Introduction
to weight loss
Whether you are
trying to lose 5 pounds or more than 50, the same principles determine how much
weight you lose and how fast your weight loss will occur. Remembering the
following simple guidelines and putting them into practice can lead to weight
loss without the aid of any special diet plans, books, or medications.
Our body weight is
determined by the amount of energy that we take in as food and the amount of
energy we expend in the activities of our day. Energy is measured in calories.
If your weight remains constant, you are probably taking in the same amount of
calories that you burn each day. If you're slowly gaining weight over time, it
is likely that your caloric intake is greater than the number of calories you
burn through your daily activities.
Everyone is in
control of the amount of food he or she consumes each day, so our intake of
calories is something we can control. To a major degree, we can also control
our output of energy, or the number of calories we burn each day. The number of
calories we burn each day is dependent upon
·
our basal metabolic
rate (BMR), the number of calories we burn per hour simply by being alive and
maintaining body functions
·
And our level of
physical activity.
For some people,
due to genetic (inherited) factors or other conditions, the resting metabolic
rate (BMR) can be slightly higher or lower than average. Our weight also plays
a role in determining how many calories we burn at rest -- the more calories are required to
maintain your body in its present state, the greater your body weight. A
100-pound person requires less energy (food) to maintain body weight than a
person who weighs 200 pounds.
Lifestyle and work
habits partially determine how many calories we need each day. Someone whose
job involves heavy physical labor will naturally burn more calories in a day
than someone who sits at a desk most of the day (a sedentary job). For people
who do not have jobs that require intense physical activity, exercise or
increased physical activity can increase the number of calories burned.
As a rough
estimate, an average woman 31-50 years of age who leads a sedentary lifestyle
needs about 1,800 calories per day to maintain a normal weight. A man of the
same age requires about 2,200 calories. Participating in a moderate level of
physical activity (exercising three to five days per week) requires about 200
additional calories per day.
How do you
lose weight?
The most effective
method for weight loss is reducing the number of calories you consume while
increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity. To lose 1
pound, you need an expenditure of approximately 3,500 calories. You can achieve
this either by cutting back on your food intake, by increasing physical
activity, or ideally, by doing both.
For example, if you consume 500 extra calories per day for one week
without changing your activity level, you will gain 1 pound in weight (seven
days multiplied by 500 calories equals 3,500 calories, or the number of
calories resulting in a 1-poundweight gain). Likewise, if you eat 500 fewer
calories each day for a week or burn 500 calories per day through exercise for
one week, you will lose 1 pound.
Examples of calorie content of
some popular foods and beverages include the following:
·
one slice of
original-style crust pepperoni pizza - 230 calories
·
one glass of dry
white wine - 160 calories
·
one can of cola -
150 calories
·
one quarter-pound
hamburger with cheese - 500 calories
·
one jumbo banana
nut muffin - 580 calories
Any activities you
do throughout the day are added to your BMR (basal metabolic rate) to determine
the total number of calories you burn each day. For example, a 170-pound person
who spends 45 minutes walking briskly
will burn about 300 calories. The same time spent on housecleaning burns about
200 calories, and mowing the lawn for 45 minutes consumes around 275 calories.
For more, please read the Calories Burned During Fitness Activities article.
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