Is the 3500 calories equals 1lb really true?

Mom24incali

I have been eating healthier and have reduced my calorie intake to 1200 calories per day for the last 5-weeks. I intake between 1159-1350 calories each day. My BMR resulted in 1597 (5'7" 196lb Fem) for my height and activity level, so that is about a 247-438 calorie deficit each day. If I averaged that and multiplied by 7 it brings me to 2397.50 calories per week I consume less than my BMR. However, based on my food log, I was consuming anywhere between 1800-2700 calories per day prior to changing my eating habits 5-weeks ago. Does it seem right that I have only lost 1.8 pounds in 5-weeks based on this information? I also walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes 3x per week.

Do I need to adjust my calorie intake? Doesn't having it set too low cause other issues and prevents you from losing weight? Not sure why, but I don't seem to be losing weight based on the 3500 calories equals 1lb of fat loss. If I based it on food alone I would have ate 11,987.50 calories less, which equals 3.425 pounds. Am I looking at this all wrong?

Maxematics

Yes, you are looking at it wrong. Weight loss is not linear. The scale won't automatically show the deficit you've created and a number of factors affect the number you see on the scale.

vegasleo79

I'm having similar issues myself... Do you eat back your exercise calories? Btw, I liked your profile a lot, very humble and nice. I have no doubt you will meet your goals and look great at your 40th!

vegasleo79

@synacious she has been at it for 5 weeks... Yes, weight loss is not linear, but she should be seeing more results.

Springfield1970

Yes, it's a scientific fact 3500 cals in a pound of fat.

When you weigh yourself on the scale however, the weight consists of
Bones
Food and water in digestive system,
Water in muscles skin and organs.
Glycogen
Fat
Muscle
Blood volume.
And more

All these things a fluctuating wildly, making it very hard to see if you're actually losing weight.
That's why accurate calorie counting is so important.

If you've really lost 1.8lb in 5 weeks (and that weigh in is averaged over 7 days) the. It looks like you really are at a 1300 ish deficit per week. That's the reality. At least you know your maintenance figure now.
You must have been gaining weight at the 1800-2700 mark? It's a bit vague to be honest.

Weigh yourself every day.
Weigh everything that passes your lips everyday. Track your exercise.
Keep records and find out how YOU work!
Ps you're going to need less calories the lighter you get.

emmycantbemeeko

BMR is just what your body burns by existing, calories from things like "getting out of bed and on with your life" are added on top of that to get TDEE, so if your'e eating at a 438 calorie deficit from your BMR, you're likely at much too low a target. Too low of a target to be healthy and stick to the plan long-term that is. Not too low to lose weight. There are a variety of reasons not to eat at an extreme deficit, but "starvation mode" is not one of them, for reasons someone will probably come along to post about shortly.

That said, if you were truly eating only 1150-1359 calories a day you would indeed have likely lost more than 1.8 lbs in five weeks, so it's likely your logging is off. Are you using a a food scale? Are you using accurate logging entries? Are you logging everything, including beverages with calories, condiments, candies here and there, cooking oils?

For comparison, I am 5'4, 140~ lbs, and consistently lose weight at .5-1 lb/week on 1600-1700 calories/day with only marginally more exercise than you report.

The most likely answer here is that you're eating more than you actually think. You're not losing at a terrible pace- slow and steady is a perfectly acceptable way to do weight loss- but you don't want to get discouraged and give up- but it's also likely you would see more weight loss even at a higher calorie goal if you were logging more accurately.

janejellyroll

Sometimes when people don't lose weight it is because they are eating more than they think they are (that is, logging issues). If you open your diary, you may get some helpful advice.

quiksylver296

Do you weigh all your food on a food scale and religiously log everything? If the answer is no, then you are probably eating more calories than you think, throwing off your formula.

senecarr

It is an approximation. A typical pound of adipose tissue will contain 8 to 9 parts trigylcerides, and about 1 part water. 8.5/10 of a pound is 385grams of fat, 385 grams of fat is roughly 3500 calories worth of energy.

ROBOTFOOD

Yes

shennard80

It's been said but food scale is important. At least until you've done it enough to really know exactly how much you eat. The other thing is when you weigh yourself make sure it's comparable. Clothes or without, same time of day, before eating, etc. I weight myself twice a day, first thing in the morning and once after work. I will typically be 2 pounds lighter first thing in the morning so just make sure you're consistent. Due to water, it can change a lot so do it daily and just watch the trend and don't be disappointed with a spike once in a while. If you stay on track it's likely water and other stuff going on.

benevempress

Be sure you understand the difference between BMR and calorie goal for the day. You said your BMR is 1597 based on your "height and activity level." BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate= what you would burn laying still in a coma to keep your heart beating and liver working, etc. So unless you are literally not getting out of bed EVER, you should be burning more calories than your BMR. Your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is how many calories you burn by being vertical and moving and is definitely affected by your activity level,and your calorie deficit should be subtracted from that.

On a personal note, I am 5'10" and earlier in this journey I weighed a bit more than you. I was trying to eat around 1200 calories per day for the fastest possible weight loss, and I can tell you I felt HORRIBLE. I was grumpy and constantly hungry and had no energy to do anything but sit. I was not going to be able to sustain that. Then I looked up my BMR and it was almost the same as yours... almost 1600. I did a little reading and decided I didn't like the idea of eating less calories than my body needs to maintain my organ function and upped my calories to about 1650. Guess what? I was happier, I wasn't hungry all the time, I had the energy to move my body and I lost weight faster than when I was starving myself. The additional energy I felt allowed me to burn about 200 more calories per day walking (according to my Fitbit), so that increased my deficit while improving my health a bit. I'm sure others have done perfectly well on 1200 calories per day, but I didn't, and actually had a better result eating more.

So at the risk of confusing the issue, yes, weight loss is about a calorie deficit. Yes, one pound is supposed to equal 3500 calories. However, the math isn't perfect because sometimes our calorie intake is not quite accurate, our exercise burn is often an estimate, if you are a new weight lifter you might be adding muscle weight while burning fat, our weight varies daily based on many factors (how much waste is still in your colon, how much water you may or may not be retaining if you ate a lot of salty foods the day before, if you are weighing at the same time of day dressed the same way, and if female what time of the month it is, etc.), and the list goes on.

I agree with those above who have said that if you aren't weighing and really strictly logging everything, your deficit is likely smaller than you think. Another factor that hasn't been mentioned is the quality of the food database entries you are picking. Just because someone else put something in the MFP database doesn't make it correct. For example, you can find a Chiquita banana that says 110 calories and another banana that someone put in with over 22,000 calories... and neither one may be right for your banana because they aren't based on the fruit's weight. Not all of the entries are right, and it is possible that the entries you are using are underestimating your calorie intake.

Good luck to you.