calorie deficit

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edtomlinson2
edtomlinson2 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
when people talk about calories deficit does this mean my Net calories should be a negative number at the end of the day? Or, just below what my goal for the day?

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  • fitcrt
    fitcrt Posts: 76 Member
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    That depends on your account settings. If you’ve set your goals to lose weight, then MFP is already calculating your deficit for you.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Ideally your net calories should be the goal given to you, as MFP has already created the deficit. But since many people find exercise calories are overstated based on the method they choose, they will only eat back a portion of those calories to leave a little extra room for error.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,019 Member
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    Just eat until your FOOD page says "0" at the bottom.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    edtomlinson2 wrote: »
    when people talk about calories deficit does this mean my Net calories should be a negative number at the end of the day? Or, just below what my goal for the day?

    In addition to the already posted information it may also come down to personal preferences and habits too. I leave some calories M-F to have more on the weekends. I am also not comfortable running myself too tight on days I have food from a restaurant that requires guesses. Some people will add in additional calories into restaurant meals to compensate for the margin of error and I have tried that but I like my way better.

    Also, and since it comes up too often here, going over your calories for the day does not immediately negate weight loss for the day or the week.
  • edtomlinson2
    edtomlinson2 Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you all very much, this has been very helpful.
  • edtomlinson2
    edtomlinson2 Posts: 4 Member
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    OK Fitness Pal friends, I need some help. I've been faithfully following Fitness Pal since 7/5. I weigh weekly and as of last friday I had lost 15 pounds!!!. This most recent week I increased my walking to 5-6 miles and stayed at or under my calorie goal. Each day when I completed the food diary it would indicate an ~3# loss for the week. I stepped on the scale this morning and I GAINED 1.2#. Any thoughts on why?, and how do I stay motivated?
    Thanks for any help I can get!
  • edtomlinson2
    edtomlinson2 Posts: 4 Member
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    my goal is set for 1.5#/week loss. The projected weight, when completing the food diary, would indicate a 15# reduction in five weeks, which I understand the projected weight is really not an accurate indicator! Thanks for the links and I will read them today
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    edtomlinson2 wrote: »
    OK Fitness Pal friends, I need some help. I've been faithfully following Fitness Pal since 7/5. I weigh weekly and as of last friday I had lost 15 pounds!!!. This most recent week I increased my walking to 5-6 miles and stayed at or under my calorie goal. Each day when I completed the food diary it would indicate an ~3# loss for the week. I stepped on the scale this morning and I GAINED 1.2#. Any thoughts on why?, and how do I stay motivated?
    Thanks for any help I can get!

    water weight from the increased exercise
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
    edited September 2018
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    edtomlinson2 wrote: »
    my goal is set for 1.5#/week loss. The projected weight, when completing the food diary, would indicate a 15# reduction in five weeks, which I understand the projected weight is really not an accurate indicator! Thanks for the links and I will read them today

    If you are getting that message, then you are logging 750 cals less than you are actually eating if you are losing 1.5 lbs not 3.

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