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

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  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    Total BS and lied on Weight Watchers. WW never claimed or proved that sh$t.
  • missyme10
    missyme10 Posts: 38 Member
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    I think it's true, and that's based on my own personal experience.

    I tracked my food daily and realised I maintained at 2200kcal a day.
    I then reduced to 1200kcal a day and lost 2lb a week consistently - this equivalent to 7000kcal.
    When I upped my calories to 1700 a day, I lost on average 1lb per week.

    The maths is bang on with me.

  • NewMeowLean
    NewMeowLean Posts: 58
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    You need to spend 3500 kcal more than you consume to lose one pound of fat. Whether you do that in a day or a month is your choice. And calorie is a unit that measures energy. So one calorie is one calorie, same as one pound is one pound and one °C is one °C.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    Read an article from that woman before, maybe even the same one. The nicest thing I could say about it is that she at least referenced studies. The worth of those studies is a different question and the fact she handwaves away all problems people in the comments had about her sources is a red flag as they say.
  • funchords
    funchords Posts: 413 Member
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    There is a connection between the thyroid and the speed of ones metabolism, and thyroid isn't the only factor. For these people, 3500 calories is not a pound.

    But for most of us, 3500 calories is a pound is probably a decent generality. It's useful even if it isn't perfectly factual.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    funchords wrote: »
    There is a connection between the thyroid and the speed of ones metabolism, and thyroid isn't the only factor. For these people, 3500 calories is not a pound.

    But for most of us, 3500 calories is a pound is probably a decent generality. It's useful even if it isn't perfectly factual.

    How does the speed of ones metabolism negate math?

    3500 is commonly referred to as a lb of fat not weight.

  • DiabolicalColossus
    DiabolicalColossus Posts: 219 Member
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    Special people and their mighty metabolisms can overcome pesky math on a whim.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »
    Zoe Hardcombe is, in fact, a blithering idiot.
    Yeah. Just selling a low carb diet. There's nothing interesting to see here.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    A 3500 calorie deficit does not guarantee a one pound of fat loss due to the number of variables in play as the human body. Of course, the 3500 calories for one pound concept is a guideline not an absolute law of nature.
  • BramageOMG
    BramageOMG Posts: 319 Member
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    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
  • FitForL1fe
    FitForL1fe Posts: 1,872 Member
    edited October 2014
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    jodiecooks281 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!

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,024 Member
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    jodiecooks281 wrote: »
    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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)

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