Kid burned 3500 calories per day!

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Wondering if anybody watched this last night....

So, my hubby and I were watching "I USED TO BE FAT" on MTV last night. There was this 18 year-old kid, Jose, who was desparate to lose weight. He started out at 314 lbs. and I was in shock :noway: when his trainer said that their goal was to burn 3500 calories per day to reach their goal of 240 in 90 days! Well, he surpassed his goal by a lot!

He weighed in at 198 on his 90th day! Total loss of 116 lbs.

Whether he burned all those calories or not (which he probably did due to the results) that just seems like an incredible amount of calories to burn in a week let alone a single day! I guess it's doable if it's someboy without a job or children to watch over but that sounds crazy. I'm still in shock!

Just wondering if anybody else watched this last night.

Here's a link to some of their shows...

http://www.mtv.com/shows/i_used_to_be_fat/series.jhtml
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Replies

  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    I haven't seen that episode yet but I think that's the daily calorie burn they go for on The Biggest Loser.

    Yeah I mean, I think the key is that you just basically have to dedicate your whole life to burning calories until you're done.
  • deniseg31
    deniseg31 Posts: 667 Member
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    I haven't seen that episode yet but I think that's the daily calorie burn they go for on The Biggest Loser.

    Yeah I mean, I think the key is that you just basically have to dedicate your whole life to burning calories until you're done.

    Pretty amazing! The crazy screws in my head are a'turnin and I wonder if I could do burn at least 2000 if I'm ever given the chance to do so...hmmmm.
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
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    I saw it too. The kid was looking pretty solid when they visited him a couple months later.
  • Plingie
    Plingie Posts: 8 Member
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    What concerns me about this is what happens when they are at goal weight and have to work/go to school etc and don't have time to work out as much?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,692 Member
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    I've burned a 1,000 in kickboxing when I went hard. So it's doable, but IMO, the kid will probably gain the weight back pretty fast. Dropping that much weight in 3 months is awful hard on the body.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • camillehardeman
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    This is why I hate shows like biggest loser, I used to be fat, etc. NOBODY CAN MAINTAIN THAT! (and you shouldn't, really!). That's a lot of stress on your body and it isn't something you can keep up when you go back to the "real world". It also reinforces my most hated attitude about dieting: that you should just suffer for a few weeks/months, lose weight, and go back to your old bad habits. You have to make changes that you can continue throughout your whole life!
  • kekl
    kekl Posts: 382 Member
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    I don't know if it would be good for you to lose that much weight that fast... I wonder how many of the people on that show have gained some or all of that weight back... Just my two cents. :/
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,238 Member
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    I haven't burned that much in exercise in a day, but have done about 2000. It was doing a long bike ride. If I went cross country skiing doing a trail I often do, but repeating it 3 or maybe 4 times I would likely burn that much or perhaps even more. I may try it if we ever get snow this winter.
  • marbear1397
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    Haha I totally watched that last night! I like watching that show because its just amazing what they accomplish.
  • REBEE17
    REBEE17 Posts: 101 Member
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    I've burned over 2000 a day a few times...hiking for hours with very minimal breaks. It's fun and doesn't feel like a workout. I wore my Polar F6 to gauge it.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    It should be possible to get really high burns, especially at a weight that high to start with.

    I really don't think it's healthy though, I find it hard to believe that sort of weight loss in that time frame will be sustainable for the majority of people.
  • MiniMichelle
    MiniMichelle Posts: 807 Member
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    I was in shock when i watched it last night too. However he looked pretty good a couple months later- looks like his dad was getting healthier too. He looked to have a good support system, hopefully he can keep it up.
  • M3CH4N1C
    M3CH4N1C Posts: 157
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    Of the 116 lbs. I bet at least 20% was lean muscle. Thats not good for the loose skin effect
  • Ang_37
    Ang_37 Posts: 58
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    I love that show, but I didn't watch it. I hope there's re-runs.... lol
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
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    Even if he DID maintain the weight, wouldn't losing over 100 lbs in 90 days be waaaay too fast for your skin to keep up?
  • rainbowtothesrarz
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    I work out and can burn 1000 -2000+ a day when I do workout for hours.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
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    well, being 314 pounds you burn a heck of a lot more calories doing even basic things...for example...compared to me, a 4'11 ~100 pound female...

    running 10 min mile: 499 calories per hour. Time to burn 3500 calories = 7 hours running.
    circuit training: 352 calories per hour. Time to burn 3500 calories ~10 hours

    For a 314 pound male:
    running 10 min mile: 1424 calories per hour. Time to burn 3500 calories= ~2.5 hours running.
    circuit training: 1139 calories per hour. Time to burn 3500 calories= ~ 3.07 hours.
  • stubbysticks
    stubbysticks Posts: 1,275 Member
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    It's really not that farfetched. I weigh about 240 & on a typical workout day I burn around 3400 calories. And I wear an activity monitor like the BL contestants do to measure calorie burn.

    A "typical workout day" for me means I worked at home - meaning I was basically catatonic the majority of the day sitting in front of my computer except for walking to the kitchen to feed my face - I lifted weights for 45-60 min, then ran for about 30 min. That's it.

    Edit: I did break a personal record last week on vacation because I got up early & ran for 25 minutes, then spent the rest of the day walking around Universal Studios. 4595 calories burned. I probably ate about a million tho.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    i hate shows like that and biggest loser..... they are unrealistic, and unhealthy (which is why they have all those doctors on set - hello?)..... I mean I think they do teach healthy practices (i.e. eating right and getting active) but overall, to lose that much weight in a short amount of time, unrealistic and unhealthy - bottom line.
  • DesertSunsetRain
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    I watched it, it was crazy.

    Joey is super hot, I'd love for him to come be my trainer.