Losing 5 lbs. quickly is an attainable goal with proper diet and activity changes. Shedding weight requires burning more calories than your body needs. When this occurs, your body taps into fat reserves, causing weight loss. Calculating the amount of calories you need to burn each day and switching to a low-calorie diet will assist in reaching your goals.
Calories Burned
Calculate how many calories you need to burn to create a 5 lb. weight loss. A pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, according to Medline Plus. The fastest you should lose weight is 2 lbs. a week. Create this weight loss by burning 7,000 calories a week for 2-½ weeks. This is about 1,000 calories a day. Burning 1,000 calories a day might seem like a lot. However, you can combine exercise and diet to meet this goal. For example, you can cut daily calorie consumption by 500 calories and workout daily to burn 500 calories.
Activities for Weight Loss
If you want to burn 500 calories a day through activity, select intense physical activity. For example, high-impact aerobics burns 511 calories an hour for a 160 lb. person, according to MayoClinic.com. Playing racquetball burns 511 calories and hour and using a stair treadmill burns 657 calories an hour. Try swimming laps for an hour, which burns 511 calories, or tae kwon do, which burns 730 calories an hour.
Strengthening the Muscles
Muscle strengthening is needed at least twice weekly. This requirement is in addition to your daily aerobic activity sessions. Lifting weights burns calories during the activity. However, it also helps your body burn more calories all day long. Lifting free weights burns about 219 calories an hour, according to MayoClinic.com. Select activities that target the major muscle groups, recommends the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as the abdomen, legs, hips and back. If you need help learning exercises, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers video clips on its website.
Dieting Tips
If you need to consume 500 fewer calories a day, look for high-calorie foods in your diet to cut. For example, a sugary coffee drink, soda and fruit juice adds up to excess calories. Foods high in fat, like fried foods, also boost calorie consumption. Instead of snacking on chips or crackers, pre-cut vegetables and store in your refrigerator. MayoClinic.com offers a tool that allows you to calculate daily calorie needs and food requirements based on your age, height and weight.
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