Calorie Burning 101
• Fat Loss, Dieting
Author: © Carole Pagan, 2004
You know the formula for losing weight, right? Burn more than you take in. So say you're like me, and you eat an average of 2000 calories a day. Yep, I love my food. But I also have to eat that much just to maintain my weight. How the heck can I burn all that off? First off, you burn calories just by gracing the earth with your presence. That's right. Everything about you burns calories- breathing, heartbeat, digesting your food, even reading this article. You knew this was good for you, right? :) So what did you do today? Slept, say 7 hours- 420 calories Took a shower - 65 calories Ate Breakfast - 35 calories Drove an hour to work - 120 calories Ate Lunch - 35 calories Took a 20 minute walk - 90 calories Worked an office job all day - 800 calories Drove an hour home - 120 calories Stopped at the grocery store - 70 calories Made dinner - 50 calories Washed dishes - 45 calories Cleaned a room - 70 calories Sat and vegged in front of TV - 2 hours - 150 calories You burned 2040 calories. In other words, you would maintain the same weight you are at. 2000 in, 2000 out. But there is an extra 40 calories in the burn column. If you were to keep that up, you would lose a pound in 88 days. Oh my gosh, did I hear some light bulbs going off? But Caaaarole, I didn't feeeeel like going to the store and making dinner. I ran through the McDonalds drive-thru instead. Kicked my feet up in front of the TV and didn't move. Oh my, that decision cost you 160 burned calories, plus an additional 200 calories that you added to your intake, for a total of 360 excess calories. Do that for 10 days, and you'll have gained a pound. Not to mention that you'll feel sluggish from all that fat, so you'll be even less motivated to get up and move. But let's say that the snapshot above was pretty close to your day, but instead of 2 hours of TV, you went to the mall. You added another 135 calories to the burn column! Or you have a stationary bike in front of the TV - that works too, add about 135 calories to the burn column. If you have kids, or a dog, add another 120 calories burned for each hour of activity with them. I know, it could be more or less depending on the kinds of activity and how strenuously you do each one. That's really not the point here. There's a fine line between maintaining and gaining weight. Poor decisions made regularly add up quickly. Eat Smarter + Move More = Lose Weight --------------------------------------------------------------- Carole is the author of Breaking Destructive Eating Habits- A shocking report that reveals why they don't want you to lose weight and what you can do to get your life back. Get your copy and finally be free. http://www.ConvenienceNet.com/destructive.html
About the author: Carole is a single work at home mom. She shares her life improvement tips and time saving resources at ConvenienceNet.com.