How many calories must be burned in order to lose one pound?

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maria181
maria181 Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to get an idea of how long I must spend on the treadmill, and how often, in order to lose one pound a week?

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  • TwentyTen
    TwentyTen Posts: 585
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    I'm trying to get an idea of how long I must spend on the treadmill, and how often, in order to lose one pound a week?

    3500. Seems like alot doesn't it?
  • ronnie_ennis
    ronnie_ennis Posts: 2
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    all the information I have ever read states that it is approx 3000 calories is equal to one pound.
  • freffenwolfe
    freffenwolfe Posts: 4 Member
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    ah man!
  • StaceG1986
    StaceG1986 Posts: 350
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    In theory you need to burn 3500 cals to lose 1 lb. How long you need to spend on it depends on your weight and how much you put into it. The database on here will give you a rough idea.
  • tammietifanie
    tammietifanie Posts: 1,496 Member
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    It's 3,500 calories = 1 pound of fat.....
  • nataliesaunders2470
    nataliesaunders2470 Posts: 24 Member
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    Yeah it does seem a lot....so, 500 cals per day. Not that much really if you were to exercise for 30 minutes and aiming to burn 250-300. Good luck with it!
  • erinmargaret76
    erinmargaret76 Posts: 10 Member
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    you need to have a 3500 calorie deficite a week to lose one pound. sounds like alot but it really isnt when you break it down into 7 days, thats 500 calories a day. exercizing & watching what you eat will get you there!!!! its all about calories. how much we eat & how much we burn!!!!!!!!
  • oregonlady
    oregonlady Posts: 2,743 Member
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    it's just not fair!!!!!:mad: :mad: :angry: :angry: :explode: :explode: :grumble: :grumble:

    it takes weeks/months to lose 1 lb but i/we can/have put 10lbs on in a weekend!:cry::cry: :cry: :sad: :sad: :sad:
  • stevemcknight
    stevemcknight Posts: 647 Member
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    The treadmill is fine and good, but don't discount weight training as well. Muscle burns fat 24 hours a day, not just the 30 minutes your on the treadmill.

    Also, remember Nutrition is at least 80% of the equation for fitness.
  • maria181
    maria181 Posts: 11
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    That's right, I forgot, thanks for the reminder!
  • maria181
    maria181 Posts: 11
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    Thanks for the breakdown. It seems do-able now!
  • astrosnider
    astrosnider Posts: 151 Member
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    You have to burn 3,500 calories to lose one pound. For me that would be about 7 hours on the elliptical and even more on the treadmill! What I've read, and what seems to work, it's best to combine an increase in exercise with a decrease in calories. So if you burn 500 calories more a day through exercise and cut 500 calories a day from what you used to eat, theoretically you would lose 2 pounds a week. In practice it doesn't work out quite that neatly, but if you exercise consistently and cut calories consistently, eventually you will see some results.
    Do not expect too much from exercise alone. At least in my experience, you will see more dramatic results from cutting the calories you consume than from increasing the calories you burn.
  • jquintinjr
    jquintinjr Posts: 191
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    3500cal for 1lb of fat or 500cal for 1lb muscle. which is why you shouldnt reduce your intake severely
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    I just want to make sure everyone is clear on this topic. I see a lot of people saying, "You need to be short 3,500 calories to lose one pound."

    That's not entirely true.

    There are 3,500 calories in 1 pound of fat, approximately.

    However, a pound lost is comprised of a minimization of many factors such as fat, muscle, connective tissue, water, etc. When we invoke a calorie deficit to lose weight, we don't lose ALL fat. Every pound lost is comprised of "a little of this and a little of that." So while the old 3,500 per week calorie deficit is a good general rule, it shouldn't be held as a science.

    Also, I think it's important to make sure we're not putting *so much* emphasis on weight. As I've said in another thread here today, someone can be losing fat yet maintaining water (for a variety of reasons) to an extent where water weight is masking fat loss.

    This holds especially true for women.

    I've seen time and time again where someone sets out to lose X lbs per week and at the end of the month they ended up losing Y lbs. They become dissappointed and typically cave by way of bingeing or cheating when, all along, their fat loss was there. It simply wasn't detectable on the scale. And that's why it's very important to use multiple metrics to gauge progress - not just the scale.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    I'm trying to get an idea of how long I must spend on the treadmill, and how often, in order to lose one pound a week?

    And to answer your question specifically, I'm not a fan of worrying about calories expended via exercise. My suggestion is to pick a caloric intake target. Use sane amounts of exercise throughout the week the help burn calories and improve health/strength/body composition/etc. If, after 2-4 weeks, you're not realizing progress, reduce caloric intake by 10% or so. Rinse and repeat this process.

    You might be wondering, "Well what should my caloric intake target be?"

    There are many, many ways to calculate this, but given that most of them are merely estimations and I value simplicity... I tend to stick with 14-16 calories per pound is maintenance. That assumes you don't have some sort of medical condition hindering metabolic rate and that you're exercising 5-7 days per week for an hour or so.

    Once you calculate maintenance, simply subtract 30% or so to determine your caloric intake goal.

    Make sense?
  • jrobertson37
    jrobertson37 Posts: 90 Member
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    I just finished doing this in january (you can look at my diary and see how i wz working out) month and thats why im taking a break now. I was burning 3500 cals per week so that meant I had to burn 500-700 cals per day. At the gym i would do the treadmill, elipitical, rowing maching and stationary bike. I was spending 1-2 in the gym on T/Th and M/W/F I did circuit. After calculating all my burned calories for the week, on saturdays i would have to workout atleast 2-3 hours at the gym to get to 3500 cals. I did this for 3 weeks straight and literally killed myself. Plus when you exercise like this you have to eat more as well. It took me 4-5 weeks plus a week off to loose 5 llbs. Unless you like working out that hard, it is not worth it. I was mentally/physically tired but I was stuck at plateau, got depressed and wanted to see what burning 3500 cals was like. Trust, it is difficult and i will never workout that hard again. Even though you are burning 3500 cals the pounds will not melt off like you think. I was thinking that by burning that amount of cals a week i would lose a pound a week and that was not the case. I was happy with the results at the end but at the end of the day that was not worth it (atleast not to me). Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    I'm trying to get an idea of how long I must spend on the treadmill, and how often, in order to lose one pound a week?

    And to answer your question specifically, I'm not a fan of worrying about calories expended via exercise. My suggestion is to pick a caloric intake target. Use sane amounts of exercise throughout the week the help burn calories and improve health/strength/body composition/etc. If, after 2-4 weeks, you're not realizing progress, reduce caloric intake by 10% or so. Rinse and repeat this process.

    You might be wondering, "Well what should my caloric intake target be?"

    There are many, many ways to calculate this, but given that most of them are merely estimations and I value simplicity... I tend to stick with 14-16 calories per pound is maintenance. That assumes you don't have some sort of medical condition hindering metabolic rate and that you're exercising 5-7 days per week for an hour or so.

    Once you calculate maintenance, simply subtract 30% or so to determine your caloric intake goal.

    Make sense?

    You are aware of how this site works, right???

    You enter your statistics (height, weight, gender, activity level, age), and your goal (gain, maintain or lose 1/2, 1, 1 1/2 or 2 pounds per week), and the deficit is calculated FOR you (at 250 calories per 1/2 pound). The diary includes not only the calorie goal but the nutrient breakdown per your settings. The purpose of the site is to maintain that deficit, therefore exercise is added to the goal in order to keep the deficit precise. If you're going to offer advice, you may want to familiarize yourself with the way MFP works.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    You are aware of how this site works, right???

    You enter your statistics (height, weight, gender, activity level, age), and your goal (gain, maintain or lose 1/2, 1, 1 1/2 or 2 pounds per week), and the deficit is calculated FOR you (at 250 calories per 1/2 pound). The diary includes not only the calorie goal but the nutrient breakdown per your settings. The purpose of the site is to maintain that deficit, therefore exercise is added to the goal in order to keep the deficit precise. If you're going to offer advice, you may want to familiarize yourself with the way MFP works.

    I am. Not everyone is here solely for the calculators. I've encountered a number of folks who are here for the great discussions and meeting like-minded people. I was simply offering up an alternative viewpoint. I mean no disrespect to anyone, including the site. Heck, I think this place is fantastic.
  • imagymrat
    imagymrat Posts: 862 Member
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    The treadmill is fine and good, but don't discount weight training as well. Muscle burns fat 24 hours a day, not just the 30 minutes your on the treadmill.

    Also, remember Nutrition is at least 80% of the equation for fitness.

    BIG THUMBS UP!! :laugh: weight training, not so much the cardio is what transformed my body.

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