How Many Calories Extra Should You Burn To Lose Weight?

Reaching your healthy, ideal weight can lower your risk of developing heart disease, some types of cancer and type 2 diabetes, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Burning calories through regular physical activity and decreasing the amount of calories you consume can help you reach your goal weight. The amount of calories you need to burn each day depends on the type of activity you choose and how much you eat.

Aerobic Exercise

The amount of calories you burn during aerobic exercise is influenced by your weight, your exercise duration and intensity. For example, a 155-lb. person running at 5 mph for 30 minutes burns approximately 298 calories. The same amount of exercise for a 185-lb. person would burn approximately 355 calories. To help promote and sustain weight loss, you should burn at least 250 to 500 calories through aerobic exercise on most, if not all, days of the week, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

Nutrition

Losing 1 lb. of fat requires burning 3,500 calories. In addition to burning calories through exercise, creating a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories is also recommended. You can create this calorie deficit by figuring out how many calories your body needs each day to maintain your weight, and then by reducing your intake by 250 to 500 calories each day. Reducing your intake by this many calories and by burning an additional 250 to 500 calories each day with exercise can help you lose 1 to 2 lbs. each week, the recommended rate for safe and effective weight loss.

Strength Training

A regular strength training program can also help you increase your lean muscle and help you burn fat, according to MayoClinic.com. As you develop more muscle, your body's metabolism increases, which means that you can burn more calories even when you are not exercising. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends strength training exercises for your major muscle groups at least two times each week. You can lift weights, use resistance bands or do exercises that use your body weight as resistance.

Considerations

While calorie burning and weight loss can differ with each individual, to lose weight you must control the calories you consume and burn more calories through exercise. The Harvard Medical School warns that your calorie intake should never fall below 1,500 calories if you are a man, or below 1,200 calories if you are a woman, unless you are under medical supervision. Choosing exercise activities that you enjoy will help you stay consistent with your exercise routine and help you burn the required calories each day.