Calorie myths, checked
What people believe about the calories they burn, why it sounds right, and what is true.
No Should everyone eat 1,200 calories to lose weight?
No. 1,200 is the floor for women in the US obesity guideline, not a target for everyone. For most people it's a far bigger cut than they need. How to find yours.
No Should you eat back your exercise calories?
No. Your usual workouts already belong in your maintenance, watches overstate them, and your body makes up part of what you burn. When to eat a little more anyway.
No Does your metabolism slow down in your 30s?
No. Adjusted for body size, your daily burn holds steady from 20 to 60. The pounds of your 30s come from a small daily gap, about 100 calories for every 10 pounds.
Yes, but Can some foods speed up your metabolism?
Yes, but barely. Protein costs the most to digest and caffeine raises your burn a little. Chili, green tea and fat-burning foods add tens of calories a day at most.
No Does a pound of muscle burn 50 calories a day?
No. At rest a pound of muscle burns about 6 calories a day and a pound of fat about 2. Lifting still raises your burn, by more than the new muscle explains. The numbers.
No Do six small meals a day speed up your metabolism?
No. Digesting food costs about 10 percent of what you eat, however you split it. In chamber tests six meals and two burned the same. Eat the pattern that keeps you full.
Not the way you think Is a slow metabolism why some people gain weight easily?
Not the way you think. Bigger bodies burn more, and people who say they can't lose usually have a normal burn for their size. People differ most in everyday movement.
Not the way you think Does starvation mode stop weight loss?
Not the way you think. Your burn drops a little more than your smaller size explains, about 40 to 90 calories a day. That shrinks a deficit and never reverses it.
Sort of Does your watch know how many calories you burned?
Sort of. It measures steps and heart rate closely and estimates calories from them. In lab tests that estimate missed by 20 percent or more. Good for comparing your days.
