calorie defict

shawnadwyer
shawnadwyer Posts: 49 Member
edited November 12 in Food and Nutrition
i know this seems like a crazy question but what exactly is a calorie defict. Is it the # of calories subtracted from you bmr that you come up with the defict from. If that makes sense

Replies

  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    You are close - the calories are subtracted from your TDEE (total daily energy expediture, I think!) which is your maintenance calories (ie. the calories you would eat to maintiain your weight.
    To get your TDEE, MFP calculates yout BMR (the cals needed just to keep you alive if you were lying around in a coma) then multiplies it by an activity factor - 1.2 if you are sedentary, more if you are more active.
  • shawnadwyer
    shawnadwyer Posts: 49 Member
    You are close - the calories are subtracted from your TDEE (total daily energy expediture, I think!) which is your maintenance calories (ie. the calories you would eat to maintiain your weight.
    To get your TDEE, MFP calculates yout BMR (the cals needed just to keep you alive if you were lying around in a coma) then multiplies it by an activity factor - 1.2 if you are sedentary, more if you are more active.

    so does that mean that the suggested calories already have the defict added into it.
  • leojsivad
    leojsivad Posts: 124 Member
    You are close - the calories are subtracted from your TDEE (total daily energy expediture, I think!) which is your maintenance calories (ie. the calories you would eat to maintiain your weight.
    To get your TDEE, MFP calculates yout BMR (the cals needed just to keep you alive if you were lying around in a coma) then multiplies it by an activity factor - 1.2 if you are sedentary, more if you are more active.

    so does that mean that the suggested calories already have the defict added into it.

    MFP calculates an automatic 500 calorie deficit.
  • shawnadwyer
    shawnadwyer Posts: 49 Member
    You are close - the calories are subtracted from your TDEE (total daily energy expediture, I think!) which is your maintenance calories (ie. the calories you would eat to maintiain your weight.
    To get your TDEE, MFP calculates yout BMR (the cals needed just to keep you alive if you were lying around in a coma) then multiplies it by an activity factor - 1.2 if you are sedentary, more if you are more active.

    so does that mean that the suggested calories already have the defict added into it.

    MFP calculates an automatic 500 calorie deficit.

    thank you guys soooo much for clarifying this for me i was so confused,
  • jennifer52484
    jennifer52484 Posts: 888 Member
    this can't be good.. i saw the subject of this thread and thought it read "cake deficit"... my mind if playing tricks on me..
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    MFP doesn't technically add a 500 deficit.

    It adds a 500 deficit if you choose a 1 pound per week weight loss. 0.5 pound is 250 calorie deficit, 1.5 is 750 calorie deficit etc.

    The theory is it takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a pound so 7X500=3500 or one pound per week.
  • CaseRat
    CaseRat Posts: 377 Member
    You are close - the calories are subtracted from your TDEE (total daily energy expediture, I think!) which is your maintenance calories (ie. the calories you would eat to maintiain your weight.
    To get your TDEE, MFP calculates yout BMR (the cals needed just to keep you alive if you were lying around in a coma) then multiplies it by an activity factor - 1.2 if you are sedentary, more if you are more active.

    so does that mean that the suggested calories already have the defict added into it.

    MFP calculates an automatic 500 calorie deficit.

    thank you guys soooo much for clarifying this for me i was so confused,

    It calculates the 500 calories deficit ONLY IF you select 1lb weight loss per week.
  • hypersensitiveb
    hypersensitiveb Posts: 342 Member
    You are close - the calories are subtracted from your TDEE (total daily energy expediture, I think!) which is your maintenance calories (ie. the calories you would eat to maintiain your weight.
    To get your TDEE, MFP calculates yout BMR (the cals needed just to keep you alive if you were lying around in a coma) then multiplies it by an activity factor - 1.2 if you are sedentary, more if you are more active.

    That explains a lot!! I wondered why I was not loosing the # of pounds I was expecting.
    My bmr is 1,403. That times 1.2 is 1683.6.that's the TDEE. So.. If I take the 500 from that for the one pound loss it ends up 1183.6 calories. (Not 1200). The estimated loss of 1.5 a week would be 933.6 a day (not 1200) and the 2 lb a week loss (what I put I wanted) would be 683.62 a day ( not 1200)
    Not that I'm advising going down to the very low numbers but at least I have a more realistic idea of what I will be loosing and not thinking I'm doing some thing wrong . THANK YOU!
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    Everything you'll ever need to know right here:
    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    Oh, and calculate your BMR, you should NEVER eat below that number, regardless of what MFP says.
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    You are close - the calories are subtracted from your TDEE (total daily energy expediture, I think!) which is your maintenance calories (ie. the calories you would eat to maintiain your weight.
    To get your TDEE, MFP calculates yout BMR (the cals needed just to keep you alive if you were lying around in a coma) then multiplies it by an activity factor - 1.2 if you are sedentary, more if you are more active.

    That explains a lot!! I wondered why I was not loosing the # of pounds I was expecting.
    My bmr is 1,403. That times 1.2 is 1683.6.that's the TDEE. So.. If I take the 500 from that for the one pound loss it ends up 1183.6 calories. (Not 1200). The estimated loss of 1.5 a week would be 933.6 a day (not 1200) and the 2 lb a week loss (what I put I wanted) would be 683.62 a day ( not 1200)
    Not that I'm advising going down to the very low numbers but at least I have a more realistic idea of what I will be loosing and not thinking I'm doing some thing wrong . THANK YOU!

    I always thought you multiplied the number by the amount of exercise you typically do in a week.

    Little or No Exercise: 1.2
    Light Exercise 1-3X a week: 1.375
    Moderate Exercise 3-5X a week: 1.55
    Heavy Exercise 6-7X a week: 1.725
    Very Heavy Exercise 2x a day: 1.9
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    That explains a lot!! I wondered why I was not loosing the # of pounds I was expecting.
    My bmr is 1,403. That times 1.2 is 1683.6.that's the TDEE. So.. If I take the 500 from that for the one pound loss it ends up 1183.6 calories. (Not 1200). The estimated loss of 1.5 a week would be 933.6 a day (not 1200) and the 2 lb a week loss (what I put I wanted) would be 683.62 a day ( not 1200)
    Not that I'm advising going down to the very low numbers but at least I have a more realistic idea of what I will be loosing and not thinking I'm doing some thing wrong . THANK YOU!

    When you click on the 'my goals' tab it will tell you what your calorie deficit is and how much per week you would EXPECT. This will update as you lose weight so you can watch your weightloss taper off (as it should lol)
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