Deficit Question

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futiledevices
futiledevices Posts: 309 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Which matters more - daily deficit or weekly deficit?
I burned 500 calories at the gym today, which is A LOT for me. I'm a bit of a small person, so it takes a lot of work to burn that much. My daily intake is usually around 13-1400, but today, I ate 1762! That seems like so much. I feel so guilty whenever I go near or above 1400, even if I work out. I still have a 500 cal deficit for today, but I can't shake the feeling that I screwed up.

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    I'd say daily so that there's more consistency. People IMO who rely just on weekly deficits have a tendency to go overboard more then try to make up the overage in a day.


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  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    Which matters more - daily deficit or weekly deficit?

    What matters is that over the course of time, you are in a deficit. You can be under on one day and then over on another and it will balance out.
    . My daily intake is usually around 13-1400, but today, I ate 1762! That seems like so much.

    I call that a snack. Don't sweat it. I don't know what your maintenance intake is (TDEE) but I'll bet you need to eat more than that to gain weight.
    I feel so guilty whenever I go near or above 1400, even if I work out. I still have a 500 cal deficit for today, but I can't shake the feeling that I screwed up.

    I don't know HOW you should fix the above, but I would encourage you to look for ways to eliminate food-based guilt.

    I think today was a success if your numbers are correct.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I'd say daily so that there's more consistency. People IMO who rely just on weekly deficits have a tendency to go overboard more then try to make up the overage in a day.

    ^ This is a good point. I stand by my answer but I'm referring strictly to thermodynamics. If the individual can't effectively keep a weekly deficit, then you shouldn't do it.

    I also think daily is far more convenient and realistic.
  • futiledevices
    futiledevices Posts: 309 Member
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    I always have a deficit, it just changes. The only time I even go near maintenance is holidays or whatever. Today, I was near maintenance and it just weighs on my mind, that's all. I know I worked out.. I trust my HRM, but I guess it's just always on my mind.
  • sara1923
    sara1923 Posts: 53
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    I struggle with this too! I feel like I want to underestimate the calories I burn at the gym and overestimate the calories I eat throughout the day. I know a lot of machines are inaccurate so I do not like to rely on the numbers. I am going to agree that it just matters that there continues to be a deficit no matter when it occurs. Gaining weight or losing weight won't occur because you had a lot less to eat or a lot more to eat on one occassion. It happens over a much longer period of time.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I always have a deficit, it just changes. The only time I even go near maintenance is holidays or whatever. Today, I was near maintenance and it just weighs on my mind, that's all. I know I worked out.. I trust my HRM, but I guess it's just always on my mind.

    I'd suggest that you relax and not worry about this, it's trivial. I would also encourage you to eat at maintenance occasionally and be accepting of it, if anything for mental health.

    EDIT: Let me clarify: Your feelings are not trivial, I hope you understand what I intended with the above.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    I try to maintain a deficit daily for consistency. Once you get in the habit, it's not as difficult to maintain a deficit as it is at first. You can also get back into the swing of things if you screw up one day a lot easier.
  • sungirl1964
    sungirl1964 Posts: 6
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    Good for you buring 500! That is awesome. Don't feel quilty. Lets say you ate 1700 calories and did not work out... Then you can feel quilty! Keep moving forward. Dr. Oz. says to do the '1' DAY DIET. Do one day at a time!
  • wildflower408
    wildflower408 Posts: 16 Member
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    I focus on the daily deficit to keep me motivated during the day to continue to make healthy eating choices. But I'm new at this so sometimes I have a "bad day" and that's when I focus on the weekly deficit to assure myself that one day that doesn't go as planned is okay. Case in point - last week I felt horrible because one day I ate like 2,900 calories! even after exercising away 600 calories. Way over the limit I had set for myself...but in the long run it was okay because I had done so well on all my other days and I still lost 4lbs.

    Try not to stress about it. Tomorrow is a new day :)

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