What if i ate 4000 calories today

So for a week I played around with seeing how much I could eat each day. While doing this I was keeping in mind that it would need to be sustainable and that I could do it day after day. So while I may be able to eat 4, calories in a day, there was no way I could do that every day.

So I settled on a target of 3, calories per day. It would be a stretch but I felt I could keep it up for the whole experiment. The other component of the eating was I wanted to include a real mix of food. Or because I went low carb or low fat. Or any other reason relating to my food choices. I ate a huge amount of chocolate and desserts GU products, I tip my hat to you.

I had lots of calories come in from alcohol for example, on one day I had 1, calories come in from beer and wine alone. I was struggling to get the calories in and it was much easier to have a ready meal or a whole pizza with a couple of glasses of wine then it was to get those calories from fish and vegetables.

Eating became such a problem that I actually ended the experiment after nine weeks. Over the course of the nine weeks I ate just shy of 35, extra calories on top of what it is estimated I need 34, was the exact figure.

My biggest day of eating was 4, calories and I had numerous days over 4, The figure that is always talked about is that a pound of body fat is equivalent to 3, extra calories. So if I eat an extra 3, I should put on a pound, if I eat less and miss out on 3, calories I should lose a pound.

Considering what I ate over this experiment, if our bodies really are simple abacuses, I should have put on 9. I started the experiment at For the first two weeks my weight went up. Not as much as it should according to the generic calculations, but it was increasing. But during week three it actually came down ever so slightly.

Despite eating just shy of 4, extra calories on what I needed that week, I lost 0. But it was here that I hit my peak. My highest weight throughout the experiment was at the end of week six, when I hit 67kg or From week seven onwards, despite eating an inordinate amount of food, the weight started to come back down.

At the end of the nine weeks my weight had come back to This meant that with me eating an extra 34, calories it only lead to me putting on 1. I know you may be reading this and thinking how much fun this would be. Want to make sure you stay on track with your goals? Complete with custom calorie and macro goals, menu planning tools, and expert advice!

Heck, research suggests it might even help your progress in the long run 1. You will, however, likely see the numbers on the scale go up and feel more bloated due to water weight. Fat gain or muscle gain happens slowly over time, whereas water weight gain can be rapid and more drastic. When you gain fat or muscle, your body has to capture, store and utilize nutrients accordingly - it is not always a simple process and can take days or even weeks.

But with water weight, your cells are able to absorb excess water under a variety of circumstances including lack of sleep, high sugar or salt intake, hormones, and even the weather 2 , 3. If you've found you've gained a few pounds overnight or even in a week, it could be that a lot of this weight is coming from changes in fluids aka water weight or bloating.

So take a deep breath and don't freak out. Just as water weight can be gained quickly, you can lose it quickly to. So get back on track and give your body time to flush it out, the damage may not be as bad as you think. However, the calorie equation is not a perfect science. The total amount of fat you could potentially gain in a day depends on many factors like your level of activity, metabolism, current body fat percentage, glycogen stores, the types of food you are consuming, and even your genetic make-up 4.

One study showed that a higher starting weight could result in more fat accumulation than lean mass, regardless of how quickly weight is gained 5. And one study looking at overfeeding in twins suggested genetic make-up can significantly impact total body fat percentage gain 6. But only temporarily. Ever get the meat sweats?

Thanks to the thermic effect of food, your body burns calories to physically digest what you consume. The types of foods you eat can determine how much this phenomenon occurs. Protein is the most thermogenic macro, followed by carbohydrates. Each member of our research team is required to have no conflicts of interest, including with supplement manufacturers, food companies, and industry funders.

The team includes nutrition researchers, registered dietitians, physicians, and pharmacists. We have a strict editorial process. This page features 28 references. All factual claims are followed by specifically-applicable references.

Click here to see the full set of references for this page. Think of the last time you ate a big meal then weighed yourself the next day. But how much of that is fat? There are about 9 food calories in a gram of fat, so in theory you could gain one pound of fat g by eating some 4, calories more than you burn.

The actual number may be closer to 3,, [1] so if you eat extra calories per day for a week, you might gain a pound of fat. But not if you eat 3, calories in a single meal. What your body cannot process for storage during that time, it tries to burn your temperature rises slightly and to excrete you end fighting with your family for access to the toilets. Some of the calories in the food you ingest will be used to digest, absorb, and metabolize the rest of the food, and some will be burned off as heat.

The energy required to digest each macronutrient its DIT can be expressed as a percentage of the energy provided by this macronutrient: [5]. Also, if you ate too much, you may start feeling restless and consequently fidget more as a subconscious way to burn off the caloric excess. Your body has two ways to store the carbs you eat. Your body uses your liver for short-term storage of glycogen.

When you fast which most of you do overnight as you sleep , your liver is where your brain will first search for the glucose it needs to keep functioning.

Glycogen, moreover, cannot be stored on its own: it must be bound to water. In your liver, each gram of glycogen comes along with 2. Of course, typical muscle mass varies greatly between individual men 22—40 kg, typically and women 15—30 kg. As we saw however, glycogen cannot be stored on its own: it must be bound to water. In your muscles, each gram of glycogen comes along with at least 3 grams of water, [15] which can become 17 grams if you co-ingest a lot of fluid and a lot of carbs after exercising in a hot, dry environment.

Therefore, in normal circumstances, a man who carries 31 kilograms of muscles 68 lb also carries in those muscles grams of glycogen and 1, grams of water 0. And if he drinks a lot while ingesting his carbs, as is often the case during a feast, he may end up carrying much more. Likewise, in normal circumstances, a woman who carries 23 kilograms of muscles 51 lb also carries in those muscles grams of glycogen and grams of water 0.

And if she drinks a lot while ingesting her carbs, as is often the case during a feast, she may end up carrying much more. Compared to sedentary people, athletes have more muscle and can better synthesize and store glycogen.

On the second day, fat synthesis amounted to only 30 grams. On the third day, to only 45 grams. At the end of this week-long binge, the athletes had gained 4. Only half of this fat came from the enormous amount of carbs consumed; the other half came from the proportionally little fat consumed. This process, called de novo lipogenesis DNL , takes place when you regularly consume more calories than you burn. In other words, the subjects burned 7 grams of body fat.

As we saw , glycogen must be bound to water to be stored in your muscles and liver, which can thus carry a lot of water weight. Blood volume, and total body water in general, can vary quite a bit with exercise, medications, and dietary factors.

Aside from carbs, the main dietary factor is salt sodium , which pulls water with it wherever it goes and thereby causes water retention. The average morning pee weighs half a pound, [25] and the average poop weighs a third of a pound.

If you wish to lose fat, dieting and exercise come first. No supplement will replace either, but some supplements can make both more efficient. To know which supplements are backed by the evidence and how to take them when, how much, and in what combinations , explore our website, or find all the practical information gathered in our constantly updated Fat Loss Supplement Guide and Fitness Guide.