What Is a Calorie Deficit?

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When you eat fewer calories than you burn you create a calorie deficit. You must create a calorie deficit to lose weight. A calorie deficit is sometimes also called an energy deficit because calories are a unit of heat or energy. If your serious about losing weight you have probably heard that term several times. But you need to read because there's more to it and no one has told you the real story.

Each bite of food you eat contains energy in the form of calories. You need to consume calories for your body to function properly. But most of us consume more calories than we need each day.

This creates a calorie surplus or calorie excess. The extra calories are stored as fat. Sounds simple, ah? There's more to it. All calories are not equal and that's the part the diet experts don't tell you. Yes, every bite of food does contain calories, but not all calories contain energy in fact the fats in processed foods can even slow down body and brain functions. 

So how do you get rid of extra fat and lose weight? You create a calorie deficit. This energy deficit happens when you eat less during a 24 hour period then your body burns. If your body doesn't get the calories it needs to perform all of its necessary functions, you create a calorie deficit. And that means your body will burn some of your stored body fat to make up for the difference.

When you create a calorie deficit, your body gets energy or fuel from stored fat. This is the extra fat that you carry on your hips or thighs, in your belly and throughout your body. Stored fat is stored energy. Your body can use it to keep moving instead of using energy from food.  When your body burns fat for energy, you lose weight. Thanks true, but it's not that simple. When you lose weight only about 20% of that weight is fat. 

Your body is lazier than you might think. Your body actually prefers to burn muscle mass if it can. It only has to burn half the amount of muscle mass to create the same amount of energy. In other words, if you compare 1 oz of fat to 1oz of muscle mass, the body can produce twice the energy by burning muscle mass. Where does it get that muscle mass? There are thousands of muscles in your body and you only use a small percentage of them. Once those forgotten muscles become flabby and weak you body will use them for fuel.
  • Get more active. The number of calories your body needs each day depends on your activity level. That includes the exercise you do every day and also your non-exercise physical movement. If you increase the number of calories your body needs, but still consume the same number of calories from food, you'll reach a calorie deficit. 

  • Combine diet and exercise. Most successful dieters combine diet and exercise to lose weight. That means that they might eat 250 fewer calories each day and then go for a 60-minute brisk walk to burn an additional 250 calories. The calorie deficit would total 500 calories. Do some research on your own because the mistake every one make is that they over-estimate their calorie burn. They think they burn more then they really do and that's why the scale keeps creeping up.
It doesn't matter which plan you choose to create an energy deficit. Different plans work for different dieters. But if you understand and create a calorie deficit on a regular basis, you'll be able to slim down to your goal weight. Remember that your body works in real time so you have to be careful what you eat every day. Cheaping on your diet will only set you back weeks from reaching your goals.

I write several blogs, check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.wordpress.com
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat han look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks.  “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

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