Eating in a Calorie Deficit During College

Trends always seem to come and go. Especially in the age of Tik Tok, we have been sprung into.  Over these past 2 weeks, I have tried very hard to lose weight. Over the years I have ‘tried’ constantly, but ultimately it results in something so unrealistic to sustain for a long period of time, I end and go back to normal habits after a few days. I have been doing a lot of research on Tik Tok, which I honestly see as a reliable source, these are real people posting real things that worked for them. It is good to try different people’s routines to find what works best for you personally since everyone’s bodies are different. My For You Page has been a ton of workout and healthy food videos. I love how the algorithm is specific to your needs at the time, it’s a very personalized experience. 

One thing I see time and time again is the idea of eating in a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit, when done properly, is a great way to lose weight. Your calorie deficit is the energy your body requires to maintain your current weight, minus your dietary calorie intake. So for example, if your body requires 2,000 calories a day and you only feed it 1,200 calories a day, you are in an 800 calorie deficit. The website I used to calculate my calorie deficit is https://www.fatcalc.com/rwl. On this website, you enter information such as your current weight, goal weight, height, and activity level. Myself, for example, I am in shape and work out 6 days a week, however working at a desk job part-time, and being a student the other part of the day, I am sitting most of the day. Therefore, my lifestyle isn’t super active. I have to go out of my way to get steps in throughout the day. Everyone’s goal should be to get 10,000 steps in a day, which is a hard, and time-consuming thing to do. 

Being in this calorie deficit, the most important thing to do is stick to it. It really is the only way to tell what is working for you and what’s not. Well being in college, alcohol is a large part of the social scene, and alcohol is one of the worst things to consume while trying to lose weight and stay in a deficit. One of the main ways to stay in your deficit is to not drink your calories at all, alcoholic or not. A tip I would have is, if you know you are going to be drinking over the weekend, try to save a few calories each day throughout the workweek, so you can use them over the weekend. It’s sort of like your banking them for a few days and cashing out over the weekend. Of course, you want to lose weight and stick to your plan, but also we are in college and have a social life to live and memories to make. 

At the end of the day, we are all beautiful, and we are all just trying our best at the end of the day. Don’t feel bad about yourself if you break your deficit every once in a while, you did nothing wrong and we’re all only human. You’ve got this!!!!