3500 to gain a pound

Fivefootcaloriecounter
Fivefootcaloriecounter Posts: 123 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I understand the concept of eating 3500 calories over causes 1pound weight gain ... but is that 3500 over your maintenance calories or 3500 calories over my deficit calories ? I.e. My Deficit is 1300 but my maintenance is 1600 calories ???

Replies

  • Fivefootcaloriecounter
    Fivefootcaloriecounter Posts: 123 Member
    Thank you xxx
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Fivefootcaloriecounter wrote: »
    I understand the concept of eating 3500 calories over causes 1pound weight gain ... but is that 3500 over your maintenance calories or 3500 calories over my deficit calories ? I.e. My Deficit is 1300 but my maintenance is 1600 calories ???

    Yeah, 3500 over maintenance...just as 3,500 under maintenance would result in roughly 1 Lb per week weight loss.
  • ccruz985
    ccruz985 Posts: 646 Member
    I always thought it was 3500 total. Thanks.
  • kcmsmith0405
    kcmsmith0405 Posts: 259 Member
    3500 over maintenance :)
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    edited August 2017
    ccruz985 wrote: »
    I always thought it was 3500 total. Thanks.

    Since people maintain at different calorie levels, it would have to be over maintenance. Some people would maintain or even lose at 3500/day. Really big people, but still.
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
    And just FYI for everyone. It isn't actually precisely 3500 because of the varying thermogenic effects of food, digested and undigested fibres so we needn't get too caught up in the accuracy when we understand this. 3500 is a pretty rough number and over time it's good enough.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    It is based on 1g of fat being approximately 8.9 calories and 1 oz. being approximately 28.4 grams. It still doesn't come out exactly, but the idea is that around 3,500 calories = close to 1 lb. of fat.

    Muscle, water, etc. don't follow this concept. You will notice the true calories for fat when using 8.9 calories/gram and 28.4 grams/ounce are more than 10% off from 3,500 anyway. All in all, it is a flawed idea; but it is the best we have, right?
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    edited August 2017
    Maintenance calories is what you need to stay at the same weight. Eat less than that, you lose. Eat more than that, you gain. For every 3500 over that you eat, you gain about 1 lb, be it per week or per month. Eating over by 100 cals per day could result in a gain of 1 lb per month.
    If you eat between your deficit number and your maintenance number, you will still lose, but at a slower rate.
    OF COURSE, all these numbers are estimates, including the calories per food item that you log.

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