how many calories equal 1 pound?

Answer 1

3500

Answer 2

Q. In books on nutrition, I'm told that to lose one pound of fat it's necessary either to reduce my food intake by 3500 calories or to exercise so that 3500 calories are burned. How is the value of 3500 determined? If fat contains 9 calories per gram, and there are 454 grams in a pound, then there should be 4086 calories in a pound of fat-- not 3500.

A. The nutrition books are correct-- 3500 calories per pound of fat is not an absolute amount, but it's very close. However, your math is correct, too. Here is the story.

When we burn fat, or other nutrients, heat is produced, which is measured in calories. As you note, each gram of fat generates 9 calories, and 454 grams equals one pound. But a pound of fat is not all fat. It's about 10% water. All of our body tissues--fat, muscle, bone, skin--contain some water. And water has zero calories.

In addition, not all the nutrients we eat are completely absorbed from the digestive tract to meet metabolic needs. In the case of fat, roughly 5% is eliminated in the feces. This 10% water content and 5% non-absorbed fat accounts for the 15% difference between your calculated 4086 calories and the actual 3500 calories in a pound of fat.

Answer 3

You have to cut 3000 - 3500 calories out of your food intake to lose one pound. If you like to eat 2000 calories a day and you cut down to 1500 a day it should take you about a week to lose one pound. You may be able to do this by simply eliminating several cans of sugar content soda or eliminating one slice of pizza or having chicken salad instead of a Big Mac every day. You can "nickel and dime" your way to slimness and good health.

Answer 4

There are 3500 kilocalories in a pound. Food calories, the ones on food labels and packages are kilocalories, which are 1000 calories.

I assume you are asking about food calories, so to answer your slightly revised question, "how many kilocalories equals 1 pound?" - 3500 Kcal

Answer 5

to put in perspective ... you have to eat 500 kcal less each day for a week to lose 1 lbs per week.