How Many Calories Do You Have To Burn To Lose One Pound??

SuperSoftCoils

I am thinking of doing a little caloric restriction to amp up my routine in time for summer and I wanted to know on a basic 2, 000 calorie per day diet, how many calories do you need to burn to lose one pound?

Thanks!

godgivenperm

I hope this will make sense:

Basically you need to burn off 3500 calories per pound you wish to lose.

If you can stick with this type of routine - decrease your current daily calorie count by 500 calories and then exerise to burn off 500 calories.
This can be a somewhat painless way to lose weight gradually. You still have to crank up to the 3500 calorie deficit.

SuperSoftCoils

Thanks!

I am going to start calorie counting today and tomorrow to get a more general idea of what my intake has been and then start on monday with making the restrictions, etc...

I'm not sure how many calories I burn at the gym but I try to work out for an hour at least 4-5 days out of the week and then do yoga on my off days.

godgivenperm

Keep in mind that my example is a little simplistic.

You don't want to lower your calories so that you're barely eating anything because you still have to keep your metabolism going.
I think you don't want to go below 1200 calories per day.

I should point out here that I'm in no way a dietian, doctor, or trainer - I just read a whole lotta health and fitness books and magazines!

inheritedcurls

There are several websites that can tell you how many calories it takes for your body to sustain the weight you are at today. It usually asks about current weight, height and activity level.

You then take the calories and subtract 500. This will give you your calorie intake you need to lose 1 pound a week. I agree with godgivenperm that you should not drop below 1200 calories otherwise you will hurt your metabolism.

I did this diet and lost around 14 to 15 pounds.. which is all I needed. I plan on doing this again once the baby is here.

Good Luck!!!

PixieCurl

I've heard of a 200/300 plan - decrease your current daily caloric intake by 200 calories (which should be pretty easy) and burn 300 calories with exercise. This creates a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day, or 3500 per week, which will have you lose 1 pound per week (a recommended safe amount).