Not sure what deficit to do...500 or 750....help!

[wohlvo]

I am 46, female, and weigh 163.  I want to get to 145 and am not sure what deficit to use. I am brand new to the FitBit world but have walked 11,000 to 16,000 steps every day since I got it.  Thoughts? 

[A_Lurker]

@wohlvo - in the end it depends quite a bit. Look at your dashboard and see what your average calories burned are - that may help you decide.  I would recommend going to:  http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/ and putting in your details to see what your estimated BMR is.  It is usually recommended that you do not eat less that this number.  Since both tracking calories burned and calories in (even with a food logger) is an inexact science, without more information about you, I'd suggest that you simply pick the 500 deficit, try it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. 

Using myself as an example, I work at burning 3500 calories each day.  I'm much heavier that you, but as I've lost weight I just work harder to get there.  Since I'm burning such a high amount and have a lot to lose I've set my deficit as 1000 calories.  If I was lighter and burning only 2500 calories I'd likely start at a 500 calorie deficit.

[wohlvo]

Thank you! It said 1459 calories.  That sounds good to me. I'll do the 500 deficit for a couple of weeks. I did lose 2.8 pounds this weel (my first week) but I know its just water weight.

[A_Lurker]

Good luck.  Also, if you do daily weighing, consider signing up on trendweight.com - it's a free website that will take your logged weights and create an overall trend of your losses.  It works with wifi scales, but also pulls your information if you log it manually.

[BartLin]

Please don't do that. You're going about weight loss the hard way. In fact, if I may paraphrase a weight loss researcher trying to lose weight via caloric deficit (eat less exercise more) has a long term failure rate of 95.3%. Not only that, but the moment you stop eating less or stop exercising more you will automatically start gaining the weight back as pure body fat and you'll end up worse off than if you had done nothing. 

Your body controls your weight via two hormones: leptin and insulin. Leptin tells your body when to stop eating and insulin controls energy storage.  The higher your insulin the larger the percent of your energy eaten will be stored as body fat. So, if you want to lose weight easily and permanentally you have to decrease your leptin and insulin levels. The fastest way to deacrease insulin is to reduce sugar (carbohydrate) and to increase exercise, walking counts but the more intense the exercise the better. If you control your insulin your leptin levels will drop as well. This means you'll feel fuller sooner and you'll automatically eat less without fighting your body or starving yourself.

How important is cutting your carbohydrate intake? Well, your body can use two types of energy: sugar (glucose) and fat (ketones). If you're interested in losing weight then you have to increase the amount of fat that your body uses as energy and reduce the amount of energy that your body stores as fat. 

1. Glycerol-3-phosphate is a key building block of fat. Without it your body cannot produce more fat. Where does it come from? Primarily carbohydrates.

2. While your blood sugar is above zero your body will not use fat as energy no matter your caloric deficit and no matter how much you exercise. It's just not happening. In fact, if you have a caloric deficit in this situation your body will burn lean muscle rather than fat. For this reason, most people that try to lose weight via the traditional eat less exercise more tend to lose body muscle at a ratio of 7 to 4. Basically 7 pounds (kilos, grams, whatever) of muscle lost for every 4 pounds fat loss. Again, I'm paraphrasing scientific studies here. This is not an opinion.

What you want to do is eat in a way that decreases your insulin and leptin levels. Load up on vegetables. Veggies should be about 50-75% of your plate. Eat some meat and don't be afraid of fat. These three food types will keep you full for longer than carbs and keep your hormone levels down. By fats I mean healthy fats. Avocado, nuts, seeds, fish, anything with a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. Your body will thank you as will your brain. Omega-3 is really important for brain health.

Forget calorie counting. As long as you drop your carbs and eat healthy the weight will take care of itself. I followed this recipe and I lost about 40 pounds in 2 months. I was never hungry. I ate as much as I wanted. I didn't exercise. And I've kept the weight off. I hear a lot of people on these boards talking about "maintenance mode".... pfffft. My maintenance mode is eat until I'm full and in 6 months I haven't gained a pound.

By the way, if you are interested in the topic there's a really good book called "The Calorie Myth" by Johnathan Bailor. The author went over thousands of weight loss studies and basically extracted what works and what doesn't work. It's a science based book but it's an easy read because the writer makes the information very accessible. Highly recommended.

[A_Lurker]

@BartLin - glad that low carb works for you.  However, it doesn't work for everyone.  Over the last number of decades I've tried probably every 'diet' that was going to make me thin.  I did low carb, low fat vegan, south beach, the zone, oh hell even some flaky diet that I was only to have rice and veggies.  Most of them I didn't stick for more than a couple of months and I ended up even heavier.  I did have success for a longer time on a low fat vegan diet combined with a lot of exercise (wasn't counting calories) and that put me in the hospital.  My second last attempt was more balanced but I now realise I was eating far too few calories.  So, for some people, we need to count calories.

I always tell people that if you find a new way of eating that you feel you can follow for the rest of your life, that's the diet for you.  Counting calories, even for a short period of time can help people tweak their diet, especially if they don't have a lot to lose.  In my case, I've lost (as of this morning) 85 pounds since Feb, and use calorie counting to make sure I neither eat too much or too little.  I'm not a bread fan to begin with, but this summer I ate many cherries, peaches, nectarines, etc.  I wouldn't have stuck with anything that would have made me not eat them.  Without aiming for any specific split I do about 20% protein, 40% fat, 40% carbs.  And you know something, I've lost weight, become more active, and my A1C (for those that don't know it's an indicator of longer term blood sugar) has gone from being considered diabetic to dead center of a normal level.

Since I've been overweight and then obese for all of my life I will likely count calories and step on the scale every morning for the rest of my life.  Oh, I may get to the point where I can eat without logging everything I eat.  I'll likely just track it in my head by then.  However a way of eating where I couldn't have a peach, or a steak, or a lunch out as I did on Friday at the local sandwich shop, or a couple of drinks like I had last night... just doesn't work for me.

ETA:  Oh, and I've managed to trend up 6 lbs of lean body mass since June when I started tracking that as well.  My activity is mostly just being more active, although back to weightlifting lately which I enjoy.

[BartLin]

I think you got me wrong. I don't eat low carb although I definitely eat much lower carb than the average person. But then the average person consumes way too many carbs. What was the number..... 26? Yeah, the average American consumes about 26 teaspoons of sugar per day. That's insane. I believe the WHO recommends no more than 6 teaspoons per day.

I tried low-carb in the beginning and it worked well but it's difficult to do long term. There are just too many sacrifices like fruit. I try to follow a Paleo diet but I allow myself some cheat meals now and then so I don't stress too much about being strict.

Like you said the way you want to eat is the way you can eat forever. Diets don't work. Statistically diets are an epic fail. In one study, a 10 week calorie restricted diet slowed down the dieters metabolism to the point that they needed 40% fewer calories to maintain their body weight and this effect continued until they regained at least all the body weight back. It didn't matter how much time, even years, went by between the diet and the weight gain. This means that any calorie restricted diet is pretty much a permanent uphill battle.

It's not about dieting it's all about changing your diet. You have to eat healthy and give your body what it needs. What does your body need? Vitamines, minerals, fats, and protein. What are the best sources of these things? Non-starchy vegetables, meat, nuts, eggs, etc. You actually don't need to eat any carbohydrates. That being said they are yummy.

If you eat healthy then your hormones will balance themselves out and your weight will drop. The only time that you gain weight is when you either slow down your metabolism by dieting (calorie restriction) or spike your insulin levels by eating too many carbs. The second will also increase your leptin levels, make you feel hungrier, cause you to eat more, etc. That's how your body works. And if you work with your biology instead of against it then losing weight becomes effortless.

[A_Lurker]

You're right, I saw mention of ketones and assumed low carb.  My experience shows me that my basic problem in the past is that I ate too little compared to what I burn. I do roughly a 1000 calore deficit at the moment but roughly every 16 weeks I eat at maintenance for a week.  I think running too high a deficit for too long (for some people) is why diets don't work.  If I throw a simple trend line on calories burned, calories in, and weight from mid-Mar to end of Oct (just what I already had in a spreadsheet) I get:

Calories burned: slowly trending up

Calories in: trending up slightly more

Weight lost: trending down fairly consistently

I used my past experiences to force myself to eat more.  I agree that a lot of people mess up their metabolisms when dieting.  Although I'm increasing my steps in order to burn more now, and might do more cardio in th late fall-early spring, next summer those extra calories will just be from better work in the garden.  If I didn't have still a lot to lose still I wouldn't keep the deficit so high.  When I get within 50 pounds of a normal weight I may consciously try and slow it down.

[wohlvo]

My problem is honestly not moving, as well as stress eating and drinking wine. I have gotten the fitbit to lose 20 pounds and I feel so good! I am going to do a 500 calorie deficit which works, and just log everything.  I am eating anywhere from 1300-1800 calories depending on my activity, and I have already lost 2 pounds this week, even though it's probably just water weight.  I am trying to get at least 30 to 50 active minutes in, abd and shooting for 10 to 12,000 steps per day just walking around my neigborhood or downtown where I work.  I have never felt better and know my journey to lose 20 pounds will be slow.  But I feel so much better!  Thanks for your input.  Oh, and I am not eliminating carbs or wine, but limiting them. Life is too short!

[A_Lurker]

@wohlvo - I did a training session more than a decade ago with a company I worked for.  The first slide said simply:  Problems are good.

Second slide - You need to identify a problem in order to fix it.

It went on to talk more about how defining a problem was sometimes the most important step.  A good definition almost naturally leads you to a better solution.  Sounds like you've identified your areas to work on.  Good luck!

[Ukase]

Wohlvo - you wrote something that struck me as something I should address. It's something I recently learned and it just seemed so strange that I never thought about this before. 

Stress is not a good thing. Honestly, I'll be candid - I've never really known stress until the past couple of years since I started a new job. Sleep is impacted negatively. Activity level has dropped. Weight was gained. Not a good thing, that stress. 

It's not always possibe to elimate stress, but there is a way to deal with it. Prayer, meditation, exercise, yoga, a combination of two or more of those things - or even fun time with family and/or friends can certainly help you deal with the stress. 

I say this because of this little fun fact: you can eat right, you can exercise enough to be at a deficit. And you would lose weight - but if you're under mental stress, that impacts your health. Your immune system becomes suppressed. Your sleep may be impacted. 

If you're going to drink wine, I would encourage you to  try Fitvine Wine. It's organic and the sulfites in their wine are much lower in number than most other wines. And, aim for red, rather than white. 

Oh - one last thing. Recognize that about 95% of the people you see that are overweight, me, you and a bunch of other folks - we're overweight because of greed. The greed of people trying their best to provide for their families. 
Our food supply in the US is now highly suspect, there seems to be BPA in everything which encourages our bodies to make fat cells. Even organic food isn't completely safe due to cross contamination. 

In short, it's not really our fault  - but our character will be defined by how we react to these changing circumstances. We have to play the cards we're dealt, understand that we're going to die of something, sooner or later. So, we've got to try and make good decisions about the food we eat as best we can. 

[Dominique]

See this reply of mine to another post of yours. I think 500 calories would work fine, but you could also consider a lower deficit, since you don’t have that much to lose. In terms of your diet and your exercising, consider it as a life style change rather than as something you need to do during a fixed period of time (e.g. 4-5 months).