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I disagree with the "simple mathematical equation". I am pretty sure that it is a fairly complex nonlinear mathematical equation with estimate and unknowns, no

by gvb 15y ago

I disagree with the "simple mathematical equation". I am pretty sure that it is a fairly complex nonlinear mathematical equation with estimate and unknowns, not constants. * How do you know you burned 2500 calories in a given day? Unless you are instrumented, you don't know. Various people burn more or fewer calories for the same level of activity. * How do you know you ate 2000 calories? I find it hard to believe that every Starbucks latte is 190 calories - those syrup shooters, etc., cannot be that finely calibrated. * Most of what I read indicates your metabolism is nonlinear with respect to efficiency: when you "starve" yourself, your metabolism tends to go down and your conversion efficiency is probably optimized.

hn141514 15y ago
Actually, long term studies indicate that if you eat a little bit less (say 10% fewer calories every day), you suffer no side effects, lose 1/2-1 lb every week and are able to keep it off in the long term. Sorry for the PDF link but this FDA brochure (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cfsan.fda.gov%2F~dms%2Fwgtloss.html&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweightnomoreohio.com%2Fpdfs%2FDHHSPublication_92-1189.pdf&ei=jV3BTvzPK-OfiQLPtvyqAw&usg=AFQjCNHPxRCNIBYCJ8CSHHVHT9CpE47x6Q&cad=rja http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=http%3A%2F%2F...) lays it out pretty nicely.
byoung2 15y ago
How do you know you burned 2500 calories in a given day? How do you know you ate 2000 calories? A typical person wouldn't know exactly, but in theory if he did eat exactly 2500 calories or more and he ate exactly 2000 calories or less every day, over a long period of time, he would lose weight averaging about 1 pound per week. Of course there could be other factors at work, such as the body adapting to eating and exercise patterns to more efficiently store and burn fat, which might slow the weight loss. Another thing that makes it hard to follow the mathematical is equation is that you can't measure calories in or out exactly. So you have to overcompensate. Maybe you'd shoot for 600 calories on the treadmill every day, and aim to eat 1900 calories, just in case you over/underestimate burning or storing rates.

by gvb 15y ago

hn141514 15y ago

Actually, long term studies indicate that if you eat a little bit less (say 10% fewer calories every day), you suffer no side effects, lose 1/2-1 lb every week and are able to keep it off in the long term. Sorry for the PDF link but this FDA brochure (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cfsan.fda.gov%2F~dms%2Fwgtloss.html&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweightnomoreohio.com%2Fpdfs%2FDHHSPublication_92-1189.pdf&ei=jV3BTvzPK-OfiQLPtvyqAw&usg=AFQjCNHPxRCNIBYCJ8CSHHVHT9CpE47x6Q&cad=rja http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=http%3A%2F%2F...) lays it out pretty nicely.

byoung2 15y ago

How do you know you burned 2500 calories in a given day? How do you know you ate 2000 calories? A typical person wouldn't know exactly, but in theory if he did eat exactly 2500 calories or more and he ate exactly 2000 calories or less every day, over a long period of time, he would lose weight averaging about 1 pound per week. Of course there could be other factors at work, such as the body adapting to eating and exercise patterns to more efficiently store and burn fat, which might slow the weight loss. Another thing that makes it hard to follow the mathematical is equation is that you can't measure calories in or out exactly. So you have to overcompensate. Maybe you'd shoot for 600 calories on the treadmill every day, and aim to eat 1900 calories, just in case you over/underestimate burning or storing rates.