If I burn 3500calories a week...

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megz4987
megz4987 Posts: 1,008 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
(given my food intake is good), does that ensure I'll lose a pound a week? How does that work, exactly?

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  • olag00
    olag00 Posts: 222
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    as long as you are truly 3500 under your calorie needs then yes. It helps to burn the 3500 off instead of not eating 3500 caloires.
  • janiepumphrey
    janiepumphrey Posts: 59
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    You might lose some fat and gain some muscle ... or lose fat and maintain muscle, or lose fat while losing a minimal amount of muscle.

    Either way it sounds like a good plan to me!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Not necessarily. Your body burns calories all day everyday anywhere from 1400 to 3000 calories, without doing any exercise. Go to your goals tab under My home, look at the top right calories burned from normal daily activity, that is what you burn without exercise everyday.

    What you need to do is eat 500 less calories than that number everyday and you will lose 1 lb/week, which is taken into account with your daily food goal. When you workout you should actually eat those calories back to ensure you are properly fueled to perform the workouts and keep your metabolism running smoothly, and so you lose your goal amount of weight.

    MFP is set up so you lose your goal amount of weight/week whether you workout or not. So if your dialy intake is 1400 and your maintenance is 1900, you will lose 1 lb/week eating 1400, if you burn another 400 from exercise you get to eat 1800 and still lose 1 lb/week as for that day you burned your normal 1900 and another 400 for a total of 2300 so for that day you need to eat 500 calories below 3300 which is 1800. Simply put, if your goal in MFP is to lose 1 lb/week, eat all of the calories MFP gives you and you will lose on average 1 lb/week.
  • TrevaNadreau
    TrevaNadreau Posts: 11 Member
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    The science behind it is that one pound of fat contains 3,500 calories... it's not an exact measurement transfer, but it's pretty accurate. The trick to the formula (the reason why you won't just lose 2 lbs by not eating for 2 days) is that it takes a certain amount of food to keep your metabolism high...

    If your body burns 2,000 calories per day, and you only eat 1,500, then you'll end up with a 500 calorie deficit by the end of the day... equaling 3,500 per week... so the short answer is yes.
  • Init_to_winit
    Init_to_winit Posts: 258 Member
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    Basically, the way I understand it, is your body burns a certain amount of calories daily. Given your lifestyle (if you work in an office, age, sex, weight, height) this can vary, mine being a 23 year old female who works in an office and weighs around 170, is about 1,900 a day. Basically if I want to lose a pound (or 3,500 calories) a week I need to eat 1400 calories a day (or have a combination of exercise to burn off any excess I eat).

    Hope this helps and is what you were looking for.

    Thanks!
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
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    great question!! all I know is if you burn more than you eat, you will be on your way :-) but you need to remember that not all calories are equal...some are heinously bad for you lol...and drink LOTS of water. mfp can set you your daily calorific intake based on your weight, activity level and how often you exercise, but it is a very very rough guess. eat right, drink LOTS of water and get your heart rate going...everything else will work it's self out :-)
  • truchamp06
    truchamp06 Posts: 78 Member
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    The way i see it is you have to calculate the amount of food you eat each day. They say..who ever they are, that we burn about 2000 cals a day just existing. So if you eat a average 1500 cal food intake and dont exercise at all, you should lose a pound.

    To lose one pound you have to burn 3500 cals. Just imagine what you can do if you work out.
  • beccarockslife
    beccarockslife Posts: 816 Member
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    No that's not right.

    3500 calories = 1lb in weight.

    You need to take your BMR (What you would burn if you were in bed all day) + Your exercise Calories earned and - what calories eat = your negative.

    If your negative is 3500 then the maths is right.

    Trouble is your body doesn't always follow the maths.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    No that's not right.

    3500 calories = 1lb in weight.

    You need to take your BMR (What you would burn if you were in bed all day) + Your exercise Calories earned and - what calories eat = your negative.

    If your negative is 3500 then the maths is right.

    Trouble is your body doesn't always follow the maths.

    The calculation is now quite right, it should be BMR + an activity amount + exercise - what you eat = your deficit. You need the activity level multiplier as you are not in a coma all day, as soon as you sit up and eat, you are burning more than BMR calories.
  • happyhah
    happyhah Posts: 14
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    Everything listed here helps but do be sure to use the MyFitnessPal BMR tool and determine what your actual rate is instead of guessing. Everyone on her says it is usually 2,000 but mine is actually around 1,550. per day.

    But honestly the basic easy way of looking at it is eat 1200 to 1500 calories per day of GOOD food. Stick with fish, Chicken, ground turkey, veggies, fruit, egg whites, black beans, spinach salad, irish steel cut oats, brown rice as your only carb (no potatoes, white rice, pasta), no dairy (but you can have 1 serving per day of plain greek yogurt, use Rice Dream rice milk or Almond milk sparingly), no sugars, no fruit after 4pm, and if you work out everyday for at least 45 minutes you will lose about 2 lbs per week.... depending on your current size you can lose up to 7 lbs in a week this way. It is healthy and not depriving. Eat about once every 2 to 3 hours. ie., banana at 6am before your workout, post workout drink; breakfast oats or eggwhite veggie omelet at 8am, piece of fruit @ 10am, 12pm lunch spinach salad w/oil & vinegar, 2pm yogurt or fruit, 4pm almonds, 6pm dinner, Baked tialpia with mixed veggies. Try it! =) No alcohol for the first few weeks...if you MUST then drink vodka & soda w/lime.
  • TK421NotAtPost
    TK421NotAtPost Posts: 512 Member
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    If you create an average daily caloric deficit of 500 calories per day, then you will have created a one week cumulative deficit of 3,500 calories.

    Yes, it is true that one pound of fat equates to 3,500 calories, but when you're losing weight, not ALL weight loss will be fat. A pound of muscle is only 600 calories. The percentage weight loss consisting of fat will be determined by various factors like your genetics, sufficient protein in your diet, your exercise regimen, stress levels, quality of sleep....etc.

    I think TrainerRobin sums it up very well in this thread....

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
  • meggamix
    meggamix Posts: 496 Member
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    I think the important and sometimes frustrating thing to realize is that the answer isn't simple. As you can see from all the posts, there are a million variables and while 3500 calories may = 1 pound....there's so much that can affect that. And the way everyone's body works is so different. I mean, I know for me that if I don't exercise...forget it. It takes FOREVER to lose 1 pound even if I eat really well and keep a calorie defecit. So, the only way to really know for you is to try stuff out I guess.

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