Is it possible to burn 5,000 calories a day without fatigue or injuries?

[Gershon]

This thread is a challenge to myself. I'm currently burning about 2,500 calories a day as measured by the Fitbit Surge. I've found through strict calorie counting and weight changes the Surge is accurate for me regardless of the types of activities. The Zip measures about 15% fewer calories.

Time to get to work. 🙂 

[MrBoJangles763]

It says I currently burn 5000 to 7000 calories per day. As a slumber my heart rest is at 38 to 45 beats per minute. as soon as I wake up in the morning I jump up to 80 to 90 running around getting ready for work at 330. I start at 5, and get off at 3 Monday threw friday. I don't feel it is an extremely active job but everyone else tells me different. I almost never stop moving at all unless I'm on break, even then I go on power walks. after I get home around 4 I go for a run, work out or do active chores around the house til around 6 or 7. so I'm pretty much on the go for 15 to 16 hours of the day minus my 1 hour of driving to and from work. I'm 26 male, 5 10, 190lbs roughly. is my fitbit extremely off or what 

[shipo]

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@MrBoJangles763 wrote:

It says I currently burn 5000 to 7000 calories per day. As a slumber my heart rest is at 38 to 45 beats per minute. as soon as I wake up in the morning I jump up to 80 to 90 running around getting ready for work at 330. I start at 5, and get off at 3 Monday threw friday. I don't feel it is an extremely active job but everyone else tells me different. I almost never stop moving at all unless I'm on break, even then I go on power walks. after I get home around 4 I go for a run, work out or do active chores around the house til around 6 or 7. so I'm pretty much on the go for 15 to 16 hours of the day minus my 1 hour of driving to and from work. I'm 26 male, 5 10, 190lbs roughly. is my fitbit extremely off or what 

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Is your Fitbit off?  It depends.  I'm more than twice your age, a couple of inches shorter than you and a few pounds heavier than you, and without too much effort I can get my daily burn rate up in the 5,000+ realm (although I typically burn more like 4,500).

For us to be able to determine if your Fitbit is off we'll need to know some more specifics:

• How many steps per day do you typically log?
• How far do you run and what kind of average pace do you typically sustain?
• Do you engage in any other activities beyond rushing around at work and running?

[NuNu1428]

Hello! I like your enthusiasm and the fact that you are challenging yourself. A 5,000 calorie in a day is certainly possible. However, this is more likely attainable for someone who has a lot of weight to lose (or who just carries a lot of weight such as a professional football player). Typically, if you need to lose weight, a person with a BMI (body mass index) of 38 or higher and who is active all day long ( i'm talking 30, 000 + steps per day) can burn this or even more. You can do it throughout the day by simply marching in place or side stepping in addition to your normal workout. Also, a fitbit with a heart rate monitor is key! If the FB isn't showing how high your HR is reaching, the calorie burn will not be as accurate. As you lose weight, the possibility of getting injuries and any soreness will lessen. I am proof. In the beginning when i first started reaching for high daily cal burn and high step counts, my knees and quads and hamstrings all ached like crazy. Gradually, it got better and easier to get 25k to 30k a day. My goal right now is to get over 40k steps a day because I know this will give me the greatest cal burn. I would say if anyone is trying to lose weight a lot of weight (say, 20+ pounds) aim for a minimum of  3000-4000 cal burn per day, and more if you can without hurting yourself. With any activity, always stop if you feel pain. 😉

[MusicalPolymath]

There is a lot going on in this thread!

According to fitbit, I burn on average 3,800-4,500 calories a 'day'. The 4,500 is usually on gym days, and Saturday/sunday are usually a little lower, around 3,400.

The reason for this is likely due to a few things:

I. I am a walking wall. I am 245lbs, 6'3, and have broad shoulders.

II. I do cardio and weights 4 days a week (Tues-Friday)

III. I function on 20-21 hour days, on those same days, due to teaching, work, and school. - my biggest peeve with fitbit (and every app that does similar) is it resets my stats at midnight while I'm in the middle of my day.

I think if I doubled my gym time I would easily break 5,000 calories, but that might be counter productive as I don't eat or sleep enough to sustain that sort of burn rate.

[Dominique]

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@MusicalPolymath wrote:

I function on 20-21 hour days, on those same days, due to teaching, work, and school. - my biggest peeve with fitbit (and every app that does similar) is it resets my stats at midnight while I'm in the middle of my day.

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This sounds worrying: are you saying there are several days in the week when you only get 3-4 hours of sleep?

You say Fitbit doesn’t fit your schedule because it resets at midnight, but what would you do if you could change the time when it resets? What would be the point of having days of various lengthes and resetting stats at various times? Fitbit also gives you weekly stats: these would be the ones relevant in your case.

[MusicalPolymath]

I do indeed use the weekly stats - but the times I sleep are pretty consistent. My 'midnight' is around noon.

Yes, I function like that from 15:00 Monday until Saturday morning at 6:30. That said it's only during academic term and I only need to do it for another month this semester, and then for fall term and I'm done school. Blame tuition costs!

[John1978]

In don`t know what is happening but I burn so 4420 Kcalories/day without exercise measured with Surge, when I make little execise so one hour bicke home can I burn 7-800 Kcalories extra.

And this is true what surge shows, I eat for 3 weeks 4350 kcalories and I didn`t gain weight without exercise, aa yes, some walk to shopping 10-20 minutes.

My repaos pulse is some 120-125 allways, and with exercise some 170. But I have no hypertyroidism, because i was to doctor. Is from my pulse that I burn so kcalories ?! 

And iti is true...when I eat 5450 Kcalories/day, I gain 3 Kg in 3 weeks !!!! Alsoo 1000 more/day.

I tested this, much candys (fat + carbs), bread, meet.

I am also 39 years old male, 169 cm, 68 Kg, and when I want, I am active too also aerobic home to bike.

My doctor says, if I have pulse 80, I will burn some 2200 Kcalories maximum !!! He has right ?

But i don`t want this ! He says that is not good pulse 120 but this is no problem for me all the day. I like bread with Nutella, Fanta, cakes, etc, I eat too all healty food, salad and others, but too candys, pankakes with jam or Nutella, mmmm...

My Insulin level is high but glucose is 82-87 mg/dL or 4,8 mmol/L.

What did you mean ? Is good or not ? how is better, pulse 80-90 and 2200 to burn, or 120-125 but 4450 in repaos ?!

Thanks.

[Dominique]

@John1978: it is very unlikely that you  – as a 39-yo/169cm/68kg male – would burn 4000+ calories without much activity. In fact, you would need a very high activity level in order to reach that number. If your Surge is saying you routinely burn more than 4000 without exercising, something must be wrong. Resting HR of 120-125 sounds very high: have you seen a cardiologist?

[John1978]

I was to cardiologist (endocrinologist sent me there too) and he says that something is wrong with my noradrenaline secretion in the brains receptors (synapse), too much noradrenaline there, and because that a rest pulse is 120-125, some times 130. It is true, I am have some more energy, little agitated, but the sleep is good.

It is nothing wrong  because what Surge showed, is in reality, i tested with food 4300+ kcalorie/day and i mentained my weight (i said this) ! And when i had 5000+, i gained weight 1 kg/week.

When i make bicke and have pulse 150 average, i burn 700 Kcalories/hour for example.

The cardiologist said that....exercise = high heart rate ! Nothing others, when you can mentain a high heart rate exactly which is when you make strong exercises, is the same ! Coooool.

Both also endrocrinologist and cardiologist said me that it is very bad what is happening, also heart can shut down, but I don`t think so, the pulse is not to high to disturb me.

The solution was to give me noradrenaline receptors antagonist (blockade), but....what is happening then ?! 2200 Kcalories/day ? hhhhh.

When this is happening....I must make much exercise to burn the others kcalories, also..pulse again high, and ?!, from 35 years I eat what i wanted !!! Because my appetit is high.

My average Kcalories per day can be 3500-4100, with very little weight los in time. 

Also..about the my 2 doctors when you make exercise and you habe pulse 150, and when you don`t, but has 150, is the same  for burned kcalories, it is so ?!

[WavyDavey · Accepted solution]

I don't get the significance of the 5000 calorie goal. It seems totally arbitrary.  The body doesn't reach some magical goal at the number 5000.

What is the intent here? I assume it's weight loss? If so, then wouldn't a reasonable goal be to lose X pounds in a given amount of time? Isn't caloric intake a big part of the equation?  Just making a goal of burning an arbitrary amount of calories without mentioning calories seems lopsided to me.

It's great to have goals, but I'm puzzled by the obsession with calorie burn rates.

[GershonSurge]

@WavyDavey,

Initially, I started this thread to troll those who were constantly discussing the 50,000 and 80,000 a day steppers. I've been lazy lately because I'm writing a long book, but I found somewhere around 3,800 is a reasonable limit for me.

It's easier for those who obese or ultra-obese to get 5,000 calories a day because they burn so much just walking. Some here do it regularly.

Since starting this thread, I found many of us focus on calories burned instead of steps. The Fitbits with the heart rate monitors are good enough for this purpose.

[WavyDavey]

@GershonSurge, and I took the bait. My hat's off to you, sir. 🙂

[Dominique]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

It's easier for those who obese or ultra-obese to get 5,000 calories a day because they burn so much just walking. 

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Well, it’s "easy" for people who carry a lot of extra weight to burn more from BMR, but it’s usually a lot tougher for them to add activity calories on top of that higher BMR. Getting 20k steps is relatively easy for someone who’s normal weight, but not for someone obese (especially if the extra weight is combined with joint problems, a lower fitness level etc., as is often the case, though not always).

I’m really impressed by the step counts some very overweight people are getting. 

[norjope]

Sure,it's possible to burn 3500 or more calories. Me,I walk,period. Walk,walk. I don't like running. Currently I'm single,57, 5' 9", weighing 177 and trying to lower my body fat percentage to about 10 or 12 percent. I have all the time in the world. I even have two jobs! I don't socialize much outside of work after my life partner passed away. I never had a lean physique when I was young. Always was a chubby kid only finding comfort in food. I think I'm getting close to my goal. I wish you well.

[Mukluk4]

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@Dominique wrote:

I’m really impressed by the step counts some very overweight people are getting. 

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Some of us are stubborn as hell.

Even 20 lbs of weight loss to a very overweight person can allow for a significant increase in activity.  

[Ltr450rick]

Yes it is very possible and easy to do if you are active. I just got a new Fitbit Blaze and my average/easy going work days are 3500-4,000 calories and thats just from work. I couldn't imagine what it would be from doing an hour of motocross, or even hitting up a gym to workout. Bad part is i barely eat during the day becaise we all know its impossible to eat/feel hungry when you are sweating all day from head to toe in the hot sun doing manual labor. 

[ATCZero]

I'm at 5,100 right now. New user (had my charge 3 for about a week), but...

M/36

265lbs, 6'4"

10,500 steps, 12 mile bike ride, and a half hour to 45min of some other "vigorous" activity today 🙂

So, yeah. That's not an out of the ordinary day. Didn't even lift. Totally possible. 

[Dominique]

@ATCZero: it’s important to realize calories burned reported by Fitbit are an estimate. If you used a calculator such as this one in order to get a "second opinion", you would get a lower number. For instance, 3853 with the "high" activity level.  If you were to log your intake and force yourself to eat 5000 calories (that’s a lot, even for a large person!), you’d be more likely to gain weight rather than maintain it. 

[Okokok373521]

Obviously your caloric intake matters too, but if it burning like 5000-6000 calories a day your probs busy a lot of the day, and not eating it would be hard for some people to even eat that much to go over your calories burned. plus I think people are just interested in seeing how many calories they could burn in a day.

[Okokok373521]

Obviously weight and that would be a big factor in it too like I've been burning about 4500-6500 calories a day since I got my fit bit and I'm 6'3 200lbs and what I've been doing is going on a run for about 9miles then playing basketball for about 3-8 hours then weights for an hour but I might need to slow it down because it's a bit hard to eat enough so that I'm not in a couple thousand calorie deficit because my family kinda poor so not enough food in the house for me to eat that much and I don't wanna start losing muscle.