One of the healthiest ways to lose weight, according to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, is to exercise every day and control your calorie intake. If you're already eating a healthy number of calories every day, which ranges anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 calories a day, depending on your body mass index, known as BMI, you may only need to step up your exercise routine to start seeing an immediate difference on your waistline.
Step 1
Calculate the number of calories you need to burn each day. To lose one pound a week, the NIH recommends burning 500 calories a day.
Step 2
Do a cardio exercise routine either every day or three days a week. Along with the American Heart Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, known as ACSM, updated its physical activity guidelines in 2007. For healthy adults under the age of 65, you should do a moderately intense cardio workout 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or a vigorously intense routine 20 minutes a day, three days a week.
Step 3
Design a cardio regimen. The ACSM suggests exercising in short periods, mixing up your routine to avoid boredom and setting an exercise schedule. You can get the same weight-loss results by doing a cardio regimen in 10-minute bouts throughout the day as by working out 30 minutes straight. Mixing up your routine will help keep it interesting and may prevent you from quitting.
Step 4
Maximize your weight loss possibilities. While walking on a treadmill will burn about 126 calories in 15 minutes for a 165 lb. person, according to CalorieLab, rigorous walking that breaks a sweat will burn nearly 408 calories in a half hour. Fast rope jumping will burn about 416 calories in 30 minutes, and an hour-long game of singles tennis will burn an estimated 525 calories.
Tips and Warnings
- A moderately intense cardio workout, explains the ACSM, means working out hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. Note that lifting weights is great exercise, but muscle weighs more than fat. While you will gain muscle weight, you will improve your physique by decreasing body fat.
- You should talk to your doctor before you start a new exercise regimen, especially if you've been sedentary up until now. If your body mass index is 25 or higher, you may need to increase your cardio workout to 60 or 90 minutes, three to five days a week. The Mayo Clinic and ShapeFit have calculators for estimating your BMI.
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