Hello all,
Today I tried to calculate my deficit but I'm not entirely sure how. Currently I am 146, 29 years old and I work out 7 days a week. I currently eat 1200 calories a day. I walk an hour every night (3 miles) at a pace between 3-4mph I also do 40 flights (7 at a time) of stairs during this walk to keep the walk hard and my heart rate up. I also do the elliptical 3 days a week for a half an hour at a pace of 74 and do about 3.2-3.5 miles on it.

Can someone please help me figure out an accurate deficit I don't think I'm calculating it correctly. And lastly, can someone explain sodium intake? I rarely add any salt to my food but I'd still like to know how much is a healthy amount and what is the amount never to go over. I'd like to keep my sodium intake low but I haven't calculated it and I'm scared my intake is high. I might be freaking out a little too because I've been out to eat three times this last week and ordered only vegetables and salads and could taste a lot of salt. Now I'm regreting going because this is the first time I havent lost 2 lbs in a week. I really hope it's the large amount of salt I think I had.

Thank you very much!!!

How long have you been doing that exercise routine?

My exercise routine for about 4-5 months was strictly an hour of walking (3-4mph) with intervals of stairs (40 flights total) in which I skip a stair each time. My nine month mark just passed and exactly 4 weeks ago I changed up my routine. I still do the same walk every night, but 3 times a week I do the elliptical for exactly 30 min at a pace of 74 but practice HITT throughout that workout and reach up to 98 for periods of 30-45 seconds. That's the only change I've made.

Well, I would probably just go off the 1200 calories you know you are eating, and compare that to an estimate of what you should be eating to maintain at your height / weight based on a calculation from a site like freedieting.com

That site puts your maintence at 1867 with 3 work outs per week, so I would say your deficit is around 500-600 per day, which sounds accurate if you are losing 2 lbs a week every week but this one.

I wouldn't count the walking as a work out because you have been doing it so long your body is probably used to it. I would count it as activity, and not stop doing it, but I wouldn't put into the calculators that you work out 7 days a week. It's just my opinion, but I walk several miles a day and am pretty sure my body is used to it as I've been doing it for 3 years. Just my opinion, YMMV.

Congrats on your weightloss! I started a little higher than your current weight (152) but then when I got to the lower 140's I have stalled. I would love to be losing 1-2 or even .5 lbs per week! Keep up the great work!!!

Have you considered getting a heart rate monitor? I know they aren't 100% accurate but the one I have takes into account my age, and weight. The number of calories varies depending on the intensity. I do high intensity interval training so it can be difficult to figure out how many calories I am burning any other way. Then you can also set a goal I usually go for 400-500 each workout personally. A heart rate monitor can be a bit pricey about 150-200 for a good one worn around the chest but I use mine nearly everyday and love it. I also feel confident that the calorie count is accurate enough for my purposes.

Also, the calorie expenditure for a particular exercise will go down as you get smaller. For example, DH and I took the same 2-mile walk yesterday. We both use little calorie/exercise tracker apps on our phones. Because I'm 119 lbs., I only burned 93 calories but because he's 230 lbs., he burned some crazy huge amount above 200 calories. He was shocked I burned so little, but I pointed out that 30 pounds ago, I would have burned more. That's one reason why intensity has to be pumped up once you're close to goal, not just the familiarity your body now has with the exercise.

You might move up to jogging now that you're on a good practice with walking, or add ankle or wrist or hands weights to increase the intensity.

UPDATE:
When I originally wrote this I went a 10 days and had only lost about a pound. I usually lose 2-2.5 a week and usually 3 in 10 days. I'm not sure what happened but after I wrote that post and I started a new week without having gone out to eat and without TOM I somehow lost 5lbs this past week. I have no idea how it happened.

Could it be that I was really losing the week before but the extra salt was making me retain water and make it seem like I wasn't losing? Could it be the added exercise with the elliptical? I just started the elliptical a month ago going 3 days a week for 30min and last week (the week I lost 5lb.) I started going 4 times a week.

I can't figure out what's going on.

Wow, great job on the weight loss.

I think that just because the scale didn't reflect the weightloss didn't mean it didn't happen. You could have been retaining water from just plain drinking more, excess sodium, TOM, the added exercise, etc. Or you could have just had extra weight from food that day. Everything we consume has a weight that will be reflected on the scale just from it being in our bodies - it doesn't mean it's turned to fat or a gain per se, you could weigh more if you were just holding it. Think of standing on the scale holding all the food/water you consumed in the past 24 hours - same concept, ya know?

Congrats on your excellent weight loss!!!