Calorie Deficit Diet - Ten Things I Want You to Know

By 7th Decade Redhead | 60 Pounds by 60 Years | 12 Dec 2023

You may have read in a few posts where I've mentioned the calorie deficit diet but never read my post about it:

A calorie deficit diet is simply consuming less calories than your body is burning or your body burning more calories than you consume. That is the basic premise. It's your choice how you do this (exercise vs no exercise). It works for most people. I lost over 60 pounds doing it this year. I still have 15 pounds to go, but because of the holidays, I'm not trying overly hard to lose weight at the moment. My goal is to survive the holidays without gaining weight and get back on this diet in the new year.

If you are thinking about trying this diet in the new year, then here are ten things you should know:

1. The easiest way to follow this diet is with a phone or computer app as it will calculate your daily calorie intake based on information you provide, keep track of your weight and progress, will provide a way for you to log your food intake and have a database of every type of food sold in a store and meals from popular restaurants with the appropriate calorie count. I use the free version of My Fitness Pal, but there are many out there that are also free.

2. It's going to take a long time to lose a significant amount of weight (it took me over six months to lose 60 pounds). This diet does not indulge the disease of instant gratification. One to two pounds a week is a healthy weight loss.

3. Measuring and weighing food is a must! It helps you to relearn portion control and it keeps your calorie count honest (you can't be trusted to eyeball it).

4. You can eat whatever you want on this diet (yes really), ONLY IF your daily/weekly calorie intake does not exceed your maximum calories allotted for the day/week. So, if you want to spend 470 calories of your daily/weekly allotment on German chocolate cake. that is entirely up to you.

5. Protein and fiber will fill you up and sate your hunger for longer periods of time than carbohydrates. It's all about the eggs, meat and veggies.

6. If you do plan to eat potatoes, rice or pasta on this diet, cook it the day before, and chill it for 24 hours. This changes the starch in those carbohydrates to a more resistant type of starch, which is harder to digest, and your body will burn more calories to digest it (don't ask me how many more, I have no clue).

7. Eating sugary foods can make you hungrier, sooner.

8. Muscles burn more calories than fat. Dig those hand weights out of the closet.

9. Walking is a really great way to burn fat (good, because we hate to jog or run....)

10. If you weigh yourself more than once a week, you will get discouraged quickly and give up (stop micromanaging your diet).

I hope this is helpful and gives you something to think about for the new year. Know that if you embark on this journey, I will be with you on it as I have 15 more pounds to lose according to my doctor...

Photo courtesy of Ketut Subiyanto

nutrition Diet Weight Loss Healthy eating obesity

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7th Decade Redhead

I'm 60+ years old female retiree who is finally figuring out why she's been struggling with losing weight her whole life. I want to share the lessons I learned so others can help themselves with their own weight loss struggles earlier in their lives.

60 Pounds by 60 Years

My final weight loss attempt after 40 years of different diet failures. No shakes, no supplements, no surgery, no crazy food, no purchased meal plans, no fasting. Creating a healthier relationship with food and facing the painful truth about my relationship surrounding food. No BS, just common sense. And it worked.