According to the Mayo Clinic, 1 pound of body fat contains 3,500 calories. Therefore, to lose 15 pounds of body fat, you'd have to burn 52,500 calories through exercise. There are many different calorie-burning exercises that can help you reach a 52,500-calorie goal; the key is to find one (or several) that you like and that you're willing to stick with long enough to lose 15 pounds.
High-Impact Aerobics
According to the Mayo Clinic, if you weigh 160 pounds, doing high-intensity aerobics burns 511 calories/hour. You'd need to do 102.7 hours of aerobics to burn off 15 pounds of body fat. If you weigh 240 pounds, the same aerobics will burn 763 calories/hour, meaning that it would take only 68.8 hours of exercise to lose 15 pounds.
Bicycling
Leisurely bicycling (less than 10 mph) burns 292 calories/hour in a 160-pound person, according to the Mayo clinic. It would take 179.8 hours to burn 15 pounds of body fat. A 240-pound individual would lose 15 pounds of body fat in 120.4 hours of bicycling at the same intensity.
Swimming
The Mayo Clinic lists the caloric expenditure of lap swimming as 511 calories/hour for a 160-pound person, and 763 calories/hour for a 240-pound person. It would take 102.7 hours and 68.8 hours respectively for each individual to burn 15 pound through swimming laps.
Elliptical Trainer
Health Status, an Internet compendium of health and wellness information, indicates that the elliptical trainer is also an efficient calorie-burning exercise regimen. It notes that a 160-pound person must spend 254 minutes on the elliptical to lose a pound of body fat, meaning that 15 pounds would require 63.5 hours of exercise. A 240-pound person would lose 15 pounds in 42.3 hours.
Running
Health Status lists running as the single greatest calorie-burning exercise per unit time. They state that a 160-pound person running at 8 mph (7.5 minute miles) burns a pound of body fat in 214 minutes. It would take 53.5 hours to lose 15 pound of body fat this way. A 240-pound person, however, would burn 15 pounds of body fat in 35.5 hours. By comparison, it would take only 32.3 or 21.5 hours respectively for a 160-pound or a 240-pound person to lose 15 pounds by running at 12 mph (5 minute miles).
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