How many calories per pound?

Slim Col

Slim Col

New member
I read somewhere that each pound of body fat stores approximately 3500 calories of energy; each time you consume 3500 less calories than you burn, you lose a pound in weight.

Is this true or an over-simplification?
 
""each time you consume 3500 less calories than you burn, you lose a pound in weight.""

Thats confusing...

3500 = 1 pound.

-3500 = -1 pound.

+3500 = +1 pound
 
In what way is it not entirely true? The only reason I ask is that I haven't lost more than a pound in the past week despite working out every day and not eating more than 1500 calories.
 
I think steve may be factoring weight gain from building muscle or the effects of a plateau, but i'm not sure.

One pound is about right. Let's pretend your maintenance is 2000cals, though i'm sure it's higher.

2000 calories maintenance - 1500 eaten = 500 calorie deficit
500*7 = 3500 calorie deficit/week = One pound weight loss

Weight loss is a slow process, especially now since you're closer to your goal. Don't be discouraged. Since you're probably cutting your cals by more than 500/day some of the, um, non-loss you're experiencing could be attributed to things like water weight.
 
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No, you guys are assuming the only thing you lose when you diet is fat.

There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat.

So IF fat were the only thing you lost while you diet, the 3500 calorie deficit would make sense.

But that's not the case.

And the other 'things' you lose while you diet don't have 3500 calories per pound.

As a general rule, you can go by that. But our bodies are not very 'general' in nature and more often than not, the 3500 calorie deficit doesn't play out as planned.
 
pennybear09 said:
Weight loss is a slow process, especially now since you're closer to your goal. Don't be discouraged. Since you're probably cutting your cals by more than 500/day some of the, um, non-loss you're experiencing could be attributed to things like water weight.
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My total calorie deficit is roughly 1500 per day. Some might think that's too much but I feel in perfectly good health.

Steve said:
No, you guys are assuming the only thing you lose when you diet is fat.

There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat.

So IF fat were the only thing you lost while you diet, the 3500 calorie deficit would make sense.

But that's not the case.

And the other 'things' you lose while you diet don't have 3500 calories per pound.

As a general rule, you can go by that. But our bodies are not very 'general' in nature and more often than not, the 3500 calorie deficit doesn't play out as planned.
Click to expand...
Thanks Steve, now I understand a little better. So essentially you lose a pound of fat every time you burn 3500 calories more than you're consuming + extra weight from loss of fluids and other stuff?
 
Slim Col said:
Thanks Steve, now I understand a little better. So essentially you lose a pound of fat every time you burn 3500 calories more than you're consuming + extra weight from loss of fluids and other stuff?
Click to expand...

Where you lose weight from will depend on a few things. Genetics and fat levels to name a few.

Every time you burn 3500 calories in excess of what you are consuming, you are not guaranteed to lose 1 lbs is all I am saying.
 
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