Calorie deficit: Tips, common mistakes and how to do it effectively
A calorie deficit is a fundamental approach to weight loss. However, many people make mistakes when trying to achieve it. In this article, we'll break down what a calorie deficit is, how to implement it correctly, and what practices you should avoid to maximize results in a healthy way.
What is a caloric deficit?
Calorie deficit is the basic principle behind weight loss and occurs when you consume fewer calories than your body needs to carry out its daily functions, known as your total daily energy expenditure (TDE).
This expenditure includes not only the calories you burn through physical activity, but also those needed to maintain vital functions such as digestion, breathing and maintaining body temperature, known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR).
When your caloric intake is less than your caloric expenditure, the body enters a deficit state and begins to use its stored energy reserves, primarily in the form of body fat, to make up the difference. In the long term, this results in weight loss. However, the caloric deficit should not be extreme, as too aggressive a reduction can lead to muscle loss, hormonal imbalances, and other negative health effects.
The role of basal metabolic rate (BMR)
Basal metabolic rate is the number of calories your body needs to function at rest and is responsible for about 60-75% of daily caloric expenditure. Factors such as age, sex, body composition, and genetics influence your BMR. For example, someone with more muscle mass has a higher BMR, meaning they burn more calories even at rest.
An article from Harvard Health Publishing highlights that a moderate calorie deficit of between 500 and 1,000 calories per day is ideal for healthy and sustainable weight loss. This approach can lead to a reduction of between 0.5 and 1 kg per week, which is in line with recommendations from health and nutrition experts to avoid the rebound effect and ensure that most of the weight lost comes from body fat, not muscle (Harvard Health, 2021).
Total daily energy expenditure (TEE) and physical activity
In addition to BMR, total daily energy expenditure includes the calories you burn through physical activity, whether it's intentional exercise or everyday movement like walking or climbing stairs. Physical activity accounts for 15-30% of daily energy expenditure, depending on your activity level. By increasing your activity level, you can positively influence your calorie deficit without making drastic cuts to your diet.
Calorie deficit can be achieved in two main ways: by reducing calorie intake, by increasing physical activity, or by a combination of both. In fact, the combination of regular exercise and a moderate calorie deficit has been shown to be the most effective strategy for long-term weight loss, as it helps preserve muscle mass and improves body composition.
Calorie quality and sustainability of the deficit
Not all calories are created equal. Prioritizing nutrient-dense foods, such as lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats, is key to ensuring your body receives the necessary micronutrients, even in a calorie deficit. The American Dietetic Association also recommends that a focus on food quality not only facilitates weight loss, but also improves metabolic health and prevents chronic disease.
On the other hand, cutting calories too much can have the opposite effect.
The metabolism can adapt to a very low caloric intake by slowing down and causing what is known as "energy-saving mode," where the body tries to conserve as much energy as possible. This can lead to weight loss stagnation and even regaining lost weight if the deficit is not properly adjusted.
Harvard Health suggests that the most effective and sustainable weight loss occurs when a moderate calorie reduction is combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise. Trying to lose weight in an accelerated manner, cutting more than 1,000 calories a day, can lead to negative consequences, such as nutritional deficiencies, muscle loss, and hormonal dysregulation (Harvard Health, 2021).
Tips to effectively achieve a calorie deficit
Achieving a sustainable and healthy calorie deficit requires a comprehensive approach that combines a balanced diet, proper calorie tracking, and physical activity. Below, I share proven strategies to effectively achieve this goal and maintain weight loss over the long term:
1. Keep accurate track of your calories
Tracking the calories you consume on a daily basis is essential to ensure you are in a calorie deficit. It's not just about counting calories, but understanding the quality of those calories. Using tools like MyFitnessPal , Cronometer , or Lose It! can make this process easier.
These apps not only track your total calories, but also provide a breakdown of macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat), vitamins, and minerals.
Keeping a close eye on your diet helps you identify consumption patterns that could be preventing you from creating a deficit. Studies have shown that people tend to underestimate their daily caloric intake by 20-30%, which can stall weight loss (Cambridge, 2020). To avoid this, make sure you weigh and measure your food, and record any drinks or snacks you consume.
Pro tip: Review and adjust your calorie intake every two weeks. As you lose weight, your basal metabolic rate decreases, which may require adjustments to your intake to continue losing fat without putting muscle mass at risk.
2. Incorporate nutrient-dense, high-satiation foods
Not all calories have the same impact on your body. Prioritizing nutrient-dense foods is not only essential to ensuring good overall health, but can also improve your ability to stick to a low-calorie diet. Foods rich in protein, high-fiber vegetables, and healthy fats provide greater satiety and reduce the risk of overeating.
Protein: Protein-rich foods like chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, and legumes not only help you maintain muscle mass during a calorie deficit, but they also have a high thermic effect. This means your body burns more calories digesting and processing protein compared to carbs or fat.
A study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that increasing protein intake to 25-30% of total calories can improve feelings of satiety and contribute to greater fat loss (American Society for Nutrition, 2020).
Fiber: High-fiber foods like leafy greens, fruits, and legumes will help you stay feeling full longer. Fiber slows digestion and stabilizes blood sugar levels, reducing cravings and energy swings that often lead to unhealthy food choices.
Healthy fats: Including healthy fats from avocados, nuts, olive oil, and fatty fish like salmon is not only beneficial for cardiovascular health, but also plays a crucial role in hormone production. Fats help absorb fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K, which are essential for metabolism and appetite regulation.
3. Maintain constant and varied physical activity
Exercise is a key tool for reaching and maintaining a caloric deficit, but its impact goes beyond simply burning calories. Performing regular exercise, especially resistance exercises (weight training, functional training, etc.), helps preserve muscle mass, which is crucial when you're in a caloric deficit.
When you cut calories, your body doesn't just burn fat; without the proper stimulus, it can also lose muscle mass. Not only is this detrimental to your body composition, but it also slows down your metabolism, making weight loss more difficult in the long run. Harvard Health highlights that combining a moderate deficit with strength training is the most effective way to reduce body fat and improve muscle composition, while maintaining an elevated metabolism (Harvard Health Publishing, 2022).
In addition to strength training, cardiovascular exercise such as walking, running, swimming or cycling contributes to daily energy expenditure. Cardio should not be excessive; moderate sessions of 30-45 minutes, 3-4 times a week, are sufficient to complement a controlled diet.
Pro tip: Adding variety to your workout routine not only improves adherence, but also increases the total number of calories burned. Try alternating between high-intensity training (HIIT), resistance training, and low-impact cardio activities to maximize calorie burn and improve cardiovascular endurance.
4. Adjust your environment and eating habits
In addition to controlling calories and exercise, environment and habits play a key role in long-term success. Studies published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics indicate that people who have long-term success at losing weight often make significant adjustments to their eating environment and how they manage stress and anxiety, two factors that influence eating behavior.
Example of effective adjustments:
Portion size control: Use smaller plates to avoid the temptation to overeat.
Prepare your meals in advance: Meal planning reduces the chance of making impulsive decisions when you are hungry.
Keep healthy foods in sight: Having fruits and vegetables accessible and ready to eat makes it easier to make healthy choices.
5. Take care of rest and recovery
Lack of sleep can sabotage your efforts to create a calorie deficit. Studies have shown that people who sleep less than 6 hours a night tend to consume more calories and gain weight compared to those who sleep 7-8 hours a night (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2019). This is due to the disruption of hunger hormones, such as ghrelin and leptin, which increase appetite and decrease feelings of satiety.
Pro tip: Try to maintain a consistent sleep routine. Getting enough sleep not only optimizes your hunger and satiety hormones, but it also improves your exercise performance, helping you maximize calorie burn.
Common mistakes when trying a calorie deficit
When it comes to creating a calorie deficit, many make mistakes that can hinder their progress, harm their long-term health, and make weight loss harder to sustain. Below are some of the most common mistakes and how to avoid them, backed by studies and nutrition and fitness experts:
1. Extreme calorie reduction
One of the most common mistakes is drastically reducing calorie intake, believing that "the less I eat, the faster I'll lose weight." While this approach may yield immediate results, it is neither sustainable nor healthy in the long term.
When you cut out more calories than necessary, your body goes into a state of alert, interpreting the lack of food as a sign of starvation. This causes your metabolism to slow down in order to conserve energy. According to a study published by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism , extremely low-calorie diets (less than 1,200 calories per day) can reduce your metabolism by 15-20%, making weight loss even more difficult (Müller et al., 2019).
Furthermore, severe calorie restriction can lead to muscle loss, constant fatigue, nutritional deficiencies, and a decline in cognitive function. The American Council on Exercise warns that extreme diets often end in “yo-yo” cycles, where lost weight is quickly regained once normal eating is resumed, which can also increase the risk of metabolic problems and chronic diseases (ACE, 2020).
Recommendation: Instead of making drastic cuts, opt for a moderate reduction of between 500 and 1,000 calories a day, as suggested by Harvard Health guidelines. This results in a gradual and sustainable weight loss of approximately 0.5 to 1 kg per week, which protects muscle mass and keeps the metabolism active (Harvard Health Publishing, 2021).
2. Not adjusting caloric intake based on progress
As you progress through your weight loss journey, your calorie needs change as well. One of the most common mistakes is not making the necessary adjustments over time. As you lose weight, the amount of energy your body needs to maintain its current weight decreases, as a smaller body requires fewer calories to function.
If you continue to eat the same amount of calories as you did at the start of your diet, you may plateau and not continue to see results. This phenomenon, known as a “weight loss plateau,” is common when people fail to recalculate their calorie deficit based on their new body weight. A study from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics notes that adjusting calorie intake as you lose weight is crucial to avoiding plateaus and keeping fat loss on track (AND, 2018).
Recommendation: Every two weeks, review your progress and adjust your macros and calories based on your new body composition and activity level. This can be done with the help of tracking apps or with the support of a nutrition professional to guide you through the process. Recalibration will ensure you continue to stay in a deficit without negatively impacting your performance or health.
3. Neglecting the quality of food
One of the most damaging, yet often underestimated, mistakes is to focus solely on the quantity of calories and not the quality of the food you consume. Not all calories are equal in terms of their impact on your health, energy and body composition.
Prioritizing ultra-processed foods, high in added sugars, trans fats, and sodium, can meet your caloric requirements but create serious nutritional deficiencies. A study published by the British Medical Journal found that diets high in processed foods increase the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer, even when in a caloric deficit (Monteiro et al., 2019). Additionally, nutrient-poor foods can affect your overall well-being, leading to fatigue, mood swings, and digestive issues, all of which can sabotage your weight loss efforts in the long term.
Recommendation: Opt for whole, nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods. Prioritize lean proteins (chicken, turkey, fish), complex carbohydrates (quinoa, oats, sweet potatoes), and healthy fats (avocados, nuts, olive oil). Not only will these foods help you maintain greater satiety, but they also provide the essential nutrients your body needs to function optimally while losing weight.
4. Overestimating the calories burned through exercise
Many people fall into the trap of overestimating the calories they burn through exercise, which can lead to consuming more food than necessary, thinking they will "make up for it" at the gym.
Exercise is a great tool to supplement a calorie deficit, but the calories burned during exercise are often lower than most people estimate. According to a study in the International Journal of Obesity , most people tend to overestimate calories burned by 20-50% and as a result, end up overeating, which counteracts the calorie deficit created during exercise (Church et al., 2020).
Recommendation: Focus on the consistency of your exercise routine and don't use exercise as an excuse to consume more calories than you need. Use exercise as a complement to improve your cardiovascular health, maintain muscle mass and increase your caloric expenditure, but always prioritize diet as the primary means of generating a caloric deficit.
5. Skipping meals or resorting to extreme fasting methods
Although intermittent fasting approaches can be effective for some people, habitually skipping meals can lead to increased hunger, cravings, and binge eating episodes later in the day. Additionally, skipping important meals like breakfast can negatively impact energy levels and cognitive performance, which can result in increased intake of low-quality foods to “compensate.”
A study published by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicates that people who habitually skip breakfast are more likely to compensate with high-calorie meals later in the day, undermining efforts to create a sustained calorie deficit (Betts et al., 2019).
Recommendation: If you decide to practice intermittent fasting, do so in a controlled manner and make sure that you are consuming enough nutrients and quality calories during your eating hours. If you do not follow this strategy, make sure to eat balanced meals throughout the day to avoid hunger peaks that lead to overeating later on.
Opinions of users who have tried the calorie deficit
We have compiled some experiences from people who have implemented a calorie deficit in their daily lives:
Carlos Macias : "I started cutting my calories by 700 a day, and although the first few days were difficult, I now feel more energetic and have lost 4 kg in a month."
Ana Gonzalez: "I made the mistake of cutting 1,200 calories at once and ended up with a lot of anxiety. Then I learned to do it gradually, and the results have been much more sustainable."
Implement the caloric deficit intelligently
By properly achieving a calorie deficit, you can achieve your weight loss goals without sacrificing your well-being. Avoid common mistakes and follow the practical tips we have given you to get the best results. A balanced and sustainable approach will always be the best route to healthy weight loss.
Are you ready to take control of your health and effectively achieve your goals?
On your path to a successful calorie deficit, the key is to avoid common mistakes that can hinder your progress and well-being. Don't let misunderstandings and ineffective practices deviate you from your goal of a healthier, more balanced life.
Imagine a future where every effort you make has a positive impact, where every meal and every exercise choice brings you closer to your goals, not unnecessary frustration. Your health and well-being are in your hands, and with the right information, you can achieve real, lasting transformation.
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Bibliographic references:
Harvard Health Publishing. (2021). How to cut calories without sacrificing nutrition
American Council on Exercise (ACE). (2020). Safe Weight Loss Guide
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