A nut among the fruitcakes

kw: opinion, eating, weight loss

In a radio ad I heard Steve Bostic, of "Right Size Smoothies", claim "You can gain weight eating 1,000 calories a day if you eat the wrong foods" (the quote may not be exact, but it is close).

Calories are calories. There are several calculators online that will tell you how many calories are needed to maintain your body weight, depending on age, sex and activity level. This is a very well known area of nutrition science. The one I used is at Shapefit.

I figured initially that a tiny, sedentary person might need less than 1,000 calories a day. I put in figures for a variety of undersized adults. Here is one result, at a ridiculous extreme: Male, age 65, sedentary, 5 feet tall, weight 80 pounds. Calories needed: 1,106 per day. A female the same size would need a little more.

For myself (6 feet, age 63, 200 pounds) the daily caloric need is 2,337.

Clearly, the claim made in the ad is bogus.