Confusion about calories - what am I missing?

atypicalsmith
atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
An average 150 pound person burns around 60 calories an hour while sleeping. If that person slept for 24 hours, that would be 1440 calories burned. Technically, if that person was fed 1440 calories by IV, they would be maintaining weight, right?

Yes, I know this is ridiculous. But hear me out. Since most people sleep eight hours and are awake and moving in some form or fashion for 16 hours, it seems like even minimal movement (watching television and changing channels via remote, getting up to eat and/or use the bathroom, playing on the computer, and so forth), would burn at least twice as many calories as sleeping, or 120 an hour for 16 hours. So this adds up to 2,400 calories a day (480 while asleep, and 1,920 while awake) for an extremely sedentary person.

It seems that if we are staying at lower than about 2000 calories a day when we have a much more active lifestyle than watching television and using the bathroom, we should be turning into skin and bones.

I’m sure I’m missing something, so hit me with it!
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Replies

  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    Where did you get being awake is equal to double being asleep?

    I don't think sitting still watching TV is a lot more than sleeping.

    When I sleep my heart rate is around 40-45 and when I sit still my heart rate is 40-50.

    So I think your over estimating people's activity burns.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    What you are missing is that it takes relatively few calories to move your body from place to place in comparison to the calories to just keep you alive.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,597 Member
    60 calories per hour while sleeping seems a little bit high, but maybe that's right.

    This article indicates that we burn about 78 cal/hour while sitting and 99 cal/hour while standing. So not really that much more.
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/73916-calories-burned-standing-vs.-sitting/

    If we use those numbers ...

    60*8 = 480 cal (8 hours sleeping)
    78*12 = 936 cal (12 hours sitting)
    99*4 = 396 cal (4 hours standing)
    Total: 1812 cal for the day.

  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Okay, so let's say that imaginary sedentary person burns just as much awake as asleep. That's still 1,440 calories a day. Still doesn't explain why a more active person who eats 1200 calories or less isn't losing weight like crazy.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Is that more active person you're talking about yourself? Or someone else specific?
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    stevencloser wrote: »
    Is that more active person you're talking about yourself? Or someone else specific?

    In general. I'm not unhappy at the rate I'm losing weight, about a pound a week, and I know I gained it a LOT slower than that. But as I was drumming down the numbers, that's when I realized that hey, even SLEEPING burns 1440 calories for a 150 lb person in 24 hours!
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Okay, so let's say that imaginary sedentary person burns just as much awake as asleep. That's still 1,440 calories a day. Still doesn't explain why a more active person who eats 1200 calories or less isn't losing weight like crazy.

    Define crazy weight loss.

    Say your a bit active and your maintenance calories are 2500 and you eat 1200 calories a day. I would expect them to lose 2-3 pounds a week. Is that crazy. More active at 3500 I would expect 4-5 pounds and possibly other issues like fatigue.

    Is this a round about way of you asking "why am I only losing 2 pounds when I am eating 1200 or less?"
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    edited May 2015
    Sedentary RMR is 1.2 x BMR. BMR is sleep/coma calories.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    No, it's a hypothetical question that has nothing to do with me. It has to do with everyone. I didn't say anything about crazy weight loss, I said hypothetically (which apparently you didn't understand) it seems like people should be able to lose more weight overall based on 1,440 calories burned for a 150 pound person who sleeps 24 hours.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Okay, so let's say that imaginary sedentary person burns just as much awake as asleep. That's still 1,440 calories a day. Still doesn't explain why a more active person who eats 1200 calories or less isn't losing weight like crazy.

    Honestly, I think we are fantastic at overestimating our activity level and underestimating how much we actually eat.
    I truly believe that a lot of people who believe they are eating xxxx amount of calories are eating more. Not everyone, but a lot. That's not just the "I'm not losing weight" people.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Not sure what crazy is, but this hypothetical person who is being fed with a tube would be losing 0.48 lbs per week, if they were only fed 1200 calories per day. That seems pretty good for someone who is doing nothing but sleeping all day.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Not sure what crazy is, but this hypothetical person who is being fed with a tube would be losing 0.48 lbs per week, if they were only fed 1200 calories per day. That seems pretty good for someone who is doing nothing but sleeping all day.

    Also a good point.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    stevencloser wrote: »
    Is that more active person you're talking about yourself? Or someone else specific?

    In general. I'm not unhappy at the rate I'm losing weight, about a pound a week, and I know I gained it a LOT slower than that. But as I was drumming down the numbers, that's when I realized that hey, even SLEEPING burns 1440 calories for a 150 lb person in 24 hours!

    Don't really know what to answer to this. The hypothetical person should lose at whatever rate the deficit results in.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Not sure what crazy is, but this hypothetical person who is being fed with a tube would be losing 0.48 lbs per week, if they were only fed 1200 calories per day. That seems pretty good for someone who is doing nothing but sleeping all day.

    When did I say the hypothetical person was being fed 1200 calories a day? I said the hypothetical person was being fed 1440 calories a day. Read a little more closely, Fish.
  • Zedeff
    Zedeff Posts: 651 Member
    edited May 2015
    WTF?
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Still doesn't explain why a more active person who eats 1200 calories or less isn't losing weight like crazy.
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I didn't say anything about crazy weight loss
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Not sure what crazy is, but this hypothetical person who is being fed with a tube would be losing 0.48 lbs per week, if they were only fed 1200 calories per day. That seems pretty good for someone who is doing nothing but sleeping all day.

    When did I say the hypothetical person was being fed 1200 calories a day? I said the hypothetical person was being fed 1440 calories a day. Read a little more closely, Fish.

    My we have a short memory!
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    .... less isn't losing weight like crazy.
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I didn't say anything about crazy weight loss

    Are you sure?

    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    No, it's a hypothetical question that has nothing to do with me. It has to do with everyone. I didn't say anything about crazy weight loss, I said hypothetically (which apparently you didn't understand) it seems like people should be able to lose more weight overall based on 1,440 calories burned for a 150 pound person who sleeps 24 hours.

    Like I and others said you seem to be over estimating how many calories people burn just doing regular every day activity.

    According to my fit bit as of 12 noon I have burned just over 1200 calories. Let's extend that over the full day to 2400 calories. That's about 7 hours of sleep in there. And mostly sitting at my office job.

  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Apparently no one knows the answer to my original question and feel they must attack. Go figure.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Apparently no one knows the answer to my original question and feel they must attack. Go figure.

    Clearly that is the issue here.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Apparently no one knows the answer to my original question and feel they must attack. Go figure.

    Can you please repeat your question in a concise and clear manner.

    Because either I am confused by your question or you have you answer. As in your over estimating the calories burned.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Apparently no one knows the answer to my original question and feel they must attack. Go figure.

    You got answers. I really don't know what your point is. Someone eating a certain amount of calories is going to lose however much of a deficit they create which can be different from person to person so since you just asked about a hypothetical 150 pound person there's not much more you can get back.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    You're overestimating how much people burn just going about their day to day 'stuff' I think. Let's take a hypothetical woman of my age, height and weight, but a bit more active ('moderate' on Scooby). Plugging all that in gives our hypothetical woman a TDEE of 2118. If she ate 1200 calories a day she would lose just under 2lb per week (I can't be bothered doing the calculation to be exact).
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    Not sure what crazy is, but this hypothetical person who is being fed with a tube would be losing 0.48 lbs per week, if they were only fed 1200 calories per day. That seems pretty good for someone who is doing nothing but sleeping all day.

    When did I say the hypothetical person was being fed 1200 calories a day? I said the hypothetical person was being fed 1440 calories a day. Read a little more closely, Fish.

    I'm the one who said they were being fed 1200 calories.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Apparently no one knows the answer to my original question and feel they must attack. Go figure.

    You were given an answer. You are miscalculating the number of calories burned during the day. What other answer are you looking for?
  • myfelinepal
    myfelinepal Posts: 13,000 Member
    How many calories does crazy burn?
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Apparently no one knows the answer to my original question and feel they must attack. Go figure.

    You were given an answer. You are miscalculating the number of calories burned during the day. What other answer are you looking for?

    Sorry to have confused you, Fish. I was just curious and this turned into a land mine.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,597 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Still doesn't explain why a more active person who eats 1200 calories or less isn't losing weight like crazy.

    I am.

  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Still doesn't explain why a more active person who eats 1200 calories or less isn't losing weight like crazy.

    I am.

    Cool!
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
    edited May 2015
    If someone's bmr was 1400 and they ate 1400 calories they'd maintain. If their bmr was not accurate and it was really 1500 when taking into account changing channels on the remote, getting up to go to the bathroom, etc. then they would lose weight, just very slowly. The calories we burn while sleeping are due to energy our body expends while doing necessary functions like digesting food, breathing, pumping blood, processing and removing waste via the kidneys/liver/pancreas, fighting off bacteria, etc. it takes a lot of calories to perform those functions. While a person may not be moving, their body internally is always working hard to stay alive and operate efficiently. It takes very little calories to pick up a remote or walk to the restroom in comparison to how many it takes to pump and circulate approx two thousand gallons of blood through the heart and around the entire body every single day.
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
    I am also losing at net 1200 calories.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    That hypothetical person might also be smaller than the "average" 150lb person in your example. I'm 5'1" and 120lbs, and my BMR is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1200 calories. If I were to lie around and couch potato all day every day, I'd probably burn not much more than that, and wouldn't lose weight "like crazy" at 1200 calories. Far from it. In fact, since no matter how careful we all try to be, we mostly tend to underestimate our food calories a bit, it's possible I could maintain or even gain slightly on 1200 calories if I were to sit around on my butt all day.

    Luckily I don't sit on my butt all day. I do my best to be active. I have a desk job, but I commute by bicycle or by public transit, and I walk as much as possible the rest of my day. I work out. I run. I strength train. My true TDEE is somewhere around 1800 calories/day, and I lose weight while eating at 1450.

    Your assumptions are off.

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