New to calorie deficit

Madeline441
Madeline441 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started

Hi! My name is Maddie and I am learning how to calorie deficit, it is super confusing.. but I am sure I will get there. Does anyone have any tips?

Replies

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,147 Member

    Keep it simple at first. Just focus on accurate, consistent logging and trying to stay within, or not much over, your calorie goal.

  • stephanj
    stephanj Posts: 921 Member

    my best tip is to preplan/pre track your food for the next day. Otherwise it’s really easy to use up all your calories and not have enough left for dinner! You can always make changes as you go. And give yourself some grace if you go over a bit while you are getting used to it

  • totameafox
    totameafox Posts: 1,269 Member

    access what you normally eat and look at replacing parts with lower calorie alternatives. But if you have more specific questions, it will be easier to give guidance.

  • AmunahSki
    AmunahSki Posts: 265 Member

    Hi Maddie!

    Have you read through the Most Helpful Posts yet?

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads


    These are an excellent resource and ones I often return to (especially the ‘guide to sexypants’!), with tips and great advice written by users past and present.

    The idea of a deficit is simple (burn more calories than you eat), but if it was that easy none of us would be here, right?

    My own tips:

    • Some days are easy, others are hard, but stick at it (i.e. don’t ‘cheat’, and don’t give up) and it WILL work.
    • Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them too much. Being consistent over time is more important than aiming for absolute perfection.
    • Trust the process! That’s my shorthand for when you’ve done everything ‘right’, but the scale seems stuck (or goes the wrong way). Salty food, travel, or a tougher exercise session can add 2lbs to my scale overnight… but I KNOW I didn’t eat 7,000 extra calories, so that 2lb ‘gain’ has to be my body just doing whatever it needs to do as a result of what I did yesterday (bodies are weird and wonderful). Fat loss is gradual and will be masked by the daily ups and downs - monitor the real trend over weeks and months to see how things are working.

    Welcome to MFP!

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,973 Member

    Great post above about reading the "Most Helpful Posts", and I like the other tips, too.

    My most basic advice will always be this: Make an easy plan . . . as easy for you to stick with while gradually losing weight.

    It's super common here to see people start with a "lose weight fast" plan. They adopt some highly restrictive set of eating rules, try to cut out all treats, have the biggest possible calorie deficit then undercut it. Often, they'll stack punitively intense, miserable daily exercise on top of that.

    Those plans don't usually end well, but they do usually end quickly. I'd like to think some of those people go on with their dramatic, radical plan and succeed long term . . . but I doubt it. Notice the number of "I'm back" posts in the Introductions section here? It's unfortunate.

    There are quite a few people still participating in the Community here who've lost quite a bit of weight, and kept it off long term. (Most people find maintaining loss more challenging than losing.)

    Most of those long-term successful people did something less radical and more boring to talk about: They found a way of eating they could stick with, eating foods they personally like, eating some treats or high-calorie foods less often or in smaller portions, getting more physically active in fun - or at least tolerable and practical - ways. No drama, but more effectiveness.

    It's a different mindset, basically "find new, better routine permanent eating and activity habits, and practice them until they can happen on autopilot". That one rare day when we eat too much cake or workout for 5 hours is a drop in the ocean, not meaningful. What matters most is the routine, day-in, day-out habits. Focus there.

    Best wishes for success: The quality of life improvement is worth the effort it takes to get there!

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