Let’s say a woman consumes 1500 calories a day to maintain weight and a man consumes 2000. It varies from individual to individual according to your rate of metabolism, your physical activity, your body build, and other variables. More than that–you gain weight.
To lose a pound requires taking in 3500 calories less–or about 500 calories daily to lose a pound in a week.
According the chart below from The Hartman Group, Americans eat 2.3 snacks daily, with chips and soft drinks the most popular.
Consider the math: the chips in the vending machine run 160 calories each. An 8-ounce soft drink can has 97 calories. The calories for that one snack are 160 + 97 = 257. If that is an average snack and there are 2.3 average snacks per day, the total snack calories are: 2.3 x 257 = 591
Of course no one eats an average snack–sometimes we eat less; most of the time we probably eat more to compensate for those in the averages who are not snacking at all.
If you are maintaining weight, cutting out snacks is likely to help you lose a pound a week–assuming you continue to maintain current activity levels while dieting.
If you are gaining weight at a rate of a pound a week, the other three meals may not be the problem.
Clearly, the fourth meal daily can help you lose or gain a pound or more weekly.
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