The old advice is often the best. Eat healthy meals and exercise most days of the week, and you will lose weight. What confuses many people is figuring out how much exercise to do to burn off enough calories to drop pounds. Begin this process by calculating exactly how many calories you need to burn each day. When you know this number, you can choose your exercise plans more effectively.
Step 1
Write down everything that you eat and drink for seven days. Measure and weigh your food to get accurate counts.
Step 2
Look up the foods from your journal in a calorie book or chart. Add up all the calories that you consumed each day. Add these seven totals together, then divide the total by seven. This final amount is your average daily calorie count.
Step 3
Subtract 500 from your average daily calorie count. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you must drop at least 500 calories every day in order to lose 1 lb. a week. This new total is your daily diet calorie count.
Step 4
Make a chart of physical activities you enjoy and the number of calories burned while doing them. Look up the calories burned per half hour, or whatever amount of time you can commit to daily. Find the average amount of calories burned for all the different activities.
Step 5
Add the average amount of calories burned to your daily diet calorie amount. This will allow you to eat more calories while continuing a 1 lb. weight loss per week. If you want to lose weight quicker, keep burning the additional calories with exercise while continuing the original daily diet calorie count.
Things You'll Need
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Food scale
- Calorie book or charts
- Calculator
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