5 Step Formula to Figuring Out Your Calorie Deficit

fitness nutrition Feb 12, 2024

If you are looking to lose weight in 2024, do NOT use an online calculator to tell you how much to eat. They’re almost always inaccurate and only consider a few factors such as your current weight, desired weight, height, and activity level.

They do not also consider very important factors such as your past dieting history, your specific training regimen, genetics, and more.

Sure, they can be a starting point on what you should aim for, BUT there is a better approach to truly customize your calorie deficit:

Step 1: Download a food tracking app like My Fitness Pal or Lose It

Step 2: For 7 days, track every morsel of food you eat (including cooking oils, liquid beverages, alcohol, the small bites of your kids’ treats, etc.)

Step 3: Take the average amount of calories you ate for those 7 days

Step 4: Assuming you did not gain or lose weight (+/- 1-2lbs), you now have your Maintenance Calories (i.e. how many calories it takes to maintain your current size)

Step 5: If your goal is to lose weight, create a calorie deficit of 250-500 calories a day from your Maintenance Calories. I don’t recommend you create a deficit through food alone. Make sure it’s also coming from exercise and general movement throughout the day.

One big caveat to this:

- If you find that your Maintenance Calories is below 1,300, I do not recommend this approach.
- You must first re-boost your metabolism through reverse dieting so that you’re in a healthier maintenance calorie range before attempting a calorie deficit

This is a VERY simplistic answer to weight loss, and it’s definitely not all there is that you have to consider. There are many other factors that may be contributing to weight loss retention, including but not limited to:

- Your hormone levels
- Perimenopause
- Overdoing cardio
- Poor sleep habits
- Poor stress management