Calorie Deficiet as easy as...........??
 

Some one please help me out here.....
As simple as..I choose 2000 calories for my daily intake....I burned, say 200 Calories @ a high intensity workout....therefore I've consumed 1800 calories for my day.......Is my deficiet then 200???

I read that so many of you have these great high deficiets...so what the heck am I doing wrong :D

Thanks :hug:

Figuring up your calorie deficit isn't "accurate". More like an educated guess. There is no real way to know exactly what your deficit is, unless you were hooked up to a bunch of stuff while doctors measured all of your energy output as you did every little thing all day long that burned a calorie-getting the mail, sleeping, breathing...not just your workouts. Guessing the calorie burn of your workout is also an educted guess-because 2 people can walk a mile together and each of them burn different calorie amounts based on their weight, their age, their personal metabolism, genetics, etc.

You burn calories ALL DAY long...not just during your workout. You burn calories eating, sleeping, breathing-basically living burns calories. The more you weigh, the more you burn in a day because you have more body to carry around-so a person weighing 300 pounds can lose weight eating more calories than someone who weighs 150-because they use more doing everyday things. Make sense? For instance-it is much more work for a 300 pound person to do the same workout as a 150 pound person-because they have so much more resistance.

Your 200 calories is your estimate burn for your workout alone...not your entire day's calories used.

Honestly-a lot of people figure up their deficits here...but it isn't necessary. I have never done this and have successfully lost weight and maintained after each of my children. If you are exercising regularly, and losing weight at 1/2-3 pounds per week-then you are creating deficit and doing it right-no need to estimate all the rest. :dizzy:

Is 2000 calories creating a loss for you right now each week? THIS is how you accurately tell you are creating a deficit. :)

Aphil has it exactly right (as usual).

But, to answer your specific question, to create a deficit, you need an estimate of how many calories it takes to maintain your current weight. The Mayo Clinic has a good calculator (although it will be an estimate, because each person is unique).

Let's use 2000 calories as an example. In this example, if you ate 2000 calories and didn't work out, you would keep the same weight. You would like to lose weight, so you want to create a caloric deficit. To lose one lb, you need to create a deficit over time of 3500 calories. To lose one lb a week (a very safe, reasonable, attainable weight loss goal), you need to create a deficit of 500 calories a day (500 per day x 7 days = 3500).

You can do this in several ways. You could cut your calories to 1500 a day. That would create a deficit of 500 calories a day. You could cut 250 calories a day and then burn 250 calories a day with exercise. That would create a deficit of 500 calories a day. You could eat 2000 calories and burn 500 calories with exercise. That would create a deficit of 500 calories a day.

A combination of small caloric reduction and exercise would probably be the best idea. Exercise has so many positive benefits, good for your heart, builds muscle, etc etc. Plus, you don't want to restrict calories too much - your body might interpret it as famine or you just might not get all the nutrition you need a day. Eating is pleasurable, being hungry is not.

Just like Aphil, I never paid attention to the deficit when I lost weight. I counted calories, I exercised, weight came off. At the very best, the deficit is an estimate. At the very worst, you do everything perfectly, create a huge deficit and the scale still doesn't budge. The human body is not a pin ball machine that you put a quarter into and it does exactly what calculators/web sites say it will. There were many weeks, where I ate on plan, exercised and STILL didn't lose weight. That's why I would advise not getting all caught up in the math, it can be frustrating.

Eat less junk, eat more vegetables, lean protein, low fat dairy, fruit, whole grains, healthy fat and exercise. You will do wonderful, healthy things for your body.

I agree with these two when I figure my deficit I should be losing 1pound a week but I do not . One week i won't loose anything, the next week I will loose a pound and maybe go a few weeks without loosing anything ,then the next week be down 2 or 3 pounds. So just eat right and work out. Do measurements don't go just by weight. Muscle weights more than fat.

Thank you so much...it's now nice to know I can count my calories and exercise....calories in, calories out! It worked a few weeks ago and I was successful, but got caught up in the deficeit thing..
Think I'll just keep it simple..
Thanks!!!!

Muscle has a greater density than fat but it does not weight more. 1 pound is 1 pound no matter what it is.

You're in the same boat as I am. We're really close to our goal, and the things we were doing when we started just don't seem to do it for us any longer. You need to tweak things a little--cut say 100 calories a day and increase your exercise by 10 minutes. Its those little things that kick the body into gear again. I think I've gone most of the summer with no discernable weight loss--I've yo-yo'd with the same 3 or 4 pounds all summer. This month, I've kicked it up by cutting alcohol consumption (empty calories) and I hope that this is what it will take to lose 4 pounds this month. I'm telling myself that this isn't really a plateau--it's more like I'm resting and maintaining the loss that I've achieved and if I kick it up a bit I'll get back on track.

I found keeping my calories at about 1300-1500 is what worked for me...too afraid to go to the 2000..that was just an example...
I did GREAT the first week....3.6 loss with keeping in that range and walking everyday on my treadmill, using what the treadmill electronically recorded I burned in calories.
Then I read something in regards to perhaps not using what the treadmill recorded, and thought, oh no all that work and sweat for nothing...so got discouraged for a moment :( Perhaps I didn't read it clearly enough. Either way it is Calorie Counting for me, and taking into consideration what the treadmill records I burned. It worked so I'll stay with that..even if it may not be exact, I am burning something, right! :D

Have a wonderful day!!!

I sometimes do a second workout at night (20-40 mins running or race walking on gazelle) but with kids back in school I am trying to get into a new routine. If the hubby isn't home after supper I have to get the 4 kids ready and in bed then wait for them to go to sleep.(the older 2 to like to talk) so sometimes it is too late.