The Fifth and final blog in my series about different was you could create a calorie deficit.
So far I’ve focused on what you put in your mouth and when you put it there – identifying different systems you could use to eat less than you burn each day.
Another way to create a calorie deficit is via exercise.
Very simply, if you change nothing about your current diet and eat the same amount of calories as you normally do but move more than you currently do you COULD create a deficit.
Now this only works at this most simplest of levels if the number of calories you currently consume is the same as the number of calories you currently burn.
If this is the case by adding extra exercise into your day you will be burning more than you did but consuming the same number of calories as normal which will allow you to create a calorie deficit.
This is probably highly unlikely to be the case (life is rarely that simple!)
If you currently consume more than you burn (you are in a calorie surplus) and wanted to keep your calorie intake the same then you would need to increase the number of calories burnt via exercise in order to both cover the surplus and then create a deficit.
In this situation you may find increasing your activity levels enough to create a deficit difficult and so a mixture of eating a bit less and moving a bit more is a better option.
So how do you set a plan of action for yourself?
Firstly you need to work out your TDEE and deduct 20% – this is the number of calories you need to aim for daily (or weekly). Next work out roughly how many calories you currently eat a day (check my previous blog on calorie counting for how to do all of this). Now work out the difference between these two figures. Can you burn this number of calories per week via exercise? If you can you can continue to eat the same as long as you are willing to move more. If you cannot you will need to work out how much you can burn via exercise and then reduce your calorie allowance to make up the difference.
For instance:
TDEE 2,000 a day (14,000 per week)
Minus 20% to create a deficit = 1,600 a day (11,200 per week)
You currently eat 1,800 calories a day (12,600 per week)
This creates a surplus of 1,400 calories a week
So what could you do?
You could:
= 5 exercise sessions where you burn approx 300 calories per session would allow you to remain in a calorie deficit without eating less.
But perhaps 5 training sessions a week is not practical for you.
So you could
= 3 exercise sessions where you burn approx 300 calories per session, which would burn 900 calories and you would then need to reduce your calories intake by 500 calories a week (about 70 calories a day) to reach a deficit
There are so many ways you can create a calorie deficit. Hopefully the last five blogs have demonstrated that all the various ‘diets’ and ‘plans’ out there effectively do the same thing (create a calorie deficit) just in different ways. How you achieve such a deficit is up to you and it will depend on your lifestyle and personality whats does and doesn’t work for you.
If you have any questions resulting from these blogs please drop me a message or comment and let me know and I will do my best to answer them.
Heather Sherwood Fitness 