Calorie deficit
neeneileen
Posts: 17 Member
I still don't get calorie deficit. I looked up articles on the Internet but I still don't get it. It's pretty hard for me to understand calorie deficit. Can someone explain calorie deficit to me? I'm trying to lose weight on calorie deficit, I just need to know how to do it.
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Replies
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Don't get hung up on complex definitions. Its pretty basic. You need a certain # of calories daily to maintain your current weight. If you eat less than that, you'll lose weight. So you need to decide how much less is healthy but results in the pace of weight loss you want. You can probably get more specific help if you share your height, weight, age, typical activity level, and goals. There are web calculators out there and lots of advice on here with specific #s.
Good luck!1 -
Burn more calories than you eat = calorie deficit = weight loss
Burn fewer calories than you eat = cslorie surplus = weight gain.
What specifically don't you understand.3 -
Did you fill out your stats and tell MFP how much weight you wanted to lose per week? It will tell you how many calories to eat. You eat that many calories. It is already taking away however many calories you would need to lose weight(=your deficit).5
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I want to get down to 170 pounds, so I set The My Fitness Pal App to 170 as my current weight and select maintain my current weight with light activity and that gives me 2020 calories. If I stay on that I'll eventually get to 1703
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I guess you can do it that way, but most people use their actual weight, and then say how much they want to lose per week and MFP gives you a calorie goal with a built-in deficit. Either way, you will be eating less than it takes to maintain your current weight, so you should lose.3
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DancingMoosie wrote: »Did you fill out your stats and tell MFP how much weight you wanted to lose per week? It will tell you how many calories to eat. You eat that many calories. It is already taking away however many calories you would need to lose weight(=your deficit).
Okay I will try that thank you.0 -
What happens when a person has a calorie deficit over consecutive days in a week- can the person indulge a a bit on just the last day in the week and not gain?1
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pielattes1 wrote: »What happens when a person has a calorie deficit over consecutive days in a week- can the person indulge a a bit on just the last day in the week and not gain?
Depends on how much a bit is. And your body doesn't actually keep track of exact weeks and only change weight on the last day of the week.0 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »pielattes1 wrote: »What happens when a person has a calorie deficit over consecutive days in a week- can the person indulge a a bit on just the last day in the week and not gain?
Depends on how much a bit is. And your body doesn't actually keep track of exact weeks and only change weight on the last day of the week.
Can you explain what you mean by that?
So say you have a calorie deficit all week but then have a blowout or friday and get a surplus?
I did exactly this this week and wasnt too happy with my weigh in after having take out for dinner1 -
It is possible to totally eat over the deficit you created during the week and not lose because of one day. Say you have a 100 calorie deficit Monday-Saturday. Your weekly deficit is 600, but on Sunday, you eat over your calorie goal by 700. No more calorie deficit for the week=no weight loss.0
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DancingMoosie wrote: »It is possible to totally eat over the deficit you created during the week and not lose because of one day. Say you have a 100 calorie deficit Monday-Saturday. Your weekly deficit is 600, but on Sunday, you eat over your calorie goal by 700. No more calorie deficit for the week=no weight loss.
But if you had a 500 cal defecit every day and a 500 cal surplus 1 day it wouldnt make too much of a blow out, right?0 -
No, because you would still have 500X5=2500cal deficit. I'm just saying that it is possible to be in a deficit every day but one and eat enough to completely erase any deficit you had going.1
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Also the day after a blowout you're likely to see the scale jump due to water retention (from sodium) and overall bloat (due to slowed digestion).2
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DancingMoosie wrote: »No, because you would still have 500X5=2500cal deficit. I'm just saying that it is possible to be in a deficit every day but one and eat enough to completely erase any deficit you had going.
Thanks so much!!0 -
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A caloric deficit is the number of calories you need to eat in a day to lose weight. So that means, you and your body need to burn more calories than you are consuming. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) the number of calories your body burns if all you did was sleep. To find your BMR you just need to find a website online that asks you a few questions about your fitness level and determines your BMR. Once you find your BMR, all you need to do now is burn more calories to lose weight. If you need help with this you can go on this very reliable website called "www.IIFYM.com" it not only gives you the calories you need per day but also gives you the macros you need every day. (Macros are the Fat, Protien, and Carbs you need to lose your weight healthily)7
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Burn more calories than you eat = calorie deficit = weight loss
Burn fewer calories than you eat = cslorie surplus = weight gain.
What specifically don't you understand.
So to lose weight, let me see if I get this, is to burn more calories by exercising and performing physical activities like walking, dancing, etc, and to eat the amount of food from the deficit you created? Is that right? If I'm wrong let me know okay.0 -
neeneileen wrote: »Burn more calories than you eat = calorie deficit = weight loss
Burn fewer calories than you eat = cslorie surplus = weight gain.
What specifically don't you understand.
So to lose weight, let me see if I get this, is to burn more calories by exercising and performing physical activities like walking, dancing, etc, and to eat the amount of food from the deficit you created? Is that right? If I'm wrong let me know okay.
You burn calories all day long, even sitting in a chair or sleeping. You want to burn more calories through your total daily activities (sleeping, working, exercising, walking, etc) than you consume. If you put your stats into MFP, it will give you an estimate of what your calorie goal should be to lose weight.0 -
neeneileen wrote: »Burn more calories than you eat = calorie deficit = weight loss
Burn fewer calories than you eat = cslorie surplus = weight gain.
What specifically don't you understand.
So to lose weight, let me see if I get this, is to burn more calories by exercising and performing physical activities like walking, dancing, etc, and to eat the amount of food from the deficit you created? Is that right? If I'm wrong let me know okay.
For one thing, you need to understand that this calculator will do all of the work for you...you put in your stats and whatnot and the calculator will calculate a calorie target (GOAL) for weight loss as per what it's estimation of your maintenance calories are...if you put in that you want to lose 1 Lb per week, the calculator will cut off 500 calories from you estimated maintenance.
Secondly, you burn calories 24/7. Most of your burn is you merely existing...then your day to day stuff...and finally exercise which typically is relatively insignificant compared to your existence and going about your day to day.
My maintenance calories without any exercise is 2,400 calories....of those 2400 calories, around 1800 are required to merely exist, the rest are just what I burn going about my day to day. If I wanted to lose about 1 Lb per week I'd eat around 1900 calories (500 calorie deficit from maintenance).
With exercise, I maintain on around 2800 calories...so I could eat 2300 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »Burn more calories than you eat = calorie deficit = weight loss
Burn fewer calories than you eat = cslorie surplus = weight gain.
What specifically don't you understand.
So to lose weight, let me see if I get this, is to burn more calories by exercising and performing physical activities like walking, dancing, etc, and to eat the amount of food from the deficit you created? Is that right? If I'm wrong let me know okay.
For one thing, you need to understand that this calculator will do all of the work for you...you put in your stats and whatnot and the calculator will calculate a calorie target (GOAL) for weight loss as per what it's estimation of your maintenance calories are...if you put in that you want to lose 1 Lb per week, the calculator will cut off 500 calories from you estimated maintenance.
Secondly, you burn calories 24/7. Most of your burn is you merely existing...then your day to day stuff...and finally exercise which typically is relatively insignificant compared to your existence and going about your day to day.
My maintenance calories without any exercise is 2,400 calories....of those 2400 calories, around 1800 are required to merely exist, the rest are just what I burn going about my day to day. If I wanted to lose about 1 Lb per week I'd eat around 1900 calories (500 calorie deficit from maintenance).
With exercise, I maintain on around 2800 calories...so I could eat 2300 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week.
Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.1 -
neeneileen wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »Burn more calories than you eat = calorie deficit = weight loss
Burn fewer calories than you eat = cslorie surplus = weight gain.
What specifically don't you understand.
So to lose weight, let me see if I get this, is to burn more calories by exercising and performing physical activities like walking, dancing, etc, and to eat the amount of food from the deficit you created? Is that right? If I'm wrong let me know okay.
For one thing, you need to understand that this calculator will do all of the work for you...you put in your stats and whatnot and the calculator will calculate a calorie target (GOAL) for weight loss as per what it's estimation of your maintenance calories are...if you put in that you want to lose 1 Lb per week, the calculator will cut off 500 calories from you estimated maintenance.
Secondly, you burn calories 24/7. Most of your burn is you merely existing...then your day to day stuff...and finally exercise which typically is relatively insignificant compared to your existence and going about your day to day.
My maintenance calories without any exercise is 2,400 calories....of those 2400 calories, around 1800 are required to merely exist, the rest are just what I burn going about my day to day. If I wanted to lose about 1 Lb per week I'd eat around 1900 calories (500 calorie deficit from maintenance).
With exercise, I maintain on around 2800 calories...so I could eat 2300 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week.
Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.
You should calculate your goal from your TDEE (your total daily energy expenditure which is your BMR plus the calories you burn through your other activities), not your BMR. Your BMR doesn't factor in the calories you burn through work and daily activities or what you burn through intentional exercise. Instead of calculating this, some people find it easier to use MFP's goals, which give you the same number (you have your base calories based on your BMR and your daily activities and then you log your intentional exercise and eat back the calories burned through that).0 -
You don't use BMR to determine your deficit. You use total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) to determine your deficit, which is what cwolfman13 was saying in his post when he said you burn merely existing, doing day to day stuff and exercising. That's TDEE.1
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neeneileen wrote: »Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.
Do you mean BMR (basal metabolic rate) or TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)? BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma; TDEE is the sum of BMR, non-exercise activity, and exercise.1 -
neeneileen wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »Burn more calories than you eat = calorie deficit = weight loss
Burn fewer calories than you eat = cslorie surplus = weight gain.
What specifically don't you understand.
So to lose weight, let me see if I get this, is to burn more calories by exercising and performing physical activities like walking, dancing, etc, and to eat the amount of food from the deficit you created? Is that right? If I'm wrong let me know okay.
For one thing, you need to understand that this calculator will do all of the work for you...you put in your stats and whatnot and the calculator will calculate a calorie target (GOAL) for weight loss as per what it's estimation of your maintenance calories are...if you put in that you want to lose 1 Lb per week, the calculator will cut off 500 calories from you estimated maintenance.
Secondly, you burn calories 24/7. Most of your burn is you merely existing...then your day to day stuff...and finally exercise which typically is relatively insignificant compared to your existence and going about your day to day.
My maintenance calories without any exercise is 2,400 calories....of those 2400 calories, around 1800 are required to merely exist, the rest are just what I burn going about my day to day. If I wanted to lose about 1 Lb per week I'd eat around 1900 calories (500 calorie deficit from maintenance).
With exercise, I maintain on around 2800 calories...so I could eat 2300 calories and lose about 1 Lb per week.
Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.
You should eat above your BMR but below your TDEE - take the deficit from TDEE.1 -
neeneileen wrote: »Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.
Do you mean BMR (basal metabolic rate) or TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)? BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma; TDEE is the sum of BMR, non-exercise activity, and exercise.
Yeah I meant TDEE sorry about that lol1 -
neeneileen wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.
Do you mean BMR (basal metabolic rate) or TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)? BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma; TDEE is the sum of BMR, non-exercise activity, and exercise.
Yeah I meant TDEE sorry about that lol
Yeah, if your TDEE is 2,440, then 1,440 would be your 1,000 calorie deficit.1 -
leejoyce31 wrote: »You don't use BMR to determine your deficit. You use total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) to determine your deficit, which is what cwolfman13 was saying in his post when he said you burn merely existing, doing day to day stuff and exercising. That's TDEE.
Yeah that's what I meant is TDEE I got it mixed up sorry about that.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.
Do you mean BMR (basal metabolic rate) or TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)? BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma; TDEE is the sum of BMR, non-exercise activity, and exercise.
Yeah I meant TDEE sorry about that lol
Yeah, if your TDEE is 2,440, then 1,440 would be your 1,000 calorie deficit.
Yes sorry for the misunderstanding I got it mixed up0 -
neeneileen wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »neeneileen wrote: »Yeah that's what I was trying to understand. My BMR is around 2440 and I'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week so I create a 1000 calorie deficit. So right now my calorie goal from the deficit is 1440.
Do you mean BMR (basal metabolic rate) or TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)? BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma; TDEE is the sum of BMR, non-exercise activity, and exercise.
Yeah I meant TDEE sorry about that lol
Yeah, if your TDEE is 2,440, then 1,440 would be your 1,000 calorie deficit.
Yes sorry for the misunderstanding I got it mixed up
No worries, most of us had to learn some new terms when we began calorie counting!3 -
Thank you guys for helping me understand what a caloric deficit is. I really appreciate it.2
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