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Is calorie deficit a must to lose weight?

It sounds like a silly question but I’ve only just started working out and i can’t do a lot as i do it all from home i do a couple 10 minute workouts from a fitness youtuber called chloe ting. My aim is to lose belly fat and love handles and get toned but will thay ever happen if i just do these intense HIIT workouts and 10 minute ab routines? 10 min calorie burner vids? I’m very anxious so i workout at night when everyone’s asleep so I’m quite limited on what i can do. i don’t know if I’m seeing things but I’ve been doing chloe ting vids for about 3 weeks and i definitely feel my jeans are a slight bit loser.. but i don’t see my belly fat or love handles going. I just want to know will i lose weight even if I’m not doing the most workouts possible?
Yes, you need a calorie deficit - that can come from limiting your intake, it doesn't have to be through exercise. Your jeans being looser might be due to your muscles becoming more toned.
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Original post by black tea
Yes, you need a calorie deficit - that can come from limiting your intake, it doesn't have to be through exercise. Your jeans being looser might be due to your muscles becoming more toned.

Ok but say i eat 1400 calories daily but I’m only burning 100-200 calories from 10 minute workouts I’m way off being in a calorie deficit? So are the workouts I’m doing kinda pointless
Yes, a calorie deficit is a must. Exercise isn't particularly effective in that regard, diet is the main contributor to weight loss/gain. You don't even have to bother with any of these fad diets, literally just eat less of what you already have.
Original post by Sjk_189
Ok but say i eat 1400 calories daily but I’m only burning 100-200 calories from 10 minute workouts I’m way off being in a calorie deficit? So are the workouts I’m doing kinda pointless

They are not pointless, they are good for you even if you don't lose weight. An easy way of increasing your expenditure is walking, or if you are up for it, running - even 20 minutes will burn quite few calories.
Original post by Sjk_189
Ok but say i eat 1400 calories daily but I’m only burning 100-200 calories from 10 minute workouts I’m way off being in a calorie deficit? So are the workouts I’m doing kinda pointless

Being alive consumes quite a lot of calories.
Original post by Sjk_189
It sounds like a silly question but I’ve only just started working out and i can’t do a lot as i do it all from home i do a couple 10 minute workouts from a fitness youtuber called chloe ting. My aim is to lose belly fat and love handles and get toned but will thay ever happen if i just do these intense HIIT workouts and 10 minute ab routines? 10 min calorie burner vids? I’m very anxious so i workout at night when everyone’s asleep so I’m quite limited on what i can do. i don’t know if I’m seeing things but I’ve been doing chloe ting vids for about 3 weeks and i definitely feel my jeans are a slight bit loser.. but i don’t see my belly fat or love handles going. I just want to know will i lose weight even if I’m not doing the most workouts possible?


1. Yes you cant escape it.
2. You cant spot reduce. The only way it vanishes is when the body decides to or cant remove fat from anywhere else. You are misguided.
3. If you arent at a consistent deficit you will not lose weight. c 3500 calories for 1lb of weight.
4. A 10 min workout is likely to net you about 70 calories. Its 80-90% diet.
Original post by Sjk_189
Ok but say i eat 1400 calories daily but I’m only burning 100-200 calories from 10 minute workouts I’m way off being in a calorie deficit? So are the workouts I’m doing kinda pointless

Unless you are weighing your food with scales your intake will be inaccurate.
Hard to say about deficit unless you record.

Workouts can be either resistance, which helps protect muscles and increase fat loss.
Cardio- which helps burn calories.
Original post by black tea
They are not pointless, they are good for you even if you don't lose weight. An easy way of increasing your expenditure is walking, or if you are up for it, running - even 20 minutes will burn quite few calories.

Exercise is good for health, but not for weight loss. It provides a false sense of security that generally results in people eating more. I believe a few studies have compared groups of people losing weight and saw no significant difference between those who exercised and those who hadn't.

What's worse is that 'quite a few calories' isn't actually many at all. Sure, you might burn about 200-300 calories walking for an hour, but when you look at what 200-300 calories is in terms off food, it's nothing. Instead of walking 7 hours a week, you could instead just cut out a snack or two to get rid of those calories and not risk compensating by having a snack as a reward for working out.
Original post by Sjk_189
Ok but say i eat 1400 calories daily but I’m only burning 100-200 calories from 10 minute workouts I’m way off being in a calorie deficit? So are the workouts I’m doing kinda pointless

You will have a resting metabolic rate of about 1600 cals or so which is all the calories your body needs to function normally. So eating 1400cals and exercising you're almost definitely in a deficit. So keep going and be patient x
Original post by TheMcSame
Exercise is good for health, but not for weight loss. It provides a false sense of security that generally results in people eating more. I believe a few studies have compared groups of people losing weight and saw no significant difference between those who exercised and those who hadn't.

What's worse is that 'quite a few calories' isn't actually many at all. Sure, you might burn about 200-300 calories walking for an hour, but when you look at what 200-300 calories is in terms off food, it's nothing. Instead of walking 7 hours a week, you could instead just cut out a snack or two to get rid of those calories and not risk compensating by having a snack as a reward for working out.

I know it's easier to cut out the calories, but for some people cutting out snacks leads to binges. An option then is to have the snacks and then to burn off the calories with exercise. Different things work for different people.

I also think people should be encouraged to exercise regardless of whether or not it leads to weight loss.
Original post by karelina
You will have a resting metabolic rate of about 1600 cals or so which is all the calories your body needs to function normally. So eating 1400cals and exercising you're almost definitely in a deficit. So keep going and be patient x

Now that's just guessing - resting metabolic rate depends on a lot of factors and we don't even know OP's height and weight.
Original post by black tea
Now that's just guessing - resting metabolic rate depends on a lot of factors and we don't even know OP's height and weight.

True, well OP can get an estimate here:

https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm
Original post by black tea
I know it's easier to cut out the calories, but for some people cutting out snacks leads to binges. An option then is to have the snacks and then to burn off the calories with exercise. Different things work for different people.

I also think people should be encouraged to exercise regardless of whether or not it leads to weight loss.

I mean you're not wrong, especially about the last part. Exercise is good regardless of the reason. But in the same way that cutting out snacks and lead to binges (which isn't neccecarily bad in it's own right, the odd binge isn't going to harm things unless it becomes frequent), exercising can yield people 'over compensating'. It's the mindset of 'well I've burned X calories doing Y activity, so this snack won't hurt'. The exercise often becomes an excuse to induldge in more food.

So yeah, different things do work for different people. But ultimately, diet is like 99% of weight loss/gain (Obviously not the exact percentage, but you get the idea). If you aren't cutting the calories down, you're not going to lose any significant weight. If you're only looking for a few pounds off, sure, some exercise might be fine. But if you're nearly 19 stone (as I once was, though I was often described more as buff rather than fat, but there was certainly plenty of fat there) and want to lose weight, you're not going to see significant results without a change in your diet.
Original post by Sjk_189
It sounds like a silly question but I’ve only just started working out and i can’t do a lot as i do it all from home i do a couple 10 minute workouts from a fitness youtuber called chloe ting. My aim is to lose belly fat and love handles and get toned but will thay ever happen if i just do these intense HIIT workouts and 10 minute ab routines? 10 min calorie burner vids? I’m very anxious so i workout at night when everyone’s asleep so I’m quite limited on what i can do. i don’t know if I’m seeing things but I’ve been doing chloe ting vids for about 3 weeks and i definitely feel my jeans are a slight bit loser.. but i don’t see my belly fat or love handles going. I just want to know will i lose weight even if I’m not doing the most workouts possible?

Yeah calorie deficit is the only thing that matters when losing weight lol.
Basically, you have a basal metabolic rate (which is the amount of calories you lose just by being alive every day. Even if you sit around all day doing nothing). You can work your personal one out online.

Eating adds calories. Exercise loses calories.

So basically to lose weight you want your BMR + Exercise - food eaten = above 0.
Eg: I have a BMR of 1500, I exercise and burn off 300 calories, and eat 1400 calories during the day. 1500 + 300 - 1400 = 400. So I've burnt 400 calories.

I can't remember exactly but I believe 500 calories deficit is the best; too much and you'll feel tired and weak all the time!
(edited 4 years ago)
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Original post by karelina
True, well OP can get an estimate here:

https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm

Thanks for the link! I got 1527, is that about the same?
Reply 16
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Original post by frantika
Yeah calorie deficit is the only thing that matters when losing weight lol.
Basically, you have a basal metabolic rate (which is the amount of calories you lose just by being alive every day. Even if you sit around all day doing nothing). You can work your personal one out online.

Eating adds calories. Exercise loses calories.

So basically to lose weight you want your BMR + Exercise - food eaten = above 0.
Eg: I have a BMR of 1500, I exercise and burn off 300 calories, and eat 1400 calories during the day. 1500 + 300 - 1400 = 400. So I've burnt 400 calories.

I can't remember exactly but I believe 500 calories deficit is the best; too much and you'll feel tired and weak all the time!


Great this makes so much more sense written like this thanks so much
I mean thats always been the most effective way for me to lose weight.

I've tried working out a lot and eating crap and didn't lose weight
and then i tried a calorie controlled diet and didn't do any exercise at all and lost weight.

combine the two and you are home free!
Reply 18
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Yes you must be at a calorie deficit. Calculate how many calories you consume each day, then calculate your basal metabolic rate and subtract it and the calories burned in your workout and you should aim to have a number around -250.

Also, quit all sugar if you want faster results, alcohol too preferably.

Ab exercises are useless for losing fat.
Original post by Sjk_189
Thanks for the link! I got 1527, is that about the same?

Yeah I think so, just carry on as you're doing. Some ways to increase your metabolism are: eat breakfast early, eat many small meals throughout the day, drink coffee, drink green/oolong tea, eat spicy food, do high intensity interval training (hiit), sleep well, drink cold water, cook with coconut oil, and do weight training.

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