Have You Tried to Lose Weight?
Have you tried different diets like the Zone, Dukan, and so on? Well, every diet is based on the principle of a calorie deficit. Some diets are more aggressive, others more lenient, but ultimately, it all comes down to consuming fewer calories/energy than you expend.
So What Is a Calorie Deficit?
It’s when your energy balance — the energy you consume through food and drinks versus the energy you expend — is negative. In other words, you're eating fewer calories than you're burning.
People who know me often think I lost weight because I cycle a lot or because I started running. But that’s not the case. Despite being very active, there were times when I even gained excess weight, especially around the belly. It’s not just about the exercise — it’s about being in a calorie deficit. Exercise helps increase energy expenditure, but you also need to smartly control your intake.
Calorie Deficit Isn't Just a Diet — It’s a Strategy
A calorie deficit isn't a diet in itself, but rather a whole philosophy and strategy aimed at gradually changing your habits and helping you lose weight sustainably over time. Proper planning is key to long-term success.
Aggressive diets that help you lose a lot in a short time are not sustainable. Once they’re stopped, people often regain all the weight and more. Body composition worsens too — you lose muscle mass quickly, and when the weight returns, it’s mostly fat. That's why it's important to plan your deficit properly — aim for no more than a 20% reduction from your maintenance energy needs.
How to Calculate Your Calorie Balance and Deficit
The most accurate (but difficult) way is to track everything you eat for a week or two and see how many calories you’re consuming based on your lifestyle.
A simpler method is using a calorie calculator or smartphone app — just search Google or your app store. More tech-savvy people are now asking AI directly — not only can it calculate your needs, but it can also suggest sample meal plans and workouts. Just keep in mind these tools aren’t very precise, but you can adjust over time.
Once you know your maintenance calories, you can plan your calorie deficit.
There are three main strategies:
- Reduce calorie intake
- Increase calorie expenditure
- Combine both — slightly increase activity and slightly reduce intake.
Which is best? It depends on your stage of weight loss and how optimized your diet already is. Beginners benefit most from the combined approach: improving diet and increasing physical activity. More on that below.
A sustainable deficit is around 500 kcal/day, which means about 2 kg of fat lost per month. In the beginning, you’ll also lose water weight, which makes total weight loss seem higher initially.
Exercise and Movement While in a Calorie Deficit
You can lose weight without exercise, but working out matters for several reasons:
Health: Exercise improves blood markers, reduces blood pressure, relieves stress, increases endorphins (the “happiness hormone”), and offers many other benefits — especially important with age.
Aesthetics: You'll look better when losing weight with exercise than just by cutting calories. Your body shape will be more attractive and you'll like what you see in the mirror.
Cardio or Strength Training?
The best option is to combine both, but if you must choose — go for strength training. It's crucial to lose mostly fat and retain muscle mass. You can train with weights, resistance bands, or bodyweight. Do it at least twice a week, or ideally 3–4 times.
It’s good to eat before strength training so you have energy, but you can also train fasted — just be careful with blood sugar levels and dizziness.
What Cardio Should You Do: Steady-State or High-Intensity?
It depends on timing:
Morning fasted or post-strength training? Choose steady-state cardio in zone 2 (heart rate ~120–140 bpm). This keeps you in an aerobic state, using mostly fat for energy.
Fasted cardio: 30–60 minutes
After strength training: 20–30 minutes
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): Usually under 20 minutes. Short bursts of very high intensity with rest periods. You must be fueled before doing it. While steady-state burns fat during the session, HIIT can boost fat burning up to 48 hours afterward.
The optimal weekly plan: Combine strength training with both types of cardio, depending on your free time. For example, strength training + 20 min cardio at the gym, and HIIT on other days.
How to Eat Properly in a Calorie Deficit
Just because you’re burning fat during a workout doesn’t mean you’re losing fat overall. You must be in a calorie deficit to lose fat, regardless of how much you “burn” in a session. If you overeat afterward, you’ll replenish fat stores.
Macronutrients:
- 1g protein = 4 kcal
- 1g carbohydrate = 4 kcal
- 1g fat = 9 kcal
As you can see, fat is over twice as caloric as the other macronutrients. Be mindful of “healthy” additions — like 20ml olive oil on a salad adds 180 kcal.
Watch for hidden calories in:
- Sweetened coffee or tea
- Juices, sodas, alcoholic drinks
- “Healthy” snacks
Switch to water, and learn to enjoy your coffee black.
Don’t demonize fats or any food — eat everything in moderation. Removing favorite foods often leads to loss of motivation.
What About Alcohol?
To lose weight, alcohol must be limited — no more than 2–3 drinks per week. While alcohol itself isn’t that caloric (a beer = ~200 kcal, dessert = ~500 kcal), the problem is behavioral: alcohol often leads to overeating or late-night snacking.
How Much Protein, Carbs, and Fats?
Protein is crucial during weight loss. First, calculate your protein needs based on your goal weight — 2g per kg of desired body weight.
Example: If you are 70 kg and want to be 65 kg → 2 × 65 = 130g protein/day
Also aim for 20g of fiber/day.
Once you’ve calculated your protein and fiber (around 40% of daily calories), split the rest between carbs and fats equally.
How Often Should You Eat?
Meal frequency doesn’t matter as long as you're in a calorie deficit. But intermittent fasting may make it easier to stick to your target.
Consistency in meal timing also helps — the body learns when to expect food, and hunger hormones stabilize.
Occasionally, try longer fasts of 24+ hours, especially aligned with lunar phases (e.g., full moon fasting with liquids only). Personal experience shows this helps with water loss and detoxification.
Sleep and Calorie Deficit
Sleep is crucial not only during weight loss but for overall health.
In one study, two groups had the same calorie deficit, but one group slept 5.5 hours per night while the other slept 8.5 hours.
Result:
The sleep-deprived group lost more muscle mass
The well-rested group lost more fat
Conclusion: To lose fat properly — aim for at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
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