What is a calorie deficit?
If you have googled “how do I lose weight?” Or “how do I lose body fat?” You would have come across calories and calorie deficits. Which has probably got you googling “What is a calorie deficit?”
In this article, I am going to discuss, What is a calorie deficit? I am also going to explain why it’s good to know the calories you can consume every day and if tracking calories is for you.
First things first. What is a calorie? And why is it important? A calorie is a unit of measurement, to measure the amount of energy needed to raise 1gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. The reason it’s important to us is that we use calories to create energy. Without going into too much detail, there is something called ATP, ATP is used to help our muscles contract and our organs work. For us to do anything, ATP is required. Think of ATP as energy. The production of ATP comes from the energy we consume in food, known as calories.
So, we need calories for energy. But what is a calorie deficit? A calorie deficit is when you consume fewer calories than you use throughout the day/week. Being in a calorie deficit will mean the additional energy your body needs will have to be found somewhere. This is where we start to use our body fat to provide us with the energy we need.
Being in a calorie deficit, simply put, is using more energy than you use. It is moving more and eating less. Easy right?
“All I have to do is move more and eat less? And I’ll lose weight?”
Yes… but if it were this simple, we wouldn’t be in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Even though it is as simple as "move more and eat less” how we do this, the habits we implement and the steps we take to get in this deficit are the hard part.
Some of the factors that make being in a calorie deficit so hard are:
A lack of knowledge about food
Calorie-dense foods
Highly palatable foods
Social lives
Lack of movement
Busy lives
And simply being unaware of what you are eating
It can be difficult to get yourself into a deficit, but one of the most reliable ways is to track your calories. - You do this by using any calorie tracking app, (MyFitnessPal or Carbon Coach would be my recommendations) - You see most foods have calories in them, and so do most drinks. But the amount of calories depends on the number of carbohydrates, fats and protein in each food. By tracking your calories you can see what macronutrients (carbs/proteins/fats) and the number of calories are in the foods you consume.
Is tracking for you?
As tedious as it can be, I think everyone could benefit from tracking their calories for a month or 2. Just to become more aware of what is going into their body. (I had a conversation with a client who started tracking, and he was shocked that he was consuming 3000 calories JUST FROM ALCOHOL) Psst, I’ll let you into a little secret, I don’t track my calories and you don’t have to either. You could get very far by just being aware and consistent with the food you consume, and also by keeping an eye on your activity. Then just adjusting either accordingly. But that way is a lot more subjective and a lot more difficult for most people to do, simply because they aren’t aware of what they are eating.
Even though I don’t track my calories the majority of the time. I will still track them throughout the times I’m trying to lose body fat, especially when I’m first starting out. The reason for this is that it is the best way to get results. It is the data that makes something objective. It makes it easier to know what you are doing right, or wrong, what you are over-consuming and where you need to make adjustments. Without tracking it is guesswork. Again very doable but tracking can help. If tracking is not for you, check out the other article for more options on how to create a specific diet that works for you.
Now a calorie deficit is not a type of diet. It isn’t like when your friend is eating no carbs, or when your auntie cuts out all foods except celery. Being in a calorie deficit is a term for eating fewer calories than you use. You can be in a calorie deficit by doing a number of things.
The best way is to consume fewer calories, again, this can be done by tracking or partaking in any diet that removes calories from the food you consume on a daily basis. Now if I can give any 3 simple pieces of advice it would be this.
Focus on consuming at least 30grams of protein in every meal. Make that the main component you think about when creating any meal. Protein keeps you satiated and will help keep muscle.
Have to veg in at least 2 meals a day. You can bulk your meals out with vegetables because you can have a high volume (a lot) of vegetables for very few calories. Not to mention the vitamins you will get from veg.
Make your snacks protein/fruit based. This will stop you from over-consuming processed foods and will increase your protein.
There are multiple ways to get into a calorie deficit, but whichever way you pick, focus on the advice above alongside your preferred choice, and this is a recipe for success. Some of the ways you can get into a deficit are.
Tracking Calories
MyFitnessPal - which we have already spoken about.
Food Plan
Often people ask me if I can write them a food plan and I dislike this method, purely because it isn’t sustainable. A food plan is a list of food/meals you eat every day. There is no room to change anything, it is rigid and you can not deviate from the plan. Food plans work for some people, but for the majority of people who aren’t robots, I don’t think this is a good option.
Creating a meal plan
I really like this one because it gives your more autonomy. Create a plan that lists out all the meals you are going to eat each day for the week. This can even take into consideration the takeaway you have on the weekend. Do this and stick to it for 2 weeks, you can see if you are losing or gaining weight, if you know this, you can then remove some food from your diet and reassess. I love this option because it makes you conscious, and just like with tracking, you now have some idea of the food you are consuming but it also gives you some flexibility. You see dieting is hard and restricting yourself to only “clean” foods (whatever they are) is going to push you towards restricting and binging. So incorporating the foods you like into your week will help you sustain your diet.
80/20 Rules
This is simply where you eat 80% of your food from Whole foods (these are foods with no ingredients list) and then 20% from Processed foods (fun foods and foods that come in a package with an ingredients list). I like this paired with creating a meal because it will mean you will likely consume enough protein and get the micronutrients you need.
Food plate
This food plate is one of the best I’ve seen and it makes life easy. Make every meal look like this, and you are on your way to a calorie deficit… to a certain degree. Keep an eye on your portions and be honest with yourself.
Time-restricted eating (Intermittent fasting)
This is where you restrict the window in which you can consume food. So for example only eating between 10 am-6 pm. This normally puts people in a calorie deficit. Not because eating at night or in the morning is bad or causes you to gain weight, but simply because it removes calories from your diet as we often consume most of our high calorie, high processed food at night when we sit infant of the TV.
I hope this has helped you to understand what a calorie deficit is, and you do not have different options and things you can try to implement, but remember. Incorporate foods you enjoy and don’t eat like a robot. If you take nothing else away from this.
Focus on consuming at least 30grams of protein in every meal. Make that the main component you think about when creating any meal. Protein keeps you satisfied and will help keep muscle.
Have to veg in at least 2 meals a day. You can bulk your meals out with vegetables because you can have a high volume (a lot) of vegetables for very few calories. Not to mention the vitamins you will get from veg.
Make your snacks protein/fruit based. This will stop you from over-consuming processed foods and will increase your protein.
