Factors that influence weight loss include your diet, exercise habits, genetics, hormones and certain pre-existing medical conditions. At its most basic level, however, the process of losing weight is a simple battle between consuming and burning calories. Finding the right balance is the key to losing weight.
Calorie Deficit
Weight loss is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as creating a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit simply means you taken in fewer calories than you burn. A calorie deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories per day can help you lose weight at a rate of 1 to 2 lbs. per week, which is the CDC's recommendation for safe weight loss. You create a calorie deficit by eating right and exercising.
Calorie Recommendation
The first step in losing weight is to determine how many calories you need each day. The U.S. Department of Agriculture makes this step easy with its free online tool called MyPyramid. This tool will tell you exactly how many calories to target to lose weight at a safe pace. For instance, MyPyramid suggests a 30-year-old male who exercises 30 to 60 minutes per day to eat 2,800 calories each day to lose weight as a safe rate.
Exercise
Daily exercise can help you achieve a calorie deficit by increasing the number of calories your body burns during a workout. The CDC recommends adults do at least 300 minutes of total exercise per week for weight loss purposes; this equates to at least five 60-minute sessions. The number of calories you burn depends upon the duration and intensity of each workout. For instance, the Mayo Clinic says a 200-lb. person burns 346 calories per hour walking briskly while the same person would burn 1,229 calories in the same time frame by running at 8 mph.
Diet
The types and amounts of food you consume is the second part of the weight loss equation. Most of your calorie deficit can be achieved here by eliminating unnecessary calories from your diet, such as soda, fried snacks and other high-calorie foods. Along with giving you a daily calorie target, MyPyramid will also inform you where these calories should come from. The foods recommended by the USDA include whole grains, vegetables, low-fat dairy, fruit and lean cuts of meat.
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