calorie deficit question

[randiL]

Ok so im new to fitbit only in second week. Here are my averages, 8500 steps, 2400 calories burnt a day, and fitbit tells me to eat on average1500 calories. Does this sound right? The deficit should be high since I have 50 pounds to lose, right? I know my numbers are low but I work an office job and when I started two weeks ago I was only averaging 3000 steps so huge improvement for me!!!! Any suggestions for someone in my place?

[trainer · Accepted solution]

The numbers fitbit will give you depend on how you have set your account. If you have set it to lose 2lb a week you will need to have a weekly deficit of 7000 calories. This means 1,000 calorie deficit a day. If you want to lose 1lb a week, your deficit will be 500 a day. How you get this deficit is up to you. If you eat 1500 calories a day and burn 2500 calories a day you are set to lose 2lb a week. Remember that burning calories don't have to be all step related. You can go home at night and dance to a dvd. Or do an exercise video or join a gym or... And also remember that weight loss is rarely an even decline over time. Most people lose in fits and starts. You lose 2lb then lose nothing, then lose 3lb then gain 1lb (gulp) then lose 3 more lbs then nothing, then lose another 1lb and so on. Just take it slow and be consistent. Make healthy choices with your eating and try to increase your activity each day (again, it doesn't have to be step based) a little bit so you can keep it up without hurting yourself or getting overwhelmed. Before you know it you will be 20lb down and totally addicted! *wicked grin*

[Heybales]

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@randiL wrote:
Ok so im new to fitbit only in second week. Here are my averages, 8500 steps, 2400 calories burnt a day, and fitbit tells me to eat on average1500 calories. Does this sound right? The deficit should be high since I have 50 pounds to lose, right? I know my numbers are low but I work an office job and when I started two weeks ago I was only averaging 3000 steps so huge improvement for me!!!! Any suggestions for someone in my place?

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50 lbs and above is usually reasonable for 2 lb weekly weight loss.

50 and below more reasonable would be 1.5 lb weekly, or 750 cal deficit.

25 lbs, 1 lb weekly.

10 lbs, 1/2 lb weekly.

So you only have a lot to lose at the beginning, eventually you don't, and you shouldn't try to make it fast, if you want your body to work along with your attempt to lose only fat weight.

If you want muscle weight gone too, so you can do this again harder next year, then by all means stress the body out more by having an unreasonable deficit.

And that's not a low daily burn - 2400 is pretty good actually. And with 750 cal deficit, will allow a more reasonable eating level you can hopefully sustain and adhere to.

[CherylMD]

Heybales, I apparently was confused at my deficit when I started using my fitbit in Sept 2015, I didn't realize the calories alowed already had taken the deficit into account, I lost close on 1 kilo every week for the first 2 months then slowed right down by December because I wasn't losing weight I walked further which gave me more calories that I could eat   however I did not eat the extra  thinking it would make weight loss easier, I now realize after reading some of the posts by yourself and others that I would have been burning muscle mass, I have changed my taget from 700 down to 500 deficit in hope to repair the damage, I will now go as close to the deficit as I can is there anything else I should do to repair muscle mass loss and to get back to burning fat I only have 6 kilo to lose to my ideal weight ?

[CherylMD]

I hope to lose half a kilo or less a week . so just so I am right in thinking I look at "what I have left to eat" rather than the fuel like tile which goes over when I eat what it says I should eat ?

[Heybales]

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@CherylMD wrote:

Heybales, I apparently was confused at my deficit when I started using my fitbit in Sept 2015, I didn't realize the calories alowed already had taken the deficit into account, I lost close on 1 kilo every week for the first 2 months then slowed right down by December because I wasn't losing weight I walked further which gave me more calories that I could eat   however I did not eat the extra  thinking it would make weight loss easier, I now realize after reading some of the posts by yourself and others that I would have been burning muscle mass, I have changed my taget from 700 down to 500 deficit in hope to repair the damage, I will now go as close to the deficit as I can is there anything else I should do to repair muscle mass loss and to get back to burning fat I only have 6 kilo to lose to my ideal weight ?

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Coming out of a diet every so often is encouraged to let the hormones reset.

The bigger the deficit the more frequent.

I'd suggest hit that 500 deficit for couple weeks, then go to next smaller deficit, then to maintenance for couple weeks.

You should gain water weight as your glucose stores are topped off with attached water.

Good increased metabolism water weight, workouts should feel better, may even start feeling more energetic and active during the day - which further increases your daily burn.

Then go back to the reasonable deficit after the body has totally unstressed like that.

Frankly it could take longer than that. One study of those that took extreme deficit over 3 months and then started eating at their new lab measured maintenance, had a reduction in metabolism and daily burn about 500 calories more than would be expected from the loss of weight and muscle mass would indicate - meaning the body slowed down in general.

Within the 3 months eating at maintenance they had regained about 250 calories of that, burning more.

Sadly they didn't test if speed up could have been faster if they had eaten slightly more than maintenance.

Sadly also there is no way to repair lost muscle mass except for doing strength training with progressive overload routine - much easier to lose than gain muscle.

Now, any muscle you actually use and need now would have been retained likely, but the stuff you had from younger years that was kept because you didn't diet, but you don't use it anymore - that's gone to some degree.

So besides the reasonable deficit, the other 2 legs for the stool of fat burning only - enough protein and resistance workouts.

So try to have protein at 0.82 g / lb of body weight, more isn't better unless you just want it.

And some resistance workout of some sort for whole body. Needs to feel hard, not easy. Needs to be 20 reps or less with enough weight to cause that to be about max. Needs to engage all the muscles.

And yes to left to eat figure.

The gauge for eaten vs burned - about useless, easier to remove.

Better to plan the day anyway than to merely being thinking what I can eat up to this point.

[CherylMD]

Thank you for all that information, although I am having trouble getting my head around all of it I think I have the imortant information i need so I will  stick with the 500 deficit for a couple of weeks to start, I will work on building muscle the next question is the protien intake I see that protien has a lot of calories my wieght is 64 kilo I worked out my protien intake should be 115 gram, what is the best way to have protien yet keep calories down ? I googled protien shakes but they don't seem to have a lot of protien. thanks once again for the help

[Raviv]

For the most part, I get Isopure or Combat whey protein powders, and they have between 25 and 50 grams of protein per serving.  You don't want to get all of your protein in one big dose anyway, so spread it out over a few meals from several different sources.

[Cheri__1]

To get lots of protein stick to lean lighter coloured meat. Like chicken and pork loins. I cannot get fresh fish as I live in Southern Manitoba, but eating sardens, and tuna also help. Also switching your white grains to whole grains (read the labels as some foods are not actually made with whole grains) also gives you more protein and fiber. Eggs are higher in fat but they fit in my food budget, and I do not add any other form of fat to most of my meals so the fet in the egg yolk is needed in my diet.