[WazzuGirl]

Hi everyone,

Well, I've had to go back to the tried and true calorie-counting and I've been looking through some of the threads and notice that you say "deficit 500" or whatever. How do you know this for sure or are you just making estimates? I just know that knowing how many calories someone burns has a lot to do with their weight and intensity of activity. Plus, including basal metabolic rate and all that. Is there some way that I can accurately tell how much of a deficit or surplus that I have?

[srmb60]

Not really. Most of it is head scratching and educated guesses. After you've been at it for a while, you can figure backwards ... for instance ... if you have averaged a one pound loss per week over several weeks, you've probably created a 500 cal deficit each day.

[aphil]

They are complete estimates/estiamted guesses. Metablic online calculators (that estimate what you burn a day depending on your height/age/lifestyle and all that, plus the calorie estimates burned during exercise are estimates as well.

There really is no need to figure your deficit each day. If you are exercising, eating healthy and at a calorie level appropriate for you-and you are losing weight equal to 1/2-2 pounds per week or so-then you are creating a deficit that is appropriate for you-with no calculating it necessary. I, and many others here, have never sat and figured out our daily deficits-simply because of the innacuracy of them. I focus, instead, on my exercise, the quality of my diet, and my measurements/scale findings instead.

[srmb60]

Remember the adage ... eat less, move more? I have a friend who started eating off a smaller plate and goes to aerobics twice a week. She's obviously creating a deficit ... she doesn't know how big or small it is but she's losing weight.