calories to burn to lose a pound

Calorie counting, the process of figuring out and recording how many calories you eat every day, has been around for years. Although some people think it’s too much trouble, others find it motivates them and helps them become more aware of what and how much they eat on a daily basis. It has its limits, but calorie counting remains popular and can be effective tool to help you>lose weight, gain weight, or even maintain your present weight.

A calorie is a unit of energy. Your body’s cells all require energy to function, and to get energy they use up, or burn calories. To replenish its energy supply, the body needs calories from food and drink. If the body does not get enough calories from these sources, it will eventually take energy from its stores of fat and the result is weight loss. If the body takes in more calories than it burns, most of those excess calories will eventually be stored as fat, causing weight gain. Calories in and calories out -exist in a relationship. Burn more calories than you take in and you will lose weight.

Calorie counting is most often used by people trying to do just that -lose weight. For people who are overweight, the health benefits of weight loss are well-known. Less well-known is the connection between weight and osteo arthritis. People who are overweight are at greater risk for osteo arthritis in the hips and especially in the knees. A loss of even 5 pounds can help substantially ease the burden on the knee joints. This puts many people in a difficult situation as their arthritis makes it more difficult to exercise, the need for weight reduction becomes more pressing. For these people, cutting calories may by necessity play a greater role than exercise in weight-loss strategies, and calorie counting may make cutting easier.

How many calories do I need? The recommended place to start is by estimating how many calories a day it takes to maintain your present weight. This depends on your sex, height, weight, age, and activity level. You can use an Internet calculator such as www.mypyramid.gov.

Plug in your pertinent information and the calculator comes up with an estimate of how many calories you need every day to maintain your weight. If you do not have access to the Internet and would like to estimate your calorie needs yourself, you can use this simple formula. Multiply your current weight by 10 and an increase the result by 30%. If you weigh 150 pounds, for example, multiplying by 10 gives you 1500. Add to that 30% of 1500 which is 450 and you get a total of 1950 cal. Estimating this way is rather rough and ready because it doesn’t take into account factors such as age, sex, and different activity levels. But it can give you a general idea of your calorie needs and be a starting point for your calorie counting.

Remember, the number you are trying to get with this calculation is an estimate of what you need to maintain your weight. To lose weight, you’ll have to cut whatever number you come up with. To bring about a lost a pound of them in a week, eat 500 cal fewer a day then your weight maintenance levels. To gain weight, do the reverse and eat 500 extra calories a day to gain a pound week.

500 fewer calories a day is considered a good place for weight loss. Cutting more than 500 cal can be counterproductive and dangerous. Also, people should generally not have fewer than about 1200 cal daily, except under medical supervision . If cutting 500 calories seems more than you can handle, or if it would take you below the 1200 level, don’t be discouraged. Even a more modest reduction of 100 calories a day can help you lose 10 pounds in a year.

For more detailed information about any weight loss program, try visiting http://diet-weight-loss.best-info-on.com, a popular diet site that has tips and information about weight loss products,healthy weight loss, quick ways to lose weight and more. You can also sign up to receive a free diet ebook and newsletter.

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calories to burn to lose a pound