While we are talking about pounds, let’s make sure everyone has realistic understanding about what it takes to lose weight. No matter how you slice it, weight loss happens when you burn more calories than you take in, right? Duh- we all know that. But how many calories do you have to burn per day to lose a pound per week? One pound is 3600 calories (kcal), so rounding down and dividing by seven days in a week, the answer is that you need reduce your daily calories by 500 kcal.
Now, if you’ve paid attention to the number of calories burned when you hop on a machine at the gym, you may think it’s impossible to burn 500 kcal per day- and you’re probably right! The good news is that there simply needs to be a 500 kcal deficit, so by eliminating one higher calorie habit such as that afternoon pick-me-up soda or frappachino, you may only need to “exercise off” one or two hundred calories. Look at the calories and serving size of your favorite foods and drinks. You might be shocked to see that your morning muffin counts as three servings and totals 600 kcal if you eat the whole muffin (and who eats a third of a muffin??)
BOTTOM LINE: Realize that losing a pound per week is excellent weight loss- it didn’t come on over night, and it wont come off that way, either!
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