What Is A Calorie Deficit? A calorie deficit is when you burn more calories than you consume. Calories are considered units of energy you get from foods and beverages. Calorie expenditure is about the number of calories you can expend and burn in a day. And it incorporates three different components:
The Three Components of Calorie Expenditure:
The first is the thermic effect of food which is the number of calories you burn during the digestion process.
The second component is resting energy expenditure which is the calories your body uses at rest that keep you alive and breathing.
The third component is activity energy expenditure which is the calories you burn during movement such as exercise or doing any type of physical movement.
What Is A Calorie Deficit? iStock- photo credit: Eblokhina
There are other factors that influence weight loss outside of being in calorie deficit and it is genetics, hormones, physical activity, lifestyle habits, stress, taking certain medications, etc.
To lose one pound per week you should have a calorie deficit of 500 calories daily. To lose two pounds per week you should be in a calorie deficit of 1000 calories daily.
To help you achieve that deficit you can consume fewer calories and increase your physical activity level. Or you can do both at the same time.
Diet
Eating a healthy balanced diet can help you attain your goal of having a calorie deficit. And some good diet foods are:
- Fruits
- Whole Grains
- Vegetables
- Nuts
- Legumes
- Protein foods such as chicken, turkey, fish, beef, steak
Some good healthy tips to lower your daily caloric intake are minimizing alcohol consumption, avoiding consuming sugary beverages, limiting processed foods consumption, etc.
Exercise
Exercise is also another way of staying in the 500 to 1000 calorie a day deficit. The two types of exercises you should do regularly are cardiovascular and resistance training workouts. Some good cardio workouts you can do are walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, etc.
Some good resistance training workouts you can do are resistance band workouts, dumbbell free weights, body weight workout such as push-ups, chair dips, body squats, wall-sits, sit-ups, crunches, etc.
Cardiovascular workouts help you burn calories at the workout and resistance training workouts help you burn calories after the workout. Resistance training helps you build lean muscle mass which will help to speed up your metabolism which is your resting metabolic rate.
The Bottom Line is a calorie deficit when you are burning more calories than you are consuming. And the best way to do this is through diet and exercise.
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References
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