Calorie Deficit for Fat Loss: A Practical Guide

Understand what it means to be in calorie balance vs. a calorie deficit.

“Every single diet that has helped people to lose body fat in the history of humankind works on the exact same principle by helping you eat fewer calories than you burn.”

Understand how controlling food intake is most effective for achieving a calorie deficit.

“That means that the most effective way to get into a calorie deficit is to control the amount of food and therefore calories that you eat.”

Use the Harris-Benedict equation and activity factor to calculate your TDEE, or use an online calculator.

“Firstly you can calculate your maintenance calories that's how many calories you need to maintain your body weight you do this by knowing your basal metabolic rate and multiplying it by an activity factor.”

Track calorie intake and body weight, and adjust calorie intake based on weight changes.

“The best way to calculate your calories is to actually monitor your body weight and track your calories and just reduce your calories a little until your weight starts to go down.”

Weigh yourself daily and take a weekly average to monitor progress.

“You'll also need to measure your progress and the easiest way to do that is by weighing yourself daily without monitoring your progress you have no idea if what you're doing with your diet is working.”

Reduce calorie intake further when weight loss plateaus.

“One thing to bear in mind when you're in a calorie deficit is that your weight loss will eventually slow down and stop even if you're still eating what was a calorie deficit for you before.”