If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you’ve probably heard that a calorie deficit is necessary.
However, you may wonder what exactly it contains or why it is necessary for weight loss.
This article explains everything you need to know about the calorie deficit, including what it is, how it affects weight loss, and how to achieve it in a healthy and sustainable way.
What is it and why it is important for losing weight
Calories are units of energy you get from food and beverages, and when you consume fewer calories than you burn, you end up with a calorie deficit.
The calories you burn or spend each day – also known as calorie expenditure – include the following three components.
Resting energy expenditure (REE). REE refers to the calories your body uses at rest for functions that keep you alive, such as breathing and blood circulation.
Thermal effect of food. This includes the calories your body spends to digest, absorb and metabolize food.
Activity energy expenditure. This means the calories you spend during exercise, such as exercising and activities not related to exercising;
If you give your body fewer calories than is needed to support these three components of calorie expenditure, you put your body in a calorie deficit. Doing this consistently for a long time will result in weight loss.
In contrast, if you regularly give your body more calories than it needs to support these functions, you will gain weight. This is called a calorie surplus.
SUMMARY
A calorie deficit arises when you consistently supply your body less calories than you need to support calorie expenditure.
Calculating calorie needs
For most people, a loss of 500 calories per day is sufficient for weight loss and is unlikely to significantly affect your hunger or energy levels.
To create this calorie deficit, you need to know what your maintenance calories are. Maintenance calories are exactly the calories your body needs to support energy expenditure.
You can use calorie calculators such as the Body Weight Planner from the National Institute of Health. These calculators calculate your maintenance calories based on your weight, gender, age, height and physical activity level.
While calorie calculators give you a good idea of your maintenance calorie needs, you can get a more precise number by tracking your calorie intake and weight for 10 days.
Use a calorie tracking app to track and weigh your calories daily while maintaining the same daily activity level. For an accurate result, use the same scale at the same time of day and wear the same clothes.
Your weight may vary from day to day, but if your weight stays stable for 10 days, the average number of calories you consume per day will better show your maintenance calories.
Divide the total number of calories you consume over 10 days by 10 to find your average daily calorie intake. Then subtract 500 calories from this number to set your new daily intake goal for weight loss.
For example, if you find your maintenance calories to be 2,000 per day, your new daily calorie goal would be 1500.
As you lose weight, your maintenance calories will decrease over time and you will need to adjust your calorie intake according to your weight loss goals.
Still, to ensure healthy weight loss and adequate nutrient intake, women should not consume fewer than 1,200 calories a day and men no less than 1,500 calories.
SUMMARY
You can estimate your maintenance calories using an online calculator. Alternatively, for a more accurate number, monitor your calorie intake and weight for 10 days.
Ways to reach your calorie deficit
You can achieve a calorie deficit by consuming fewer calories or increasing your physical activity levels – or both.
However, you may not have the time, energy, or motivation to exercise daily, as it can be easier and more sustainable to create a calorie deficit through diet rather than exercise alone. Also, exercise doesn’t burn as many calories as many people believe.
In other words, eating 500 fewer calories each day may be easier than burning that many calories with exercise. However, they are still recommended to participate in muscle-strengthening and aerobic exercises for their beneficial effects on overall health.
The Physical Activity Guide for Americans from the Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults do 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75-150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.
Moderate intensity exercise includes brisk walking and light cycling, while examples of vigorous intensity exercise are jogging and fast cycling.
The guidelines also recommend that adults do muscle strengthening activities involving major muscle groups, including the back, shoulders, chest, arms and legs, at least two days a week.
Engage in muscle-strengthening activities (your body can prioritize the loss of muscle mass rather than body fat.
SUMMARY
It’s more likely to create a calorie deficit through diet, rather than exercise alone. However, physical activity is important for many aspects of health.
Tips for consuming fewer calories
Cutting calories from your diet to create a calorie deficit doesn’t necessarily require drastic changes.
In fact, various strategies can help you reduce your calorie intake to lose and maintain weight – not even counting calories.
Don’t drink calories
By reducing or eliminating your sugary beverage intake, such as soda, juices, and specialty coffee drinks, you may be able to get several hundred calories from your diet.
Alcoholic beverages can also collect a significant amount of calories.
The calories from these beverages do not provide fullness and can cause extreme weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes.
Limit processed foods
The sugar, fat and salt in highly processed foods, including sugary drinks, fast foods, desserts and breakfast cereals, make these high-calorie foods very tasty and encourage excessive consumption.
In fact, one study showed that people ate 500 more calories per day and were allowed to eat as much as they wanted on a diet that included highly processed foods, compared to a diet that included the least processed foods.
Foods that are fed in very small amounts are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and include foods such as lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. A diet rich in minimally processed foods prevents you from overeating and allows you to get the nutrients your body needs.
If your current diet consists of highly processed foods, gradually start replacing those foods with the least amount of processed foods. For example, replace sugared cereals with fruit pea oatmeal or replace chips with slightly salted almonds.
Eat home-cooked meals first
It allows you to prepare your meals at home and control the food, ingredients and portion sizes and thus your calorie intake.
One study showed that people who ate dinner at home 6-7 times a week consumed 137 fewer calories per day, on average, than people who had home dinner 0-1 times a week.
Eating home cooked meals is also associated with better dietary quality, more fruit and vegetable intake, lower body fat levels, and lower risk of heart disease and diabetes.
What’s more, frequent home cooking saves money.
SUMMARY
Reducing your intake of sugary drinks, eating a diet with the least amount of processed foods, and eating at home can help reduce your calorie consumption.
RESULT
A calorie deficit arises when you eat fewer calories than your body spends.
A daily calorie deficit of 500 calories is effective for healthy and sustainable weight loss.
Eliminating sugary drinks, consuming the least amount of processed foods, mostly fruits and vegetables, and eating home-cooked meals, can help you reach a calorie deficit without counting calories.
