3500 Calories over Equals a Pound?

bparr

I've been looking through old posts and cannot find this info. What's the time frame for eating the extra 3500 calories and gaining weight?
Is the concept that if you go over your BMR every day that once you've gone over by 3500 calories, that's when you would gain a pound?
I never go over my BMR calories, but do occasinally go over my calorie "goal". Trying to figure out when weight gain actually takes place.

secretlobster

There are SO many factors to take into account... But to be very specific, it takes approximately 3500 calories of heat to burn one pound of fat.

That means that if you consistently consume exactly 250 calories more than your BMR, in 14 days, you can expect to be about 1lb heavier.

Looking into this kind of science is almost worthless because there are so many invisible factors involved, it's almost impossible to calculate exactly.

kmp411

You are seriously overthinking the 3500=pound thing..you may/may not gain..but I wouldn't stress about it.. it's a little silly, IMO.. just log it and move on

HotBodUnderConstruction

There are SO many factors to take into account... But to be very specific, it takes approximately 3500 calories of heat to burn one pound of fat.

That means that if you consistently consume exactly 250 calories more than your BMR, in 14 days, you can expect to be about 1lb heavier.

Looking into this kind of science is almost worthless because there are so many invisible factors involved, it's almost impossible to calculate exactly.

I thought it was calories above your TDEE and not your BMR that contribute to weight gain?

Emabo

It depends on so many things, like others have said. I was eating roughly 5000 calories a day through binges, and I was 100 pounds and never gained a thing. Now I am 120 and eat no more than 1800 on days I do not binge, and on binge days around 3000.

secretlobster

I thought it was calories above your TDEE and not your BMR that contribute to weight gain?

Sorry, yes, to be more specific, it is your TDEE and not your BMR.

Jacwhite22

There are SO many factors to take into account... But to be very specific, it takes approximately 3500 calories of heat to burn one pound of fat.

That means that if you consistently consume exactly 250 calories more than your BMR, in 14 days, you can expect to be about 1lb heavier.

Looking into this kind of science is almost worthless because there are so many invisible factors involved, it's almost impossible to calculate exactly.

I thought it was calories above your TDEE and not your BMR that contribute to weight gain?

This is correct. Your BMR is the base amount to keep you living if you were in a coma/in bed all day. Your TDEE factors in activity. If the net of these is 0 (TDEE - calories eaten) then you will maintain your weight. If calories eaten is > TDEE you will gain weight. If calories eaten < TDEE you will lose weight. The struggle really comes in people accurately esitmating TDEE as there are many factors. (body composition, actual activity level, etc) and in people recording calorie intake. Many people tend to over/under estimate calorie intake.

SteveTries

I've been looking through old posts and cannot find this info. What's the time frame for eating the extra 3500 calories and gaining weight?
Is the concept that if you go over your BMR every day that once you've gone over by 3500 calories, that's when you would gain a pound?
I never go over my BMR calories, but do occasinally go over my calorie "goal". Trying to figure out when weight gain actually takes place.

Sounds like you are asking about the physiology/biochemistry that occurs in storing a pound of fat? So if I might try to refine your question (hope you don't mind).....does eating 3500Cals over TDEE mean I will gain 1lb of body fat or is there a limit to the amount of excess food a body will be able to store in one sitting/one 24 hour period with the remainder being excreted as unprocessed waste?

Is that what you want to know?

bparr

I've been looking through old posts and cannot find this info. What's the time frame for eating the extra 3500 calories and gaining weight?
Is the concept that if you go over your BMR every day that once you've gone over by 3500 calories, that's when you would gain a pound?
I never go over my BMR calories, but do occasinally go over my calorie "goal". Trying to figure out when weight gain actually takes place.

Sounds like you are asking about the physiology/biochemistry that occurs in storing a pound of fat? So if I might try to refine your question (hope you don't mind).....does eating 3500Cals over TDEE mean I will gain 1lb of body fat or is there a limit to the amount of excess food a body will be able to store in one sitting/one 24 hour period with the remainder being excreted as unprocessed waste?

Is that what you want to know?

Maybe-- I guess what I'm trying to figure out is-- if a person goes over their TDEE a few times a week by a couple hundred calories, at what point does weight gain take place. It's a conversation that has started at work and we're going round and round with the topic. It's confusing.

secretlobster

Maybe-- I guess what I'm trying to figure out is-- if a person goes over their TDEE a few times a week by a couple hundred calories, at what point does weight gain take place. It's a conversation that has started at work and we're going round and round with the topic. It's confusing.

It's going to differ for everyone based on their energy expenditure (exercise), metabolism, etc... Sorry but there are too many variables! Two different human beings consuming the same amount of calories will gain weight at different rates.

grinch031

As you consume food, fat will quickly get deposited into your fat stores. When your insulin levels rise (mainly from carb and protein intake), fat mobilization out of fat stores for fuel is inhibited. So basically you can bet when you are eating food you store fat (if dietary fat is consumed or if you over-eat carbs), and when you're not eating you're burning fat. If you eat 3500 calories of fat in one meal, congratulations you just gained 1 lb of fat!

The reason people look at it daily is because a day is a full cycle of your activities. Every day you generally follow a similar pattern in eating, sleeping, and activity levels. So ideally when losing weight you want to consume less calories within a 24-hour period than you expend. If you look at it from only a 12-hour perspective, you might ignore the fact that you burn much less calories while sleeping for instance. You could of course look at what happens over 2 days or even a week, but 1 day is usually sufficient. It doesn't matter though...fat storage and burning is continuous.