Deficit? I don't get it???

MissPriss30
MissPriss30 Posts: 67
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, soo...here's something I understand but at the same time do not and that is your total calorie in take say it is 1200/day and then you burn 800 calories in exercise, the report you get is that you have "earned" 800 extra calories? Can someone please tell me if there is any truth in this justification? In other words, if you ate another 300 calories to make your calories 1500 total for the day, would you still lose weight? The reason I ask is because I had a doctor tell me a few days ago (endocrinologist) that 3 meals a day was sufficient, not to go over 1000 calories 1200 at the VERY MOST and that my carbohydrate intake did not need to go over 100 grams/day he really didnt care about fat intake for obvious reasons, it would be hard to take in high fat without the high calories and stay within my caloric "budget" so to speak. So any input would be greatly appreciate here!

Thanks!! :huh:

Replies

  • TheAlmightyAmy
    TheAlmightyAmy Posts: 6
    I'm new here too and have been wondering the same thing... seems like you're shooting yourself in the foot if you exercise and then turn right around and eat the calories you've burned...
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    Your Daily Net Calories already has a deficit factored in. To maintain that deficit, you eat back the calories you burn.

    The whole point is to lose the weight safely and healthily- a maximum of 2 pounds/ week.
  • Hanni
    Hanni Posts: 158 Member
    As BrendaLee said.

    The average woman needs 2000 cals / day to MAINTAIN her weight + any calories that she burns from exercise.

    MFP has already calculated you a calorie deficit when it tells you that in order to loose 2lbs / week your calorie allowance is 1200 cals / day (just think: 1200 cals + exercise calories):smile:

    Because, lets say you have eaten the 1200 calories for the day and now you go and exercise. Let's say you burn 300 calories with the exercising.

    Oh-oh! Now your body has only got a total calorie intake of 900 cals for the day. That is not healthy at all. Your body needs at least 1200 calories so therefore it is pretty safe to eat back the 300 calories you have earned. You wont have exercised for nothing, you will have toned your body.

    Hope this helped. :flowerforyou:
  • missjenn
    missjenn Posts: 18 Member
    It is kind of hard to believe at first. What? I can eat what I've worked off?

    I think everyone needs to figure out what works for them. I eat all or almost all of my exercise cals. everyday and I've lost 27 pounds since May 21. I'm have 5 more pounds till goal. I know that some people eat half and some none. It seems to be different for everyone. I'd start by eating them and go from there.

    Best of luck- J
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    I eat most of mine.

    Think of it this way. If you were NOT on MFP and were eating just enough to keep your weight the same, you'd eat "maintenance" (whatever that is for your age, height, weight, and normal activity level). For me, maintenance is 1,950. Now, I could go work off 400 calories, and I'd net 1,550 calories. So I'd lose weight. OR, I could *always* shoot for a 500 calorie deficit (1,450) and any calories I burn off through exercise allow me to eat MORE food than my 1,450. This second method is how MFP works.

    You don't want to go below 1,200 (after deducting exercise) because that is supposed to be the least amount the average woman should eat without their metabolism slowing way down (which causes one to be tired, fuzzy-headed, weak, etc. and to lose weight at a much slower rate)
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    wait a second, your doctor told you to eat no more than 1000 calories? I find that hard to swallow. Obviously you aren't morbidly obese and don't need a VLCD (your profile says 40 lbs to lose, unless that's a mini goal, then we can assume you aren't morbidly obese), and unless 4'10" tall 1000 calories is waaaaay low.

    Did you ask him the reasoning behind this strategy? Are you sure he didn't mean not to go over a 1000 calorie deficit? That would seem more reasonable to me for him to say, although I think a 1000 calorie deficit for a person with 40 lbs to lose is too big.

    As to calories, see the link in my sig below? click it, it leads you to a bunch of newbie posts that should help you to understand how the MFP strategy works.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    wait a second, your doctor told you to eat no more than 1000 calories? I find that hard to swallow. Obviously you aren't morbidly obese and don't need a VLCD (your profile says 40 lbs to lose, unless that's a mini goal, then we can assume you aren't morbidly obese), and unless 4'10" tall 1000 calories is waaaaay low.

    Did you ask him the reasoning behind this strategy? Are you sure he didn't mean not to go over a 1000 calorie deficit? That would seem more reasonable to me for him to say, although I think a 1000 calorie deficit for a person with 40 lbs to lose is too big.

    As to calories, see the link in my sig below? click it, it leads you to a bunch of newbie posts that should help you to understand how the MFP strategy works.

    Doctors aren't all they're cracked up to be sometimes, trust me. I wouldn't be too surprised if that is the advice she got from her doc. My doctor stared at me blankly when I told her about MFP and my 1000 calorie deficit. I think she's of the 1200 calories / day + exercise mind.
  • MissPriss30
    MissPriss30 Posts: 67
    Alright girls here is the deal go to bodyspace.com and in the member box type in "kristinsvette25" I am NOT by any shape of the imagination obese and don't know where 40lbs came from lol however I am VERY MUSCULAR and am sick and tired of weighing 165lbs at 5'5 and have had NUMEROUS PERSONAL TRAINERS, which only ONE has helped me since discovering I had hypothyroidism. So.... my doctor tells me after getting the results back from my bloodwork, that I do NOT need to be taking thyroid medication AT ALL, that he doesn't know what "quack" put me on it but that I did NOT have hypothyroidism!?!?! How's that for a shocker girls lol? It was sufficient enough for me, so I had wondered why on earth if I was now thrown into "hyperthyroidism" why wasnt I just a toothpick with all of the exercise and healthy food I eat. Well apparently you can gain and even not be able to lose if you are not at a healthy balance with your thyroid. Doctor tells me that I just may be one of those people that can not get away with eating over 1000 calories a day or 90 grams of carbohydrates a day, and the more cardio I can do the better. For instance this program on here states that if I do 3 hrs of cardio a day 1 1/2 hrs am and 1 1/2 hrs pm that I will be down to 133.7lbs in 5 weeks. If so will I continue to have to do this much exercise to keep it off? Hope this isn't too much info just know I am sick and tired of not being comfortable in my own skin, or waking up dredding putting my clothes on. Thanks for the feed back it is greatly appreciated!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Alright girls here is the deal go to bodyspace.com and in the member box type in "kristinsvette25" I am NOT by any shape of the imagination obese and don't know where 40lbs came from lol however I am VERY MUSCULAR and am sick and tired of weighing 165lbs at 5'5 and have had NUMEROUS PERSONAL TRAINERS, which only ONE has helped me since discovering I had hypothyroidism. So.... my doctor tells me after getting the results back from my bloodwork, that I do NOT need to be taking thyroid medication AT ALL, that he doesn't know what "quack" put me on it but that I did NOT have hypothyroidism!?!?! How's that for a shocker girls lol? It was sufficient enough for me, so I had wondered why on earth if I was now thrown into "hyperthyroidism" why wasnt I just a toothpick with all of the exercise and healthy food I eat. Well apparently you can gain and even not be able to lose if you are not at a healthy balance with your thyroid. Doctor tells me that I just may be one of those people that can not get away with eating over 1000 calories a day or 90 grams of carbohydrates a day, and the more cardio I can do the better. For instance this program on here states that if I do 3 hrs of cardio a day 1 1/2 hrs am and 1 1/2 hrs pm that I will be down to 133.7lbs in 5 weeks. If so will I continue to have to do this much exercise to keep it off? Hope this isn't too much info just know I am sick and tired of not being comfortable in my own skin, or waking up dredding putting my clothes on. Thanks for the feed back it is greatly appreciated!

    Honestly, that doctor's a psycho. 1000 calories a day for someone who is 5'5 and 165 lbs is starvation. I dare say yeah, you probably won't lose any weight eating that little, but not because it's too much food, it's because your body is in such a panic that it's slowing down your organ function and other metabolic processes, you NEED to eat in order to lose weight healthy. If you think you have a problem with your thyroid, then you go see an endocrinologist, let them look at all your thyroid levels (TSH, T3, T4). Telling a healthy person that they should eat 1000 calories a day or less IMHO is malpractice and the doctor should have his/her license revoked! Eating 1000 calories a day WILL mimic thyroid issues, because it changes your body chemistry, and makes your fat burning metabolism pretty much stop.
  • Wecandothis
    Wecandothis Posts: 1,083 Member
    You need to get a second opinion like SHBoss says. Right away.
  • Jentx30
    Jentx30 Posts: 15
    I don' think that medical doctors know what they are talking about when it comes to fitness and nutrition. I too have issues with my thyroid..at least I think that I do..or if not that I have really bad hormone issues that cause me to be chunky and gain weight easily. I was a very thin child until I started getting periods. I've been chunky ever since then...so 20 years of chunkiness and fighting to look OK. I have been to several doctors about my thyroid and none of them think that I have a problem and they all say that if I did then I would be 300lbs. I don't believe that. It shouldn't be so hard to stay chunky and it shouldn't be so impossible to be thin. I work out like crazy and no matter what, I stay chunky. Anyhoo, I get flustered when I see things like this because doctors don't learn all about nutrition in med school. If they did they wouldn't tell people to starve themselves and live on the treadmill.
  • jlefton1212
    jlefton1212 Posts: 171 Member
    Did I understand you correctly that you plan on doing 3 hours of cardio PER DAY? I think that sounds like an awful lot to take on.

    My recommendation is to try and go by the exact suggestions from the MFP database (so if it recommends 1200 net per day, stick with that) and then do 30-60 minutes of exercise per day. If I were you, I wouldn't go over 2 hours per day, simply because it will be difficult to maintain. Keep in mind that this site provides guidelines for a healthy lifestyle -- you want to use tactics that you can maintain for the long term. Exercising 3 hours per day doesn't sound like something that most people could keep up for very long.

    Following the site's recommendations, you'll probably lose about 1-1.5 pounds per week, and then when you reach your goal weight you can adjust your setting on MFP and it will give you the recommended amount of calories you will need to maintain that weight.
  • cheshirekat
    cheshirekat Posts: 126 Member
    1000 calories, holy wow. I think when I first started dieting I ate around that, and yeah I lost a little weight, but it was slow go, and I was basically completely sedentary and my diet was unhealthy and unbalanced. After upping my intake, upping my exercise, and being very consistent, keeping track of EVERYTHING I eat and do, the weight is coming off slowly but steadily. Eating that little sucks, makes you feel unhappy, and there is almost no way you can get proper nutrition. I would eat maybe 1500 calories a day and still lose 1-2 pounds a week back when I still had 50 or so pounds to lose, and when I exercised, I ate even more and yes, still lost weight. Your body needs food to function. Food=fuel. And you shouldn't need to exercise that much to lose weight, maybe you are trying to lose weight too fast. Be patient, you are so gorgeous, I saw your pictures and I know its hard, but work on loving yourself, who you are right now and today just as much time as you spend trying to lose weight or more, and trust me, your happiness level will increase significantly. You may not realize it, but people who love you and care about you won't care how much you weigh or what you look like, they will see your awesome qualities and beautiful spirit and it just doesn't matter what you look like on the outside. People who don't want to get to know you on the inside because of superficial appearances are not worth your time. You deserve better, and you deserve to love yourself and treat yourself to a healthy life. Do the things you love to do, pursue your greatest dreams, and focus your goals on becoming happier and healthier, and lose some weight in the process, but don't let it become obsessive. You are so pretty, and so strong, and you have some wonderful assets (like man I would be lucky to have a chest like yours!) Everytime you think of something you dislike about yourself, make it a point to come up with two things that you like about yourself. I know this might be hard at first, but loving yourself is very important, and confidence is very sexy! Hope this helps, have a wonderful night
    :heart: Kat
  • MissPriss30
    MissPriss30 Posts: 67
    WOW! What a sweet heart, listen that was just precious what you said Chesirekat and I am very touched and thankful that you took the time to care and share your thoughts. So Thank you greatly! You are a very pretty girl yourself and I totally agree with everything you said :-)

    OK- to everyone else, My ENDOCRINOLOGIST that I just saw as of LAST TUESDAY tells me that all of my hormone levels are NORMAL and that I have T4 TOXICISITY? Don't think I spelled that right but anywho lol alright, he said that he wanted me to stop the thyroid medication immediately and that he didnt even think I needed to be on ANY thyroid meds because the level of thyriod hormone in my blood wouldnt be at toxic levels even if I did have a "slight" hypothyroid problem. Either way he said it boiled down to calories in vs calories out, and NO I do not do 3 hrs of cardio a day omg I would fall out lol but I however do accomplish 1 1/2 hrs as I have done this before and cut down my food intake to 1000-1200 calories a day and lost about 15-20lbs in about 5 or 6 weeks. I have had a personal trainer for the past 5 months and lost no more than 5lbs but my body looked great, clothes didn't fit too much differently which is MOST IMPORTANT to me, I want my clothes to get bigger on me and it to be an obvious thing, there is no reason in the world that with my dedication and motivation I shouldn't be dropping some weight regardless of how much muscle I carry etc it should still be coming off. With all of this taken into consideration, I have decided to stick to the 1200 calories a day and no lower if I can help it, that hole 5 meals a day thing has NEVER worked for me and only added weight to the scales and that is probably the most discouraging thing, killing yourself at the gym for 5 straight months and not seeing the scales budge more than 5-6lbs!! ugh what a nightmare! So anyway, I am learning that i don't have to eat oatmeal and sweet potatos and brown rice every single day of my life, as a matter of fact I don't think I can ever eat another sweet potato or brown rice as long as I live ugh. I think the "ultimate" weight loss plan is one that allows you to eat the foods you like for example if you like bagels get carb check bagels very low cals and moderate carbs for a bagel with fat free cream cheese, I stay satisfied eating this way and I do not feel the need for cheating during the week as I did before on the 5 meals /day always craving something sweet or something I wasnt suppose to have. Now, I don't have to do that I think that counting calories is soooo much easier than preparing meals a day ahead of time what a hassle lol! Anyway you guys are awesome and I really want you all to know that I appreciate it that you take the time to read my posts and give me some words of encouragement and advice I also love it that you share your personal experiences with me!
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