Calorie Deficit
“What is a calorie deficit and should I be in it?”
~ Laura Betts
Calories are units of energy that we find in our food and drink, just like you would measure the temperature in an oven by Celsius or Fahrenheit, or the amount of fuel in your car by litres, we use calories to measure the energy in food.
Now a calorie is a calorie no matter what food it comes from, just like a ton of bricks weighs the same as a ton of feathers, 100 calories from chocolate is the same as 100 calories from broccoli, however the effect it will have on you will differ. Much like you would feel the ton of bricks a hell of a lot more than you would the ton of feathers, the broccoli and chocolate will both do different things to you. This is due to the nutrients within the food.
So when focusing on health you would be required to look at the types of food you are getting your calories from to ensure you are obtaining all the nutrients you require. Yet, if you were solely focusing on weight-loss, you would need to be looking more at your calories, regardless of where they were coming from. Obviously health should always be a factor within your diet but the fact remains that calories dictate your weight management more so than the actual food you consume.
You can eat the “healthiest” foods in the world but if your goal is to lose weight and you aren’t also focusing on the quantity you are consuming then you could still be eating too much for your goals.
Which brings us to a calorie deficit.
In order to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit; which simply put is when your intake of calories is less than the calories you expend.
We expend (burn) calories every second of the day. Just to breath, blink, fidget and generally live we need calories, they are just like the fuel you put in your car, without enough you just wouldn’t run.
We also need calories to give us the energy to move, talk, exercise, communicate, to regulate our hormones and our mood… basically everything we do, think and feel can be affected by the calories we ingest. So it is imperative that you are fuelling yourself enough to function, otherwise your body will start to slow down and eventually even shut down.
So a calorie deficit is when you tip the scales slightly so you are moving more than you are consuming (calorie wise).
Most people’s mistake when opting to attempt a calorie deficit is dropping their calories too low. As already mentioned, we NEED calories to function properly, without an adequate amount you will feel lethargic, irritable, low and you will even naturally reduce the amount you move, as your body's natural instinct kicks in as a way of preserving as much energy as it can. Which means your deficit won’t be as large as you planned it to be anyway.
Furthermore, when people drop their calories too low they tend to find they “over-indulge” at certain times (usually evenings or weekends), they then feel guilty for it, maybe emotionally indulge some more before jumping straight back into restricting. This is not a cycle we want to facilitate. It is not only going to keep you from your goal but it is going to add further damage to your emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.
So ultimately you do not want to be in a calorie deficit unless weight loss is the goal, and even then you don’t want your calorie deficit to be too great.
It is also worth noting that you don’t need to count calories in order to be in a calorie deficit. Tracking your calories can be a great tool but it is not beneficial to everybody and so there are other tools that can be utilised in order to put yourself in a sensible deficit.