What is a calorie deficit? How to calculate and create a calorie deficit for weight loss

The fight against excess weight has become a scourge of the whole of modern society and difficult for solving a personal problem for every third inhabitant on the planet Earth. Wrong food, work in offices, unwillingness to play sports lead to the appearance of excessive kilograms, which do not bother at first. When the situation is already out of control and becomes critical, a person rushes from one diet to another, grows thin, and then abruptly gains weight and the circle closes.

For every sharp drop in body weight, an even sharper set, health problems, depression and, as a consequence, a decline in the overall quality of life, necessarily follow. In fact, for optimal weight loss, you do not need to use a lot of effort, prepare separate meals, limit yourself to certain foods, one of the most optimal nutrition systems is a calorie deficit. On its basis, it is possible to get rid of dozens of kilograms without unnecessary effort and not to meet with them in the future.

Individual weight and height norms for men and women

Before calculating the calorie deficit for weight loss, you need to decide on the ideal parameters of your body and understand what weight to strive for.

In nature, there are three types of physique, and representatives of each of them gain and lose weight in different ways:

• Asthenic. Representatives of this type have thin bones, long and slender arms, legs and neck. They are physically active, have an accelerated metabolism, are slowly gaining weight and are not prone to fatness. With such raw data, you can lose weight in a few months without much difficulty.

• Normosthenic. The golden mean, people with this structure are most fortunate, they have an ideally proportionate figure, a fairly good metabolism and not much chance of getting obesity, even allowing themselves some flaws in nutrition.

• Hypersthenic. Representatives of this type have a broad bone and not very high growth, due to which the figure looks stocky and plump. Such people are most inclined to fullness and must closely monitor food. Representatives of this type of the process of losing weight is not fast, but do not give up, a little perseverance and work will bring the result.

To understand whether a particular person has a problem with excess weight, you can use the table of its compliance with growth. On average, the weight should be equal to the growth minus 110, i.e. for an individual with a height of 170 cm, the ideal weight will be 60 kg. This indicator varies with age, and by the age of 50 it is necessary to take away 100, which means that for a person of the same height of 170 cm, the weight will be 70 kg. If the deviation from the norm is insignificant, calculating the caloric deficit and observing the nutrition system within a couple of months will help to bring the body and mental state back to normal.

How to calculate calorie deficit for weight loss based on knowledge of your body mass index

Defining the optimal calorie deficit, you need to take into account not only the general average tables, but individual parameters of the body. One of the best indicators for calculating and determining the optimal weight is the body mass index. This figure is calculated by simply dividing the body weight in kilograms by the height (in meters) in the square. The resulting coefficient should be compared with the norms and determine whether a diet is needed. Deficiency of calories in each separate case requires a different approach.

When there is a need to lose weight or choose the right food system to maintain the optimal weight, you can calculate the individual calorie deficit. Correct calculation is the key to success in achieving a given goal for the optimal period and without harm to health.

How to calculate the calorie deficit for dumping excess and maintaining an ideal weight

To lose weight and not gain weight in the future, you need to follow a simple rule - the number of calories consumed per day should equal the difference between burned calories and their deficit. This seems not at all difficult and understandable. So it is, the "Calorie Deficiency" food system is simple, easy to understand and perform.

Calculation of calories burned during the day

To determine the formula of the formula, the amount of calories burned per day is calculated first. For this, there is a special formula for Harris-Benedict. It is the base metabolic rate multiplied by the activity coefficient.

Calculation of the basal metabolic rate is given by the formulas given below, where weight, height and age are indicated in kilograms, centimeters and years.

BSM (male) = 66.5 + (13.75 * weight) + (5.003 * height) - (6.755 * age)

BSM (girls) = 655.1 + (9.563 * weight) + (1.850 * height) - (4.666 * age)

The activity coefficient is a constant value and is determined from the table

The resulting number will mean the number of calories consumed per day, based on it, and you need to calculate the calorie deficit for weight loss.

Correct calculation of the optimal calorie deficit

Very often you can meet advice to consume 500, 700 or 1000 calories less, but this is an incorrect recommendation. To one person this deficit may not be enough, and he will be disappointed in the method of losing weight, not seeing the result. Another will begin to lose weight too sharply, creating a deficit unacceptable for the initial parameters, and will not receive a beautiful figure, but a poor state of health and leave the unfulfilled desire to lose weight. The caloric deficit should be calculated as a percentage of the total calories burned per day.

To understand what a calorie deficit for weight loss to take as the norm, you need to decide how intense will be the desired weight loss. It is optimal if a person drops about 700 grams per week. It will not be a great stress for the body, and he willingly parted with extra pounds, without creating additional reserves at the slightest deviations from the diet.

What is the deficit, the choice of the most appropriate option

As a percentage, the calorie deficit is divided into three types:

• Smooth weight loss - 10 to 15% of calories burned per day. Choosing such a calorie deficit, the menu can be practically unlimited, exclude surplus sugar, fatty meat and high-calorie dairy products. Such a smooth weight loss will not cause stress in the body, it is easy to follow and not break. Minus only in the slow decline in weight, which may not please those who want a quick result. In inexperienced people, it may be difficult to violate a diet, because "accidentally" to eat an extra 200 calories is much easier than 600 or 800, which means that the result can not be obtained.

• Moderate weight loss - from 15 to 25% of calories burned per day. The faster you want to get rid of extra pounds, the more there must be a deficit. If you choose a moderate option, the weight will be reset faster, but the power restrictions are much more significant. It is necessary to completely revise your diet, determine which foods on the menu are the most high-calorie, and reduce their consumption to a minimum. Allow yourself an additional dose of food can be increased physical activity, this will increase BSM, and hence the allowable number of calories. Plus this option in a fairly rapid decrease in weight and the fact that the permissible rate is more difficult to break. Minus in increased self-control and more stringent restrictions.

• Accelerated weight loss - from 25 to 50% of calories burned per day. This option is suitable for people who need to lose weight in a short time for medical reasons. People with a lot of weight will see a pleasant result and will be stimulated to further successful work on their body, but you need to stop in time and move to a more sparing regime. Determine what should be a calorie deficit in a new weight, and keep a calculation from it. Plus this method in a quick and sharp result, minus in a constant sense of hunger, that can not become a constant companion of a person's life.

An important rule, which is recommended to adhere strictly, finding out how to create a calorie deficit for weight loss, says that one should not eat a lot and train a lot. If the decision is made not only about the fight against excess weight, but also about tightening the muscles through active training, then you need to consider the amount of calories consumed. They should be enough for intense power and cardio-loading, offered by instructors of gyms and aerobics. It turns out that if after the successful start of the diet, loads were added, then you need to recalculate the number of calories burned and their deficit, respectively.

Calorie control options, calculations and food diaries

In such a difficult matter as losing weight, self-control is very important, but it is not easy for a person who has allowed himself to gain weight. And in life there are a lot of daily worries, among which it is easy to forget how many calories in what product and how much more can be eaten today. To facilitate the task and maintain self-discipline, it is recommended to keep a food diary.

What it will be depends on individual wishes, it can be a regular notebook or notebook, where you can write down what you eat for a day. Can a regular Word document or Excel spreadsheet on a home or work computer, or maybe a special program on a smartphone.

The first two methods require additional time costs in the form of calculating the calories in each prepared dish. That is, during cooking, you must first weigh on the kitchen scales, preferably electronic, the exact weight of all products. Then add up all the indicators of each of them, determine the calorie content of the prepared dish and already from this amount the calorie content of its individual portion. The occupation is rather troublesome and difficult, besides the probability of error in calculations is high. To simplify the task, you can use the tables.

Specialized programs to facilitate control over consumed calories

The easiest and simplest way to control are special programs - diaries of calories. You can install them on a regular computer, tablet or smartphone. In the first version, they are downloaded via any browser, for mobile devices, you can download from PlayMarket (for Android devices) or iTunes (for Apple devices). The meaning of these electronic diaries is that all the information about ready dishes has already been sewed in, it is enough just to choose the right one, to enter its weight - and calorie content and BZU calculation will automatically be added to the calendar. Some of them work only with dishes from their database, but most allow you to compose and save your individual recipes.

Important points and possible problems in losing weight

When you read a lot of information, find out how to create a calorie deficit, a diary or a program is installed, it seems that everything is ready and you can start losing weight. But on the first day an inexperienced person faces two categories of problems:

1. Too much eaten for breakfast and lunch, and in the evening hungry and the whole diet went downhill. The permissible rate is exceeded, followed by disappointment and even greater self-doubt.

2. The second option for more persistent people. It starts with the same large consumption of calories for breakfast and lunch and their lack for dinner. This category of people will not exceed the norm, will endure a hungry evening, and at night they will become ill from the symptoms of hypoglycemia. So it's not far from the hospital.

How to deal with the complexities in planning the menu for the day

What to do? How to prevent an unpleasant situation, fraught with health problems? To protect future healthy and slender people is the preliminary planning of the menu for the whole day. If the nervous system allows you to think about food before going to bed and not run to the refrigerator, you can do it in the evening. Decide what dishes will be for all meals and snacks, write them into a diary, leave about 200 free calories for an impromptu in the form of fruit, a piece of chocolate or biscuits. And the next day, just follow the pre-planned menu and stick to the prescribed weight of the dishes. If there is no strength, time or desire in the evening, you can plan the menu in the morning, before breakfast, so that you do not accidentally get by.

Conclusions and final recommendations for a successful start and quick achievement of the result

In the struggle for the beauty and harmony of the body, many diets were invented, but the calorie deficit is considered to be the simplest, affordable and easily executed. Reviews in LJ and on the personal pages of celebrities once again prove the effectiveness and safety of this method. Of all the information on this effective method of losing weight, you can identify several recommendations, with which the start will be successful, and the result is rapid and long-term.

1. Calorie counting is not exactly a diet, it is a system of proper nutrition. At first everything seems very difficult, but, getting used to the cut down diet, for several weeks the person who parted with several kilograms does not understand how he could eat such quantity of food earlier.

2. The system does not prohibit the consumption of fats, carbohydrates, sweet, fruit or flour. The main thing is the amount and not exceeding the permissible calories. Even with the biggest deficit there is room for a few squares of chocolate for tea.

3. Do not reduce the number of calories very sharply, you need to start smoothly, so as not to provoke the body to accumulate reserves.

4. No need to get upset if in the first few days the weight will go off swiftly, and then it's slower and slower. At first, water runs out and excessive puffiness, the true weight begins to disappear later and gradually.

Observing these simple rules and recommendations, you can part with the annoying excess weight in just a few months. During the diet, the rules of proper nutrition are so rooted in the head that compliance with the regime will be a simple task even without using diaries and special programs. So, the happy life of a healthy person without excess weight and accompanying problems is ahead.