Could the 3500 kcal per pound weight loss rule be wrong?

The source of the frequently cited "fact" is Max Wishnofsky. However, after conducting research, it is evident that the 3,500-kcal rule (also known as Wishnofsky's Rule) is not only likely erroneous, but it also causes people to overestimate or have unrealistic expectations of weight loss.

Due to the increasing prevalence of obesity, with no clear direction. I decided to re-exam what our general current thinking is based upon. Here is an article of interest that expands on that thinking.

The Harris-Benedict equation was created in 1918 (revised in 1984) or the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation created in the 1990's uses this figure as a basis for their calculation of Basal Metabolic Rate "BMR." However, studies have demonstrated these equations can have inaccuracies ranging from 10% -36% of true Resting Metabolic Rate "RMR."

Technically, BMR measures energy expenditure in a darkened room (reclining position) after eight hours of sleep and following a 12-hour fast whereas RMR measurements are less restrictive and reflect the body’s resting energy expenditure after an overnight fast. lean body mass will significantly influence RMR and should always be considered. 

Body fat is not solely composed of pure fat; rather, it comprises adipocytes (fat cells) that also hold water and proteins.

Wishnofsky based his estimation of the 3,500-calorie rule on previous research which suggested that a pound of human adipose tissue is 87% fat, equivalent to 395 grams of fat. He also assumed that animal fat contains 9.5 calories per gram. By critically analyzing the relevant literature from approximately 1958 and applying additional assumptions, he arrived at his published estimate. with the result that patients have been blamed and potentially stigmatized or blame themselves for a lack of willpower and motivation. (Hall and Kahan, Medical Clinics of North America, 2018)

It has been estimated that roughly 45% of an obese person's weight is water.  Assuming a 45% water factor, and applying this percentage to a hypothetical pound of human body fat (453.592 grams) yields a water weight of 204.1164 grams. Subtracting this from the total weight leaves 249.4756 grams of fat, which when multiplied by the updated caloric content of 9 calories per gram of fat gives a total of 2,245.2804 calories. This number is significantly lower than Wishnofsky's assumption of 3500 calories.

Using a 30% factor for water, and applying this 30% value to our hypothetical pound of human body fat (453.592 grams) we arrive at a water weight of 136.0776 grams and total fat grams of 317.5144 grams, times the updated number of calories per gram of fat (9) we arrive at a caloric content of just 2857.6296 for our pound of fat, Far away from Wishnofsky's 3500 assumption. 

One (1) pound of water weighs 453 grams. One (1) pint of water weighs 473.18 grams. An average adult male will excrete about 1,988 mL = 4.3 lbs of urine a day. I believe the minimum required water intake for a healthy male is approximately 4 pints daily, (which can be acquired from a variety of sources) with additional amounts as needed for exercise or tasks.

Physical activity is often recommended to be included in weight loss strategies and as a tool to maintain a healthy weight, despite its modest effect on energy expenditure and overall body weight, it is not argued that it helps develop or maintain muscles or related benefits, but as to weight loss, it's a loser.

Additional Reading:

1. Total body water content in normal and grossly obese women
   The overweight women, with two exceptions, had total body water values in the expected range, which indicated that they were accumulating fat, not water.
2. Body Fat | The Nutrition Source
   Learn about the different types of body fat, as well as methods for measuring fat beyond BMI. ... Divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches.
3. Body Water: Percentage and Ratios You Should Know
   Body water makes up the largest percentage of body weight. Let's learn more about ... Overall your total body weight can be 45-65% water.

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Vitamin D Deficiency | About Vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency has become an unrecognized epidemic.  Rickets a disease from vitamin D deficiency afflicting children is making a comeback. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with numerous serious diseases and health problems. Dark skinned individuals are twice as likely as lighter skinned individuals to be vitamin D deficient.

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is stored in your body fat. The history of Vitamin D can be found here.

Benefits of Vitamin D

• Vitamin D is essential for the absorption and use of calcium in our bodies. 
• Adults who consume 1,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily might lower their risks of colon, breast and ovarian cancers by up to 50%.
• Children whose mothers get plenty of vitamin D during pregnancy have bigger, stronger bones at age 9. In fact, maternal vitamin D matters more than all the milk children drink in those first nine years.

How do you get Vitamin D?

We obtain vitamin D from foods and from exposure to sunlight. Our skin when exposed to spring, summer and fall sunlight for 10 to 30 minutes without sunscreen makes about 1000 IU per minute of vitamin D.  

During the winter months it is best to take a vitamin D nutritional supplement to keep your vitamin D level higher.  If you live north of Atlanta, Ga. (greater than 35 degrees latitude), you basically cannot make any vitamin D from November through February due to the angle of the sun; for New York and Boston, it's mid-October through mid-March. Those who work indoors, live at higher latitudes, wear extensive garments, regularly use sunblock, are dark skinned, obese, aged, or avoid the sun, are at high risk for deficiency. These persons should take vitamin D supplements and have a vitamin D blood test screen performed as part of any physical examination.

Vitamin D3 is often pared with vitamin A in a supplement known as "Vitamin A and D."  Clacium and vitamin D supplements are also available.  They can be purchased at little cost.  Vitamin D overdose or too much vitamin D is very rare.

Foods with Vitamin D

Sources of vitamin D include most meats, oily fish, eggs, cheese, fortified milk, fortified rice or soy milk, fortified orange juice and breakfast cereals. Mushrooms and food products that contain milk are other foods with vitamin D. 

How much Vitamin D do I need?

It is difficult to know how much vitamin D your body makes from sunlight. For 20-30 minutes of full body summer exposure, the body can easily produce 20,000 IU of Viatmin D, the equivalent of 200 glasses of milk.  


Adequate Intakes (AI) guidelines have been established for vitamin D to help you know the amount of vitamin D needed from dietary and/or supplemental sources regardless of your sunlight exposure and body stores. The AI is a safe level for individuals even if adequate vitamin D is already obtained from the sun.

Adequate Intakes of Vitamin D*

Age (years)	Vitamin D (IU/day)**
Birth to age 50	600
51-70	600
71 and older	600
**IU = international units/day *Dietary Guidelines For Americans, National Academy of Sciences, 2010

Medical studies of recent years are often suggesting much higher daily amounts, more in the range of a mininimum of 1000 IU per day. For individuals with certain conditions, a physician may recommend slightly more vitamin D than indicated in the table above. For example, some scientists have reported that homebound individuals or people over age 65 should consume approximately 800 IU to 2000 IU vitamin D daily. It is important to follow your medical professional's advice and get a vitamin D test.

Children and Vitamin D

Children that are obese with lower vitamin D levels may be at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, a new study shows.

"Our study found that obese children with lower vitamin D levels had higher degrees of insulin resistance," Micah Olson, said in a media statement. "Although our study cannot prove causation, it does suggest that low vitamin D levels may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes."  Micah Olson, MD, led the study as a clinical fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. 

Obese children often skip breakfast and drink more soda and juice, factors that may contribute to vitamin D insufficiency levels and obesity.

Rickets

Rickets can be identified by looking at a childs body.

Symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency

Rickets, Vitamin D Insufficiency

• rickets in babies and children
• increased breast cancer risk 
• bone loss
• arthralgia
• falls
• muscular weakness
• feeling of heaviness in the legs
• fatigue or easy tiredness
• low mood
• cognitive impairment
• high blood pressure

Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency 

Treatment should be sufficient to maintain levels found in humans living naturally in a sun-rich environment, that is, > 40 ng/ml, year around. Three treatments exist: sunlight, artificial ultraviolet B radiation (such as a tanning bed) or supplementation. All vitamin D3 deficiency treatments have their potential risks and benefits. Benefits of all treatments outweigh potential risks and greatly outweigh the risk of no treatment.

Vitamin D 50000 IU, Vit D

The only prescription vitamin D preparation available in the US and England is the vitamin D analogue, ergocalciferol (vitamin D2), available as 50,000-IU (1.25-mg) dose capsules. Physicians can easily replete most vitamin D deficient patients by giving one or two 50,000-IU doses of ergocalciferol weekly for 8 – 16 weeks and then maintain 25(OH)D levels > 40 ng/ml with 50,000-IU doses every 1, 2 or 4 weeks.

However, ergocalciferol is not human vitamin D, it may be a weaker agonist, it is not normally present in humans and its consumption results in metabolic by-products not normally found in humans. It is also two- to four-times less effective than colecalciferol (vitamin D3) in raising 25(OH)D levels.

It is important to understand that neither the regular consumption of recommended amounts of vitamin D (e.g., 600 IU of vitamin D in a multivitamin) nor the regular consumption of vitamin D fortified foods (e.g., 100 IU/8-oz glass of milk) effectively prevents or cures vitamin D deficiency.

It has been recommendation that 3000 IU per day of vitamin D3 be taken for the average American.  3000 to 5000 IU for healthy males, and for toddlers and children who do not go into the sun, 1000 IU and 2000 IU respectfully. Lactating mothers should take 6000 IU of vitamin D3 daily.


Has this information been helpful? How are you feeling?  When was the last time (if ever) you had blood work done?  At that time, did you have a vitamin D screen performed?  How many babies have you seen in the last year with bowed legs?  Share your thoughts with other viewers below.

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Carbs and Overeating

These are the obvious reasons why fat people tend to eat a lot of sweet things. They like what they are accustomed to and these things are forever being pressed on them by well-meaning friends and relations. 


The fat person on a high carbohydrate diet is nearly starving in the midst of plenty. Most of the carbohydrate absorbed is turned into fat and accumulates in fat stores and he cannot easily get it out again. The rest of the tissues of the body suffer a relative deprivation of nutriment and naturally he or she feels hungry and eats more. 


Habit, reinforced by the cheap price and ready availability of starchy and sugary foods, ensures that attempts to satisfy the hunger with yet more carbohydrate which in turn forms more fat and still leaves them hungry. The vicious circle goes on and you get fatter. People have exchanged the traditional high fat, high protein, low carbohydrate diet with a low fat, low protein, high carbohydrate diet. That is, we have replaced bacon and eggs with cereal, and meat and two vegetables with pizza. And this has been accompanied by a general increase in obesity.


Of course this is perfectly obvious. A person can't get fat unless he/she eats more food than he/she uses up for energy. But it is beside the point.

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Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing

1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp honey

1/8 tsp cinnamon

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

In a small bowl add all ingredients and whisk together.

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negligence

negligence is failure to observe, 4 protection of others take care prudence and bridget wants which the circumstances require or do you want of such care as a reasonably prudent careful person would exercise in ordinary circumstances.

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What is BMI | Body Mass Index | Body Index

What is a BMI index?


Body Mass Index or BMI is the term that is the common choice by physicians and for dieting and weight loss related to obesity. BMI uses a chart and a person's height and weight to determine if you are over weight or obese. Your Body Mass Index is equal to your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared. It is expressed as BMI=kg/m2. Use the BMI index calculator in the side column and the chart below to learn your body index number and other information.

Risk of Associated Disease According to BMI and Waist Size
BMI		Waist less than or equal to 40 in. (men) or 35 in. (women)	Waist greater than 40 in. (men) or 35 in. (women)
18.5 or less	Underweight	--	N/A
18.5 - 24.9	Normal	--	N/A
25.0 - 29.9	Overweight	Increased	High
30.0 - 34.9	Obese	High	Very High
35.0 - 39.9	Obese	Very High	Very High
40 or greater	Extremely Obese	Extremely High	Extremely High

How do think the BMI index works for you?  Do you think it is a good gauge to go by?

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Help me lose weight | How to lose weight

Finally a diet meal plan for weight loss for the rest of us.

The "I Love This Diet" plan is a lower cost alternative to more expensive, celebrity endorsed meal plans.  LA Diet, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Nutrisystem--they are all great diet meal plans, however Jenny Craig can easily cost $500 - $600 per month in food and shipping costs.  BistroMD is more than $700 per month.

Dietitian designed for success and health

When deciding on how to diet, it is much easier and more succesful to follow a I Love This Diet is the dietitian designed program that providers dieters with a nutritionally balanced way to lose weight. This includes using frozen entrees from Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice and Weight Watchers Smart Ones, as well as Progresso Soups to lose weight fast.

Meals with convenience to fit every person.

I Love This Diet users enjoy a multitude of delicious meals for a fraction of the cost of these plans with over 250 different meal choices.  By utilizing widely available and easily obtained Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice and Smart Ones frozen meals, the diet program uses their positive nutritional characteristics, as well as their low cost to provide a flexible and satisfying diet plan. Many are delicious low fat meals.

The assortment of tasty, low calorie, filling snacks from the I Love This Diet Treats Guide keeps you completely satisfied without cheating.  What makes this a great diet plan for women is that you enjoy delicious food in single serve sizes with no cooking, counting or clean-up involved.

Creating a teenage diet plan is just as easy by picking meals that fit that age group.

Cutting the cost of losing weight.

To help its dieters save the most money possible, I Love This Diet provides its users with weekly coupons and savings information for all of the frozen meals it uses, as well as for soups and low calorie snacks. There is no reason to buy a weeks worth of food to just get a discount, you can take advantage of local sales and maximize your savings while losing the weight. While this is not a free diet plan, it keeps the cost as low as possible.

Fast weight loss

Mobile device ready

The program can be accessed on both iPads and iPhones using the GoodReader App (not included).  Each section can be reviewed at any time to keep you on track and losing weight.

Summary

The entire plan is very well written, easy to follow, and explained in detail.  Overall, this is an easy plan to follow and is one of the best ways to lose weight and a diet that works.  What's not to like?




If you have questions, comments, thoughts, please leave a comment below.  Share with us your dieting adventures.
Labels: lose weight quick, how to lose fat, ways to lose weight.

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