How much of a calorie deficit is too much?

[RenegadeKeeblerElf]

I have a large amount of weight to lose, and so my TDEE is quite high. I'm using MFP to track calories and when I put in a goal of losing 1kg/week (which is already at the high end of a healthy weight loss) it gives me a daily calorie allowance of 1750. I did my first jab (MJ) last Friday and have averaged about 13-1400 calories quite happily. I'd like to stick with that as I think eating more just for the sake of it would reinforce bad habits that I want to get rid of. But I'm worried that if I lose too fast it could be unhealthy. Is it ok to have a big calorie deficit if the amount of calories I'm eating is still a healthy amount (ie not a VLC diet amount)?

Start strong op if you have “a lot to lose”

and then increase gently when you’re more in control

Personally I try to get as close to my Tdee as possible without making myself feel ill. So that's quality of food nutrition and calorie wise instead of quantity.

I do not want to lose too fast and start losing my hair and feeling ill. I also want the best chance of my lose skin going back to a cope able level.

So I focus on full fat versions of things and less quantity.

1kg a week is a loads to lose consistentlyand plenty fast enough and I've averaged 0.8 kilo a week over the last 8 months.

Consistency is what's important. Now I've dropped nearly 5 stone I work to 1400kcal a day.

Oh also. Sack off MFP it's unreliable and way more work than needed for tracking. I had to check what was in MFP every single time against the packet I had in my hands and it negated the supposed usefulness of the app.

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Agree with he above, nutracheck is worth every penny

Just a query about nutracheck. My current weight is 150lb. The app tells me that’s 10st 10lb. My working outs 150 / 14 =10.7 My friends is also a few lb out on the app. Does yours do the same?

@raven0007 150lbs is 10st 10lbs. It’s also 10.7 stones, the two values are equal and equivalent because there are 14 pounds in a stone. So 10.7 stones means 10 st plus 0.7 of a stone, which is 10 pounds - 10 pounds out of the 14 in a stone.

🤣 I read it once and thought but how can I be 10.10 and 10.7. Then I read it again and understood! I think we can all tell mathematics has never been my strong point.
Thank you for explaining that!

Try not to go below your BMR.

Did you mean to put TDEE here? Staying very close to TDEE will mean maintaining.

I get what you're all saying, and I'd have probably said it myself previously, but I'm really not sure how I'd eat more at the moment without either forcing myself to eat when I'm not hungry or having empty calories. I've haven't deliberately restricted myself, that's just where I've ended up each day. For context, this is roughly what I've had each day -

B - 2 Weetabix with around 250mls semi skimmed milk
L - large salad of veggies with some protein
Snack - satsuma
Dinner - varied but balanced (omelette with broccoli and new potatoes, fake chicken with rice and veg)

This is roughly what I would have eaten previously for meals, the difference being I have stopped all the snacks and junk food between meals. I think it's a sustainable way to eat, if I add more calories now I'm worried I will get used to eating like that and struggle to cut them out when I get slimmer.

What does MFP say about your macros for that day? Your protein looks a little low. Are you a vegetarian?

The trick is to incorporate small quantities of nutrient-dense, highish calorie foods to add more energy without bulk. As long as you're not allergic, nut butters and nuts are excellent for this.

Protein is around 50-60g per day. It just feels wrong to be trying to increase my calories when I'm eating food I enjoy and not feeling hungry or deprived. Not a fan of nut butters or things like greek yogurt either (although I did have some greek yogurt with fruit puree yesterday as a snack as I accidentally took the wrong lunch to work so had to improvise!).

Well in that case, don’t.

save worrying about upping calories when you have made substantial inroads in to you losing a “lot of weight”

It sounds like you are describing a situation that is comfortably sustainable for you. Therefore it's appropriate. IMHO.

Well, don't then. I'm not quite sure what else to say.

All I can suggest from my own experience of losing 9st on MJ with minimal muscle loss is to avoid going below your BMR, try to increase your protein to 1g per kg of body weight, and start resistance training now. Good luck.

Wow, that's a lot of protein! I'll see what I can do to up it. In terms of not going below BMR, would you still aim for that even if exercising - if I do more exercise I might feel hungrier so might be able to eat more - I'd still have a big calorie deficit but be less likely to lose the muscle?

And of course it's only my first week, I may start to find as time goes on that the novelty wears off and I want to eat a bit differently so I guess I need to give myself permission to do that to keep it sustainable. My psychology around food is just so screwed up after years of yo-yo dieting and I find it hard to know what is the 'right' thing to do.

It's at the lower end of the protein intake that you need to guard against significant muscle loss. I personally chose to use protein supplements, especially on high suppression days.

I don't understand your second question. Your BMR is your basal metabolic rate. It is the number of calories that your body burns simply keeping you alive if if you didn't get out of bed and is unaffected by exercise. To guard against long-term effects on your metabolism I would strongly recommend that you do not go below your BMR.

op… you’ve been doing this for a few days!

you feel good
give it time
if that changes, change your diet

I think what you're eating sounds fine. I wouldn't worry about protein targets and other macros until you've smashed off some initial weight. Then you can tweak your diet into something more sustainable.

I had 9 stone to lose on MJ (now 4)
I don't count calories but started off losing about 1.5 pounds a week (750 deficit) & the last 4 months or so that has now slowed down to 1 pound a week (500 deficit)
I used to want to lose at a faster rate but have come to peace that 1 to 1.5 pounds a week is great, sustainable & minimises the risk of the bad side effects which can come with fast weight loss.
I don't think I will reduce calories. If anything I will start the long overdue plan of resistance training & generally trying to be more active.

OP I have been having similar experiences. I am
also regularly eating less calories than recommended, but am still eating 3 meals a day, which seems sensible and healthy . I am going to continue eating under the calorie guidance ( also think the FAST 800 diet got a lot of love for very restrictive calories for people with lots to lose )
i am also going to try and build more muscle and exercise more , so when my weight has decreased significantly this should help re balance my calorie recommendations.

Nutracheck is much better than MFP.

10st 10lbs is absolutely not equal to 10st 7lbs. That maths is nuts! You're not actually serious are you?

That is absolutely NOT true. 10st 10lbs is not the same as 10st 7lbs. Jesus Lord