Calorie Deficits, Dieting Vs. Cardio

[ProteiNeed]

Hi all, I’ve been cutting for a while now and I don’t understand what difference there is between a calorie deficit caused by a decreased amount of food vs. a calorie deficit caused by a increased amount of cardio.

Ex: I consumed 2200 calories yesterday. That’s about a 500-calorie deficit for me, but I also ran for an hour and that burned an additional 800 calories. Isn’t that just as bad as a 1300-calorie deficit caused by not eating? Should I eat more on cardio days? What if I caused a deficit by just cardio or just dieting, I feel like if it was that simple no one would run, everyone would just eat less.

[Suareezay]

in the grand scheme of things, not really any difference between an X calorie deficit from scaling food intake back, or more activity.

although a higher calorie intake will allow you to sustain higher levels of activity, which could have an impact.

also, you can more interesting, higher calorie foods.

[ProteiNeed]

Thanks for the help, so I should either up the calories on a cardio day, or cut the cardio in order to preserve musclemass and keep my metabolism up?

[Suareezay]

i prefer to keep calories and activity higher.

[pipes]

I agree with Suareezay. I found that when dieting I could workout harder and kept more size and strength when I consumed more calories vs caloric deficit. I compensated by doing more cardio. Ultimately a combination of slight calorie deficit through diet combined with cardio is best.

[ProteiNeed]

thanks for the help guys, this really cleared things up.