Friday Favorites: The 3,500 Calorie per Pound Rule Is Wrong

How many fewer calories do you have to eat every day to lose one pound of body fat?

If it were just a matter of your weight settling at the point at which your reduced calorie intake matches your reduced calorie output, it would take years for your weight loss to plateau. Instead, it often happens within six to eight months after starting a new diet. I explain why in my next video, The Reason Weight Loss Plateaus When You Diet (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-reason-weight-loss-plateaus-when-you-diet).

This is the first of 14 videos that are part of my fasting video series, for which I did two webinars. All these videos are on Nutritonfacts.org, or you can get them all in a digital download here: Intermittent Fasting (https://drgreger.org/collections/videos/products/fasting-weight-loss-digital). I also did webinars on Fasting and Disease Reversal (https://drgreger.org/collections/videos/products/fasting-disease-reversal-digital) and Fasting and Cancer (https://drgreger.org/collections/videos/products/fasting-cancer-digital).<br />
The next several in this series are:
• The New Calories per Pound of Weight Loss Rule? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-new-calories-per-pound-of-weight-loss-rule)
• The Benefits of Calorie Restriction for Longevity (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-benefits-of-calorie-restriction-for-longevity)
• Potential Pitfalls of Calorie Restriction (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/potential-pitfalls-of-calorie-restriction)
• Benefits of Fasting for Weight Loss Put to the Test (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/benefits-of-fasting-for-weight-loss-put-to-the-test)
• Is Fasting Beneficial for Weight Loss? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-fasting-beneficial-for-weight-loss)
• Is Fasting for Weight Loss Safe? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-fasting-for-weight-loss-safe)

Some other popular videos on weight loss are:
• Eating More to Weigh Less (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/eating-more-to-weigh-less)
• Are There Foods with Negative Calories? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-there-foods-with-negative-calories)
• Nutrient Dense Approach to Weight Management (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/nutrient-dense-approach-to-weight-management/)
• How Much Exercise to Sustain Weight Loss (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-much-exercise-to-sustain-weight-loss/)
• Keep Your Waist Circumference to Less than Half Your Height (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/keep-your-waist-circumference-to-less-than-half-your-height/)
• Does Apple Cider Vinegar Help with Weight Loss? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/apple-cider-vinegar-help-weight-loss/)
• Can Morbid Obesity Be Reversed Through Diet? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/can-morbid-obesity-be-reversed-through-diet)
• The Weight Loss Program that Got Better with Time (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-weight-loss-program-that-got-better-with-time/)
• Are Weight Loss Pills Safe? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-weight-loss-pills-safe)
• Are Weight Loss Pills Effective? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-weight-loss-pills-effective)
• The Best Time to Exercise for Weight Loss (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-best-time-to-exercise-for-weight-loss/)

I also tackled the ketogenic diet, if anyone is interested:
• Keto Diet Theory Put to the Test (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/keto-diet-theory-put-to-the-test)
• Keto Diet Results for Weight Loss (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/keto-diet-results-for-weight-loss)
• Is Weight Loss on Ketosis Sustainable? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-weight-loss-on-ketosis-sustainable)
• Are Keto Diets Safe? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-keto-diets-safe)
• Keto Diets: Muscle Growth and Bone Density (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/keto-diets-muscle-growth-and-bone-density)

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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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40 Risposte a “Friday Favorites: The 3,500 Calorie per Pound Rule Is Wrong”

  1. When you weigh yourself each day, you have to adjust your basal metabolic rate in the calories out portion of the equation. People who use the formula generally tend to do this. The more important factor that almost no one considers tho, is the one I thought you were going to talk about, and which I believe you've already made a video on: your body tends to move less with a greater calorie deficit, beyond what the basal metabolic rate calculators account for. E.g. a two hundred calorie deficit will be more effective over the long run than a five hundred calorie deficit, because the 500cal deficit signals your body to conserve energy. So your temp goes down, you twitch less, and you are psychologically less motivated to move your body.

  2. So a pound of fat does contain approximately 3500kcal, it's just that the body has compensation mechanisms that affect real world weight loss, so we can't use basic arithmetic to estimate weight loss.

  3. Got your book on how not to die and have been a whole food plant based vegan for 5 years. It has changed my life for the better. Have to exercise so I do Pilates everyday and make sure I move You are in constant motion on the treadmill so I got one. Walking and talking become a great way to live happily. Stairstepper also. If I start sitting too much it then becomes the norm. We are the habits we keep so mindfully choose your behaviors wisely. Thank you Dr Gregor! Ever want to speak in nyc or the Jersey Shore area I’d help.

  4. Is it not that as the person loses weight then the BMR goes down? Therefore, they are no longer in a 500 calorie deficit. As the person looses weight the deficit gets smaller and smaller. Right?

  5. My name is Suzie D. I want to thank you for your great books & information …. I have been vegan for 3 years…. I have lost 120 lbs…. I FEEL GREAT…. I have never believed the 3500 calorie rule

  6. In my study (n=1), switching to a WFPB diet, minimizing oil, limiting nuts and getting off my keister regularly resulted in more weight loss than I care to share with zero counting of calories.
    OK, I did add up calories for a week just to see what I was taking in and it turned out to be just what I'd need to maintain my ideal weight.
    Check out his video on the study that fed people the flavorless goop. That was an eye opener. It works with tasty vegan food, too. Listening to your body and not eating SAD CRAP that artificially enhances one's hunger is a game changer.

  7. why dont you share your blood results, bio age, your Vo2 max, grip strength so we validate the value of your book on aging

  8. Please can you do a video about gaining weight in a healthy way. There's so much loose this loose that, but some people struggle to gain any kind of weight and have problems with macros especially when on a high fiber diet. being really skeletal skinny with no energy is not healthy either

  9. And it is even more complex than “bigger bodies require more energy to move and maintain” because there are some very energy-intensive processes (like immune system activity) that are up or down regulated based on energy availability. I’m currently reading Herman Pontzer’s ‘Burn’ and enjoying it immensely. Highly recommended.

  10. This video assumes you’re not adjusting calories in relative to calories out to maintain a 500-calorie deficit. Of course the tiny woman wouldn’t vanish, but the obese man could reach 700 pounds by eating 2 donuts a day, then 4, then 6… always 2 donuts ahead of what he burns

  11. This and the whole "a calorie is a calorie" myth are the two misconceptions that have created more weight loss frustration than anything else out there.

    I've lost 3 pounds a week eating just a couple hundred calories below BMR for weeks at a time. It's not hard, but it's allegedly impossible according to the "calorie is a calorie" folks or the 3500 people. The human body doesn't work that way.

  12. Sorry, but I see a flaw in the explanation. The rule is about a deficit of 3500 kkcal, and it's the deficit compared to the calories burned. The reference amount changes. If you take this Into account, this rule works.

  13. Clickbait. The rule was not contradicted in any of the examples. In all cases, there was a slowdown in weight loss because the subjects did not adjust their calorie intake as their weight (and energy expenditure) decreased, so they were not in a 500-calorie deficit.

  14. I’ve wondered how it effect weight loss/calorie requirements if while eating less to lose weight, you wore a weighted vest that you could add the weight you’ve lost back on in vest weight.
    Would it help, hurt or be neutral

  15. I find this thermodynamic discussion surprisingly out of date. A calorie is never just a calorie. A calorie of GMO soy oil is not a calorie of avocado oil. A calorie of highly refined sugar is not "equal" to a calorie of something like raw honey. Thermodynamics just ignore human biology. Weight isn't necessarily even fat, it can be the autoimmune system in high gear fighting undigested particles in the blood! I eliminated refined sugar, GMO foods, nonorganic foods, did no exercise (that thermodynamics claim are essential) and went from 260 to 180 which is the same 8 years later! Farm your microbiome, heal your gut, and the weight will leave! Isn't some "study", it is just how the body works!

  16. wait – just because your burn rate changes doesn't equate to the 3500 calorie rule being wrong – it could just mean you can't reach a 3500 cal deficit as easily.

  17. Unfortunately not one of your best videos. A daily 500 calorie deficit implies it evolves day by day, so if the calories burned reduces, the calories-in would also need to reduce to maintain that deficit. Simple math Dr. Greger!

    The resulting message of the video explains why a fixed calorie intake will have a plateauing effect on weight loss. This idea was well explained 🙂

  18. Linear progress likely doesnt happen because people are terrible at counting calories and dont remember adjust caloric needs as weght comes off. Fact is weight loss is always going to be based on CICO. Go show your vidoes to Dr. Now and im sure he will call your BS. This is information but skewed towards an agenda to get views.

  19. In short the 3500 calorie per LB of fat is correct and it was never refuted in this video.
    The video then goes on a tangent explaining a mechanic of reduced caloric eating.
    Your body will likely try to fight a reduction of calories by reducing the energy it uses when resting.

  20. I didn’t hear anything in the video that disputes the 3500 calorie rule. This video basically just says “if you want to maintain a 500 calorie deficit you need to account for the fact your body requires fewer calories as you lose weight.” The scenario presented in the video is someone who cuts 500 calories off their initial diet and then that is their new permanent baseline. And that scenario is presented to show the 3500 calorie rule is wrong.

    Honestly a bit of an embarrassing analysis/title combination for this channel.

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