1000 calorie deficits...are they safe?

DiamondInTheDirt
DiamondInTheDirt Posts: 117 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hey guys, so theres an option here on MFP to set your caloric needs to loose 2lbs per week, which is equal to a 1000 calorie deficit per day. I was wondering whether it is safe to eat at a 1000 calorie deficit? Many state that its not, and that you will go into starvation mode, and THEN i see many people loosing 2lbs per week and they seem healthy/energetic. Not quite sure what to make of this!

Replies

  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
    No!

    Here is what you need to do:

    Go to http://fat2fitradio.com/tools
    1) Calculate YOUR body fat % using the miltary tool
    2) Calculate your Goal Weight
    3) Calculate your BMR and the TDEE for the GOAL WEIGHT you wish to be
    4) Eat the Calories recommended based on your activity level (light to moderate) and NET no lower than your BMR
    5) Do strength training 3 days a week, walk 5 days a week.
    6) IGNORE THE SCALE

    Watch the inches melt from your waist as you lose fat and gain lean muscle.
  • My1985Freckles
    My1985Freckles Posts: 1,039 Member
    The "don't lose more than 2lbs a week" is a common concept. 1000 calories seems to be the cut off deficit number. I follow the Olivia Method (search the forums for more info) and you are to eat your BMR and only eat back the exercise calories that put you at a daily deficit of over 1000 calories. I've been happy with this. I average no more than 1000 calorie deficit a day (some days I have a few over, but most days I'm under that lol). I am energetic and healthy. I say go with what works for you. If this constricts your calories and leaves you feeling weak, then eat more.
  • DiamondInTheDirt
    DiamondInTheDirt Posts: 117 Member
    The "don't lose more than 2lbs a week" is a common concept. 1000 calories seems to be the cut off deficit number. I follow the Olivia Method (search the forums for more info) and you are to eat your BMR and only eat back the exercise calories that put you at a daily deficit of over 1000 calories. I've been happy with this. I average no more than 1000 calorie deficit a day (some days I have a few over, but most days I'm under that lol). I am energetic and healthy. I say go with what works for you. If this constricts your calories and leaves you feeling weak, then eat more.

    Ive been told not to eat below my BMR, so ive been doing pretty much what youre doing. SInce my BMR is 1600, and if i burn 2600 cals per day (I own a fitbit, so i pretty much know how many calories im burning per day), then im going to still remain in the healthy region of weightloss? Am i getting this right? lol
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
    I did it for a while and didn't have any negative side effects (physically - mentally i am really ****ed up from it and probably have an eating disorder)

    :indifferent:
  • My1985Freckles
    My1985Freckles Posts: 1,039 Member
    The "don't lose more than 2lbs a week" is a common concept. 1000 calories seems to be the cut off deficit number. I follow the Olivia Method (search the forums for more info) and you are to eat your BMR and only eat back the exercise calories that put you at a daily deficit of over 1000 calories. I've been happy with this. I average no more than 1000 calorie deficit a day (some days I have a few over, but most days I'm under that lol). I am energetic and healthy. I say go with what works for you. If this constricts your calories and leaves you feeling weak, then eat more.

    Ive been told not to eat below my BMR, so ive been doing pretty much what youre doing. SInce my BMR is 1600, and if i burn 2600 cals per day (I own a fitbit, so i pretty much know how many calories im burning per day), then im going to still remain in the healthy region of weightloss? Am i getting this right? lol

    Sounds right to me 2600-1600=1000 :-)
  • smittieaj
    smittieaj Posts: 151 Member
    I won't even begin to pretend that I have the credentials to advise you on the safety of a 1000 calorie daily deficit, but I can definitely vouch for the fact that it works.

    I've personally been running a 1000 calorie per day deficit for months and I find it to be a perfectly livable solution for myself.

    Although it does take a little discipline, I find that I am motivated to keep going through the results that I am seeing. Quite frankly, at a pound or half-pound per week, I think that I might be overcome with impatience.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,864 Member
    Much of this depends on how much weight you have to lose. Someone who is obese/morbidly obese will do just fine for sometime with a large deficit because they have plenty of fat stores for fuel. It can be dangerous for someone who only has a handful of cosmetic weight to lose because the fat stores just aren't enough to sustain such a large deficit...these are the ones that you ultimately see go into quick metabolism stalls. It's not really "starvation mode"...way over used term. It is a metabolic stall however, and other complications as well.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    Hey guys, so theres an option here on MFP to set your caloric needs to loose 2lbs per week, which is equal to a 1000 calorie deficit per day. I was wondering whether it is safe to eat at a 1000 calorie deficit? Many state that its not, and that you will go into starvation mode, and THEN i see many people loosing 2lbs per week and they seem healthy/energetic. Not quite sure what to make of this!

    Depends - My TDEE is only around 1700 (according to my fitbit)

    The main reason for saying an extreme defict is bad is the lack of nutrition.

    If I had a 1000 Calorie defict I would only eat 700 calories - which is a 60% defict - not good
    For someone whose TDEE is over 3000 cals, a 1000 is only a 30% defict so isn't too bad.

    I'm currently only at a 250 cal deficit, as I don't want o eat less than my BMR.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    These may help

    http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/members/449.cfm

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/setting-the-deficit-small-moderate-or-large.html
  • tomg33
    tomg33 Posts: 305 Member
    Anyone noticed that "this user has deactivated their account"?

    Damn.
  • Bakkasan
    Bakkasan Posts: 1,027 Member
    Way too many factors to say yes or no. What if you are 700 lbs? 300 even! 1000 per deficit isn't hard to create in these cases. If you are 150 looking to get to 130, totally different animal.
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
    Depends on how much weight you have to lose initially, along with multiple other factors.
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