What is a calorie deficit? A calorie deficit is when you burn more calories than you consume, and this is how weight loss occurs. To lose one pound a week you need to be in a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories.
To lose two pounds per week you need to be in a daily caloric deficit of 1000 calories per day. The CDC suggests that a healthy weight loss is 1 to 2 pounds per week.
What is a calorie deficit? iStock-photo credit: Alexey Krukovsky
What is a calorie? It is the unit of energy you receive from food and beverages. Calorie expenditure is the number of calories you burn and expend each day. There are three ways to do this:
- Thermic effect of food which is the calories you burn while digesting and absorbing food.
- Resting energy expenditure is the number of calories your body uses at rest.
- Activity energy expenditure is the number of calories you use while you are physically active like working out, gardening, etc.
A calorie surplus is when you consume more calories than you burn which leads to weight gain. Other factors that influence weight fluctuations are:
- Hormones
- Stress
- Lifestyle habits
- Genetics
- Medications
- Physical activity
The best way to achieve a calorie deficit is through a well-balanced diet that incorporates fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, healthy complex carbs, and healthy fats.
A well-balanced diet includes fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, proteins, nuts, dairy, etc. Here are some helpful tips to keep your calories low is consuming fruits and vegetables with each meal. These high fiber foods are low in calories and high in nutrients. These types of foods will keep you full and help to suppress your appetite.
Try to limit eating processed foods which are high in calories and low in nutrients. Try to limit yourself from consuming sugary drinks or alcoholic drinks which are high in empty calories. And replace those drinks with drinking water. In fact, drinking up to 8 glasses of water per day can suppress your appetite and make you eat less food.
Exercise is also another way to achieve a calorie deficit because you are burning calories whether it be through cardiovascular or weight-training workouts. The types of cardiovascular exercises you can do are walking, swimming, jogging, gardening, cycling, etc.
The types of resistance training exercises you can do are resistance band workouts, dumbbell free weight workouts, body weight workouts like push-ups, planks, bench dips, body squats, situps, crunches, etc.
Cardio and diet are the two essential elements in creating a calorie deficit to help you lose weight.
The Bottom Line is calorie deficit is when you burn more calories than you consume which can be done through diet and exercise.
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References
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