Calorie deficit - What does it actually mean?!

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annakg559
annakg559 Posts: 7 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone

Completely new to the app and on a weight loss journey :)

I was wondering if someone could explain to me what calorie deficit actually is ? How do you know how many calories you should aim for? Does it depend on how much you currently weigh and then the number changes over time as you lose weight ?

No doubt its a simple answer but would like some enlightenment!

Thank you!

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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,131 Member
    edited February 2020
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    Your body burns calories 24/7 (for basic bodily functions, for your day-to-day activity and for exercise), to lose weight you need to eat less (energy in) than you're burning (energy out).

    Weight Management is basically energy management:
    Maintain Weight: energy in equal to energy out (Calorie Balance)
    Lose Weight: energy in less than energy out (Calorie Deficit)
    Weight Gain: energy in more than energy out (Calorie Surplus)

    MFP will calculate your calorie goal for you when you go through the guided setup, this is based on an approximate BMR (see below) and the information you have input about your daily home/work/life and how much you wish to lose per week.

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Let's say it takes 1,800 calories to maintain your current body weight. If you decide to eat 1,300 calories, your deficit is 500 calories. Done regularly, this will result in losing one pound per week.

    When understanding how many calories to eat, we're all starting with estimates. If you put your goals and stats into MFP, it will estimate how many calories you need to maintain your current weight and give you a goal that puts you in a deficit (if you tell MFP you want to lose weight). Once you've done that for a few weeks, you then have the data to determine if it was a good starting estimate. If you're losing weight too fast, you can add more calories. If you're losing weight too slowly, then you will need to reduce calories.

    I found that MFP's estimates were very accurate for me and I never had to make any adjustments.

    Over time, as you lose weight, your goals will also need to change. It takes fewer calories to run a smaller body! You can go into your goals and adjust your weight to get a new calorie goal. Most people do this every ten pounds or so.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    annakg559 wrote: »
    Hi everyone

    Completely new to the app and on a weight loss journey :)

    I was wondering if someone could explain to me what calorie deficit actually is ? How do you know how many calories you should aim for? Does it depend on how much you currently weigh and then the number changes over time as you lose weight ?

    No doubt its a simple answer but would like some enlightenment!

    Thank you!

    A calorie is a unit of energy...our bodies run off that energy. XXXX calories are required to maintain your weight...this is dependent on your stats (height, weight, etc) as well as your activity...walking around doing stuff, driving to work, running errands, brushing teeth, etc...and then your exercise.

    For most people, BMR is going to be the biggest calorie expenditure...those are the calories you burn just being alive. Then your day to day...a person with an active job vs a desk job is going to burn more calories going about their day to day...and then there is exercise which is usually the lowest calorie expenditure. All of these things add up to maintenance calories.

    When you eat below maintenance calories you are in a calorie (energy) deficit, and that deficiency has to be reconciled...so you burn body fat (stored energy) to make up for a deficiency of energy coming in.

    For example, I maintain on roughly 2800-3000 calories per day on average...if I eat 2300-2500 calories per day I will lose about 1 Lb per week because I have a 500 calorie deficit in doing so.
  • annakg559
    annakg559 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks everyone :) definitely understand it better now :wink:

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