A calorie deficit means that you are consuming more calories than your intake. It is a clear indication of weight loss resulting in a perfect figure regardless of any gender. Calculating your calorie deficit can help you determine how many calories to eat and burn daily to accomplish your weight-loss goals.
What Is a Calorie Deficit?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), A calorie deficit is when you burn more calories than you eat in a day. You can create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories in your diet, exercising more, or combining both.
What Number Of Calories Fall In Calory Deficit?
Various parameters such as age, sex, and activity level determine how many calories you should eat daily to maintain weight. The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that people assigned female at birth (AFAB) eat 1,600 to 2,000 calories, and people assigned male at birth (AMAB) should eat 2,000 to 2,400 calories per day to maintain their weight.
You lose 1 pound when you burn about 3,500 more calories than you eat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week. For sustainable weight loss, you should cut down approximately 500 to 1000 calories per day from your baseline.
How to Calculate Your Calorie Deficit
Here is a two-step method that you can use to calculate your calorie deficit for weight loss.
Step 1: Figure Out Daily Calorie Intake
First, Track everything you eat and drink for three days. For your convenience, you can use any fitness app such as Lose It, MyFitnessPal, or MyPlate to track your total intake of calories.
Next, estimate the number of calories you need to maintain your weight using the formula below based on your activity level—precisely, how often you work out. For these calculations, let us assume that your weight is 150 pounds.
- ♦ Zero workouts: Multiply your weight by 10. (At 150 pounds, that’s 1,500 calories a day.)
- ♦ One or two workouts a week: Your weight x 12 (1,800 calories)
- ♦ Two to four workouts a week: Your weight x 14 (2,100 calories)
- ♦ Five or more workouts a week: Your weight x 16 (2,400 calories)
Once you have tracked your daily calorie intake and daily calories used, you are now in a better position to compare these two. If you eat more than you burn, you’ll gain weight; if you eat less, you will lose weight
Step 2: Calculate Calories Deficit
When trying to shed some pounds, the first aim should be a maximum daily deficit of 500 calories. It means either eating fewer calories or burning more calories throughout your day.
If you are a 150-pound man and work 2 to 4 days a week, you need 2,100 calories daily to maintain weight. Now to lose one pound weight per week, you should shed 500 calories from your intake. Taking 1,600 calories per day could help you lose one pound of weight in a week.
Similarly, a man of 150 pounds with five or more workouts per week requires 2,400 calories to maintain his weight. The calorie deficit of such a man will be 1,900 calories each day, resulting in one pound of weight loss per week.
How to Achieve Your Calorie Deficit
Now that you know how to calculate a calorie deficit, here are some tips for creating that deficit to lose weight.
Eat Fewer Calories
Cutting back on your daily food intake can create a calorie deficit. You can achieve it by prioritizing nutritious whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains over processed foods like packaged baked goods. It will help you naturally eat fewer calories.
You can try these recommendations to cut your calories intake:
- ♦ Reduce your portion sizes
- ♦ Limit or avoid high-calorie, low-nutrition foods like candy or soda
- ♦ Replace high-calorie snacks with lower-calorie substitutes, like crispy chickpeas instead of chips.
Exercise More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends at least 150 minutes of exercise each week. It should include cardio activities and strength training. These physical activities can efficiently support your calorie deficit.
Cardio machines and calorie-tracking apps can usually estimate it for you if you want to track how many calories are burned during each workout.
You can join a gym near me for proper training to burn more calories than you eat.
Don't Forget About Liquid Calories.
It is essential to keep track of your beverage intake too. Liquids can quickly add up and make you consume more calories than you think.
For example, one can of beer contains roughly 153 calories, depending on the brand. Drinking just two adds an additional 300 calories per day, which can be significant if you’re only cutting back by 500 calories daily.
Avoid Processed Food
Studies suggest your body takes in more calories from processed food that’s been broken down from its natural form. So if you have a smoothie, you’ll absorb more calories than if you ate the same fruits in that shake raw. And foods in their whole form tend to be more satiating, which may help you eat less overall.
Run this calorie deficit long-term while also focusing on eating a rich diet of nutrient-dense, whole foods, and you’ll lose weight, surely.
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