Burn 3500 calories a day to lose 1lb..........Fact or fiction???

2

Replies

  • FitForL1fe
    FitForL1fe Posts: 1,872 Member
    edited October 2014
    kamurray6 wrote: »
    I think it's a bit of a myth. I am no scientist, but common sense tells me that all calories are not created equal. 1000 calories made up entirely of candy is going to have a very different effect on my body than 1000 calories made up of skinless chicken, beans and vegetables. Also, everyone's body reacts differently to different types of food. I will gain wight if I eat a moderate number of calories that include processed carbs like wheat bread than when I eat a higher number of calories in protein and fat. For example if I eat an egg white omelette for breakfast and veggie smoothie for lunch on both days I will see at least a 1 pound increase on the scale if I eat a turkey burger on a whole wheat bun for dinner vs no gain or potentially a loss if I eat a burrito bowl (no tortilla) with steak, cheese and guacamole for dinner. My boyfriend reacts to high processed sugar levels. He puts on weight eating ice cream frequently, but eating pizza (and lots of it) twice a week doesn't seem to affect him at all. He cuts out sugar and loses weight quickly. He cuts the pizza for a week and no weight loss.

    4609129583.png

    There is so much wrong info in that paragraph...
  • ryanwood935
    ryanwood935 Posts: 245 Member
    3500 calories = 1 pound is a great rule of thumb. That said, someone who would otherwise maintain at 2500 calories a day isn't going to lose exactly 2 pounds per week eating at 1500 calories/day, just as they won't gain exactly 2 pounds per week eating at 4000 calories/day.

    Partially because your body uses a very small amount of calories just to process the food you've eaten, and partially due to the effects of leptin and ghrelin. Those effects are small enough that it sure doesn't throw that 3500 number out the window, though. At least this is my view as some guy with no medical background aside from one really awesome bio class about a decade ago.
  • jodiecooks281
    jodiecooks281 Posts: 22 Member
    I love reading everyone's views on things like this! people get so riled up!! Bring out the pitch forks!!!

    At the end of the day one persons views i.e the lady's on her blog is exactly that one person's view!

    I very much doubt even 1/4 of the people on this site have any form of PROFESSIONAL nutritional,dietary and sports science knowledge, however you tend to find people are inclined to read and believe what they want because it makes them feel like they are succeeding in their weight loss goals even if the information they have been given hasn't ever been official credited or discredited!

    Personally I am kinda sceptical that if you burn 3500 kcal a day I will lose 1lb (nor am I going to try it- it seems like ALOT of effect) but I get what people are saying it can be used as a general rule of thumb to give you a guide of how much you want or need to push yourself.

    Has anyone else every tried this form of weight loss and how hard have they actually found it??? (Sorry I am very curious about these things!)

    xx
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    edited October 2014
    An intake reduction of 500 calories a day doesn't turn into a loss rate of 1 pound per week in many cases. As soon as you restrict food then "other stuff happens" which means the 500 deficit is no longer a 500 deficit.

    But in general a pound of weight loss is around 3500 calories of lost energy stores, that's been known and well rehearsed for over 50 years.

    Matching that number to changes in behaviour can be a challenge though, sometimes people lose more than the calorie balance suggests, sometimes less. It is not uncommon for researchers to observe this and offer no explanation.
  • jcmhe
    jcmhe Posts: 27 Member
    I recently came across a number of Professionals stating the above is a bit of myth???
    What's everyone else's views???? (you can't always believe the internet!)

    I did find this article quite interesting!


    http://www.zoeharcombe.com/the-knowledge/you-will-not-lose-1lb-every-time/


    Fact!

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,282 Member
    Personally I am kinda sceptical that if you burn 3500 kcal a day I will lose 1lb (nor am I going to try it- it seems like ALOT of effect) but I get what people are saying it can be used as a general rule of thumb to give you a guide of how much you want or need to push yourself.

    xx

    I think you are misunderstnding the general guide - the idea is that a 3500 calorie deficit can be used a a rule of thumb to lose 1lb - no-one is recomending doing it in one day.

    But if you do it in a week - ie have a 500 calorie daily deficit, (3500 divided by 7 days in a week) then you would be on target to lose aprox a lb per week.

  • jodiecooks281
    jodiecooks281 Posts: 22 Member
    No i'm not misunderstanding it the whole point of this feed to begin with was "Burn 3500 calories a day to lose 1lb..........Fact or fiction???"

    I am interested in people's views on if they think its fact or fiction to burn 3500kcal in a DAY.........
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    3500 calories in a day is feasible, but a lot of effort. There's a published study of biggest loser that reports those kind of numbers. Are you meaning 3500 of exercise or in total ?

    Personally I can only burn about 400 calories an hour with fairly vigorous effort so I would struggle.
  • jodiecooks281
    jodiecooks281 Posts: 22 Member
    In total...............Oh that would be quite interesting to read!
    I don't no how anyone has the will power to actually do something like that! everyone's views are really helpful and interesting! I am currently writing about this topic for an evening class I am doing!
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Ah so we're doing your homework ;-)

    Biggest loser study - http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2012-1444

    "Energy expenditure attributed to physical activity increased by 10.2 ± 5.1 kcal/kg·d at wk 6 and 6.0 ± 4.1 kcal/kg·d at wk 30 (P < 0.001 vs. zero)."

    that's per kg of body weight, so the added exercise has to be multiplied up by 80 to 150. TDEE's were generally over 3000 calories/day (Table 1)
  • jodiecooks281
    jodiecooks281 Posts: 22 Member
    HAHAHA yes something like that! Thanks that is really helpful!
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  • heavenlyb14
    heavenlyb14 Posts: 303 Member
    edited October 2014
    Zoe Hardcombe is, in fact, a blithering idiot.

    Thank you for that, it made me smile.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,282 Member
    No i'm not misunderstanding it the whole point of this feed to begin with was "Burn 3500 calories a day to lose 1lb..........Fact or fiction???"

    I am interested in people's views on if they think its fact or fiction to burn 3500kcal in a DAY.........

    Ok - well then yes, I do think it is fiction. I don't think anybody IRL consistently loses 1 lb per day or consistently has 3500 deficit.

    Maybe theoretically possible - but really doing it? I don't think so.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited October 2014
    I did the Harcombe diet

    twice

    I lost weight both times

    I put it on and some both times

    meh to you Zoe!
  • I've always heard 3500 a WEEK not in a day. I think it would be pretty impossible to do in a day.

    Nope not impossible. My fitness and I are in a FitBit challenge ( to see who can do the most steps in 5 days) to catch up with others I walked on my treadmill for 3.5 hours yesterday ( not at one time). while watching tv.
    I burned almost 3450 according to FitBit yesterday. vyz94996qg5d.jpg


  • This is actually true. I am a nutritionist and trainer. My mom is a doctor and we debated this. 3500 calories does equal one pound. It sounds disagreeable but if you want to try it for yourself then do this. Eat the way you normally would. Add in one hour of walking every day for a week. I say this because walking at a brisk pace for an hour can burn up to 500 calories. If you do this for seven days it equats out to 3500 calories. Weigh yourself at the end of the seventh day. Make your own judgement afterwards.
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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited October 2014
    Those fitbit calories are including your burn without exercise, and I think what people are talking about is burning 3500 on top of maintenance. It's not impossible, but hard to do. For example, running 15 miles is roughly 1500 calories.

    I'd also imagine that regularly burning that much on top of maintenance might have some bad effects on metabolism and general health depending.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    jcmhe wrote: »
    I recently came across a number of Professionals stating the above is a bit of myth???
    What's everyone else's views???? (you can't always believe the internet!)

    I did find this article quite interesting!


    http://www.zoeharcombe.com/the-knowledge/you-will-not-lose-1lb-every-time/


    Fact!
    Why is it that people can argue for or against a given topic for pages on end, presenting evidence one way or another, and then someone like this comes along?
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  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Those fitbit calories are including your burn without exercise, and I think what people are talking about is burning 3500 on top of maintenance. It's not impossible, but hard to do. For example, running 15 miles is roughly 1500 calories.

    I'd also imagine that regularly burning that much on top of maintenance might have some bad effects on metabolism and general health depending.

    I worked in construction for 25 years and I ate 1400-1500 calories above maintenance (~2500 kcal) for a total of ~4000 kcals per day for that entire period. Heathliest point of my life.

  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    Sorry, can't find the edit button,,,
    I meant above a normally active person, not maintenance obviously.
  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
    HAHAHA yes something like that! Thanks that is really helpful!

    Let us know what grade you get :)
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I've always heard 3500 a WEEK not in a day. I think it would be pretty impossible to do in a day.

    This.

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  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    BramageOMG wrote: »
    One of the "Biggest Loser" winners averaged 1lb per day for over 100 days. She got a lot of heat for it... but she did not die. I don't know if you blew back up.. I lost 60 faster than people say is "acceptable".. don't really care. Dr said: Nice Job

    Those people have a great deal of weight to lose.. for the average person with 20-50 to lose it isn't do-able.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    People on the Biggest Loser do it all the time. The caveat is that they have a lot of weight to lose and make losing weight their full time job. They eat a certain number of calories a day (I heard them say 1200 - 1500 for women, 1500 - 1800 for men, but not positive) and then exercise as much as possible. I think their goal burns for the day (including BMR and all that) is upwards of 5000. So yeah, they burn 3500+ over what they are eating daily. Which means that its possible.

    Is it healthy? Is it realistic for most people? Most likely not.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    I love reading everyone's views on things like this! people get so riled up!! Bring out the pitch forks!!!

    At the end of the day one persons views i.e the lady's on her blog is exactly that one person's view!

    I very much doubt even 1/4 of the people on this site have any form of PROFESSIONAL nutritional,dietary and sports science knowledge, however you tend to find people are inclined to read and believe what they want because it makes them feel like they are succeeding in their weight loss goals even if the information they have been given hasn't ever been official credited or discredited!

    Personally I am kinda sceptical that if you burn 3500 kcal a day I will lose 1lb (nor am I going to try it- it seems like ALOT of effect) but I get what people are saying it can be used as a general rule of thumb to give you a guide of how much you want or need to push yourself.

    Has anyone else every tried this form of weight loss and how hard have they actually found it??? (Sorry I am very curious about these things!)

    xx

    In total...............Oh that would be quite interesting to read!
    I don't no how anyone has the will power to actually do something like that! everyone's views are really helpful and interesting! I am currently writing about this topic for an evening class I am doing!

    :huh: So you doubt that even 25% of the people on this site know what they are talking about, but you're coming here to get help with your homework?
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    FredDoyle wrote: »
    Sorry, can't find the edit button,,,
    I meant above a normally active person, not maintenance obviously.

    they don't have an edit button...not that I can find.

    They do, I found it.
    Hover your mouse in the top right of your post and click the gear icon. You get an hour to do so...