Burning calories is a crucial part of weight loss, but it’s easy to get lost in the numbers. If I burn 1000 calories a day, how much weight will I lose in a week? This common question reveals a simple truth about weight loss: Predicting how much weight you can lose by burning a certain number of calories helps you set realistic goals to achieve steady and sustainable weight loss. How Are Calories Measured? Understanding this concept is essential for accurately tracking your progress. And while steady weight loss may not be as exciting as rapid weight loss, it’s the best way to reach your goals and maintain your long-term progress. In this article, we’ll help you accurately predict how much weight you can lose by burning 1,000 calories a day so you can get started on your weight loss journey with confidence.
Calorie measurement can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. With the help of Cal AI’s calorie tracker, you can accurately predict how many calories you burn, set targets for your weight loss journey, and achieve your goals.
To lose weight, you need to move more and eat less. Understanding how much more to move can be confusing. That's because the amount of calories you need daily to lose weight depends on many factors, including your:
While weight loss may be your primary goal, physical activity has many health benefits, like:
So, beyond burning calories, know you're doing your body a world of good when you move more.
According to Kansas State University, The total number of calories you burn daily depends on your:
There are several formulas to calculate your total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE (more on that in a minute). Still, a more straightforward method is based only on body weight.
While it's not as accurate, it can give you a starting point to work from without having to do a lot of math:
To get a more exact idea of your TDEE, you need to know four things, per Kansas State University:
Sometimes referred to as basal metabolic rate (BMR), this is the total number of calories your body needs daily just for essential functions (breathing, blinking, etc). In general, your RMR is higher if you're younger and have more muscle, but your genetics plays a role, too.
RMR makes up the most significant portion of your TDEE (about 60 percent), according to an April 2015 paper in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. To calculate your RMR, you can use either the Harris-Benedict Equation or the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation, per the National Academy of Sports Medicine:
Note that 1 kg equals 2.2 pounds, and 1 inch is 2.54 cm.
People AMAB: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) + 5 People AFAB: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) - 161
TEF is the calories your body uses to digest, absorb and store nutrients from food. Certain foods have been shown to have a higher thermic effect than others, meaning your body burns more calories to process them.
These include foods high in protein and fiber, especially. TEF accounts for up to 10 percent of your TDEE, per the paper in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
NEAT is the number of calories your body uses daily, like brushing your teeth, washing dishes, and walking, according to the April 2015 paper in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. This number varies significantly from person to person and even daily, depending on your activity level.
How many calories you burn during a workout depends on how long and intensely you exercise. Together with NEAT, the calories you burn during exercise makeup between 10 and 30 percent of your TDEE, per the paper in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Multiply your RMR by your activity level to get your estimated TDEE, per Kansas State University:
Calculating how many calories you burn in a week is the same as figuring out your daily calorie burn.
For instance, someone who is lightly active every day would use this equation:
(BMR x 1.375) x 7
If your physical activity fluctuates daily, calculate your calorie burn using the appropriate activity multiplier for each day of the week. Then, add these numbers together to determine your weekly calorie burn.
For example, suppose you’re lightly active four days a week and very active during the other three. In that case, you'd use this equation:
(BMR x 1.375) + (BMR x 1.375) + (BMR x 1.375) + (BMR x 1.375) + (BMR x 1.725) + (BMR x 1.725) + (BMR x 1.725)
Everybody is different, and weight and metabolism can be affected by factors like genetics and environment. That's why, if you're struggling with weight loss, it's a good idea to work with a registered dietitian who can consider all of your factors.
Burning 1,000 calories daily through exercise or a combination of diet and exercise creates a 7,000-calorie weekly deficit. This equates to approximately 2 pounds of weight loss. Most experts agree you must have a 3,500-calorie weekly deficit to lose 1 pound. So if you burn 1,000 calories a day—or 7,000 calories per week—you could lose 2 pounds a week.
It’s not that straightforward. Your rate of weight loss depends on your training age. Your training age refers to how many years you’ve been doing strength training. For example, a 20-year-old who has been lifting weights since age 14 has a training age of 6—and a 40-year-old who has been lifting weights since 39 and has a training age of 1. It also depends on your training, diet, and other genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors.
Mayo Clinic endocrinologist Dr. Michael Jensen also advises focusing on nutrition before exercise when trying to lose weight: “Having an immediate change in eating habits and then gradually increasing your physical activity until you have a comfortable, active lifestyle is probably the best combination.”
To make things more complicated, your progress will eventually stall when you’re on a weight loss plan. You can only sustain a 2-pound-per-week rate of weight loss for so long. Think about it—if a 200-pound person could lose 2 pounds per week consistently, they’d lose close to half of their body weight in a year, which is an unrealistic expectation.
Trying to lose weight at such an aggressive rate isn’t sustainable in the long term. It can also lead to a loss in muscle mass, which is usually the opposite of what many people want. Burning 1,000 calories in a single workout isn’t realistic for most people. Instead, it’s more feasible to break down your calorie burn into weekly workout sessions.
The average workout on Fitbod lasts an hour and burns nearly 400 calories. So, if you do two to three 1-hour Fitbod strength training workouts per week, you’ll burn 1,000 calories. The best way to increase your calorie burn with Fitbod is to select “Tone muscle and lose weight” as your goal. This will give you higher reps with lighter weights in a circuit training format so your heart rate stays more elevated. It will also give you more cardio.
You can also eat 250-500 calories less than your maintenance calories—which you can determine using an online TDEE calculator—and increase your NEAT calorie burn through your daily activities. Following a more reasonable approach, you can expect to lose 0.5-1 pound weekly.
That depends on your reason for trying to burn them. If you’re an active person who eats enough to replenish the calories you burn, there’s nothing wrong with burning 1,000 calories a day through exercise. Exercising vigorously to lose weight quickly or to offset binge eating are not healthy habits and can be signs of an eating disorder.
Burning 1,000 calories a day is easier for some people than others. For example, a 6-foot, 3-inch 18-year-old male playing on multiple sports teams might quickly burn more than 1,000 calories daily exercising.
For a 5-foot, 1-inch 40-year-old female who works a desk job, burning 1,000 calories a day will be more difficult. Exercising regularly is good for your body, but exercising vigorously to lose extreme weight or offset binge eating isn’t.
Suppose you’re targeting to burn 1,000 calories daily, asking yourself why may be a good idea. If your goal is to improve your overall fitness or get stronger, measuring your progress in calories burned is a poor way to get meaningful feedback.
Keeping track of other markers, such as your body fat percentage, cardiovascular fitness, or strength levels, is a more accurate way to assess your progress. If you want to lose weight, burning a set number of calories is meaningless without context. If you burn an extra 1,000 calories through exercise each day but consume an additional 1,000 calories, your weight will stay the same.
It is not advised to immediately go from coach-potato status to burning 1,000 calories daily. Be realistic about your current fitness level before you embark on a program. Endurance athletes, such as those training for long-course triathlons or ultra marathons, do put in 1,000 calories worth of training or more on most days. These individuals work up to these levels of exercise, though, and take time in the off-season to exercise more moderately.
Also, evaluate how much time you have to devote to exercise. If you have a demanding job and a busy family life, you may be unable to carve out 2 or 3 hours per day for exercise. If you skimp on sleep to squeeze in time for extra exercise, you may do yourself more harm than good. You'll lack the energy to maximize your burn.
A study published in the Journal of Sleep Medicine 2013 found that good sleep positively influences the next day's exercise performance. Not getting enough sleep also raises your body's production of hunger hormones, so you eat more. When sleepy, you're more likely to reach for calorie-ridden energy drinks to get through your day.
Instead of relying on exercise alone to boost your burn, consider how you could benefit from NEAT or non-exercise thermogenesis. NEAT refers to any calorie-burning activity that is not a formal exercise. This includes:
Modern conveniences, from cars to computers, rob you of daily activities that burn calories. Walk to the store, doctor, or school—if possible. At work, pace while you're on the phone and stroll down the hall to ask a colleague a question rather than send an email. Do a brief walk after breakfast, one at lunch, and one after dinner to connect with your family. Clean your house, do laundry, and wash your car.
These activities seem small, but the calorie burn adds up quickly to 500 or more daily. Suppose you can burn 500 calories or more through non-exercise activity and another 500 through exercise. In that case, you've easily achieved a 1,000-calorie daily burn in addition to your BMR without over-stressing your body.
Cal AI transforms calorie tracking with cutting-edge AI technology. Just snap a photo of your meal, and we'll do the rest.
Our app combines your phone's depth sensor with advanced AI models to:
With 90% accuracy on visible foods and multiple tracking options like:
We've made nutrition tracking effortless. Whether you're scanning a full meal or a quick snack, Cal AI
Our AI learns from your feedback to improve accuracy. It includes personalized insights and smart reminders to keep you on track. Cal AI makes achieving your fitness goals simpler than ever. Track your calories with your camera using Cal AI's calorie tracker today!
