The 3500 calorie rule can't be true?

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  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
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    It is true, but it's not the complete picture. "Permanent" weight gain and weight loss is based on average activity over time. "Temporary" weight gain and weight loss happens about a million times a day - when you eat, you temporarily gain weight, when you drink, you temporarily gain weight, when you use the bathroom, you temporarily lose a bit. Diet and activity can also cause you to retain water or become dehydrated, also creating temporary gains and losses.

    For these reasons, people say to give it several weeks after making changes before you can really see if they're working or not.
  • hortensehildegarde
    hortensehildegarde Posts: 592 Member
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    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.

    um. no? 3500 is a scientific fact. like gravity.

    like how much a pound weighs.

    you are confusing two different types of information.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    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.

    um. no? 3500 is a scientific fact. like gravity.

    like how much a pound weighs.

    you are confusing two different types of information.

    But our bodies are all different; right? Just kidding. I'd lean toward rule then Special Snowflakeisms. . . . . .
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
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    This has nothing to do with weighing daily or weekly. Even if you look at it from a weekly perspective, I gained 3 1/2 pounds without eating 24,500 extra calories. I always weigh myself at the same time when I wake up every day in the same clothes after going to the bathroom before breakfast. I never eat high sodium foods, never eat fast food. I mostly eat pasta and the kind I eat has 0 sodium. The highest sodium food I eat is canned veggies. I realize this is science and although 3500 calories does equal a pound that doesn't mean you need to eat that amount extra to gain a pound. Are you saying that the guy who lost 38 pounds in one week didn't really lose that much? It was just water weight? Even though week 2 he lost even more and more in week 3? I realize what science says but it does not make sense here.

    3/23 - 104.5
    3/24 - 106.5
    3/25 - 107
    3/26 - 108
    3/27 - 108
    3/28 - 108.5
    3/29 - 108

    ok then lets try averages, . if you average the days of the week you weigh 107.21 pounds. anything 3.5 pounds above or below that at any given time is a normal fluctuation based on water or whatever and does NOT require sodium or fast food to happen. it is normal. what you need to look at is if that average weight goes up week over week over a period of several weeks.

    3.5 is an average weight fluctualtion.

    you are treating scale weight as something unchanging and it is not. if you didnt eat extra calories you didnt gain a pound of fat. simple as that.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    This has nothing to do with weighing daily or weekly. Even if you look at it from a weekly perspective, I gained 3 1/2 pounds without eating 24,500 extra calories. I always weigh myself at the same time when I wake up every day in the same clothes after going to the bathroom before breakfast. I never eat high sodium foods, never eat fast food. I mostly eat pasta and the kind I eat has 0 sodium. The highest sodium food I eat is canned veggies. I realize this is science and although 3500 calories does equal a pound that doesn't mean you need to eat that amount extra to gain a pound. Are you saying that the guy who lost 38 pounds in one week didn't really lose that much? It was just water weight? Even though week 2 he lost even more and more in week 3? I realize what science says but it does not make sense here.

    3/23 - 104.5
    3/24 - 106.5
    3/25 - 107
    3/26 - 108
    3/27 - 108
    3/28 - 108.5
    3/29 - 108

    How tall are you? If you want answers start with this question.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
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    3500 calories is the energy measurement of 1 lb of fat. It is not a myth or theory - it is a measurement.

    Obviously when we gain or lose it's not always fat - it can be fat, water, muscle whatever so the number will not always be 3500 but it'll be close.

    What you're experiencing is probably not fat gain or loss but fluctuations in bodyweight caused by all manner of sh!te - high sodium days leading to water retention, water held for repair after exercise etc. or even a sudden loss of water and/or fat.

    ^ This
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    Well I did eat extra calories. I just didn't eat 3500 extra calories. I understand what you mean about averaging the weight but is that how you find out if you're actually gaining or not? I've just never heard of that so I'm wondering if I should've been averaging the weight this whole time?

    I do understand that was a normal fluctuation since it was only 3.5 pounds but what about the man on the biggest loser? He lost 38 pounds in one week and that clearly wasn't normal fluctuation.

    I'm 5'3 to the person who asked.

    Ugh.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
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    Well I did eat extra calories. I just didn't eat 3500 extra calories. I understand what you mean about averaging the weight but is that how you find out if you're actually gaining or not? I've just never heard of that so I'm wondering if I should've been averaging the weight this whole time?

    I do understand that was a normal fluctuation since it was only 3.5 pounds but what about the man on the biggest loser? He lost 38 pounds in one week and that clearly wasn't normal fluctuation.

    I'm 5'3 to the person who asked.

    OP - Just look at trends. Weighing yourself every week is better than every day. If you're trying to maintain, figure out a weight that would still be healthy for you a couple of pounds either way. If for two weeks in a row you find yourself outside of that range (above or below), assume you're slightly off track and you need to make some changes. I saw a post you made previously where you mentioned weighing yourself before and after each time you ate - that's not healthy behavior. I'm not sure if you're under a doctor's care specifically regarding your weight or where you specifically are in your relationship with food and the scale, but maybe mention that sort of thing to him, as he might be able to refer you to someone who can help re-train your focus.

    Also, please PLEASE don't look to The Biggest Loser and try to apply it to real life. First of all, the individuals on the show are morbidly obese. Body composition is drastically different than an average individual. It absolutely IS possible for someone at 300+ pounds to be holding mass amounts of water weight, and when you make a sudden change in eating and activity, a ton of that will flush out. Additionally, when you weigh that much, your TDEE is sky high. When you cut down to 1200-1500 calories, you're creating a huge deficit each day. Secondly, despite it looking that way, The Biggest Loser does NOT depict someone just showing up off the street on a normal day and losing 38 pounds in 7 days. A "week" on the Biggest Loser is actually whatever arbitrary time frame works best for the producers, and could be a few weeks or longer. Also, if you're a smart contestant, you load up on as much crap and sodium and whatnot as you possibly can before that first weigh-in in order to have the most artificially inflated starting point (and therefore greater potential for loss) as possible. Many, if not all, of those people are probably as packed to the gills with water weight and food waste (ahem) as humanly possible when they first start out, which makes the first "week" losses look HUGE.
  • Guns_N_Buns
    Guns_N_Buns Posts: 1,899 Member
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    This couldn't have been water weight in March.



    I don't understand this part of the op....?

    She doesn't drink water in March.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    Okay look. The guy weighed 409 at the start. Very restrictive diet, massive water loss(did he eat processed meats for ten days prior to the start?!? Hmmm); people puked during the first session in which he was thrown out. So, dramatic uptick in exercise, massive loss(water) and there you go. Some folks on here lose 10 pounds in a day from their workouts. As for you, you body is retaining the calories since you are potentially under eating and your body's prehistoric mind is wondering when you may feed it again. Make sense? Also hormone response(cortisol, feed the uterus( yes TOM), perspiration, humidity, dietary intake changes, and metabolic stress or damage all play a role.
  • 2014myyear
    2014myyear Posts: 60 Member
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    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)

    the only actually decent thing i have read... well done.
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
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    i just now realized this is in the gaining weight catagory (not the first time i missed this, wont be the last), so i apologize for speaking toward the other direction. just reverse directions and i suppose it can still apply.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    SERIOUSLY over thinking it.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    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)

    this is the only seriously useful thing in this thread.


    and it's relevant for gaining and for losing.

    I'm a person who weighs daily- as someone else said- one data point in time and space is not helpful- but I'm an engineer type- so to me- more data points = moar better.

    One data point to chart is not so helpful- then I can't tell if what is going on is weight flux or weight change. with daily points I can track in 3-4 week increments and find the average- then figure the trend line- it's extremely helpful to me- but for many people they can't do that. And that's okay- you just need to understand it.
  • SkepticalOwl
    SkepticalOwl Posts: 223 Member
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    Just to be clear:

    1 lb of fat == 3500 calories
    1 lb of water == 0 calories
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
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    It is true, but there are other factors that affect your weight besides just the amount of fat you have. Body composition (ratio of fat to muscle), water retention, hormones, etc...many things can affect the number on the scale. A person can lose a pound of fat, but if you retain extra water, that one pound will likely not show on the scale as a full pound loss. That's why weighing every day is not really going to tell you anything; it's your weight over time. I weigh almost daily, just to see where I am, and it fluctuates wildly. That's why I only log my weigh-in that I do each month at my fitness center. It gives me a much better picture of where I am overall.

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