• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
  • STEPS Virtual
  • FAQ
  • Links
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • 615.269.8844

STEPS Fitness

Nashville's Premier Personal Fitness Training Center

  • STEPS Virtual
  • Programs
    • STEPS Fitness Presents Events
    • DR. Irv’s Perfect Exercise Minute
    • Training Packages
    • Group Offerings
    • Corporate Wellness
    • Traveler’s Special
  • Personal Trainers
    • Dr. Irv Rubenstein
  • Testimonials
  • Fitness Blog
    • Dr Irv’s Fitness Blog
    • Exercise of the Month
  • Newsletters
    • Fit Happens
    • Real News Newsletter
  • Search

March 2, 2010 By Irv Rubenstein

The 100 Calorie Deficit

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Ok, so people know they should be losing weight; they have read and heard it ad infinitum. They feel terribly guilty about their excess weight, their diet and exercise habits, and their burden on the health care system. and they refuse to engage in the long hard arduous struggle to counter the effects of modern living, Otherwise known as sedentariness and gluttony. No formula thus far has met the match to satisfy people’s emotional need to meet some possibly unrealistic standards of leanness, and few will achieve the level of commitment necessary to get there. Here’s the kicker: is it worth even trying?

This article –

The 100 Calorie DeficitIn Obesity Epidemic, What’s One Cookie?

– discusses the 100 calorie method. This method is one I use to educate clients. It states that creating a 100 calorie deficit each day, primarily by eliminating a wasted calorie food – like sugary, fatty foods, or cutting back on alcoholic beverage – will theoretically yield a 10 lb weight loss at the end of a year. They look at me with sadness, wishing to accomplish this goal faster, sooner. When I add that a 100 calorie walk – about a mile if briskly done – adds another 10 lbs lost that next year, they warm up. Now, the prospect of losing 20 lbs of real weight, not muscle or water but fat, seems more reasonable and realistic to them. still, very few will make the effort over the long haul. I’ve had clients stay with me for, in some cases, up to 20 years, and still they can’t seem to make the commitment to lose. Granted, they have for the most part maintained weight over the long haul, so that does count as a victory over weight gain, and they would still like to, and need to, lose some for health if not appearance, and still can’t, with educated knowledge and fiscal security, make that level of commitment.

This article discusses the possibility that the science behind the 100 cal deficit fails to acknowledge the metabolic changes that slow weight loss down even if at this steady rate of deficiting. That is true – as you lose, you need less energy to move so to keep losing you have to reduce even more calories. That’s exactly why exercise HAS to be part of the formula. as you lose, you can move easier, faster, longer, and thereby burn more calories in less time, tho with greater effort, on an absolute scale. That is, since you are lighter, you move faster, and the outsider looking in would fret at the prospect of having to move as fast as you. However, it was harder to move as fast when you were heavier, so the relative work was greater.  Bottom line, in my humble opinion, is that the relative work is similar, or needs to be, in order to burn off 100 calories, so get over it. Being lighter is less stressful to the musculoskeletal system (easier on the joints) and the cardiovascular system (easier on the heart), and therefore has value over and above wt loss itself. [Yes, it’s possible to be too light, too skinny, too unhealthy, but that’s not the issue for 67% of Americans.]

So, for the person willing to listen to reason when it comes to weight loss, here’s the Dr. Irv 200 calorie solution: reduce intake by 100/day and move briskly 15 continuous minutes/day and wait – the weight, the fat will slowly but surely slide off. At the end of a year, you will lose a solid 10-20 lbs and won’t have to struggle to do so. Furthermore, you won’t have to struggle to keep it off. Finally, it may not make all your problems go away, but at least the problem of feeling guilty about failure because of the daunting efforts demanded by other methods will no longer exist. Good luck.

Related Posts:

  • Part 1: The Diet-Obesity Debates Continue
    Part 1: The Diet-Obesity Debates Continue
  • Fit Happens - Winter 2023
    Fit Happens - Winter 2023
  • REAL News - November 2021
    REAL News - November 2021
  • REAL News - December 2022
    REAL News - December 2022
  • Exercise and Depression: A 2-Way Street
    Exercise and Depression: A 2-Way Street
  • There is No Such Thing as "Normal"
    There is No Such Thing as "Normal"
  • REAL News - February 2022
    REAL News - February 2022
  • REAL News - October 2022
    REAL News - October 2022

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Fitness Blog Tagged With: 100 Calorie Deficit, 100 calories, losing weight, sedentariness

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

FREE Consultation!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

  • Exercise of the Month
  • Fit Happens
  • Fitness Blog
  • General News
  • Newsletters
  • Real News
  • Trainers

Tags

achieve well-being aging Alzheimer's disease barefoot running body fat bone density breast cancer burn off excess weight calories cardio cardiovascular childhood obesity coronavirus covid diabetes diet dieting eating disorders Exercise exercise intensity field of health or exercise science fitness flexibility functional fitness health Heart Health higher risk of obesity lose weight mental health musculoskeletal improvements obesity physical activity physically active protein reduce your risk of falling resistance training running Senior Training slows cognitive decline strength training Stretching training weight loss Weight loss vs Exercise gain weight management

Recent News

Mar 01

REAL News – March 2023

Feb 01

REAL News – February 2023

Jan 15

Fit Happens – Winter 2023

Jan 01

REAL News – January 2023

Dec 01

REAL News – December 2022

Reviews

Search Our Directory

Footer Widget Header

Affiliations

  • american-college-of-sports-medicine
  • american-council-on-exercise
  • biometrics
  • exercise-etc-inc
  • national-strength-and-conditioning-association
  • renewed-support

STEPS Fitness | 2424 21st Ave. S. Suite #100 | Nashville, TN 37212 | 615.269.8844 p

© 2023 Nashville's Premier Personal Fitness Training Center | Designed by Ponder Consulting ®

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok