The 3500 Deficit
 

So everyone hears about how 1 lb of fat is 3500 calories, so you need to make a 3500 deficit to lose weight. so just what is this deficit based on?

i myself, pre-diet, was probably having over 2000 per day. Right now I'm exercising every day (250 to 650 cals burnt) and eating 1200-1400 calories.(started to rly count just a few days ago though xD)

So do i keep going with the 1200-1400 cals? or will i have to make a deficit on even THAT sometime in the future? i hope i'm not being confusing:dizzy:

Why diet???
 

Ok this site is not to attack anyone but to support everybody.....however with your current weight your BMI is slightly over 21. Why on earth do you want it down to borderline underweight(which 115 would be) I'm sure all people with BMI over 25 are a bit "annoyed" by this...sorry I don't mean to be mean but just don;t get it. Unless there is a health issue you shouldnt diet! Be happy you have a perfect weight.
I'm just 10 lbs too heavy and even I feel a bit guilty if I read all people with WAY more lbs to lose.

You know I was confused by the "deficit" also, how do you calculate it?

The deficit comes from your BMR (basal metabolic rate) - the number of calories your body uses just to exist. Based on your height and weight, your BMR is around 1450 (depends on your age). So if you're eating 1200 a day (too low, in my opinion, but that's just me...) and burning 250 a day, that's 1200-250-1450 = 500 calorie deficit a day. That's a 3500 calorie deficit a week, or 1 theoretical pound a week. There are other factors, though, like unintentional exercise, that will change it. But that's how I figure the deficit works.

I'd like to also echo the concern about your goal - I know not to put 100% faith in BMI, but that weight is right at the threshold for underweight for your height. I would suggest, if you think you need to lose, that you maybe focus on toning, and not so much on actual pound loss? That's just my suggestion, not trying to offend.

Originally Posted by dutch20:
Ok this site is not to attack anyone but to support everybody.....however with your current weight your BMI is slightly over 21. Why on earth do you want it down to borderline underweight(which 115 would be) I'm sure all people with BMI over 25 are a bit "annoyed" by this...sorry I don't mean to be mean but just don;t get it. Unless there is a health issue you shouldnt diet! Be happy you have a perfect weight.
I'm just 10 lbs too heavy and even I feel a bit guilty if I read all people with WAY more lbs to lose.

oh sorry didn't mean to offend but it's just that i've always wanted to look good in skinny jeans/leggings :D (i never have...:( ) graduate from hoodies and cords and try a skirt perhaps when i go to college in the fall...haha :)

Hmm...I'm your height, weigh more than you and look freakin fantastic in leggins or skinny jeans. So unless you are carrying all your weight in your lower half, I'll be you do to. Sounds like you're still in high school so granted you probably don't know how fantastic you look at 5'-6' 130 something, HOWEVER, given what the media throws at you everyday and with other 5'-6" celebs being in the 110s and 120s I can understand the desire. How about just focusing on eating well and exercising and doing well in college, things will fall into place.

Originally Posted by ncuneo:
Hmm...I'm your height, weigh more than you and look freakin fantastic in leggins or skinny jeans. So unless you are carrying all your weight in your lower half, I'll be you do to. Sounds like you're still in high school so granted you probably don't know how fantastic you look at 5'-6' 130 something, HOWEVER, given what the media throws at you everyday and with other 5'-6" celebs being in the 110s and 120s I can understand the desire. How about just focusing on eating well and exercising and doing well in college, things will fall into place.

Haha I was thinking the same thing - I weigh 40 pounds more than you and I rock skinny jeans! I was 130 in high school and thought I looked like a beached whale. Now I look at pictures of myself and I looked fab-u-lous!! I know that people telling you "you probably look awesome!" doesn't convince you of anything, but I swear it's true. I would really focus on just eating healthier and exercising - regardless of your weight, you'll look leaner. I would suggest ballet - you can find the New York City Ballet workout video on YouTube. Ballet will give you longer, leaner muscles. Hope that helps!

I have the same ultimate goal as you Kooo, and I'm exactly the same height, so I know where you are coming from, even if I obviously have much much further to go lol. People can look vastly different at the same height and weight, so saying that such and such looks good at such and such a weight doesn't really count for much with me tbh.
Ultimately it's your body and your goal, and you should go for whatever you feel comfortable with. I think as people have gotten fatter over the years the perception of what is underweight has become somewhat skewed, as we are so used to seeing overweight people being the norm.

thanks for your advice :)

as you said, timkerbelle, i'm 130 but i'm afraid not the right kind of 130 xD my upper body and arms are pretty thin, but my butt and thighs are a huge problem! i mean practically none of my weight is chest weight, either (i have trouble filling out a 34A) and with my biceps at 9.75 inches and my thighs at 21.75 inches, i feel lopsided :/

so the calorie deficit is definitely subtracted from the BMR? gosh...harder than i though :(

"my upper body and arms are pretty thin, but my butt and thighs are a huge problem! i mean practically none of my weight is chest weight, either (i have trouble filling out a 34A) and with my biceps at 9.75 inches and my thighs at 21.75 inches, i feel lopsided :/"


this is describing a pear shaped body. there's nothing you can do about that. you can bulk up the top to even it out a little, get some of the fat off the thighs, but we can't diet our way to a different body type.

the deficit is over a period of time, say a week. so if you eat less each day by 100 cal. then eventually, that's added up to a lb lost.

apparently my maintenance cals are 2200-2400 a day. i read that if i actually don't eat enough, my metabolism'll hang on and prevent weight loss and i would actually LOSE by eating more calories--is this true?

^yes! Or at least it's true for me. Honestly, I would recommend eating 1800ish and hitting the weights hard. You should really be focusing on body recomposition as opposed to weight loss for the results you're looking for. Weight loss is just going to give you a smaller version of the body you already have.

It's up to you how much weight you want to lose - but just to point out, if you were to use BMI as a guide - your goal weight would put you one pound shy of the underweight category.

As stated before, you probably already look fantastic in skinny jeans - maybe what you're looking for is to gain confidence?

i'm getting confused on what works--

consistent calories (like always staying at 1700ish, for example) or being at 1400-1500 with a cheat meal once a week or so...or both?

vary your calories. you're not supposed to be dead on at a calorie allowance every single day. throw in a higher calorie day once a week or vary it here and there. I stay between 1300-1700. Sometimes im on the high end and sometimes on the low. It's still under my BMR and I'm creating a 500 cal deficit at least when i include exercise. easy peasy

to ncuneo-she doesn't want to use the weights. fear of 'bulking up'. because she doesn't want her thighs or other body parts to be bigger.

but some form of strength training is really needed. you need that muscle to keep your metabolism burning all the time. you can only do so much cardio. but the muscle burns cal. around the clock. it just can't compare to cal. burned running. so you need both. the cardio burns a lot for a short period. the muscle burns it over the long haul.

i weigh over 300 pounds and my friend made me buy a pair of skinny jeans, said they made me look smaller than my other jeans, i love them so comfy..i don't care if i look like a bloated cow im wearing my skinny jeans..i guess if they don't want fat people to wear them..lane bryant wouldn't make them. haha..what im saying to op is i bet you look awesome in them...

She won't bulk up, that's a myth. It is very difficult for women to bulk up. If you're still concerned try yoga instead.

Varying cals will usually provide the best results, but we're all an experiment of one.

Originally Posted by kooo:

so the calorie deficit is definitely subtracted from the BMR? gosh...harder than i though :(

No no no, the deficit is based on ALL the calories you burn in a day. BMR and exercise and just, you know, moving around.

The tough part is that it's hard to know how many calories you burn in a day. Usually you have to figure it out with trial and error.

But let's just take a hypothetical example (these numbers are all made up). Let's say that my BMR is 1500 calories. And I'm sedentary, so I burn another 500 calories a day doing everything I do. That means I need 2000 calories to maintain my weight. So, if I cut back to 1500/day, that is a 500 calorie deficit/day, 500*7=3500/week, which would equal 1 pound/week of weight loss, on average (lots of other things factor into our weight on the scale.

Let's say the same person changes from a sedentary to an active lifestyle, burning an extra 300 calories/day. Now maintenance is 2300 calories...

Also, people who weigh less have a lower BMR and burn fewer calories in everything they do. So, as you lose weight, you need to cut back on the calories. That's why it's harder to lose weight when you don't have much to lose -- as in your situation.

I use a bodybugg and it tells me how many calories I'm buring. I use a wii fit and I find that it's cal burn estimations are off by at least 1/3rd. My husband also finds that his calories burns according to the gym machines are off when compared to the bodybugg too. On ebay I usually see the older models reasonably cheap.

Originally Posted by :
so the calorie deficit is definitely subtracted from the BMR? gosh...harder than i though

How did I miss that one! Heather is absolutely correct, it's not from your BMR it includes all activity. And like she said that's the hard part, figuring out exactly what you personally burn.

aha. so my BMR is nearly 1460...and my maintenance cals for my activity level = 2300. eating 1500 a day and exercising off perhaps 200 or more puts me at theoretically losing 2 pounds a week then? i guess that means i really shouldn't dip under 1500 unless i'm zigzagging.

for muscle--are crunches and squats good? of course, yoga&stretching afterward.

At 132 pounds (which I think is a normal weight for your height) you won't be losing 2 pounds/week regularly. Someone my weight (or higher) is more likely to do that. Usually you'd expect to regularly lose .5-1% of your body weight/week.

I don't know where you're getting your estimate for your maintenance calories, but I would say I can maintain my weight at about 2200-2400 calories, so that number sounds high for you. The only way to know is to track your calories carefully and see what happens.

If you haven't found the featherweights forum here, I'd suggest that. There you'll find lots of people like you who want to lose a few pounds and struggle with the issues that arise when it's hard to get the scale to move because they're close to goal.

I do think you'll find that weight lifting will help tone you and make you look smaller. Crunches are good for abs and squats for legs, but you'll want to learn a lot more about exercises to do for all parts of your body.

shoot. well i guess half a pound to a pound a week would be fine too.

i got the 2200-2400 from many calculator sites--i exercise vigorously 7 days a week so that might be it.

haha i know of the featherweight forum, i just wanted to get info on the famous 3500 number^^ thanks for your help!

i don't have regular access to weights...is there something i can do without equipment?

Yes, there are lots of things you can do without equipment -- or very minimal equipment!! A lot of people work with resistance bands, for example. Google "strength training without equipment" I expect you'll find a lot of ideas.

Kooo, did I read right on featherweights you are only 16 years old? I think this might be a matter of learning to embrace your new grown female figure and not compare yourself to other 16 year old girls who might be a bit more 'lanky' (I was 'lanky' in high school, 100lbs, and oddly enough very jealous of the girls with a more adult woman figure). I would be so bold as to say that a 16 year old girl striving to be near underweight is a big red flag.

And don't forget you might keep growing.

Don't waste your time with cruches. Pick up New Rules of Lifting for Women. It's total body and will give you the legs and core you want. It has an excellent nutrition section that I think will shed a lot of light on what we've been trying to tell you.

thanks!!

i'll look into all of that...i think i'm done growing though :(

@sacha haha i think i wouldn't mind either if my curves were in the right places :D but unfortunately it's just been looking like a fat attack on the thighs, my hips are narrow and my chest is flat...

Originally Posted by sacha:
Kooo, did I read right on featherweights you are only 16 years old? I think this might be a matter of learning to embrace your new grown female figure and not compare yourself to other 16 year old girls who might be a bit more 'lanky' (I was 'lanky' in high school, 100lbs, and oddly enough very jealous of the girls with a more adult woman figure). I would be so bold as to say that a 16 year old girl striving to be near underweight is a big red flag.

I TOTALLY agree. You should NOT diet when you have a healthy weight at your age.....it's Not healthy. You're body is still developing....embrace it and be happy and enjoy these awesome years . You're having a perfect weight. THAT's the reality.....maintaining it is one thing but trying to lose at age 16 to almost underweight???? NOT good at all. I so so hope you will see that soon and that you will start to relax about all. Do healthy workouts and maintain your weight...that's my advice.

I have pretty big thighs too- specifically saddlebags, blah- and it's just a part of my body I cannot change. My mom, who was a 3 sport athlete in high school, and my sister (who is 100 lbs and always dieting to an unhealthy degree), both have never been able to get rid of them. It's just a part of me I have to deal with- it's the genetic cards I've been dealt.

There's nothing wrong with trying to tone the body, but sometimes there are things we cannot tone away. Your 'fat attacks' could be, as other posters have suggested, part of your growing into a feminine body.

I know it's easy for me as a 24 year old not under the pressures of being a teenager to say 'just accept your unique body for what it is and move on' but that kind of is what I'm saying. My mom told me that enough when I was 16 to start believing it and I was so much happier after I did :)

Originally Posted by indiblue:
I have pretty big thighs too- specifically saddlebags, blah- and it's just a part of my body I cannot change. My mom, who was a 3 sport athlete in high school, and my sister (who is 100 lbs and always dieting to an unhealthy degree), both have never been able to get rid of them. It's just a part of me I have to deal with- it's the genetic cards I've been dealt.

There's nothing wrong with trying to tone the body, but sometimes there are things we cannot tone away. Your 'fat attacks' could be, as other posters have suggested, part of your growing into a feminine body.

I know it's easy for me as a 24 year old not under the pressures of being a teenager to say 'just accept your unique body for what it is and move on' but that kind of is what I'm saying. My mom told me that enough when I was 16 to start believing it and I was so much happier after I did :)

true....your problem zone may always be there no matter if you even would lose all the weight. I've done plenty of diets just to make sure it never gets too much out of control. But even when I did weigh 137lbs I STILL had love handles.....so....please please....accept your healthy body....