Burn 3500 calories a day to lose 1lb..........Fact or fiction???

Liftng4Lis

queenofthedancehall wrote: »

This is actually true. I am a nutritionist and trainer. My mom is a doctor and we debated this. 3500 calories does equal one pound. It sounds disagreeable but if you want to try it for yourself then do this. Eat the way you normally would. Add in one hour of walking every day for a week. I say this because walking at a brisk pace for an hour can burn up to 500 calories. If you do this for seven days it equats out to 3500 calories. Weigh yourself at the end of the seventh day. Make your own judgement afterwards.

The point of this discussion is IN A DAY, not in a week.

jrline

I lost 13 pounds in two weeks earlier this year just by walking 1-2 hours each day and consuming 1400 calories per day. I don't normally try to lose that quick but it was a weightloss challenge at my work which I won. I did not starve myself or only eat carrots for days like some others did. So I think it can happen.

allergictodiets

brianpperkins wrote: »

A 3500 calorie deficit does not guarantee a one pound of fat loss due to the number of variables in play as the human body. Of course, the 3500 calories for one pound concept is a guideline not an absolute law of nature.

Agreed.

SoDamnHungry

Sounds like a great way to start losing all your hair.

glevinso

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Those fitbit calories are including your burn without exercise, and I think what people are talking about is burning 3500 on top of maintenance. It's not impossible, but hard to do. For example, running 15 miles is roughly 1500 calories.

I'd also imagine that regularly burning that much on top of maintenance might have some bad effects on metabolism and general health depending.

Personally I find it easy to do it in one day, but then I am useless for a week. Race a half Ironman and you will easily blow though 4000 calories in a few hours. My last full Ironman clocked in around 9000 burnt in one day. Of course when doing something like that you have to consume fuel while racing, and to recover properly you really do need to replace everything you burned or you will be liable for some overuse injuries.

No way would I be capable of that level of burn in a day more than once every couple months or so. It takes a lot of training to get your body to that point.

philwrightfitness

Oh dear..... Theoretically slightly true as no form of energy conversion is 100% efficient but it's close enough for what we need on mfp, ....rest of the article.....well file it under the earth is flat....

yarwell

FredDoyle wrote: »

Sorry, can't find the edit button,,,

find the gear wheel / cog on the upper right corner of your post (mouse over post, don'/t know what the equivalent is on a toy screen) and you can edit up to an hour after posting.