Calorie Deficit: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Alright guys, the time has come to discuss the most overused and misunderstood term in fitness and nutrition world; The Calorie Deficit. Being a personal trainer and now certified nutritionist gives me so much perspective on the struggle that most people run into when it comes to this term. Calorie deficit is something that tends to get twisted and molded into whatever the internet fad for creators, trainers and athletes a like want to make it into to sell a program to make money or grab the attention of the audience. Let's focus on what a calorie deficit really is and how this can help, hurt or hamper your progress based on your goal. If you haven't checked out my post on energy balance, please click the link and read that article first:

 https://trainwithduane.blogspot.com/2024/03/energy-balancewhat-is-that-and-why-is.html

The energy balance article plainly explains why the human body needs calories (macro & micro-nutrients to allow for the body to maximize metabolic processes, aid in immunity, recovery from exercise, energy levels and vitality for life). The biggest misconception is that people believe that the calorie deficit has to be this wild number that a trainer once gave them to eat once upon a time (which allowed them to lose weight but when they ate normal, gained it all back) or a diet from some famous influencer on a podcast or the amount recommended after a quick google search "How many calories to lose weight?" which gave me results like "Is 1200 calories enough to lose weight?" or "Is 1500 calories enough for a day?" I'm hear to tell you God's honest truth!!!

- Maybe it is

- Maybe it isn't

But what I would question in return: do you want a short-term fix, or a sustainable solution to losing body fat? Do you really want to live the rest of your life on these minimal amount of calories?

If your answers are that you want a truly sustainable nutrition plan and you don't want to struggle with the recommended caloric intake of a child then please pay attention and focus on these three tips.

1. Know your MAINTENANCE calories!!! 

In my last blog post, I focused on how to find maintenance, now I can take the next step and describe why this is so important. Maintenance calories are a good balance point to play around with from time to time instead of ALWAYS maintaining a deficit. When our bodies are always in a deficit, remember that means we are not just in a deficit of calories and macro-nutrients but also the micro-nutrients essential to our bodily processes. 

A lot of our issues surrounding diets, eating and nutrition in general are linked to nutrient deficiencies that we as people are predisposed to for a variety of factors including genetic, environmental and socio-economical. These main reasons are why I encourage people during body-fat loss to focus on nutrient density and sometimes get back to maintenance to ensure we are ingesting as many of the vitamins and minerals as possible in our diet to prevent deficiencies.

2. Deficit on PURPOSE!!!

The standard recommendation for a daily deficit is about -500 kcals based on someones goals, body type and practicality of the particular amount of calories deemed sufficient for day-to-day life. The reason I feel comfortable with that much of a deficit is for one simple reason. 500 kcals* 7 days/wk = 3500 calories. The math is simple, 1 lb. of body fat is estimated to be around 3500 kcals. This puts most people at a pace of close to a lbs of bodyfat lost a week, but obviously there are other factors involved here including nutrient density of foods, fiber content of foods, protein amount to preserve muscle, hair, skin, nail and hormones and comfort with that amount of deficit for each individual.

3. Nutrient Density is KEY!!!

The most IMPORTANT peace to all of this is remember: our objective is not just the macro-nutrients and the calories but those lovely micro-nutrients that really help run the show of our bodies and control our metabolism at the deepest levels. For instance, before supplementation was invented the only way we could get vitamins and minerals was from our food and while much has changed, the formula is still relatively the same. Get as much of those key vitamins and minerals for our metabolic processes, hormonal production and functional processes 

When we cut calories, we are also (with a whole food based diet) cutting nutrients as well!!! This point is never to be understated, because what is a calorie without the nutrients that help convert it to energy and extract the value that comes from the various foods we love to eat. No matter your diet type, just remember it's about density meaning more focused on vitamin and mineral content than calories.