Losing Weight Slowly but Surely

Most Weight Watchers understand that the best way to lose weight is on a slow and steady pace, 1-2 pounds a week.  I've finally gotten used to that fact and have totally embraced it!

Here's one of my Yahoo articles that drives this point home, and gives some startling facts about what each milestone of fat lost represents in terms of reduced calories, energy expended and even inanimate objects! :)

Image courtesy of Aspen04/wikimedia commons

Losing Weight One Pound at a Time 
Pub. 7-25-09 Yahoo Voices

Have you just started a diet plan? If so, you are probably anxious to rid yourself of those extra pounds and start fitting into the clothes at the back of your closet as soon as possible. Not so fast! Losing weight takes commitment, knowledge and patience. Most importantly, it is best to be realistic about how quickly you can get to your goal weight.

Losing One Pound of Body Weight
 
So you just stepped on the scale after a week of dieting and it shows you've only lost one pound. Don't be discouraged! Let's review what it took to get to that scale's needle to move one notch, and why it's not such a bag thing!

1. How many calories equal one pound? One pound of lost body fat requires an intake of 3500 calories less than expended per week or 500 per day. To determine how many calories you would need to cut daily to lose that one pound, use Mayo Clinic's calorie calculator to determine your current daily caloric requirement and subtract 500 calories.

2. How long do you need to exercise to lose one pound? Use the Health Status calculator to determine how many minutes are required of a particular activity to lose one pound. You enter your age and weight and will be given a list of answers to choose from. For instance for a 50 year old, weighing 150 pounds, losing one pound would require 353 minutes of bicycling at 12-14 miles per hour, or 440 minutes on the stair machine, or 1,014 minutes of bowling. 

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