Calculate a calorie deficit - this is your calorie requirement
If you want to lose weight, you have a variety of options. But one thing is certain: there should be a calorie deficit in order for the pounds to fall. So if you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. On the other hand, if you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. It's actually a very simple calculation. But: Which food actually contains how many calories? And how can I calculate the calorie deficit?
In a diet, the calorie deficit is always the basis that makes losing weight possible in the first place. So it is important to know how to calculate the calorie deficit.
How do you calculate the calorie deficit?
In order to calculate the calorie deficit, you need to know your calorie consumption. This is also called the basic turnover. It is not the same for everyone and depends heavily on your circumstances. Anyone who sits in the office all day has a lower basal metabolic rate than people who work all day on the construction site, for example. In addition, tall people generally have a higher basal metabolic rate than short ones and people with muscles more than people without them.
However, it is not quite as easy to determine the basal metabolic rate, precisely because many factors go into it. But if you want to lose weight, a rough guideline is sufficient.
Feel free to use our Löwenanteil of calories calculator , in which you have to enter your weight, height, age and other data.
The so-called Harris Benedict formula, which was developed back in 1981, is often used with other calculators.
This formula differs in men and women and looks like this:
- Basal metabolic rate woman: 655.1 + (9.6 x body weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)
- Basal metabolic rate male: 66.47 + (13.7 x body weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)
But there is another formula, because some people now assume that the Harris Benedict formula may already be a bit outdated.
This reads:
- Basal metabolic rate woman: (9.99 x body weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) - (4.92 x age in years) – 161
- Basal metabolic rate male: (9.99 x body weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) - (4.92 x age in years) + 5
This is the Mifflin St. Jeor formula, which is much more modern and also takes into account and includes the changes in people's lifestyles over the last 100 years. After all, people move significantly less today than they did 100 years ago.
What does a calorie deficit mean when losing weight?
If you have a calorie deficit over a longer period of time, then your weight will decrease in the long term. The greater the deficit, the faster the weight loss will be. For example, if you are in a deficit of 500 calories per day, it will take you about 14 days to lose a pound of fat.
Calorie-conscious eating with the Löwenanteil
With us you know exactly what's in it! Build the organic dishes from Löwenshare into your nutrition plan without a guilty conscience. We use only the highest quality organic ingredients and leave out anything bad for your body. We do not add any sugar and other additives have no place in our products or in your body. This is how your nutrition planning is easy and damn tasty.
How can a calorie deficit be achieved?
There are two ways to do this: Either you eat significantly less, so that at the end of the day you have consumed fewer calories than you use up. Your body then burns more fat - actually logical.
Or you can maintain the amount of calories you eat and move significantly more. For example, by doing more sport. Then your basal metabolic rate increases and the bottom line is also a calorie deficit.
Of course you can also, and that would be ideal, combine these two methods for an optimal effect: you do more sport and eat less. This ensures that the calorie deficit becomes noticeable.
What does building muscle have to do with it?
It's quite simple: If you have more muscles, you burn more calories per se. And that almost without doing anything! That means if you've already built muscle, the body is working for you. A muscular body causes a higher basal metabolic rate than an untrained body.
So you kill two birds with one stone with muscles. On the one hand, you train your body and burn calories at the same time. On the other hand, with more muscles you ensure that the body burns more calories even when it is at rest.
FAQ
Which factors are taken into account when calculating the calorie deficit?
These are factors such as gender, age, weight, height, occupation, living conditions, exercise, etc.
What does calorie deficit mean?
This means there is a deficit between the calories you take in and the calories you burn. If you are in a permanent calorie deficit, you will lose weight.
How can a calorie deficit be achieved?
In different ways. On the one hand by the fact that the body is supplied with fewer calories, on the other hand by more exercise. In one case, the number of calories consumed decreases, in the other case, the consumption of calories increases. Both lead to long-term weight loss.
How Much Calorie Deficit Do You Need to Lose Weight?
With a calorie deficit of 500 per day, you usually lose around 1 kilogram of fat mass in 2 weeks.