Most exercises can help you lose weight, even jogging for as few as 30 minutes, as long as you take other factors into consideration. The only way to lose weight is to burn off more calories than you consume, so you must pay attention to what you eat and jog frequently enough for the activity to make a difference.
Anatomy of a Pound
The bottom line for any weight loss is burning off more calories than you consume. Each pound is worth 3,500 calories, which means you will gain 1 lb. for every 3,500 calories you consume above and beyond what your body burns, and you will lose 1 lb. for every additional 3,500 calories you burn off beyond your body's needs.
Calories Burned
Jogging burns calories, for sure, but just how many depends on your weight, your pace and the duration. Thirty minutes of jogging 5 mph for a person weighing 160 lbs. burns 292 calories, MayoCinic.com says, while someone weighing 200 lbs. burns 364 calories and someone weighing 240 lbs. burns 436 calories. To switch the calculation into distance, Women Fitness says the average jogger can burn about 100 calories per mile.
Jogging Frequency
Your half-hour of jogging won't do much good as a one-time deal, but if you jog every day for 30 minutes, you'll notice a difference. The only way the difference will equal a lighter weight, however, is if you adjust your calorie intake to burn off more than you consume. Even if you don't lose weight, jogging for 30 minutes each day will improve your cardiovascular fitness and endurance. Jogging 30 minutes each day also fulfills the recommended daily dose of exercise and exceeds the 2.5 hours of moderate aerobic activity per week suggested.
Calculations
If you weigh 160 lbs., a daily 30-minute jog will burn 2,044 calories, which is not even a full pound. If you cut back calories, you can speed up the process. If you remove 500 calories from your daily diet, you are reducing your weekly calorie intake by 3,500. That means you'll lose 1 lb. per week from your diet alone plus burn an additional 2,044 calories with your daily jog for a combined 5,544 extra calories burned each week. In a month, that's about 6 lbs.
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