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Calorie count in one pound of fat

cgvet37
cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
in Debate Club
I was bored, so I decided to do some research. From what I could find, one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. So, you would have to eat at a 500 calorie deficit daily, to loose one pound per week. Of course, that does not include calories burned throughout the day. Some studies disagree with said findings. I found it interesting. Feel free to share your thoughts, research, etc.

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    A pound of weight loss is often linked to a calorie deficit other than 3500 in part due to the variable composition of the weight loss (or gain)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    I was bored, so I decided to do some research. From what I could find, one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. So, you would have to eat at a 500 calorie deficit daily, to loose one pound per week. Of course, that does not include calories burned throughout the day. Some studies disagree with said findings. I found it interesting. Feel free to share your thoughts, research, etc.

    This is what MFP uses to set the deficits. (All based on estimates, of course.)
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    Yeah, what ^ she said, especially the estimated part.

    Another interesting thing is that 1lb = about 454g which, if fat is 9 calories per gram, would be over 4000 calories. I believe the difference accounts for water content of the fat.
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    Jruzer wrote: »
    When I took a class in exercise physiology as an undergraduate, back in the the late 1980's, they told us that the number was 3800 kcal/lb.

    I can't help but wonder: does everyone uses 3500 because it's divisible by 500 and 7?

    Probably. If you're dealing with estimates, you might as well use numbers that are easy to compute quickly.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    You could read the high priest of calorie maths on the subject http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2376744/

    The red line is 3500 cals/lb and he uses an approach based on the composition of the fat loss with 4290 cal/lb for fat and 825 for not-fat

    9hywp14c2ib0.jpg
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    One day I'll make an effort to learn how to read your graphs @yarwell :blushing:
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    edited April 2016
    thought you might appreciate the units on those :smile:

    B ) tells me that overweight & obese women are pretty close to 3500 kcals/lb of loss.

    A) suggests that lean people bottom left with 5-20 kg of fat in total initially need a smaller calorie deficit to achieve a lb of weight loss - about 2400 kcal/lb loss as there's more non-fat in their loss than in the obese women on the upper right.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    You could read the high priest of calorie maths on the subject http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2376744/

    Thanks for posting this, @yarwell. It was one of the most informative things I've read on MFP.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    That's the foundation of CICO. Once you know your TDEE, after you accurately measure and slavishly document your intakes and expenditures of energy, you calculate your daily calorie deficit or surplus. Add those daily numbers up and when they get to 3500 total calories your weight changes by 1 lb. Mr. Sodium doesn't play by these rules, and he's always screwing around with water, so the scale can't always tell the truth.
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    I was bored, so I decided to do some research. From what I could find, one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. So, you would have to eat at a 500 calorie deficit daily, to loose one pound per week. Of course, that does not include calories burned throughout the day. Some studies disagree with said findings. I found it interesting. Feel free to share your thoughts, research, etc.

    This is also an interesting read on the subject: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/3500-calorie-rule.html/
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    I was bored, so I decided to do some research. From what I could find, one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. So, you would have to eat at a 500 calorie deficit daily, to loose one pound per week. Of course, that does not include calories burned throughout the day. Some studies disagree with said findings. I found it interesting. Feel free to share your thoughts, research, etc.

    Actually, it does. A calorie burned is a calorie burned.
  • afost130
    afost130 Posts: 1 Member
    I do believe that the 1 lb of fat refers to energy calories, which is different than food calories.
  • applsz76
    applsz76 Posts: 3 Member
    That is correct. In dietary intake 1g of fat = 9kcal. 1g of carb or protein = 4kcal. 1g of alcohol = 7kcal. 3500kcal is the measurement for 1lb of fat. Create a dietary deficit of 500kcal daily and you will lose 1lb in a week of stored bodyfat. Look at your dietary fats, if you have room to cut them and still meet your recommended amounts then cut those additional fat calories. Obviously alcohol is a no brainer, cut it out all together. Those are the 2 most calorie dense nutrients. As always make sure you have an adequate carb/pro/fat ratio and are meeting micronutrient requirements. Don't cut whole food calories to add supplemental calories. Plenty of fiber, water, and exercise!
  • mlsh1969
    mlsh1969 Posts: 138 Member
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    I was bored, so I decided to do some research. From what I could find, one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. So, you would have to eat at a 500 calorie deficit daily, to loose one pound per week. Of course, that does not include calories burned throughout the day. Some studies disagree with said findings. I found it interesting. Feel free to share your thoughts, research, etc.

    This is always what l was taught too.

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