First of all it is important to understand that fat is a fuel stored for times when fuel is needed to keep the body going when you are not eating. Second it is important to understand that muscles are the machinery we use that burns fuel. Now we can continue with how much fuel is needed to keep the body going with the food we eat. It takes 15 calories per pound of generally active, average human. A calorie can be thought of as the fuel and left at that for now. It is not important why this is so, but it is important that we have real numbers to use in this writing. So let's start.
Not every person is average, so an old frail woman is not considered the same machinery as a teenage boy. For this, your calculations will have to be revised to suit you personally, and I will trust you to use a little common sense. Multiply 15 times the ideal weight you would like to be. Adjust for how close you are to average, by lessening the number for a less active person, or adding some for a more active person. I will use my personal statistics for an example. I want to weigh 190 pounds and consider myself of below average activity because I am 58 years old and write for a living. I do not do a lot of sports or swim, but I do like to walk, so will show you how I figure it on paper. 190 X 15 = 2850 but because I am under active and getting old I will subtract 150 calories from the total, leaving 2700. This is the number of calories I need to maintain in my diet, to meet the 190 pounds I desire. Next is the reality check.
I am 15 pounds overweight. A pound of fat is made up of 3500 calories. This is a meaningless number if I choose to just start eating 2700 calories every day for the rest of my life, because eventually everything will fit together and I will weigh 190 pounds. Of course as I age and activity falls, I will have to make another adjustment to my calorie count. But if I would like to calculate how fast I can expect to lose the weight, I can use the 3500 number to my advantage.
I weigh 205 right now and need 205 X 15 = 3075 minus the 150 for inactivity to total 2925 as a daily intake of calories to maintain the weight I now have. If I eat 500 calories less than that number every day, I should lose one pound per week until I reach whatever weight that number stands for. 2425 / 15 = 162 or so. Of course I would want to stop at 190 pounds which would take 15 weeks instead of continuing for 43 weeks to reach 162. Simple so far. But what about adding extra activity to lose weight?
Walking for half an hour at 3 miles per hour should burn an extra 150 calories, so if I walk for an hour a day beyond my normal activity, I should burn 300 extra calories per day. This translates to losing an extra pound every couple weeks or so, but will not be apparent at first. Muscle weighs more than fat for its size and I will put on more muscle with the first few weeks of walking. After a while, I will lose the weight faster. Running the same length of time at twice the speed of walking, will burn over twice the calories, thus shorten the length of time to lose the fat. The largest muscles in the human body are at the top of the legs, so using them often is very good for weight watchers. Swimming on the other hand uses arms, legs, and chest muscles plus it uses them going in both directions so translates to a better body tone.
saquoyah.com for an investment strategy
homewriters.com for a writing critic