How Long Will It Take Me To Lose All This Unwanted Weight?

Written by Diet Bites

One of the first things that individuals like to know before they strike out on a diet is, "How long is this gonna take?"

Unfortunately, there isn't an instant answer to this question, because everyone is made up differently: muscle mass is different, calorie needs are different, metabolisms are different and so forth.

However, here are some averages and commonalities of we-humans that can be determined:

It takes longer to lose weight that it does to gain weight.

For example, Jeffery whizzed by the donut shop on his way to work-e-poo and decided to take a dozen donuts and donut holes to the office as a nicety to his co-workers. Co-worker Janice was always doing nice stuff like this - baking cookies, bringing in cinnamon rolls and so forth.

Jeffery started smelling the yeasty goodness of the newly purchased load as he make the one hour drive to work. He decided to splurge and enjoy one.

Good grief - that was so tasty, he had to have another. And another.

By the time that he reached the office, he was full of yeasty goodness. He felt hugely guilty as he set the tiny bag of 12 holes onto the break room countertop.

All in all, Jeffery had consumed 3,600 calories amid his yeasty binge. But for argument's sake - let's say that he only consumed half that amount - 1,800. This isn't enough calories to create a one pound rate of weight gain, but he will gain about 1/2 pound if he eats normally throughout the remainder of the day.

In order to burn off those 1,200 calories he can't possibly accomplish such in the same amount of time in which he consumed them.

Jeffery weighs 200 pounds. He would need to do the following activities in order to burn off 1,200 calories:

- He can play the piano for six hours and he will have accomplished such.

- He would need to jump rope or climb stairs for about two hours. What fun!

- He would need to go canoeing for about four hours.

On average, most dieters who are successful at keeping weight off permanently lose about 2 pounds per week.

A two pound per week weight loss is considered a safe, reasonable goal.

To lose two pounds of weight per week, an individual must cut their daily calories by 1,000 OR exercise more in addition to cutting calories.

It takes 3,500 calories to make a pound. In addition, a dieter should never dip below 1,250 calories per day and should always seek the advice of their health care giver before striking out on a diet.

Unfortunately, there isn't an instant answer to this question, because everyone is

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