One Pound of Fat = 3500 Calories
One pound of fat equals three thousand, five hundred calories.
If you want to lose weight, your body needs to run at a deficit. If you eat 3500 fewer calories a week, you can expect to drop a pound of fat. If eating 3500 fewer calories seems unreasonable, especially if the typical diet is 2000 calories a day, you need to figure out ways to burn an additional 3500 more calories a week. How can you do that?
First, let’s break it down per day. If you can burn up 500 calories a day extra, or eat 500 less, or any combination of the two; you can cut out one pound a week. That seems much more manageable than the 3500 number right? So, think of ways you can cut out 500 calories a day. If you drink a can of soda, that’s 100 calories. Can you skip it? If so, you only need to burn an extra 400 calories. Take one less bite of lunch and save it for tomorrow. Go low calorie and eat lots of fiber. Eating one fewer calorie is far easier than burning it.
But, let’s talk about burning it. The typical benchmark is that a 150 lb. person will burn 100 calories for every mile they walk on level ground. If you weight 150 lb., simply walk five miles a day and you’ll have burned out 500 calories and well on your way to losing a pound a week. Doesn’t that sound really easy? If you weigh more, you’ll burn more. You don’t burn more by running that mile, though you do improve cardiovascular health.
If you are more ambitious, hit the gym and ride the bike, walk the treadmill on incline, or do the elliptical machine. All those will burn calories far faster than walking on level ground, but require more effort. You could always start walking and then move to the gym. Or simply walk on an incline at the gym while watching TV or something.
Remember, 3500 calories is a pound of fat.
5 People have left comments on this post
Jul 1, 2008 - 07:07:09While your general advice is excellent you burn a LOT more calories running than you do walking.
http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist3.htm
If you think about it, it’s common sense - your physical exertion is MUCH higher.
Walking 4mph, @ 15 minutes/mile, burns about 281 calories per hour for a 155-pound man. Conversely, running at 7mph - 8:30/mile - burns 809 calories/hour for the same bodyweight.
I’ve seen this 100 calories/mile for walking number a few places of late but I think it’s bad data that has become passed around as ‘fact’. If you weighed 300 pounds, there might be something to it, but otherwise walking even at a brisk pace is only a nominal calorie burn.
It’s still better than nothing, of oourse - a lot better!
However, to really benefit from walking, you need to be walking hills, and at a good pace (4mph+)!
Actually…the original post is correct. It’s all in how you look at it. Running a mile and walking a mile briskly will burn pretty much the same calories. Yes, you burn more per minute running but…you finish the mile much quicker than walking.
If you run and walk for the exact same amount of time, no doubt you exert more running and burn more energy. But if you run only, say half the time as you would walking….you get the point?
The issue is that if you are exerting less energy, you need to do it longer. Walking briskly is about as good as it gets for the average person.
No, there is a lot more at play then just distance and time. There was a recent article in running that they did research into the actual calories burned comparing walking and running. Running burned more per mile, not just per minute. There is a huge change in mechanics between running and walking that play into calories burned.
I agree with Sheamus and “Anon”. Running and walking a mile are 2 vastly different things in regards to your body. Running brings your cardiovascular system more in to play and exercises more muscles throughout your body, hence the extra calories burned. Admittedly, walking can affect your cardio system, but again it’s low intensity and it’s probably after 2 or 3 miles you’ll see any affect.
Running is second most inefficient way of travel for your body (behind swimming), more calories are exerted for the same distance traveled. BTW, cycling is shown to be the most efficient, but is still quite a hefty workout.
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