Losing weight is difficult because you must burn 3,500 calories more than you consume to lose 1 lb. You also must consume more calories than you normally consume if you want to have the energy to exercise vigorously. Jogging burns far more calories than walking in the short term, but also makes you more susceptible to an injury that will impair your weight-loss efforts, according to The Merck Manual of Medical Information. Walking is an excellent long-term weight-loss exercise.
Energy
Calories are a measurement of energy. Skimping on calories can make you too lethargic to have the energy to exercise. How many calories you need depends on your activity level, gender and weight. A man who weighs about 185 lbs. needs to eat about 3,300 and 3,100 calories daily, respectively, if he wants to have the energy to exercise for an hour and 30 minutes daily, respectively, according to "An Invitation to Health." A 155-lb. man needs about 2,900 and 2,600 calories daily, respectively for the same exercise.
Gender
Women need fewer calories than men who are of the same weight. A primary factor in this discrepancy is that the average man has about twice as much muscle mass and half as much body fat as the average woman of the same weight and muscles require more energy to operate efficiently than fat does. A 155-lb. woman needs about 2,400 calories to exercise 60 minutes daily, and 2,150 calories to exercise 30 minutes daily. A 125-lb. woman needs about 2,100 and 1,900 calories daily, respectively, for the same exercise.
Jogging Men
People burn calories throughout the day, even when they are sleeping. A 185-lb. man who did desk work for eight hours, slept for eight hours and was sedentary for six hours burns approximately 1,200 calories, according to the July 2004 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter. That means he would need to burn 2,101 calories in his other two hours to lose weight. Jogging 7.5 mph for two hours burns 2,020 calories in a 185-lb. man. Jogging 7.5, 6 and 5 mph burns 1,010, 888 and 710 calories per hour, respectively.
Jogging Women
If you're active throughout the day, it's much easier to lose weight. A 155-lb. woman who is active throughout the day could lose about 2,000 calories without formally exercising. That means she would only need to burn 401 calories in two hours of exercising to lose weight. A 155-lb. woman burns 930 calories jogging 7.5 mph for one hour, 744 calories jogging 6 mph for one hour and 596 calories jogging 5 mph for one hour, according to the Harvard Heart Letter report.
Benefits of Walking
The average 185-lb. man burns 444 calories walking 4.5 mph for one hour, 400 calories walking 4 mph for one hour and 356 calories walking 3.5 mph for one hour, according to the Harvard Heart Letter report. The average 155-lb. woman burns 372 calories walking 4.5 mph for one hour, 334 calories walking 4 mph for one hour and 298 calories walking 3.5 mph for one hour.
References
- "An Invitation to Health"; Dianne Hales; 2003
- Harvard Heart Letter: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes
- "The Complete Guide to Walking"; Mark Fenton; 2001
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 1999
Member Comments