This many extra calories you need to eat to gain one kilogram

In December, no calorie counts, especially not during the holidays. Have that dessert, eat that Christmas cookie, and let the fatty gravy flow. But how quickly do you actually gain a kilo?

What do you need to do for that, so to speak? We all think we come out of the holidays much heavier, but is that really the case?

How much extra do you need to eat to gain one kilogram of body weight? It turns out there is a clear calculation behind this. One kilogram of body fat is equivalent to about 7,700 calories. This means you need to eat a total of 7,700 calories more than your body burns to gain one kilogram of body fat. And that's quite a lot: on average, you eat around 2,000 calories a day. So you would need to eat what you normally eat in a day, plus three times that amount. And then add a Magnum.

But okay, one day is also very quick. If you eat 500 calories more than you need every day, you could theoretically gain one kilogram in two weeks. With an extra intake of 1,000 calories a day, that could happen in about a week.

And don't worry, no panic, because not all calories are stored as fat. Some are used for other processes in the body, such as building muscle (during strength training) or processing food. You also just need energy, you know, in a day. And it also has to do with how much you move and how your metabolism works, so to speak. So usually, it’s not that bad.

Moreover, it’s quite a challenge, you know, to gain some weight:

To get an extra 7,700 calories, you can think of:

21 pieces of cake (averaging 350 calories per piece).
26 servings of fries with mayonnaise (about 300 calories per serving).
50 bananas (about 150 calories each).

Start with that after your Christmas dinners. Good luck.