To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. This is called building an energy deficit. Your body uses a certain amount of energy just to stay alive. Processes like the beating of your heart and the motions of your digestive system burn calories even while you sleep. Any exercise you do burns additional calories. The key to losing weight is to figure out how many calories you burn just by your normal routine, limiting your food intake to match that amount, and doing some exercise to burn additional calories.
Step 1
Calculate the number of calories you should consume to maintain your current weight. Input your personal data into a reputable online calorie calculator, such as the one at the Mayo Clinic's website. When asked how active you are, choose "Inactive" to establish the baseline amount of calories you should eat to maintain your weight if you are not exercising.
Step 2
Use the nutrition fact labels on the food products you eat to calculate the calories in every meal you eat. Do not consume more calories than the weight maintenance amount you determined in step 1.
Step 3
Exercise on a daily basis to burn additional calories. Every calorie you burn by exercising will be added to your calorie deficit and contribute to your weight loss. You will lose one pound of fat every time you burn approximately 3,500 additional calories.
For example, the calorie calculator may state that you need to consume 2000 calories per day to maintain your weight without exercising. If you then burn 500 extra calories by exercising every day, it will take you about seven days to lose one pound.
Step 4
Consume less than your daily recommended calorie intake to help accelerate your weight loss.
For example, the calorie calculator may state that you need to consume 2,000 calories per day to maintain your weight without exercising. If you then burn 500 calories by exercising and only eat 1,800 calories per day, it will take you about five days to lose one pound.
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