Think of your body as a battery. The more energy that is put into a battery, the bigger it must be. Energy for humans is measured in the form of calories. To lose weight, you must lose this potential energy or burn calories. How many calories you burn depends on the activity, intensity of the activity and the duration. For every 3,500 calories you burn, you will lose 1 lb. of fat.
Step 1
Determine how many pounds you want to lose per week. Multiply the number of pounds you want to lose per week times 3,500. For example, to lose 2 lbs. per week, multiply 2 lbs./week X 3,500 = 7,000 calories deficit. Therefore, you must have a 1,000-calorie deficit per day to lose 2 lbs. per week. This could be accomplished by reducing caloric intake and increasing physical activity. Losing more than 2 lbs. per week is not healthy.
Step 2
Write down in your notebook your normal daily activities. Now, think of activities that you can do to increase your daily activity level. This may include walking, running, swimming, an aerobics class, etc.
Step 3
Determine the the number of calories burned per hour with each new activity. The easiest way to do this is to purchase a pedometer. For every 1,000 steps registered on your pedometer you will burn 50 calories.
Step 4
Write in your notebook the number of calories burned with each additional activity. For example, your aerobics class recorded 2,000 steps. Therefore, you burned 100 calories in that class. Continue brainstorming activities that you can do that will add up to 500 calories per day. An additional 500 calories, or 10,000 steps, burned per day through additional activity will result in a 1-lb. weight loss over the course of a week.
Step 5
Control your caloric intake. Write in your notebook a list of foods or beverages that you can cut out of your diet to reduce your caloric intake.
Step 6
Research the amount of calories found in the foods on your list. For example, an average 20-oz. soda contains 250 calories. If you reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories per day, you will lose an additional 1 lb. per week. These adjustments made in your diet and physical activity will result in 2 lbs. lost per week.
Tips and Warnings
- Try to vary your additional activities because your body adapts and may not burn as many calories over the long-term. Higher intensity exercise for a shorter duration is more beneficial than lower intensity exercise for a longer duration.
- Check with your doctor before performing intense exercise.
Things You'll Need
- Calculator
- Pedometer
- Notebook
References
- "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise;" Compendium of Physical Activities: Classification of Energy Costs of Human Physical Activities; B.E. Ainsworth, W.L. Haskell, A.S. Leon, et al; 25 (1): 71-80; 1993.
- The Mayo Clinic
- "JAMA;" Using Pedometers to Increase Physical Activity and Improve Health; D. Bravata, C. Smith-Spangler, V. Sundaram, A. Gienger, N. Lin, R. Lewis, C. Stave, I. Olkin, J. Sirard; 298 (19): 2296-2304; 2007.
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