How many calories represent one pound of weight (inc. water, not just fat)?

Question

This is a question that has been bugging me for a long time, and now that I'm watching what I eat in detail, I was wondering if there was an official answer, or if it's just a subjective process.
The "standard" answer of *3500 calories per pound of fat* only relates to body fact directly, not to the water that is associated with it.
Basic biology tells us that the majority of human weight is actually water, 70% or so if I remember right. If that's the case, then all things being equal, a net of 3500 calories plus or minus on a diet should eventually result in, say, 3 pounds of weight change in a person (1 pound fat plus 2 pounds water). Thus, the number of calories per pound of weight should be around 1100, and you could adjust your caloric intake, exercise, etc. to get to your target weight more accurately.

Is this correct, or does the 3500 number already include the water change?

[I've searched all over the place, but I'm not an cytologist, so I don't understand all this stuff.]

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Interesting question...

first water has no calories, so the 70% of our weight from water has no calories.

If you think about the bodies ability to store energy, it can store fat and sugar.  

Calories are not really mathematical.  In a caloriemeter, they know that 1 pound of fat will yield 3500 calories of energy, but our bodies metabolize calories differently based on our hormones and genetics.

If your body burns 3500 fat calories, you will decrease your body fat by 1 pound.  1 pound of fat already has water in it

Stacey · Answer

When you lose 1lb of fat plus say 2lb of water, this is all included in the 3,500 calories. Although you may be losing 3lb, you are still only losing 1lb of pure fat for every 3,500 calories.

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How many calories represent one pound of weight (inc. water, not just fat)?

2 Answers