Healthy Weight Loss with Calorie Deficit
2025-01-11
1. What is Calorie Deficit?
Calorie deficit means consuming fewer calories than you burn. The basic principle of weight loss is simple: Calorie intake < Calorie expenditure = Weight loss. 1kg of body fat equals about 7,700kcal, so maintaining a daily 500kcal deficit allows you to lose about 1kg in 2 weeks.
2. Calculating BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
Harris-Benedict formula: Men = 66 + (13.7 ร weight kg) + (5 ร height cm) - (6.8 ร age). Women = 655 + (9.6 ร weight kg) + (1.8 ร height cm) - (4.7 ร age). Example: 30-year-old woman, 160cm, 60kg = 655 + 576 + 288 - 141 = 1,378kcal. BMR is the minimum calories needed for life maintenance without any activity.
3. Calculating TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)
TDEE = BMR ร Activity multiplier. Activity multipliers: Sedentary 1.2, Light exercise (1-3 days/week) 1.375, Moderate exercise (3-5 days/week) 1.55, Heavy exercise (6-7 days/week) 1.725, Very heavy exercise (twice daily) 1.9. Example: BMR 1,378kcal ร 1.375 = 1,895kcal. This is your total daily calorie expenditure.
4. Creating Healthy Deficit
Recommended deficit: 500-750kcal/day (15-20% of TDEE). Excessive deficit (>1,000kcal/day) can cause: โ Muscle loss. โก Metabolic rate decrease. โข Nutritional deficiency. โฃ Yo-yo effect. Therefore, slow and steady loss is important. 0.5-1kg/week is ideal.
5. Implementing Calorie Deficit
โ Diet control: High-protein, low-carb diet, reduce processed foods/sugar, increase vegetables/fruits. โก Exercise: Cardio (burn calories), strength training (maintain/increase muscle mass to boost BMR). โข Keep food diary: Track calorie intake accurately. โฃ Adequate water intake. โค Regular meals. โฅ Sufficient sleep (7-8 hours).
6. Precautions
โ Don't consume below BMR (metabolic rate decrease). โก Adequate protein intake (1.6-2.2g per kg body weight daily) to protect muscle. โข Regularly measure weight and body fat percentage. โฃ Plateaus are natural (maintain 1-2 weeks then resume loss). โค Excessive stress causes hormonal imbalance. โฅ Consult professionals for health issues.