3500 calories does NOT equal 1lb
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mkakids
Posts: 1,913 Member
I know this is an ARTICLE in runners world. Its interesting anyways, and i was hoping for some discussion.
The gist is that the longer you eat at a deficit, the less that deficit effects your weight loss. So a 500 cal daily deficit in the beginning produces a 1lb a week loss, but after continued for 12 months or more, that same 500cal daily deficit only produces a 1/2lb loss. Meaning after reducing calories for an extended period of time uts actually 7000 cals /lb NOT 3500.
http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/biggest-weight-loss-myth-revealed?cid=soc_Runner's World - RunnersWorld_FBPAGE_Runner’s%20World__
The gist is that the longer you eat at a deficit, the less that deficit effects your weight loss. So a 500 cal daily deficit in the beginning produces a 1lb a week loss, but after continued for 12 months or more, that same 500cal daily deficit only produces a 1/2lb loss. Meaning after reducing calories for an extended period of time uts actually 7000 cals /lb NOT 3500.
http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/biggest-weight-loss-myth-revealed?cid=soc_Runner's World - RunnersWorld_FBPAGE_Runner’s%20World__
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It's an interesting theory, but since there are no actual studies linked or associated with it I don't know that I would put too much stock in it. I know way too many people who have lost 90-100 pounds in a year using a 7000 calorie deficit in a week. (2 lbs per week) We do know that weight loss will slow as you get closer to your goal weight, but a lot of this is related to the fact that you do not need as many calories to maintain as you did a year prior at a higher weight. This is when you have to adjust your calorie intake or burn more to continue to lose at a rate you expect.0
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If you start out with a 500 calorie deficit, that number is based on the deficit calculated to lose a pound a week at your starting weight. It's true that you will lose less weight as you go if you continue to maintain that 500 calorie deficit because your current weight is no longer your starting weight. It's not that it now takes a 7000 calorie deficit to lose a pound but that your deficit is really less than 500 calories. Your weekly deficit is no longer 3500 calories so you just lose weight slower. You must adjust your deficit to compensate for your lower weight to maintain your weight loss goal.0
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If you start out with a 500 calorie deficit, that number is based on the deficit calculated to lose a pound a week at your starting weight. It's true that you will lose less weight as you go if you continue to maintain that 500 calorie deficit because your current weight is no longer your starting weight. It's not that it now takes a 7000 calorie deficit to lose a pound but that your deficit is really less than 500 calories so your weekly deficit is really no longer 3500 calories. You must adjust your deficit to compensate for your lower weight to maintain your weight loss goal.
^ This. What I was trying to say, but you said it better. LOL0 -
This article is an example of the reason why I don't get weight loss advice from magazines. The facts are misrepresented in my opinion.0
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If you start out with a 500 calorie deficit, that number is based on the deficit calculated to lose a pound a week at your starting weight. It's true that you will lose less weight as you go if you continue to maintain that 500 calorie deficit because your current weight is no longer your starting weight. It's not that it now takes a 7000 calorie deficit to lose a pound but that your deficit is really less than 500 calories. Your weekly deficit is no longer 3500 calories so you just lose weight slower. You must adjust your deficit to compensate for your lower weight to maintain your weight loss goal.
This seems to be the critical component.
The article says you start the program this way "The BWP allows you to pick your current weight, a target weight, and your time frame for losing weight."
It seems a lot more confusing the way this article is explaining it vs. how you have explained it.0 -
Lyle McDonald wrote a good article about the 3500 calorie rule. You may want to read it.0
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A diet and exercise regimen resulting in a 500 calorie deficit, left unchanged, will no longer create a 500 calorie deficit after 12 months.
A pound of fat still stores 3,500 calories. You're just not burning as many of them as before.
Full disclosure: I didn't read the article as I found it unnecessary. I came to this conclusion because it is illogical to claim that eating at a deficit for a prolonged period can alter the amount of energy which can be stored in a pound of fat. The amount of energy in fat is set. How efficiently your body uses that energy is the variable.
You'd think that in order to be respected enough to get health articles published you'd have to understand these kinds of things.0 -
If you start out with a 500 calorie deficit, that number is based on the deficit calculated to lose a pound a week at your starting weight. It's true that you will lose less weight as you go if you continue to maintain that 500 calorie deficit because your current weight is no longer your starting weight. It's not that it now takes a 7000 calorie deficit to lose a pound but that your deficit is really less than 500 calories. Your weekly deficit is no longer 3500 calories so you just lose weight slower. You must adjust your deficit to compensate for your lower weight to maintain your weight loss goal.
That.0 -
3500 calories per pound has been quite accurate for me, maybe I'm just special.0
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daniwilford wrote: »This article is an example of the reason why I don't get weight loss advice from magazines. The facts are misrepresented in my opinion.
^^ This
Holding gross caloric intake constant =/= holding a 500 calorie deficit constant.0 -
I wish there was more, er, some, substance to back up the claims made in that article.
And FWIW... estimates being what they are, the numbers the new tool gave me are WAY off from what I've actually experienced.0 -
Lyle McDonald wrote a good article about the 3500 calorie rule. You may want to read it.
This is a great read.0 -
I guess, i ASSUMED they were adjusting the calorie intake to maintain a 500calorie deficit regardless of their weight....so lowering tje calorie targwt as they lose weight but maintaining a 500calorie deficit daily.0
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If you start out with a 500 calorie deficit, that number is based on the deficit calculated to lose a pound a week at your starting weight. It's true that you will lose less weight as you go if you continue to maintain that 500 calorie deficit because your current weight is no longer your starting weight. It's not that it now takes a 7000 calorie deficit to lose a pound but that your deficit is really less than 500 calories. Your weekly deficit is no longer 3500 calories so you just lose weight slower. You must adjust your deficit to compensate for your lower weight to maintain your weight loss goal.
What she said!0 -
You have to continue to adjust your deficit! My daily cal goal 1650. If I lose 2 pounds next week, I need to drop that number alittle...otherwise im not at a 500 cal deficit!0
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I guess, i ASSUMED they were adjusting the calorie intake to maintain a 500calorie deficit regardless of their weight....so lowering tje calorie targwt as they lose weight but maintaining a 500calorie deficit daily.
The tool to which the article links (which the quoted 'mathematician' bases his theory on) only gives one flat calorie amount - it doesn't adjust as weight decreases.0 -
It comes down to your Basal Metabolic Rate, or how many calories you burn in a day, which is ultimately affected by how much you weight (specifically how much lean mass you carry). If you don't adjust your caloric intake for a lower basal metabolic rate for a lower body weight, your caloric deficit will shrink.
Example- at the start of your program, your BMR is 3000 calories/day, and you eat 2500 calories/day. 30 Days in you have lost 10 lbs, and your BMR is now 2800 calories/day. If you continue with the same nutrition plan you started with, you now have a 300/cal/day deficit instead of a 500/cal/day deficit. You would need to adjust your nutrition plan down to 2300 calories to maintain the same sized deficit.0 -
dphill2006 wrote: »It comes down to your Basal Metabolic Rate, or how many calories you burn in a day, which is ultimately affected by how much you weight (specifically how much lean mass you carry). If you don't adjust your caloric intake for a lower basal metabolic rate for a lower body weight, your caloric deficit will shrink.
Example- at the start of your program, your BMR is 3000 calories/day, and you eat 2500 calories/day. 30 Days in you have lost 10 lbs, and your BMR is now 2800 calories/day. If you continue with the same nutrition plan you started with, you now have a 300/cal/day deficit instead of a 500/cal/day deficit. You would need to adjust your nutrition plan down to 2300 calories to maintain the same sized deficit.
Right concept....wrong terminology.
You're talking about TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). Not BMR.0 -
as you shrink, so do your calorie requirements...so maybe when you (the royal you) were bigger, maybe 3,000 calories per day was your maintenance so you ate 2500 calories to lose 1 Lb per week. so lets say after a year, you've shrunk...so have your maintenance calories...lets say they are now 2500 calories...so to keep losing at the same 1 Lb per week you would have to eat 2000 calories which is 1000 calories from your initial weight...but that's irrelevant because your new weight requires only 2500 calories to maintain, so it's still the same 500 calorie deficit, just a different starting point.0
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Carlos_421 wrote: »A diet and exercise regimen resulting in a 500 calorie deficit, left unchanged, will no longer create a 500 calorie deficit after 12 months.
or 12 days for that matter (as per Hall's model)
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