Calorie deficit

Xo_c_e_b_xo
Xo_c_e_b_xo Posts: 70 Member
edited November 20 in Motivation and Support
Excuse my stupidity but could someone properly explain to me what a calorie deficit is ? People keep mentioning it but I don't fully know what it means ? My guess is that you burn off more than you eat but toe that seems really hard , a gruelling workout at the gym burns around 800 cal but I eat more than that and I don't burn that everyday

Sorry if I sound really dumb ......

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Here goes....your body uses calories 24/7

    BMR is basal metabolic rate....calories you would use if you never got out of bed (heart, lungs, kidneys, etc)

    Then add to that activity level. Some people work in an office, we are generally sedentary and burn less than waitresses (for example).

    MFP uses BMR + activity level and then subtracts your weekly weight loss goal...to get to your net goal. The reason it's a net goal is that some people will add exercise....and some won't.

    So if your goal is to lose 1 pound a week, MFP subtracts 500 each day (3,500 / 7 = 500).

    Now, if you log exercise MFP ADDS those calories back and expects you to eat that too. That ideally gets you back to the 500 calorie deficit. Ideally because calorie burns are estimates (fairly generous for MFP)....many people eat back 50-75%....and then increase or decrease depending upon progress.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Yes, simply put it's less calories than you burn.

    If your body requires 2000 calories to maintain it's current weight and you cut 500 calories from that, you are consuming 1500 calories and have a calorie deficit of 500 calories.
    Xo_c_e_b_xo wrote: »
    a gruelling workout at the gym burns around 800 cal but I eat more than that and I don't burn that everyday .

    I'm confused by this statement. Are you saying, for example, that you're consuming say 1500 calories and working off 800ish calories when working out and not eating any additional calories? If so, let's look at this mathematically.

    Your goal (just an example) is 1500 calories (gross without exercise, Net with exercise).
    Exercise is 800 calories (assuming this is an accurate number)
    1500-800=700 calories, NET

    Your goal is 1500 calories though. Therefor you consume an additional 800 calories to bring your NET back up to 1500.
    700+800=1500 NET

    Make sure though if you're using MFP's exercise estimates to cut those numbers in half because MFP likes to overestimate exercise calories.

  • cmarioescobar91
    cmarioescobar91 Posts: 1 Member
    But what if you don't get back what you burn at the gym and remain below the net calorie? Will you lose more weight? Or simply be weaker?
  • sturchiok89
    sturchiok89 Posts: 14 Member
    cmarioescobar91 wrote: »
    But what if you don't get back what you burn at the gym and remain below the net calorie? Will you lose more weight? Or simply be weaker?

    After doing all the above calculations figure out what you want to lose per week and then eat the amount of calories allotted for your week. if you do intense workouts eating some back would be fine if you are hungry, I for one don't do intense workouts yet and so on the off chance i under-caluclated amounts of food i don't eat back my calories, to play it safe. if I'm super hungry i just have some fruit or egg whites. low calories less damage.
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