Calorie deficit?

vickyalison61 · June 2022

Hi I'm really confused about something and hope someone can explain it to me 😊 if you're supposed to burn off more calories than you consume does that mean if I'm eating around 1,700 calories daily do I have to burn more than 1,700 calories a day? If so that means your body is surviving on zero calories daily. Or does it mean you have to burn off the extra calories if i go over 1,700 daily? I can't find the answer on Google so thought I'd ask you lovely people 😊 thankyou

mtaratoot · June 2022

Most of the calories you burn are just from being alive. Your brain uses more calories than any other organ. The calories you burn include all of that plus any activity you engage in whether that is intentional exercise or just being active in life, like riding a bike instead of driving a car or parking the car far enough you have to walk a bit.

You have a "Basic Metabolic Rate" or BMR. That is the energy you use just being alive day to day. It's estimated from your height, age, gender, and base activity level (or no activity). When you add activity, you have a higher number or "Total Daily Energy Expenditure" or TDEE. It's that total expenditure that counts, and it includes the BMR.

So yes, if you want to maintain your current weight, you have to eat the same amount of calories that you expend. If you want to lose weight, you eat less.

If you use My Fitness Pal to estimate your calorie needs, you also have to log any exercise and eat those calories too. Your MFP calorie goal will include a deficit if you tell it you are trying to lose weight.

Does that help?

vickyalison61 · June 2022

Thankyou so much for your detailed reply, I understand it now 😊 I've been on My Fitness Pal for couple yrs and always log my food and exercise. For my age, height etc maintenance calories are 1,650. My weakness is 2 costa cappuccino every day. My carbs are always under however my sugar is around 10-12g over. I've been eating exact same meals for over a Yr, never get bored of it as I really enjoy it. My diet consists of lunch 2 crumpets, 2 costas and 200g fresh strawberries. Dinner is fresh chicken breast, microwave mushrooms on 2 white wraps with massive bowl of garden salad, no dressing. Supper is a fat and sugar free yoghurt, another 200g strawberries and 150g of fresh prawns. I burn between 200-600 calories daily walking and housework. So in theory including sleep and keeping myself alive I'm only getting about 1,000 or less calories daily. I never eat junk food or chocolate etc. However my weight fluctuates between 1-2lb more or 1-2lb less each morning which I can't understand with eating exact same food daily? Obviously why I'm hypoglycemic by the evening, feeling faint, and zero energy 😬 my gp monitors my weight and I'm grossly underweight, have no fat or muscle left. She says My body's eating my muscles away. I already know this but I'm terrified of weight
gain so please no judgement 😔 I probably shouldn't have mentioned this on here though 🤐 Victoria

AnnPT77 · June 2022

vickyalison61 wrote: »

Thankyou so much for your detailed reply, I understand it now 😊 I've been on My Fitness Pal for couple yrs and always log my food and exercise. For my age, height etc maintenance calories are 1,650. My weakness is 2 costa cappuccino every day. My carbs are always under however my sugar is around 10-12g over. I've been eating exact same meals for over a Yr, never get bored of it as I really enjoy it. My diet consists of lunch 2 crumpets, 2 costas and 200g fresh strawberries. Dinner is fresh chicken breast, microwave mushrooms on 2 white wraps with massive bowl of garden salad, no dressing. Supper is a fat and sugar free yoghurt, another 200g strawberries and 150g of fresh prawns. I burn between 200-600 calories daily walking and housework. So in theory including sleep and keeping myself alive I'm only getting about 1,000 or less calories daily. I never eat junk food or chocolate etc. However my weight fluctuates between 1-2lb more or 1-2lb less each morning which I can't understand with eating exact same food daily? Obviously why I'm hypoglycemic by the evening, feeling faint, and zero energy 😬 my gp monitors my weight and I'm grossly underweight, have no fat or muscle left. She says My body's eating my muscles away. I already know this but I'm terrified of weight
gain so please no judgement 😔 I probably shouldn't have mentioned this on here though 🤐 Victoria

Weight fluctuations from day to day aren't about body fat, generally (at most a tiny fraction).

If you eat and drink exactly the same things at exactly the same time every day, then you'd rule out most of one larger-magnitude source of daily variation, the amount of food/drink in transit in your system on its way to becoming waste. But even quite small differences in eating/drinking can make a surprising difference on the scale from that waste-to-be. (It's not fat.)

The biggest source of day to day scale fluctuation is water retention. It can be several pounds from one day to the next, even if we eat/drink and do the exact same things every day (which we never do, of course). If it's hot in your bedroom, and you sweat more overnight, you'll maybe weigh a little less in the morning. If you're under a lot of stress, that tends to lead to a little water retention (related to stress hormones in the body). If you have a bit of a respiratory allergy flare, or a minor infection, or your body's fighting off some bug, that can increase water retention.

Lots of things affect water retention, because our bodies can be 60%+ water. Water isn't fat, either, so it's not worth worrying over. Fluctuating water retention levels are part of how a healthy body stays healthy, so we don't want to try manipulate it!

This would be a good thing to read:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

. . . and here's a thread where people talk about their individual experiences with it:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

I hope your GP is referring you for help with your thought-patterns around food. You have a good start, because you obviously realize that what you've been doing isn't healthy. Understanding how real bodies behave - like the weight fluctuations from water retention changes - can be a helpful part of rethinking the relationship with food, eating, bodyweight, and health. Please use all the professional resources you can, in your quest to get to a healthier state!

vickyalison61 · June 2022

AnnPT77 thankyou so much for the brilliant detailed, knowlegeable and explanatory reply, I understand it so much more now. I'll certainly read the links you've provided too 😊 And I really appreciate your kindness and non judgemental reply regarding my eating disorder. Before this I was a large lady, I ate so much food as well as chocolate etc. I'd eat what I wanted. Every day I'd have four full size chocolate bars, half of a chocolate fudge gateaux, half a big bag of mixed chocolate sweets or full box of Black Magic dark chocolates. I'd even take 2-3 chocolate bars to bed incase I got hungry during the night. I'd wake up with empty wrappers and melted chocolate all over my face and hands. I had no recollection at all of even eating them. I'd wake up sitting up in bed too so I must have eaten them during sleep 😳 I was rushed into hospital for major surgery (unrelated to my eating) after that I had zero appetite for weeks I was nauseous all the time and had totally gone off anything sweet. I lost half my body weight and all the fat and muscle. That was 3yrs ago and where my eating disorder started. Many people don't realise its not a choice it's a complex mental disorder 😔 my gp referred me to the ED team nut they wouldn't take me on

MaggieGirl135 · June 2022

@vickyalison61 Hello! If I may add a comment or two, without knowing where you live in regards to ‘the ED team’…In the US, most people’s insurance allows people to choose their providers, even doctor/therapist practices which are not associated with their gp. Most cities will have more than one ED center. Hospitals sometimes/always do and if not, they refer to ED care organizations. These frequently have inpatient and outpatient programs. If this is not available to you, then seeking an individual ED therapist would be recommended. This therapist could work with your doctor and dietician. Be sure any therapist you select specializes in ED’s, not just have knowledge of ED’s. Consult your insurance for names of these providers to ensure coverage.

vickyalison61 · June 2022

Hi MaggieGirl135 I live in the UK and here we get referred to the eating disorder team In the area you live through the NHS. We don't get a choice of ED teams. They refuse to take me on as apparently I'm too complex with my other physical and mental health problems. I also had a nutritionist, but all they do is tell me what foods and portion sizes I SHOULD be eating to stay healthy and put weight on, which I already know. Anorexia is so much more complex than this, I know exactly what I should be eating but my minds too afraid to put any weight on, and therein lies the problem. I was hoping the ED team could unravel my mind and get to the bottom of WHY I'm so afraid of gaining any weight. So there's no help for me at all unfortunately. Thanks for your reply 😊

sollyn23l2 · June 2022

vickyalison61 wrote: »

Hi MaggieGirl135 I live in the UK and here we get referred to the eating disorder team In the area you live through the NHS. We don't get a choice of ED teams. They refuse to take me on as apparently I'm too complex with my other physical and mental health problems. I also had a nutritionist, but all they do is tell me what foods and portion sizes I SHOULD be eating to stay healthy and put weight on, which I already know. Anorexia is so much more complex than this, I know exactly what I should be eating but my minds too afraid to put any weight on, and therein lies the problem. I was hoping the ED team could unravel my mind and get to the bottom of WHY I'm so afraid of gaining any weight. So there's no help for me at all unfortunately. Thanks for your reply 😊

Only you know why you're afraid to gain weight. No team can tell you that. The why, however, is less important than that you are. Ultimately, you will, at some point, have to sit with the fear, accept it, and realize that it's ok to feel that, but you still have to do what you need to do, even though you're afraid. I think part of our problem in modern society is that we are led to believe we should never have to feel uncomfortable or afraid. It's just not true. We will all feel these things. What matters is how we deal with them and whether we let them control us.

Calorie deficit?

Replies

Categories