Help!!!! calorie and deficit confusion??
Options
Angall08
Posts: 148 Member
Ok say I have a 1200 calorie diet and end up eating 1300 calories. Does that mean I have to burn 100 calories to bring it back to 1200 or is the process different?
What exactly is deficit and how does it come into play
What exactly is deficit and how does it come into play
0
Replies
-
Yes, burning 100 calories in exercise would bring you back to 1,200 net and put you at your goal.
A deficit is simply a way to refer to a situation where you burn more calories than you eat. This is how weight loss happens. Your starting size and lifestyle determine what a deficit will be for you. For MFP, your deficit is created assuming you won't do any intentional exercise. Any intentional exercise can add to the calories you eat each day.1 -
A deficit is created by consuming less calories than you burn. For instance, if you burn 1600 calories a day and only consume 1300, you have a 300 calorie deficit. These numbers are just generic and not specific to you at all; this was just a simple way to put it.0
-
I'm going to assume you're here to lose weight. Let's say 1 pound per week just to have some numbers to work with. That's a 500 kCal per day deficit.
If you go over your 1,200 calorie "budget" by 100 kCal, you still have a deficit of 400 kCal. You'll still lose weight, just a little bit slower.
You could go do some exercise to burn off the 100 kCal you ate above and beyond your goal. Or you could accept it and move on. That's a choice that everyone has to make every now and then.
But a deficit is just how many more calories you need (from exercise but also from things like breathing and thinking) than you eat. It's just like a money budget, only we're talking about energy instead.3 -
First, you burn calories all day long. Just for being alive, moving thru your daily activity AND exercise. MFP estimates the being alive & activity calories from the info you provide. (Like height, gender, age, weight and activity level.)
Then you say you want to lose weight, and the # MFP gives you is a goal to eat that has a deficit built in. I kind of wish they showed that.
To see how many calories MFP expects you to use daily from living & activity, set your goal to maintenance temporarily. That is your starting #. Lets say its 1900. So when you eat 1200, you have a 700 deficit. Your body needs 1900, you eat 1200, difference is deficit.
So if you actually eat 1300, then you either have a smaller deficit (600 instead of 700) or you can exercise to burn additional. Your choice. But as long as you eat under what your body needs, you should lose weight over time. Over time being the key. Weight loss is not a 1-2 week process. Depending on how much you need to lose, it may be a 3, 6, 9 month process or more.1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Yes, burning 100 calories in exercise would bring you back to 1,200 net and put you at your goal.
A deficit is simply a way to refer to a situation where you burn more calories than you eat. This is how weight loss happens. Your starting size and lifestyle determine what a deficit will be for you. For MFP, your deficit is created assuming you won't do any intentional exercise. Any intentional exercise can add to the calories you eat each day.
Ok one more question if my calorie diet is 1200 and I only eat 1100 does that mean I don't have to do any exercising to burn calories?0 -
1200 calories is likely a substantial deficit from your maintenance calories...1200 isn't maintenance. Let's say the average female "burns" around 1800-2000 calories per day just living and going about her business...1200 calories in this case would mean you have a 600-800 calorie deficit.
If you play with the app, you can set it to "maintain" and see what your maintenance calories are estimated at without exercise.0 -
You don't have to exercise, no matter what. That is optional - there are benefits to exercise though.
In general, its not recommended to drop your calories too low as it would be difficult to get enough nutrition under 1200 daily. And lack of nutrition/undereating can lead to excessive loss of lean mass, damage to internal organs, unhealthy hair/skin/nails, lack of energy, etc.touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Yes, burning 100 calories in exercise would bring you back to 1,200 net and put you at your goal.
A deficit is simply a way to refer to a situation where you burn more calories than you eat. This is how weight loss happens. Your starting size and lifestyle determine what a deficit will be for you. For MFP, your deficit is created assuming you won't do any intentional exercise. Any intentional exercise can add to the calories you eat each day.
Ok one more question if my calorie diet is 1200 and I only eat 1100 does that mean I don't have to do any exercising to burn calories?
0 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Yes, burning 100 calories in exercise would bring you back to 1,200 net and put you at your goal.
A deficit is simply a way to refer to a situation where you burn more calories than you eat. This is how weight loss happens. Your starting size and lifestyle determine what a deficit will be for you. For MFP, your deficit is created assuming you won't do any intentional exercise. Any intentional exercise can add to the calories you eat each day.
Ok one more question if my calorie diet is 1200 and I only eat 1100 does that mean I don't have to do any exercising to burn calories?
1200 is your deficit...that's why you put your stats and desired rate of loss into the calculator...the calculator has already calculated your deficit. If you eat 1200 with no exercise, you will lose...you could likely eat more and lose. Your calorie target is pre-exercise...0 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Yes, burning 100 calories in exercise would bring you back to 1,200 net and put you at your goal.
A deficit is simply a way to refer to a situation where you burn more calories than you eat. This is how weight loss happens. Your starting size and lifestyle determine what a deficit will be for you. For MFP, your deficit is created assuming you won't do any intentional exercise. Any intentional exercise can add to the calories you eat each day.
Ok one more question if my calorie diet is 1200 and I only eat 1100 does that mean I don't have to do any exercising to burn calories?
No, it means you are eating too little. Women should eat at least 1200 calories. However, you are probably burning at least 1,700 calories without additional exercise, so eating 1100 would put your deficit at 600 instead of 500. But you still need exercise because it is good for your health and you should eat enough to keep your deficit constant.2 -
What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?0
-
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Yes, burning 100 calories in exercise would bring you back to 1,200 net and put you at your goal.
A deficit is simply a way to refer to a situation where you burn more calories than you eat. This is how weight loss happens. Your starting size and lifestyle determine what a deficit will be for you. For MFP, your deficit is created assuming you won't do any intentional exercise. Any intentional exercise can add to the calories you eat each day.
Ok one more question if my calorie diet is 1200 and I only eat 1100 does that mean I don't have to do any exercising to burn calories?
If 1,200 puts you at a deficit, you can lose without doing any exercise at all. You burn calories simply by living. Exercise increases the amount you burn, but you can lose weight without out.1 -
What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.0 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
If you enter your stats into MFP, you will get a calorie goal that puts you at a deficit *before* you do any exercise. You do not have to burn 1,000 calories a day through exercise. For most people, this wouldn't be sustainable.0 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
Your exercise goals in MFP are just for you...they have no bearing on your calorie targets. The calculator has done all of the work for you...that's what calculators do. You have put in your stats and selected an activity level and indicated a rate of loss and the calculator has estimated your maintenance and taken a cut from that as per your stated rate of loss target.
1,000 calories per day in exercise is a lot...to put it into perspective, I would have to ride about 30 miles per day every single day...that's not happening. For one, rest days are important and for two, I only wish I had time for that, and three if you were burning 1,000 calories in exercise you'd need to eat a lot more than 1200 calories in order to not completely starve your body.1 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
Deficit:
1. the amount by which a sum of money falls short of the required amount.
2. the amount by which expenditures or liabilities exceed income or assets.
3. a lack or shortage; deficiency.
Staying in a deficit is just saying that you need to burn off MORE calories than what you consume, in order to lose weight. It's really not complicated.
A 1000 calories a day in exercise is a bit aggressive, LOL.
How you planning to pull that off? 0 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
Deficit:
1. the amount by which a sum of money falls short of the required amount.
2. the amount by which expenditures or liabilities exceed income or assets.
3. a lack or shortage; deficiency.
Staying in a deficit is just saying that you need to burn off MORE calories than what you consume, in order to lose weight. It's really not complicated.
A 1000 calories a day in exercise is a bit aggressive, LOL. How you planning to pull that off?
I'm honestly not sure how accurate it is but it's an indoor bike machine and it's states on the screen how far I went how many calories I burn and so on. I set it for 1000 calories and I ride on it for an hour or two0 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
Deficit:
1. the amount by which a sum of money falls short of the required amount.
2. the amount by which expenditures or liabilities exceed income or assets.
3. a lack or shortage; deficiency.
Staying in a deficit is just saying that you need to burn off MORE calories than what you consume, in order to lose weight. It's really not complicated.
A 1000 calories a day in exercise is a bit aggressive, LOL. How you planning to pull that off?
I'm honestly not sure how accurate it is but it's an indoor bike machine and it's states on the screen how far I went how many calories I burn and so on. I set it for 1000 calories and I ride on it for an hour or two
The estimates provided by exercise machines are often inaccurate. It would take a *lot* of effort for someone at your weight to burn 1,000 on a stationary bike.1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
Deficit:
1. the amount by which a sum of money falls short of the required amount.
2. the amount by which expenditures or liabilities exceed income or assets.
3. a lack or shortage; deficiency.
Staying in a deficit is just saying that you need to burn off MORE calories than what you consume, in order to lose weight. It's really not complicated.
A 1000 calories a day in exercise is a bit aggressive, LOL. How you planning to pull that off?
I'm honestly not sure how accurate it is but it's an indoor bike machine and it's states on the screen how far I went how many calories I burn and so on. I set it for 1000 calories and I ride on it for an hour or two
The estimates provided by exercise machines are often inaccurate. It would take a *lot* of effort for someone at your weight to burn 1,000 on a stationary bike.
Not to mention if that was the case, she should be eating way more than 1200 calories.0 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
I ran your stats through my favourite BMR/TDEE calc: http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
Your BMR came in at approximately 1,418. That means that if you were in a coma, that's how many calories your body would burn just by existing every day.
Your TDEE came in at approximately 1,702. That's how many calories your body burns over a 24-hour period while living your regular life - probably a decent amount of walking around throughout the day but not much else. It wouldn't include any strenuous activities you might perform.
So to lose weight - you simply need to eat below 1700 calories. If you're aiming to lose a pound a week, you'd probably want a 500 calorie deficit. Meaning you would consume 1200 calories.
None of that includes exercise or strenuous activity. So if you burn 200 calories on the treadmill, you should eat another 200 calories - bringing your daily total to 1400 calories (or 1200 NET calories).
The tricky thing is that it's often hard to get an accurate number for calories burned through exercise. Gym machines can over exaggerate the calories burned pretty badly. It may say you burned 600 calories, when in reality, you actually burned only 300!
That's why most people don't eat back ALL their exercise calories. They account for that margin of error and just eat a portion back - around 50% - 75% depending on how reliable they think the machine/HRM/FitBit is.1 -
touchsosoftlyrch wrote: »What's your age, height, weight and daily exercise level? Do you have a desk job or work on your feet? How much walking do you do?
I am 25 5 foot 2 inches starting weight was 150 . My job is homemaker.and since I don't understand the whole deficit thing I set to lose at least 1000 calories a day by exercising.
I ran your stats through my favourite BMR/TDEE calc: http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
Your BMR came in at approximately 1,418. That means that if you were in a coma, that's how many calories your body would burn just by existing every day.
Your TDEE came in at approximately 1,702. That's how many calories your body burns over a 24-hour period while living your regular life - probably a decent amount of walking around throughout the day but not much else. It wouldn't include any strenuous activities you might perform.
So to lose weight - you simply need to eat below 1700 calories. If you're aiming to lose a pound a week, you'd probably want a 500 calorie deficit. Meaning you would consume 1200 calories.
None of that includes exercise or strenuous activity. So if you burn 200 calories on the treadmill, you should eat another 200 calories - bringing your daily total to 1400 calories (or 1200 NET calories).
The tricky thing is that it's often hard to get an accurate number for calories burned through exercise. Gym machines can over exaggerate the calories burned pretty badly. It may say you burned 600 calories, when in reality, you actually burned only 300!
That's why most people don't eat back ALL their exercise calories. They account for that margin of error and just eat a portion back - around 50% - 75% depending on how reliable they think the machine/HRM/FitBit is.
So from my info that you looked up I simply eat less then 1700 calories to lose weight. If I want to lose weight in a certain length of time it shows the amount of calories (1200) i should stay around to meet that goal. With or without exercise.
Am I right?0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.1K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.9K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 998 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions