Article # 429. How Many Calories Should I Burn a Week to Lose Weight?

How Many Calories Should I Burn a Week to Lose Weight?

Your body burns a certain number of calories during day-to-day activity and to maintain metabolic functions, such as cell production, blood circulation, heart beat and breathing. An increase in your level of exercise enables you to burn more calories than your body burns on its own and helps you lose weight.

Significance

Increasing the number of calories you burn through exercise promotes weight loss. Another significant factor is your calorie intake. If you increase your physical activity without increasing the number of calories you consume, weight loss results. However, underestimating your calorie intake can sabotage your efforts to lose weight through exercise. Even if you intend to maintain your current eating plan, monitor your food intake to make sure you don't counteract your increased activity with increased calorie consumption.

Identification

When you eat enough calories to support your current weight, you need to create a calorie deficit through physical activity. To burn enough calories to lose weight, plan to exercise five to seven times a week. If you burn 250 calories through exercise seven days a week, for example, you create a weekly deficit of 1,750 calories. Since you need a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose 1 lb., this level of activity supports weight loss of 1/2 lb. per week.

Considerations

Your physical activity goals need to be realistic and contribute to healthy weight loss. A modest calorie deficit of 250 calories daily equates to a weight loss of 2 lbs. per month. To lose 1 lb. per week, you would need to burn 500 calories daily. It takes 60 minutes of aerobics or brisk walking for a 154-lb. person to burn 460 to 480 calories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This may be realistic if you are fit and already moderately physically active. If not, start with 15 to 20 minutes of low-intensity exercise such as walking and work your way up to longer and more intense activities.

Factors

The number of calories you burn during exercise depends on the type of activity, your weight and how many minutes you spend exercising. A 154-lb. person burns 145 to 165 calories in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activities such as walking at 3.5 mph, dancing, golfing without a cart or bicycling at 10 mph or less, notes the CDC. Higher intensity activities, such as aerobics swimming or jogging, burn 240 to 295 calories for the same duration.

 Recommendations

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 150 to 250 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise to support modest weight loss. In addition, ACSM recommends you incorporate two strength workouts into your regimen on non-consecutive days to increase muscle mass and burn calories. Continue a modest exercise regimen after you reach your goal weight to help you maintain your weight long term.