Tdee & fat loss

Hi guys. I have a question for you guys that relates to TDEE. I use a POLAR A300 sports watch, which shows me my calorie expenditure at any given time of the day. When i wake in the morning, it says that my calorie burn is something like 600 cals, I exercise and get the calorie expenditure upto 1000 cals. Then I consume a breakfast that is 30% lower than my expenditure, i.e. 700 cals, 300 cal deficit. Throughout the day i tend to hold a deficit of between 20-30% depending on how i feel. Am i correct in my understanding of how a calorie deficit works?

A calorie deficit is using more calories than you consume. From what you describe, yes that is a calorie deficit.

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Many thanks for your feedback

Hey guys - this concept works a treat. TDEE is defo the way to go. Eat small and frequently throughout the day, supplying your body with needed fuel. Sometimes I find myself eating at 11:30pm - cool. I have to say that HUEL is so good for feeding yourself needed fuel when you need it.

I usually have 3-4 huels a day and a meal somewhere in the day, that consists mainly of low GI foods. The odd bit of fruit here and there with nuts. I tend to have on most days a TDEE of between 2500-3000 calories. If any of us exercise more then more food is needed. Good food though!!!

Just thought i would let you guys know, I have just turned 66 years and feeling so good and energetic. This has to be Huel providing me with the required nutrition, that I need. I have had some ill health in the past, being active with the help of Huel has returned me, nearly, to my former self, i.e. fit & healthy. Sorry to ramble on guys.

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No need to apologise. Its good to see people faring well on Huel. :slight_smile:

Pete, nice story with an happy ending so far :slight_smile:

If you want to eat more “real” food, I can recommend a few books. “Eat for Health” by Joel Fuhrman, “The starch solution” by McDougall and “How not to die” by Greger. They don’t recommend exactly same thing but they agree on the big topics. There are many books recommending exactly the opposite and they’re exactly wrong. Watch out for the cranks! They’ve many labels, “Paleo”, “low carb”, “Ketogenic”, etc etc.

When you switch from Huel to “real” plant food, you’ll probably need to consume more calories to avoid unwanted weight loss. One of the reason is that plants are harder to digest. Plants also tend to be high in carbohydrates and low in fat and thus they’re extremely unlikely to turn into fat. They’re also very satiating. Basically, if you eat whole-food plant-based, you don’t have to worry much about eating too many calories.

The concept of energy balance is useful regardless because calories have to go somewhere. If you eat calories, they have to go somewhere. Likewise, if you exercise, the calories have to come from somewhere. In this sense it’s an extremely solid view point. The problem is when people attempt to lose weight with caloric restriction while eating crappy food. In this case they tend to lose their health instead of losing their body fat.

In fact what happens with the crappy “low carb” diets is that you initially lose weight because of the energy deficit. But then the body adjust to the reduced energy intake and you stop losing weight. At this point people are told to reduce their caloric intake even more. And then it’s a vicious cycle of reducing caloric intake and reducing caloric expenditure. Make sure you do not go into this cycle. This cycle can’t have an happy ending.

Summing up, as you get healthier, your caloric expenditure should go UP instead of DOWN!