0
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I've often hypothesized that you shouldn't need a deficit, you should just need to eat the maintenance level of calories corresponding the weight you want to be. Just use the calculator on this site to work out what your intake should be for your ideal weight and stick to that - it's what you'll need to be eating to stay at that weight for the rest of your life, so you may as well get used to it.
Just a hypothesis, and I'd be interested to hear what others think on this.0 -
hamlet1222 wrote: »I've often hypothesized that you shouldn't need a deficit, you should just need to eat the maintenance level of calories corresponding the weight you want to be.
... which would be a deficit.
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hamlet1222 wrote: »I've often hypothesized that you shouldn't need a deficit, you should just need to eat the maintenance level of calories corresponding the weight you want to be. Just use the calculator on this site to work out what your intake should be for your ideal weight and stick to that - it's what you'll need to be eating to stay at that weight for the rest of your life, so you may as well get used to it.
Just a hypothesis, and I'd be interested to hear what others think on this.
If you were to eat at maintenance for a lower weight, you would be eating at a deficit from your current weight.
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I mean the number labeled as remaining on here.
Your MFP goal already has a large deficit built into it, depending on how much you told the system you want to lose per week (500 calories for 1 pound/week, 1000 calories for 2 pounds/week, etc). This is the deficit most people are referring to. What you're doing by eating at a deficit from your MFP goal is actually making that deficit even larger than the one MFP set for you.
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hamlet1222 wrote: »I've often hypothesized that you shouldn't need a deficit, you should just need to eat the maintenance level of calories corresponding the weight you want to be. Just use the calculator on this site to work out what your intake should be for your ideal weight and stick to that - it's what you'll need to be eating to stay at that weight for the rest of your life, so you may as well get used to it.
Just a hypothesis, and I'd be interested to hear what others think on this.
@hamlet1222 - That would still be a deficit. It's just a different way of coming up with one. You would start off with faster loss and as you got closer to your goal it would taper off. It would be too slow for me at this point. I ran a calculator a couple weeks ago and there is about 150 calorie difference between what I needed to maintain that weight and what I would need at my goal weight. It would take 3 weeks to get close to 1 lb loss. It would take me roughly 20 weeks to lose this last 6 lbs.0 -
I mean the number labeled as remaining on here.
The deficit is already built into the goal number that MFP gives you. If you told MFP you want to lose 2 lbs a week, it theoretically* has built a 1000 calorie daily deficit into your daily net** goal.
As MFP is designed, you should be trying to end the day with 0 remaining calories, or as close to it as possible (with the proviso that many people do not eat back all of their exercise calories because they believe MFP, their exercise machines, etc., are giving them inflated values for their exercise).
*"theoretically" because MFP is not supposed to give you a goal lower than 1200 calories a day, so if your maintenance level is not at least 2200 calories per day, MFP will not be able to give you a low enough goal to achieve a 1000 calorie deficit.
**"net" = the calories you are supposed to consume before exercise that is in excess of your regular activity goal. You are not supposed to consider "exercise" (as opposed to activity related to daily life, your job, child-tending, etc.) when determining your activity level for MFP. When you log additional exercise, MFP will add calories to your daily goal in an attempt to maintain the deficit needed for your weekly weight loss goal.0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »
@hamlet1222 - That would still be a deficit. It's just a different way of coming up with one. You would start off with faster loss and as you got closer to your goal it would taper off. It would be too slow for me at this point. I ran a calculator a couple weeks ago and there is about 150 calorie difference between what I needed to maintain that weight and what I would need at my goal weight. It would take 3 weeks to get close to 1 lb loss. It would take me roughly 20 weeks to lose this last 6 lbs.
Interesting, I'm going to kick off another thread on this topic, because I'm wondering what others experience is.
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I mean the number labeled as remaining on here.
That would mean your deficit is 200-300 larger than what you selected for your goal.
0.5 lbs per week setting = 250 a day + 200-300 left over = deficit of 450 - 550 a day (0.9 lbs to 1.1 lbs per week)
1 lb per week setting = 500 a day + 200-300 left over = deficit of 700 - 800 a day ( 1.4 lbs to 1.6 lbs per week)
1.5 lb per week setting = 750 a day + 200-300 left over = deficit of 950 - 1050 a day (1.9 lbs to 2.1 lbs per week)
2 lbs per week setting = 1000 a day + 200-300 left over = deficit of 1200-1300 a day (2.4 lbs to 2.6 lbs per week)
red = above recommend amount per week to lose for safe/healthy weight loss that is not being supervised by a doctor
MFP estimates about how many calories you will burn without exercise based on your stats and the activity level you selected. It then subtracts the required deficit for the weight loss per week goal that you selected from that number. This becomes your calorie goal to eat at without exercise. Exercise and you get to eat a bit more to remain at the same deficit level. The only exception to this is if your selected weight loss per week goal would drop you below 1200 calories; MFP will bottom out at 1200.
Example:
Lightly Active setting for me, MFP expects approximately 1850 calories burned per day.
0.5 lbs per week = 1600 NET Goal
1 lb per week = 1350 NET Goal
1.5 lbs per week = 1200 (deficit maxes out at 650 for 1.3 lbs per week)
2 lbs per week = 1200 (deficit maxes out at 650 for 1.3 lbs per week)
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Ohhhhh, whoops. This is what I get for using a completely different website before and not checking the differences between the two before starting again. So basically I could actually be overdoing it by leaving a deficit, but considering the overestimate on exercise that's probably not horrible since I don't feel like I'm starving myself. Thanks so much for all the explanation, I feel a lot better now.
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a) your hunger level is not a good enough indication. During a very restricted calorie diet your hunger reflex is suppressed.
b) Calculate your TDEE (scooby's web site; fitbit or similar), Calculate your BMR (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator)
c) eat at a 10% to 20% deficit off of your TDEE (up to 25% while obese, declining % as you enter the normal weight range) as long as you continuously net above your BMR.
d) watch the #'s melt away.0 -
I have 6 lbs left to go - I average at around a 350 daily deficit. This is probably a little on the aggressive side for me considering I have so little left to lose so I am going to start aiming for a 250 deficit from now onwards.
I'd say your current deficit is fine - You could raise the deficit to 500 but if you are happy with what you are doing, continue
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Ohhhhh, whoops. This is what I get for using a completely different website before and not checking the differences between the two before starting again. So basically I could actually be overdoing it by leaving a deficit
That's exactly what I was doing, but the lovely people here set me straight last night. I'm going to increase my calorie intake by a couple hundred and see how my loss progresses. Can't hurt to be a bit less hungry! And I don't want to accidentally damage my body by forcing it to eat muscle to make up for the deficit!
Good luck 0
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