You lose 1 pound when you burn 3,500 calories more than you eat, but losing weight is more difficult than figuring out how many calories you're losing by exercising and counting how many calories you're eating. You need to consume more calories if you want to have the energy to burn calories. It's also important to understand why some people burn calories more efficiently than others and how that impacts long-term weight loss.
Exercising
Running 10 mph and bicycling more than 20 mph burns more calories than any other exercise, according to a Harvard Heart Letter study of about 100 exercises. If you weigh 155 pounds, these exercises burn 1,228 calories in an hour, or slightly more than one-third of a pound. Heavier people burn more calories; lighter people burn fewer. A 155-pound person exercising for an hour by running 6 mph, bicycling 14 to 15.9 mph, swimming or playing racquetball burns 744 calories, or slightly more than one-fifth of a pound.
Daily Activities
Being active throughout the day can burn more calories than formal exercises. The Harvard Heart Letter studied how many calories you burn during about 40 activities. If you're 155 pounds, playing with your children, painting your house, laying sod or cleaning gutters for an hour burns 372 calories, or slightly more than one-fifth of a pound. On the other hand, sleeping, watching television and reading burn 46, 56 and 84 calories per hour, respectively, if you're 155 pounds. Twenty-four hours of these activities would burn about half a pound if you ate nothing.
Work Activities
Blue-collar work often burns more calories than white-collar work, according to the Harvard Heart Letter. General construction work burns 410 calories per hour if you're 155 pounds or 3,280 calories, which is almost 1 pound during an eight-hour workday. Masonry, carpentry and welding burn 520, 260 and 224 calories per hour, respectively. On the other hand, desk work burns 130 calories an hour; that's 1,040 calories, or less than one-third of a pound during an eight-hour workday.
Energy
Bicycling 15 mph for an hour burns one-fifth of a pound if you're 155 pounds, but your weight loss should be less because you need to eat properly to exercise efficiently. "Swim, Bike, Run" estimates that you need 455 calories to bicycle 15 mph for an hour. Consequently, burning 744 calories translates into a net loss of 289 calories, or less than one-tenth of a pound. You can lose more weight if you eat less, but you also risking becoming so exhausted that you can get hurt or perform so badly that you won't bicycle again.
Metabolism
You will burn more calories and weight if you have a faster metabolism. Your metabolism will be faster if you increase your muscle mass and reduce your body fat percentage, because muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat, according to 'The Complete Guide to Walking." Changing your metabolism affects how much weight you lose while you're exercising -- and while you're just standing on line.
References
- Harvard Heart Letter: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Different Weights
- "Swim, Bike, Run"; Glenn Town and Todd Kearney; 1994
- "The Complete Guide to Walking"; Mark Fenton; 2001
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 2003
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