Burn 500 Calories a Day to Achieve Natural Weight Loss
There is a simple formula for weight loss - burn an extra 500 calories a day and you will lose a pound per week. This is about the healthy amount of weight to lose at just the right pace. To make the formula work, you have to find out how much calories you actually consume and how much you burn. This will determine how much you can eat as well as how much you should exercise.
The most important thing you need to know about calories and weight loss is that you need to burn an additional 500 calories per day to lose a pound in one week.
This is based on how many calories you burn while doing your daily activities. You can do this by exercising or dieting, but ideally you should do a combination of both.
First, a little explanation. An inactive or lightly active man weighing 150 pounds, will burn roughly 2000 calories each day. If he weighed 200 pounds, he would burn around 2300 calories each day. On the other hand, a 150-pound woman will burn about 1700 calories a day.
You have probably noticed that men and women in general have different calorie requirements. This is because men naturally have more muscle mass than women. More muscle mass means more calories burned at rest.
So women - and men as well, for that matter - should see that it is worth the effort to tone up your muscles if you want to lose weight.
So, going back to how you can lose a pound a week. If you are a woman that weighs 150 pounds and just refuse to exercise, you have to make sure you do not take in more than 1200 calories a day.
But, if you do some exercise that burns you extra calories so you can eat a little bit more. Combine and exercise program with diet and you can lose even more weight.
Now onto some examples of how you burn calories. Heavy cleaning at home can burn 432 calories an hour. Bring that heavy cleaning up to 70 minutes a day and there goes 500 calories. How to burn 324 calories in your lawn? Do some grass trimming for about an hour with a push mower. A game of singles tennis burns 549 calories an hour. An hour of skiing burns 740 calories.
Balance your calories-in versus calories-out and you will lose weight. Controlling your food portion sizes is important. Notice how meals potions have been growing along with the ratesof obesity? In the 1930s, the average dinner plate size had an 8 or 9 inch diameter. Now, the average diameter is 10 to 12 inches. So don't fill up that "standard" size plate or choose the salad plate when you're out eating.
It is no secret that restaurant portions have grown. For instance at Romano's Macaroni Grill, a seemingly good-for-you Teriyaki Salmon dinner has a whopping 1240 calories. If you are eating out, either split the meal with someone else or ask for a take home box at the start of the meal. Then, place half of the food in the take home box before you start eating. That way you can still clean your plate without taking on the additional calories.
Remember the magic number is 500 calories. Burn this off through exercise or take it away from your calorie intake. A little knowledge, some discipline to apply this principle will make you lose a pound a week - guaranteed.