How is it possible to eat 3000 calories a day and not put on weight?

lemonsurprise

I follow a few people on facebook who are on various diets that mainly make up of fruit. Eating 1000's upon 1000's of calories a day and not putting on weight.
So what happened to calories in vs calories out?

47Jacqueline

Don't follow them. If someone is eating mainly fruit as a routine diet, that is so unhealthy. If you have any brains, you should know it's unhealthy.

On the other hand, if you're highly active, you can eat a lot and not gain weight. That's calories in vs calories out.

stacyjh1979

IDK specifically "how" I guess but I know Vismal (wish we could tag people here) eats 3500ish calories a day because he is bulking. Since I'm nowhere near that I don't know how it works but I know it can be done. I assume between the muscle burning calories at rest plus exercise CICO still applies

WalkingAlong

I think 'calories out' can vary a lot based on how much you eat. And I think many people exaggerate what they eat regularly and how it works for them, too.

GiveMeCoffee

First don't get your diet advice on facebook.

But yes some people can eat over 3000 calories and not gain or even lose, because their bodies are burning more than that a day. That is exactly calories in vs. calories out.

TavistockToad

How do you know it's 3000 cals? Do they list their intake?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

lemonsurprise

I'm not thinking of doing it although a friend is. The 80-10-10 diet and she wants to do it permanently for health benefits rather than weight loss but I'm convinced that eating that amount of calories in fruit will make her put on weight.
However, I do follow a few people on a raw diet, or raw till 4, and they're all small but consuming masses and masses of fruit.

gamesandgains

I'm going answer the general question and skip over the fruit part.

That's pretty regular for active or muscular people. They could eat that just to maintain their weight, depending on how much lean muscle they have. It also depends on his/her activity level. This isn't out of the ordinary. I mean look at Olympians. They eat well over 5k-10k calories A DAY just to be able to preform, and they're usually in the best shape of their lives.

AliceDark

You could lose weight eating 3000 calories of twinkies if you burned off 3500 calories per day.

Keep this in mind, though -- people overwhelmingly suck at self-reporting intake. I really wouldn't just take someone's word that they're actually eating 3000 calories. Plus, they're trying to push their diet, and "look at how MUCH I can eat and still lose!" is a selling point.

WalkingAlong

It's kind of hard to seriously overeat on fruit. That's why WW doesn't restrict it much, besides saying "listen to your body, don't gorge."

3000 calories is a LOT of fruit. Probably 30-40 servings. I couldn't eat 30 servings of fruit in a day. I'm tired of fruit at 3-4 servings.

TimothyFish

Here's a link to a typical diet for a Tour de France rider: http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/nutrition/the-tour-de-france-diet-how-to-consume-8-000-calories-a-day-20140710

8000 calories a day and if they don't eat that, they are in danger of losing weight. But the typical couch potato isn't going to get by with eating like that.

mrscronkhite

t's kind of hard to seriously overeat on fruit. That's why WW doesn't restrict it much, besides saying "listen to your body, don't gorge."

They also used a great comparison asking if it would be easier to eat 3 donuts or 3 apples. I have to agree, I have a hard time believing someone could eat 3000 calories in fruit without feeling so full they feel sick...but who knows!

cwolfman13

lemonsurprise wrote: »

I follow a few people on facebook who are on various diets that mainly make up of fruit. Eating 1000's upon 1000's of calories a day and not putting on weight.
So what happened to calories in vs calories out?

Nothing happened...I maintain on around 3,000 calories per day...because my body "burns" that many calories in a day with my BMR + NEAT + TEF + EAT = right around 3,000 calories. The all fruit thing is stupid...protein and fat is kind of important...but the amount of calories required by an individual is variable as per their stats and activity...but it's still CICO.

If I eat less than about 3,000 calories per day, I will lose weight...if I eat more than that, I will gain weight...albeit ever so slowly and at this point, most of that weight would be muscle mass.

nosebag1212

3000 really isn't that much for maintenance if you're a large male and/or active

lemurcat12

Like others have said, calories out vary. If you are really active, especially if you are younger or larger, 3000 or more could easily be maintenance. It's generally not for me (since I'm shorter and in my 40s), but I recall a week long biking trip a few years ago where I ate crazy calories (and not fruits and veggies, more burgers and pizza), as we were eating out constantly and had limited options along the bike route. Despite all that, and feeling free to get dessert too, I had lost weight at the end of the trip, from all the biking and walking that added up to even more than all the calories I'd been consuming.

Also, I'm always skeptical when people claim to be eating 3000 calories of fruit. I simply couldn't.

Hornsby

34-3600 per day here. Not that shocking.

Sevendust912

nosajjao wrote: »

These kind of questions really blow my mind, and then I start to lose hope for the possibility of an intelligent society.

No kidding.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

lemurcat12

lemonsurprise wrote: »

I'm not thinking of doing it although a friend is. The 80-10-10 diet and she wants to do it permanently for health benefits rather than weight loss but I'm convinced that eating that amount of calories in fruit will make her put on weight.

If she really consumed 3000 calories of fruit and does not have an extremely active lifestyle, chances are she would gain weight. But that might be a learning experience.

My suspicion is that she, like most people who do diets like that, would lose weight if they can sustain it, since most people could not eat near maintenance with just (or almost entirely) fruits and veggies (raw?). I don't think it's especially healthy, but I don't think it will hurt people to try it out if they want to. I expect for most it will be boring or too burdensome or otherwise unsustainable and they'll end up broadening their diets, but might teach themselves to like more fruits and veggies than they currently do, which isn't bad. (And some might become tiresome and start posting nonsense on YouTube or Facebook, of course.)

lemonsurprise

3000 calories seems like a lot for a lightly active petite female. Generally the people I have heard of who eat raw (females) claim to be eating a huge amount of calories in smoothies. Litres and litres of smoothies through the day, but not be putting on weight. I just wondered if there was something within these diets that wiped out calories in vs calories out as I was having a debate with a friend who is convinced she won't put on weight doing this.

cwolfman13

lemonsurprise wrote: »

3000 calories seems like a lot for a lightly active petite female. Generally the people I have heard of who eat raw (females) claim to be eating a huge amount of calories in smoothies. Litres and litres of smoothies through the day, but not be putting on weight. I just wondered if there was something within these diets that wiped out calories in vs calories out as I was having a debate with a friend who is convinced she won't put on weight doing this.

My guess is that they're substantially exaggerating their intake and/or really don't know how many calories they are consuming...they are somehow equating volume with calories.

As an example, right now I'm in a cut and trying to eat primarily a lot of nutrient dense whole foods...it's a ton of volume and most people look at my lunch box and say, "yeah right...that's a ton of food...no way you're going to lose weight." (This morning I had 1 egg and 5 egg whites scrambled with some coconut oil and added some asparagus along with one 1/3 cup (dry) oats (cooked) topped with 50 grams of berries and one ounce of almonds...tons of volume, but just shy of 600 calories...someone who didn't know any better would think it far more).

So, I eat a ton of volume...but my calories only total up to around 2300 - 2500 for my cut which is just about perfect for me.

WalkingAlong

lemonsurprise wrote: »

3000 calories seems like a lot for a lightly active petite female. Generally the people I have heard of who eat raw (females) claim to be eating a huge amount of calories in smoothies. Litres and litres of smoothies through the day, but not be putting on weight. I just wondered if there was something within these diets that wiped out calories in vs calories out as I was having a debate with a friend who is convinced she won't put on weight doing this.

If blenders wiped out calories, none of us would have weight management issues.

wannabeskinnycat

Does being stuck on the toilet for most of the night, after eating unnatural amounts of fruit, count as calories out?

lolly715

lemonsurprise wrote: »

3000 calories seems like a lot for a lightly active petite female. Generally the people I have heard of who eat raw (females) claim to be eating a huge amount of calories in smoothies. Litres and litres of smoothies through the day, but not be putting on weight. I just wondered if there was something within these diets that wiped out calories in vs calories out as I was having a debate with a friend who is convinced she won't put on weight doing this.

My smoothies are just over half a litre and less than 300 calories. That's including protein and fats, not just the (much lower in calories) fruit. Even a higher calorie widely available one is only about 300 calories per 500ml. You could have 2 litres of the stuff and only just meet the minimum calories for the day.

Odds are they're simply not eating as much as they think.

peachyfuzzle

Being a hefty guy, my TDEE is almost 3500, so I could lose weight eating 3000...

auddii

wannabeskinnycat wrote: »

Does being stuck on the toilet for most of the night, after eating unnatural amounts of fruit, count as calories out?

Ha, that was my thought.

ninerbuff

lemonsurprise wrote: »

I follow a few people on facebook who are on various diets that mainly make up of fruit. Eating 1000's upon 1000's of calories a day and not putting on weight.
So what happened to calories in vs calories out?

Well if they are burning up what they eat they won't gain weight. So it's still about calories in/out.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SLLRunner

lemonsurprise wrote: »

I follow a few people on facebook who are on various diets that mainly make up of fruit. Eating 1000's upon 1000's of calories a day and not putting on weight.
So what happened to calories in vs calories out?

I'm a 52.99 year old woman, fairly small, and I maintain on 2000-2200 a day due to my activity level. Bigger you are, the more calories you get. Guys usually get more calories than us ladies do.

By the way, fruit has no magic properties.

justalittlecrazy

When I get to maintenance, it looks like I'll be at about 2300 calories per day. Add a couple hours of hard exercise on to that and I would easily be at 3000 calories per day.

J72FIT

MrM27 wrote: »

I know people that eat 3000 calories and lose weight. I eat 3000 and gain. Why? Because CICO.

+1