The 3500 calorie rule can't be true?

weight fluctuates up and down for a variety of reasons. water retention time of day etc. I have been able to eat entirely within my calorie range for an entire week and show a gain then have a really horrible day and show a loss the next day.
the 3500 number is a scientific fact. If you consistently eat more calories than you need you will gain weight. In order to figure out what you need to eat to maintain weight do a BMI calculation

My workout yesterday burned about 2,200 calories. I weighed about 5 lbs. less after the workout. How was that possible? I didn't burn 3500 calories.

Magic, duh!

^^Sorry But this is proper making me LOL

did you say... magic?

My workout yesterday burned about 2,200 calories. I weighed about 5 lbs. less after the workout. How was that possible? I didn't burn 3500 calories.

Somebody posted you didn't lose the 5 pounds. . . .obviously you did. How much would you weigh if you burned 17,500 calories? Hmmm. . . .I wonder.

As for the OP maybe weighing yourself every 6 hours will help. At least you'd have to wake up to do something. Seriously, go to weekly weighing and best of luck.

My workout yesterday burned about 2,200 calories. I weighed about 5 lbs. less after the workout. How was that possible? I didn't burn 3500 calories.

Somebody posted you didn't lose the 5 pounds. . . .obviously you did. How much would you weigh if you burned 17,500 calories? Hmmm. . . .I wonder.

As for the OP maybe weighing yourself every 6 hours will help. At least you'd have to wake up to do something. Seriously, go to weekly weighing and best of luck.

*chuckles*

stop obsessing, OP. They're called weight fluctuations due to water weight, dietary changes, etc. you sweated, didn't you? That's a loss of weight right there.

My workout yesterday burned about 2,200 calories. I weighed about 5 lbs. less after the workout. How was that possible? I didn't burn 3500 calories.

Well since fat is 3,500 calories per pound when your body burns it, and muscle is 900 calories per pound when your body burns it, you obviously burnt up your bones! Since bone is about 556 calories per pound if you exclude the fatty marrow, and we can't actually digest and use all the proteins that make up collagen in bone for our nutrition, so 2,200 calories would be about the calories available in breaking down 5 lbs of bone!

That is one scary workout!

My workout yesterday burned about 2,200 calories. I weighed about 5 lbs. less after the workout. How was that possible? I didn't burn 3500 calories.

Somebody posted you didn't lose the 5 pounds. . . .obviously you did. How much would you weigh if you burned 17,500 calories? Hmmm. . . .I wonder.

As for the OP maybe weighing yourself every 6 hours will help. At least you'd have to wake up to do something. Seriously, go to weekly weighing and best of luck.

He'd be boneless if he burnt 17,500 calories, weren't you paying attention?

i really really wish i could get the universe to take scale weight less seriously.

you do not have a weight. you have a weight range. on average it goes 3.5 pounds above or below a median at any given time.

when you weigh yourself daily, which i do so i can understand what my average is, you can look at it one of two ways

"ohmygosh i gained a pound since yesterday! this diet thing SUCKS no matter what i do i magically gain fat overnight, even when i eat at a defecit!"

or you can say

"oh, look, i am within my weight range... well, its all good, i know i have been doing what i was supposed to do so as long as my average doesnt go up consistenly, ad goes down consistently OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, i am golden"

the average will go down over a period of time if you are eating a defecit, and will increas over time if you are overeating, but neither thing happens in one day.

when i stopped treating the scale like a constant, i started enjoying my weight loss journey more and trusting my process more, not a number on a scale, my process. i actually think that chage in thinking is the second cause of my ability to stick with it this time compared to other times. (first being a discovery that i actually like fitness)

My workout yesterday burned about 2,200 calories. I weighed about 5 lbs. less after the workout. How was that possible? I didn't burn 3500 calories.

Well since fat is 3,500 calories per pound when your body burns it, and muscle is 900 calories per pound when your body burns it, you obviously burnt up your bones! Since bone is about 556 calories per pound if you exclude the fatty marrow, and we can't actually digest and use all the proteins that make up collagen in bone for our nutrition, so 2,200 calories would be about the calories available in breaking down 5 lbs of bone!

See how silly it is to choose what material your body burnt for fuel and convert it to a weight? You can't choose, or easily know. On a serious note, you probably lost mostly water weight, and your scale can have a daily error of at least several pounds. You probably also didn't burn as much as you think you did.

"You probably didn't burn as much as you think you did" really?

Agreed that the 3500 calorie rule is not true. Our bodies are all different, our metabolisms are different, and some of us burn more calories doing the same exercise because we do it with more intensity. Like everything else the 3500 calories is a guide - not a fact.

The fact however is that you must be in a deficit to lose weight - meaning you must burn in energy (daily life + exercise), more than you eat. It really is that simple.

There are different things at play here - maybe you have miscalculated your TDEE, miscalculated your burn (if you used MFP numbers that could be an issue - IMO they are way too generous), or have miscalculated your intake. All that plus weight loss/gain isn't linear.

Strive to consistently live in a deficit and you will lose.

My workout yesterday burned about 2,200 calories. I weighed about 5 lbs. less after the workout. How was that possible? I didn't burn 3500 calories.

Magic, duh!

Where does the cat come from?!

Oh. And as everyone else said - your weight fluctuates for all sorts of reasons so focusing on a weekly goal is a good idea.


But seriously....where does he hide the cat?

did you say... magic?

Oh, yes, I certainly did! And, I'll see your:



And raise you a: