With the fitness industry growing and many people coming to realize the importance and need to be healthy and active, the first solution suggested by an expert for someone to lose weight would be to be on a calorie deficit diet.
In this blog, we’re going to be talking about all aspects of a calorie deficit diet and how it helps with weight loss.
The term calorie deficit is one that has gained immense popularity in the recent past. Everything with regards to weight loss is associated with calculating calories and consuming less in order for the process to happen.
So, What Is A Calorie Deficit Diet?
Before we get into what a calorie deficit is, let’s understand what a calorie is. So, food is basically broken down into calories and a calorie is the unit of energy. For eg., A chicken roll can be 300 calories.
So, when you burn more calories than you consume you achieve a calorie deficit. Before getting into detail about a calorie deficit, it is essential to know how many calories you need in a day and this depends on various factors.
The three factors that determine the number of calories you need in a day are:
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): The basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy your body needs to function. This depends on various factors like age, gender, height, weight etc.
Physical Activity: Any physical activity amounts to almost 40% of your daily calorie requirements. This includes workouts as well.
Thermic Effect Of Food: This is basically the energy needed to digest the food you consume.
How To Calculate If You’re On A Calorie Deficit?
In order to calculate your calorie deficit, you have to start counting calories first. There are many different apps out there that help with that like MyfitnessPal, HealthifyMe or you could even use Google. So once you start counting calories you have to check your weight on a regular basis.
If your weight is staying the same you’re at maintenance. In that case, what you could do is increase your activity levels or reduce the amount of food you consume in a day. If your weight is dropping that means that you’re at a calorie deficit. So, how you do this is by observing your weight pattern over a period of time.
How Does A Calorie Deficit Diet Cause Weight Loss?
In order for a calorie deficit diet to work, you must be on it for a prolonged period of time. While you’re on a calorie deficit your body will use all its stored energy to make up for the deficit while performing all its regular functions. This, therefore, leads to weight loss. The best and healthiest way to lose weight is to stay on a calorie deficit diet while incorporating some physical activity on a daily basis.
A calorie deficit diet is one of the most efficient ways to lose weight if done under the consultation of a dietitian or a nutritionist. Through this method, your body not only receives the required calories to perform its daily functions, the deficit helps your body in utilizing existing energy deposits to carry out additional functions and facilitates weight loss.