How To Create A Calorie Deficit To Lose Weight

Calorie Deficit Calculator For Weight Loss and Weight Management

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Age

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Calorie Deficit

Daily Calorie Needs

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What Is The Calorie Deficit Calculator and How Does It Work?

The calorie deficit calculator is a tool that helps to determine the number of calories you need on a daily basis to lose weight. This is calculated based on your basal metabolic rate (BMR), level of daily activity, and the rate at which you desire to lose those pounds.

For those who aren't as familiar, your BMR is another word for the calories your body requires to function at rest and it's also referred to as the metabolism.

BMR is calculated using a formula that takes into account your weight, height, and age.

How To Use The Calorie Deficit Calculator

While the calculator is rather straightforward, here are step-by-step instructions on how to use it.

Choose the unit of measurement. The two options are imperial (lbs, ft, and inches) or metric (kg, m, and cm).
Select your gender (male or female)
Enter your weight and height
Type in your age
Choose your activity level
Use the drop-down menu to pick the calorie deficit or the number of calories that you want to reduce in order to reach your weight loss goals.

The calculator will then recommend your daily calorie needs (to maintain your current body weight) and the calorie deficit you should be in to lose weight.

What's A Caloric Deficit and How Does It Cause Weight or Fat Loss?

Caloric deficit is another term for negative energy balance or insufficient calories to maintain your body weight.

For example, you may need 2,500 calories every day to remain at around 190 lbs. However, let's say you want to get down to 160 lbs, well, you'll need to either eat fewer than 2,500 calories, exercise more to burn extra calories, or do a combination of both.

When you're in a calorie or energy deficit, your body starts tapping into your stored body fat which is an important source of energy. This is how fat loss happens.

Weight loss, on the other hand, while it can include body fat, typically means water, glycogen, and poop.

But if you know your total daily calorie expenditure (TDEE) and maintenance calories, you can create that deficit and begin to see fat loss results.

Here are the Top 20 Simple Weight Loss Tips

Best Ways To Burn More Calories

There are a few ways that you can burn calories to achieve a caloric deficit.

Cheat Meal

Eat less

If we tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone.

You can lose weight by just eating less food, no exercise required. Does that mean you should only eat less and not exercise? Absolutely not.

Physical activity is both important for your physical and mental health and you'll burn even more calories than if you just ate fewer calories.

Related: Use Calorie Cycling To Achieve New Levels of Fat Loss

Be more active

Physical activity is an amazing way to burn lots of calories. Not to mention, if you're a hungry person who likes to indulge more than you want to admit, then cardio is your best friend.

This can be in the form of playing sports, exercising on cardio equipment like a treadmill or rower, or even doing high-intensity interval training.

Also read: 20 Simple And Functional Workout Finishers For Muscle Gains, Strength, and Fat Loss

Eat less and be more active

You could also just do both! Eat fewer calories and do more physical activity. It's certainly not for everyone, especially those who have a big appetite and who are prone to overdoing it. But it's certainly an effective method for losing body fat.

You should still make sure to hit the desired deficit and not burn too many calories as this can be counterproductive and can be very unhealthy.

Use supplements

Unlike the other three best ways to burn calories, supplements aren't nearly as effective for burning lots of calories on their own. But they can certainly help.

Check out these fat burner supplements and learn about the many effective ingredients included in them.

Drink more water

You could burn more calories by drinking more water. How so? First off, water fills you up and sends a signal to your brain that you're full. It's true. If you fill up on water, it's hard to eat food.

Well, this can delay your appetite and prevent you from eating additional calories.

Additionally, dehydration is a common problem. You've probably heard before that you may think you're hungry when you actually need water or fluids instead.

It's so much easier to overeat when you're not drinking enough water and many of us don't.

It's also a good idea to replace sugary and high-calorie beverages with water. Many drink far too many sodas and juices with added sugars and calories and this adds up to a lot of calories that are keeping you from losing weight.

There are also a few interesting studies on drinking water and losing weight. Drinking water before a meal has been shown to cause a few pounds lost over just a few month's time (1, 2).

This is pretty good considering your diet and exercise play the most important role in your weight loss efforts.

But many struggle to get enough water because they just don't like it. You can add lemon and Stevia, drink more coconut water, or infuse your water with fruit to make drinking water more enjoyable and tastier!

Also, carry around your favorite bottle and make sure it's always full. This will become a habit and you'll avoid dehydration which can happen rather quickly and easily, especially if you're active.

Tip: Use Water Intake Calculator.

Hang around people with the same goals

Influence is a powerful thing. It's very common for people to make decisions based on those of their peers.

If you want to lose weight or be healthier, it's so much easier when you aren't tempted to eat food at the closest fast food joint.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with having a cheat meal or food you enjoy… once in a while. But it's important to have structure and discipline.

You should write out your goals and why you want to achieve them and place them somewhere that you can see them several times per day.

You're letting yourself down by continually making bad choices whether that's with your diet or your life, in general.

Weigh yourself

This won't directly cause you to burn more calories, however, if you don't see your weight down on the scale after a few weeks then you probably need to tweak your diet or do more activity.

Make sure you're tracking your calories so that you can identify and correct the issue.

Sometimes though, you might need to see a medical professional. Many suffer from health issues like an underactive thyroid or PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), or you may be taking medications, struggle with mental health problems, or just have a slower metabolism.

The good news is that anyone can lose weight with these issues but it may take treatment or changing up your routine.

Related Calculators:

Weight Loss Calculator
Weight Loss Target Date Calculator
TDEE Calculator
Body Type Quiz
Body Fat Calculator
Body Surface Area Calculator
Calories Burned Calculator

Wrapping Up

The calorie deficit calculator is a fantastic tool that, while useful for anyone looking to lose fat, is very convenient for beginners to use as a starting point.

Keep in mind that adjustments to your lifestyle may be necessary to help you continue progressing and we have lots of great information on Fitness Volt to help you achieve your goals.

Also try our calories per meal calculator that splits your daily calorie intake into manageable servings.