On my Health Challenge, I asked you guys to try and cut the amount of food you are consuming by about half. Some of you probably thought I was crazy! But let me explain why this is such an important part of getting in shape.
It takes 3,500 calories worth of activity to burn one pound of fat in the human body. Now, the average person’s caloric intake should be around 2,000 calories or less per day, meaning that there are almost two day’s worth of food energy stored in a single pound of fat.
More important than simply looking at the storage, if we start talking about how much energy you actually burn in a given day, you’ll quickly see why unless you modify your eating habits, all the exercise in the world won’t help you!
If we refer to the list below, you’ll see that an average 155 person would need to do 7 hours of HIGH impact aerobics in order to burn just a single pound of fat! If you wanted to lose 10 pounds, we’re looking at 70 hours of high impact aerobics. Wanna work a pound off quicker? Four hours of boxing would almost burn a pound of fat…
The point is, if you keep shoving more calories into your system than you are consuming, you are never going to lose weight. You need to only be consuming enough that you aren’t painfully hungry all the time, and let your body tap the excess fat cells for energy in order to burn through them. And if you’re wondering how many calories are in different kinds of food, we’ll scroll to the end of the chart and see…
| Activity (1 hour) | 130lbs | 155lbs | 190lbs |
| Aerobics, general Aerobics, high impact Aerobics, low impact Archery (nonhunting) Automobile repair Backpacking, general Badminton, competitive Badminton, social, general Basketball, game Basketball, nongame, general Basketball, officiating Basketball, shooting baskets Basketball, wheelchair Bicycling, <10mph, leisure Bicycling, >20mph, racing Bicycling, 10-11.9mph, light effort Bicycling, 12-13.9mph, moderate effort Bicycling, 14-15.9mph, vigorous effort Bicycling, 16-19mph, very fast, racing Bicycling, BMX or mountain Bicycling, stationary, general Bicycling, stationary, light effort Bicycling, stationary, moderate effort Bicycling, stationary, very light effort Bicycling, stationary, very vigorous effort Bicycling, stationary, vigorous effort Billiards Bowling Boxing, in ring, general Boxing, punching bag Boxing, sparring Broomball Calisthenics (pushups, sit-ups), vigorous effort Calisthenics, home, light/moderate effort Canoeing, on camping trip Canoeing, rowing, >6 mph, vigorous effort Canoeing, rowing, crewing, competition Canoeing, rowing, light effort Canoeing, rowing, moderate effort Carpentry, general Carrying heavy loads, such as bricks Child care: sitting/kneeling-dressing, feeding Child care: standing-dressing, feeding Circuit training, general Cleaning, heavy, vigorous effort Cleaning, house, general Cleaning, light, moderate effort Coaching: football, soccer, basketball, etc. Construction, outside, remodeling Cooking or food preparation Cricket (batting, bowling) Croquet Curling Dancing, aerobic, ballet or modern, twist Dancing, ballroom, fast Dancing, ballroom, slow Dancing, general Darts, wall or lawn Diving, springboard or platform Electrical work, plumbing Farming, baling hay, cleaning barn Farming, milking by hand Farming, shoveling grain Fencing Fishing from boat, sitting Fishing from river bank, standing Fishing in stream, in waders Fishing, general Fishing, ice, sitting Football or baseball, playing catch Football, competitive Football, touch, flag, general Frisbee playing, general Frisbee, ultimate Gardening, general Golf, carrying clubs Golf, general Golf, miniature or driving range Golf, pulling clubs Golf, using power cart | 354 413 295 207 177 413 413 266 472 354 413 266 384 236 944 354 472 590 708 502 295 325 413 177 738 620 148 177 708 354 531 413 472 266 236 708 708 177 413 207 472 177 207 472 266 207 148 236 325 148 295 148 236 354 325 177 266 148 177 207 472 177 325 354 148 207 354 236 118 148 531 472 177 207 295 325 236 177 295 207 | 422 493 352 246 211 493 493 317 563 422 493 317 457 281 1126 422 563 704 844 598 352 387 493 211 880 739 176 211 844 422 633 493 563 317 281 844 844 211 493 246 563 211 246 563 317 246 176 281 387 176 352 176 281 422 387 211 317 176 211 246 563 211 387 422 176 246 422 281 141 176 633 563 211 246 352 387 281 211 352 246 | 518 604 431 302 259 604 604 388 690 518 604 388 561 345 1380 518 690 863 1035 733 431 474 604 259 1078 906 216 259 1035 518 776 604 690 388 345 1035 1035 259 604 302 690 259 302 690 388 302 216 345 474 216 431 216 345 518 474 259 388 216 259 302 690 259 474 518 216 302 518 345 173 216 776 690 259 302 431 474 345 259 431 302 |
Now, the good folks over at WiseGeek.com put together a post that shows you how much you food you get in 200 calorie increments for a bunch of different kings of food. It could range from a whole plate of broccoli, to a one ounce piece of butter! So take a look at those and then think back to the exercise chart and what it’s going to take to burn that off!
found this very informative. Recently started my journey to lose some unwanted pounds. Did it once and with your helpful tips, I see no reason I can’t do it again. Little older now, but I can!!!!!
I do not see internet surfing or blogging anywhere near to that list, and must say that the sedentary lifestyle associated with being attached to a key board 24/7 can very easily take its toll. You’re inspiring me to take up the health challenge too, John.
Very useful chart. Good luck on your Health Challenge.
Nice post John. This is something which most people overlook. They gym hard, eat what ever they wish and later grumble I am not losing any weight.