How to Start Calorie Deficit: 6 Tips & Tricks

In order to successfully lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit. Creating a calorie deficit boils down to consuming fewer calories than your body burns. It may sound complicated, but I promise you that it’s pretty straightforward once you learn how to create the deficit. 

Read on to learn the ins and outs of calorie counting and how to start a calorie deficit through both diet and exercise.

What Is a Calorie Deficit and Why Does It Matter for Fat Loss?

A calorie deficit is when you consume fewer calories than your body needs to burn in a day. This helps your body to burn stored fat for energy, leading to consistent weight loss.

With a calorie deficit, if you burn more calories than you eat, you will be able to put stored fat to work and have it burned while you’re busy with your work, errands, or spending time with your family.

Calories In vs. Calories Out

Weight loss comes down to a straightforward principle and law of thermodynamics: calories in vs. calories out (CICO). When the number of calories you consume is less than what you burn through activity, exercise, and metabolism, your body starts shedding weight.

How do you create a calorie deficit? The best way to do it is by gradually reducing your calorie intake. A moderate calorie deficit of about 500 calories per day tends to work best for most people. 

How much of a deficit do you need in order to lose weight? That depends on many factors:

• Gender

• Current weight

• Metabolism

• Age

• Health

• Muscle mass

• Activity level

Sustainability Over Extremes

Learning how to create a calorie deficit involves understanding your body and its needs. One of the biggest mistakes people make is jumping into an overly restrictive diet. Do NOT make this mistake. 

Despite seeing weight loss results, it may quickly lead to binge eating, burnout, and hormonal imbalances. 

Instead, choose a moderate -calorie deficit approach. This approach allows you to reduce your calorie intake that doesn’t eliminate your favorite foods and drinks.

The Difference Between a Moderate -Calorie Deficit and Aggressive Cuts

Aggressive cuts (or deeply slashing your calories) will show rapid results, but once you return to your normal eating, the lost weight may bounce back. Hence, our coaches at Strong with Sarah always focus on slower yet sustainable progress. 

Still think aggressive cuts are a way to go? Compare the two to see the difference:

• Moderate -calorie deficit: Typically 250-500 calories below your maintenance. This approach may result in 0.5 to 1 pound of fat loss per week, most weeks. It allows flexibility, preserves muscle mass, and is easier to maintain.

• Aggressive calorie cuts: A deficit of 750-1000+ calories per day. This can lead to quick weight loss but often comes with side effects like fatigue, irritability, and increased cravings. It also raises the risk of muscle loss and slows down your metabolism.

How to Create a Calorie Deficit Effectively: 6 Tips That Work

If you’re wondering how to start a calorie deficit the right way, follow these tips, which will put you on the right track to weight loss:

1. Eat Plenty of Fruits and Veggies

Fruits and veggies are high-density, low-calorie foods, which means they do a great job at keeping you full without “costing” you lots of calories. 

Common fruits that promote weight loss and help you maintain your weight include grapefruit, apples, berries, peaches, passion fruit, kiwi, and melons. 

More of a veggie person? Try incorporating more asparagus, brussels sprouts, spinach, cauliflower, carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, green beans, cabbage, edamame, beets, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.

If you struggle to incorporate veggies into your diet, try to find ways you can add them to the meals that you already love. For example, if you love spaghetti and meatballs, can you finely chop up peppers and broccoli and mix the chopped veggies with the meat into the meatballs that you make?

2. Increase Your Physical Activity

When most people hear, “Increase your physical activity,” they picture going to a gym, alone, and feeling out of place, or they think of doing intense workouts that last 2-3 hours. 

While some people love going to the gym alone and others love long workouts, there are so many other options to move your body! 

When planning how to create a calorie deficit, consider signing up for group fitness classes, aiming to take at least 10,000 steps every day, parking your car in the farthest parking spot available, or choosing to take the stairs when possible. 

Other lifestyle changes to incorporate more movement could include inviting friends to meet you for a walk instead of a meal, or commuting to work by bike instead of driving.

3. Eat Protein-Rich Foods

This one goes hand-in-hand with eating smarter and the benefits of tracking calories. While all calories are equal, how our bodies break down and metabolize the calories that we eat varies greatly. 

In other words, both a medium Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen and a small meal that contains chicken breast, broccoli, and brown rice may contain the same number of calories. However, how our bodies break down the nutrients from the blizzard vastly differs from how our bodies digest the chicken, broccoli, and rice.

While preparing your plan on how to create a calorie deficit is important, it’s just as important to focus on keeping your protein consumption between 25-35% of your total caloric intake. 

By consuming enough protein, you’re encouraging your body to preserve lean muscle mass rather than pull stored energy from muscle. In simpler terms, you must eat enough protein to be sure that you’re losing fat and not muscle while in a calorie deficit.

You shouldn’t just eat protein from one source, either. Mix it up between plant and animal proteins. Solid options for protein include beef, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds, dairy products, and beans and legumes.

Part of the benefits of tracking calories and macros  is that you’re also tracking how much protein you’re eating. However, just as we began with understanding your body, it’s important to note what does and doesn't work for you when planning how to create a calorie deficit. For example, those with liver or kidney disease must be a bit more cautious about their protein intake.

4. Consider Portion Sizes

Be mindful of your portion sizes for all foods, but especially fats and condiments. Both fats and condiments tend to contain plenty of nutrients, but they also tend to have a higher calorie count, so it’s important to include them in your meals but in controlled portions. Be mindful of how many of these higher-caloric foods that you’re enjoying.

5. Eat Less Processed Foods

Eat less processed foods. Notice I did not say to eat zero processed foods. 😉 Focus on eating whole, nutritious foods at most meals, and then enjoy your favorite, less-healthy processed foods 10-20% of the time.

While you will need to reduce your calorie intake to stay below what your body is naturally using, blindly eating less isn’t necessarily going to do the trick. When figuring out how to create a calorie deficit, note that certain foods are higher in calories than others. 

If you’re smart about what you choose to eat, you’ll be able to eat full meals (while feeling satisfied) without overdoing it on the calorie front. Foods high in fiber, for instance, slow down digestion to keep you feeling full longer.

Should I track my calories? Our answer is a resounding yes for some people! Using a calorie tracking app like MyFitnessPal is an effective way to lose weight. However, if you’re tracking calories doesn’t feel good to you, that’s okay! It doesn’t mean you can’t successfully create a calorie deficit or lose weight. Instead of logging your calories, try keeping a photo food diary or written food journal. 

When it comes to creating a calorie deficit, trying to just “wing it” doesn’t usually work– especially if you’re new to learning about the health and wellness world. 

Plus, when you focus on how to create a calorie deficit by tracking calories, you can still enjoy chocolate and wine if you’re smart about how you eat! That’s right– the benefits of tracking calories include a non-restrictive diet because you know exactly how many calories you can have that day.

6. Be Mindful of Beverages

An easy way to lower your calories (without counting them) is to swap sugary beverages with lower-calorie ones. Whether it be choosing diet soda or sparkling water over regular soda, or whether you swap out a higher-calorie margarita for a light beer or wine, save yourself some calories by choosing lower-calorie drinks.

How to Maintain a Calorie Deficit

While we’ve talked a lot about understanding your unique body’s needs, there is plenty of research that suggests that most people benefit from someone holding us accountable to reach our goals. 

Having a friend going through the weight loss journey helps with accountability. That being said, this is where calorie-tracking apps and weight loss coaches make the biggest difference– especially when you should track your calories. 

How a Weight Loss Coach Can Help

A weight loss coach keeps you accountable by checking in, but they also offer guidance on how to create a calorie deficit that’s personalized to you. You won’t have an excuse not to track your calories when you know they’ll be checking in on your progress at the end of the week. There’s no lying to or misleading a weight loss coach– if you’re not making progress, they’ll have tough questions for you to keep you on track with your goals.

Final Thoughts

You’re probably well aware that crash diets don’t work. While you may see more immediate results, these won’t last into the long term the way that creating a moderate calorie deficit does . 

It’s easier to stick to smaller changes– slow and sustainable weight loss journeys are more likely to end in success. We’re excited that you’re taking the first steps to learn how to create a calorie deficit. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to begin your weight loss journey!