HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR CALORIE DEFICIT IS TOO HARSH?
Before we chat about what a calorie deficit is and knowing if your calorie deficit is too harsh, it is important to know what maintenance calories are. Maintenance calories are a range of calories your body requires in order to maintain it’s weight. This range is based on many factors such as age, height, gender, weight, activity level, muscle mass, dieting history, etc.. which means what YOUR maintenance calories are is going to be different to somebody else’s.
Any calorie amount BELOW your maintenance range is considered a calorie deficit which will generate fat loss. The larger your deficit is, the more weight you will lose. You must be thinking the harsher the deficit, the better as you will see results quicker… sorry to disappoint, but this is not always the case!
Extremely harsh deficits come with risks such as the signs stated below. Being in a super aggressive deficit for an extended period of time also may result in metabolism adaptation. This is when your metabolism will start to slowly down regulate to compensate for the little calories you are feeding your body.
Here is our recommendation:
Ensure your calorie deficit is only 300-500 calories below your maintenance. A 500 calorie deficit should result in a 500g loss per week (assuming a strong level of adherence and ticking off the basics such as water and step count).
10 SIGNS YOUR CALORIE DEFICIT IS TOO HARSH:
You are extremely hungry all the time.
You have no to little energy.
Your sleep is poor.
You are unable to perform as well with your training.
You are becoming very food / calorie focused.
You are dropping weight too rapidly (2kg loss per week for example)
You are moody.
You do not feel satiated after consuming a meal.
You feel as though you are always getting sick.
You feel restricted.
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