How many calories do you have to burn to lose one pound?

by Anne M. Fletcher  who is a nationally known health and medical writer.

The short answer to your question is that, to lose a pound of body fat, you have to burn off approximately 3,500 calories above and beyond the number of calories needed to maintain your current weight.

Your question provides a good launching point to talk about the mathematics of weight loss. Let's say you want to lose 20 pounds -- that means you'd have to burn off an extra 70,000 calories (20 X 3,500) through exercise OR create a deficit of 70,000 calories by cutting back on your food intake. This probably sounds like a lot if you only need 1,800 calories a day to maintain your present weight, which may be the case if you are currently not exercising.

If you tackle the weight loss by diet alone, cutting back to 1,200 calories a day, here's the math of how long it would take you to lose the 20 pounds:

1,800 (daily calories needed to maintain your current weight) - 1,200 (number of daily calories eaten on your weight-loss diet) = 600 (excess calories burned each day that "count" toward weight loss)

Now, take the 70,000-calorie deficit required to lose the 20 pounds and divide that number by the 600-calorie deficit each day on your diet, and it would take you 117 days or nearly four months to lose the weight.

If you add exercise into the equation, however, it can speed things up. If you were to briskly walk for 15 to 20 minutes a day (in addition to following the 1,200-calorie diet) you could burn off an extra 100 calories a day which would enable you to lose the weight in approximately 100 days.

Rather than diet, some people prefer to go about things more gradually. It always used to amaze my patients when I told them that if they cut back their calorie intake by just 100 calories a day -- that's the amount in a tablespoon of mayonnaise or butter -- or if they increased their activity level by 100 calories a day, they would quite painlessly lose 10 pounds in a year's time!

Be aware, in all of this, that weight loss varies greatly from one person to the next depending on overall body size, metabolic rate, and activity level.

In "Thin for Life," for instance, I describe one study in which 108 overweight women were placed on a weight-loss diet consisting of the same number of calories for each person. By the end of 21 days, weight losses ranged from 2 pounds to 28 pounds. Some women didn't lose any weight until day 13 of the diet!

If you're a slow loser, it's important to give yourself credit for any weight movement in the right direction -- and not to be hard on yourself if the scale gets stuck for awhile.

To complicate things a bit more, after you lose some weight, it actually takes somewhat fewer calories to maintain the new lower weight than it did to maintain your old weight -- simply because your body size is smaller. This can be offset with exercise or adjusting to eating less.

[-- anne]

Do low-carb diets work?

The Journal of the American Dietetic Association refers to high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets -- popular in numerous best-selling weight-loss books -- as "the diet fad of the 21st century."

The journal notes that such diets have become popular because, in the 1980s and 1990s, consumers mistakenly believed that as long as you kept your fat intake way down, you could eat unlimited amounts of carbohydrate-rich foods (like pasta, bread and sugary foods) and still lose weight.

Given the failure of this approach for many people, it now seems attractive to turn to diets promising you can lose weight while eating whatever protein-rich foods you want -- such as steak and eggs -- as long as you strictly limit your carbs.

But do high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets work for weight control? While there hasn't been much research on the effectiveness of these diets, the truth is that all diets work for some people. Some individuals feel less hungry on high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets; and because of the initial diuretic effect of these diets, you can drop a fair amount of weight quickly in the beginning. However, most of that weight is temporary water loss -- not fat loss.

You can lose body fat on these diets, but it's primarily because you consume fewer calories when following them. People tend to eat between 1,200 and 1,500 calories a day when on a high-protein, low-carb diet, which is low enough for most people to lose weight. In short, anything that lowers your calorie intake is going to help you shed pounds, but the big question is, "Will you keep the weight off?"

When people ask me this question, I always say, "Let's look at the experiences of people who have lost weight and kept it off." I found 208 of them for my "Thin for Life" books, and the National Weight Control Registry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has located more than 3,000 long-term maintainers. In sharp contrast to the high-protein, low-carb fad, people who have overcome weight problems tend to eat diets that are relatively high in carbohydrates, low in fat, and moderate in protein.

The "masters" of former weight problems I've surveyed tend to make high-carbohydrate foods -- like fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals and pasta -- the mainstay of their diets; and many told me they've cut back on meats. They also watch their portion sizes and overall calorie intake.

The real clincher for me in all of this comes from U.S. Department of Agriculture research designed to assess the health effects of popular diets, which reviewed more than 200 studies and also examined food habits of more than 10,000 adults.

The researchers' conclusions? "Diets that are high in carbohydrates and low to moderate in fats tend to be lower in [calories]." Moreover, body mass index (BMI), the ratio of body fat to total weight, was significantly lower in people on a high-carbohydrate diet; the highest BMIs were noted for those on a low-carbohydrate diet.

[-- anne]

June 27, 2001

References:

-- Stein, Karen. "High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets: Do they work?" J. of the American Dietetic Association, July 2000, pp. 760-761.

-- Fletcher, Anne. "Thin for Life: 10 Keys to Success From People Who Have Lost Weight & Kept It Off." Houghton Mifflin, 1994.

-- Shick, Siao Mei, et. al. "Persons successful at long-term weight loss and maintenance continue to consume a low-energy, low-fat diet." J. of the American Dietetic Association, April 1998, pp. 408-413.

-- Kennedy, Eileen, et. al. "Popular Diets: Correlation to Health, Nutrition, and Obesity." J. of the American Dietetic Association, April 2001, pp. 411-420.

This column is designed to provide informed responses to

by Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.

Eat protein at every meal, including breakfast.

Eliminate wheat- and flour-based products for the time being. And yes, that definitely includes bread and pasta.

Eat unprocessed foods. Ninety percent of what you eat should be food that could have been hunted, caught, gathered from the ground or plucked from a tree.

Reduce starch to one portion a day, and don't eat that portion during your evening meal. Best choices are oatmeal, sweet potatoes and beans.

Don't overdo fruit: two a day maximum, and only the low-sugar, high-fiber variety. Apples, pears, plums and berries all are good choices. Bananas are not. For now, fruit should be eaten alone or with something light like nuts or a little cheese. Lose the fruit juice.

Reduce or eliminate dairy for the time being, especially cow's milk. Exceptions: reasonable amounts of cheese and occasional portions of yogurt, but not the fat-free kind (it contains way too much sugar).

Lose the booze. Despite what the "studies" say, you lose no health benefits by giving up alcohol. There is nothing essential in alcohol that you can't get in fruits and vegetables.

Stop using vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower and corn. The supermarket kind is highly refined, and it oxidizes easily when heated, contributing to arterial plaque. Use olive oil instead.

Watch which types of fat you're eating. The amount of fat you eat is probably less important than the kind of fat you eat. The worst are fried foods, margarine and foods that contain hydrogenized or partially hydrogenized oils. The best is omega-3, found in fish and flaxseed oil.

Obsessively drink water: at least eight or more large glasses each day. Every day. No excuses.

Got a question or comment for Jonny? Post it on the Shape Up message board!

ivillage.com

by Lynn Grieger, R.D., C.D.E.

Are you ready to lose weight but aren't sure how to start? Worry no more. Follow our five easy steps to weight loss today. No more delays. No more waiting until Monday. No more looking for the perfect diet. No more fad diets that cost bushels of money and don't work. Follow these simple and effective steps and you'll get started losing weight today, and keep it off tomorrow.

Carry a notebook and a pen.

Make sure you write in that notebook! Every single thing that you swallow should be written in your notebook, preferably as soon as you swallow it. If you finish your daughter's leftover Pop-Tart at breakfast, write it down. Sample a cookie at the office? Write it down. Just a "taste" of the stew you're making for dinner? You've got it: Write it down! Writing down what we eat and drink forces us to be aware of what we're putting in our mouth. It also gives us an easy way to track our intake and decide what changes we want to make.

Ask "why?"

Every time you start to eat or drink, ask yourself one word: Why? Why am I eating this? Am I hungry, tired, bored, stressed, lonely? The correct answer is simple: hunger. If you're not hungry, don't eat. Figure out what you need to do to satisfy that emotion: Take a nap, read a book, yell at your boss, call a friend -- just don't eat if you're not hungry.

Eat to lose.

That's right, if you skip meals you won't lose weight. Why not? Because then you'll get so hungry that you snack, or eat more than you want to, or end up feeling miserable and quit right away. Everybody needs to eat and deserves to eat three meals per day. Snacks, too (if, of course, you can answer #2 correctly first). And forget those skimpy little diet meals. They just leave you feeling hungry and unsatisfied. A meal should include whole grains, fruit and vegetables, protein and even a small amount of fat.

Remember your favorite things.

If you've ever tried to completely avoid your favorite food, then completely lost control and devoured the entire bag of cookies, you know what I'm talking about. Stuck on chocolate? Eat one delicious, exquisite piece of high-quality chocolate every evening. Savor that chocolate. Sit down, relax, and do nothing but enjoy the flavor, texture and experience of eating the chocolate. Eat slowly, enjoying every bite. And whatever you do, don't feel guilty. A small portion of your favorite food will keep you satisfied and happy -- and losing weight.

Find a part of your body that moves (not your mouth) and move it.

Everyone can move something. If you have bad knees you can still exercise your arms or even do water exercises in a pool. Take up line dancing or karate. Walk the dog in the morning before work, take the kids for a bike ride after school, or listen to favorite music while using your treadmill. Even housework can become exercise if you move vigorously enough. Turn vacuuming into a race, wash windows with plenty of elbow grease, or scrub flours until you work up a sweat. There simply are no excuses for not moving. Every day. Monday through Sunday. Start with five minutes and add 1-5 additional minutes every week until you're moving for at least 60 minutes every day. You can spread the activity times apart if you want: vacuum for 10 minutes in the morning, take a brisk 15-minute walk at lunch, ride bikes with your sweetie after dinner for 30 minutes and carry out garbage (at a fast clip) for 5 minutes. You've done it!

There you have it: five simple, easy-to-start steps toward weight loss and long-term weight management. Start right now.

Jenny Kelley, Chicago, IL

A: Believe it or not, this is the most common question I get asked. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine in the internet business told me that "weight loss and fat loss" were the number one phrases put into search engines. Whenever I get asked this question I first find out what type of eating habits the person has. I can't emphasize to you enough that if you don't eat well and don't do some type of cardio activity you will not lose body fat. Most people expect there to be some sort of magic combination of supplements they can take to burn body fat. Actually there is, but you must get your eating habits in order and make the commitment to exercise regularly. With that being said let me give you the advice you asked for.

As far as eating goes, it is best to eat six small-to-medium sized meals per day. As soon as you eat your first meal, you will eat every three hours thereafter. This is called "eating by the clock". You will eat a meal high in protein, moderate in carbs and low in fat every three hours. Write down the six times you will be eating and eat when the clock tells you to - whether you are hungry or not. In fact, if you wait until you are hungry to eat, you have waited too long. At this point, your body has already started the process of doing what it can to conserve energy which is exactly what you do not want. You also do not want to eat until you are full. Eat just enough to get you by until the next meal in 3 hours. It is alright to substitute two of your meals with a high quality meal replacement shake, but stick with healthy whole foods as much as possible.

If you need more help with your diet, please read Getting Started In The Zone! in this issue of Naturally Ripped News. The Zone Diet was originally developed by Barry Sears, PhD. This science-based nutrition program harnesses the powerful, almost drug-like effects of food, to position your body within a hormonally-controlled "Zone" 24 hours a day.

When it comes to exercise I suggest you do at least three sessions per week of weight training and at least four sessions per week of cardio training. It is very important to do your cardio sessions with the proper amount of intensity. For example, it is better to do 25 minutes of very high intensity cardio than to do 45 minutes using minimal effort.

netrition.com