If you’ve attempted weight loss, you’ve probably heard about the importance of a calorie deficit. However, you might still be unsure about what it entails and why it’s crucial for weight loss. Losing weight can be a challenging task, but it’s not impossible. One of the most effective methods to shed those extra pounds is by creating a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit means consuming fewer calories than your body burns, resulting in weight loss. However, it’s important to note that creating a significant calorie deficit can be dangerous and lead to adverse health effects. Therefore, it’s essential to achieve a calorie deficit in a safe and healthy way. To jump-start your weight loss journey it is important to have a better understanding of how to create a calorie deficit. (Also read: 7 healthy ways to lose weight in summer season )
Kajal Agarwal, Clinical Dietician and PCOD Expert shared with HT Lifestyle, the importance of a calorie deficit for weight loss and how to achieve it through a balanced diet and exercise routine.
Why is calorie deficit important:
There are several reasons why calorie deficit is important:-
Energy balance: When you consume more calories than your body requires, the excess energy is stored as fat, leading to weight gain. Conversely, creating a calorie deficit forces your body to tap into its fat stores for energy, resulting in weight loss.
Fat loss vs. muscle loss: Calorie deficit plays a crucial role in determining the type of weight loss experienced. By incorporating a moderate calorie deficit, your body primarily targets fat stores while preserving lean muscle mass energy
Sustainable weight loss: Calorie deficit promotes gradual and sustainable weight loss. By creating a moderate calorie deficit, you can lose weight at a steady pace, making it more likely to maintain your progress in the long term.
How can one achieve a calorie deficit?
Making a calorie deficit in a diet is not difficult at all! It can be done easily by replacing your dinner with a good bowl of paneer salad, chicken salad or just a green salad, or you can do it by checking on the oil consumption.
For example, If your body needs 1800 calories for day-to-day work and for weight loss you need 1500 calories, replacing dinner with salads, checking on oil consumption and increasing intake of raw veggies in each main meal will create a major deficit and with physical activities, you can burn 200 calories and make a deficit, with this method, you can easily lose weight.
Note that although a calorie deficit is important and one of the major factors in losing weight one should always focus on both the quality and quality of the food. Consuming 200 calories from a cold drink bottle is just empty calories but getting it from a smoothie or a meal is something our body needs.
