How Many Calories A Day To Lose 2 Lbs./week?

Many medical experts, including those at the National Institutes of Health, recommend you lose no more than 1 to 2 lbs. per week. This allows you to slowly adjust your lifestyle to achieve sustainable weight loss without the significant calorie deprivation that can lead to yo-yo dieting.

The Formula

For each pound of weight you want to lose you must eliminate 3,500 calories. To lose 2 lbs. per week, you must cut 7,000 calories per week, or about 1,000 calories per day.

The Hard Part

Figuring out how many calories to lose is easy. Losing them is the hard part. To accomplish this you can cut calories from your diet, increase your calorie expenditure or do both. Most experts recommend a combination of reducing caloric intake and increasing physical activity to reach weight loss goals.

Calculate Your Losses

Use online calculators to estimate how many calories you burn in various activities. For example, a person who weighs 150 lbs. burns 300 calories by riding a bicycle at 12 to 13 mph for 30 minutes and burns 240 calories by walking for 60 minutes. Routine activity promotes muscle growth, which accelerates your metabolism and helps you burn calories more efficiently.