Posted on January 08, 2010 by Dave W

Unless you have been abducted by aliens, and had a mind cleanse, or some kind of probe. You will know that to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume.

There you have it. Simple!

If only it was that simple. If you have ever tried to lose weight or get fitter, you will know it is far from easy.

The obscene amounts of money spent on weight loss products, tells its own story.

A quick search on Google gives 105,000,000 results for the term weight loss.

So, in between calories burnt and calories consumed lie over 100 million sites showing you how to do it.

If you could find an easier way of doing it, would you?

If you could find a way to lose weight that didn’t cost the earth, would you use it?

Do you switch from one overrated product to the next, to the next and then back again?

Have you ever tried taking the whole weight loss situation to its simplest of terms?

TO LOSE WEIGHT, YOU HAVE TO BURN MORE CALORIES THAN YOU CONSUME!

To lose 1lb you have to burn around 3,500 calories.

To burn 3,500 calories someone weighing 200lb would have to run at just over 5 mph for around 6 hours.

 For someone overweight, the act of running can cause extreme stress on the body and joints.

Running burns plenty of calories, but it can be at a price.

Let’s take a look at how other forms of activity shape up.

The following figures are based on someone weighing 200lbs doing 1 hours activity.

Brushing teeth – 228 calories.

Badminton – 408 calories.

Dancing fast ballroom – 504 calories.

Hiking – 540 calories.

Aerobics low impact-552 calories.

Chopping wood-552 calories.

Cycling 12-14mph-792 calories.

Housework-263 calories.

Jogging-636 calories.

There are plenty of calorie calculators online if you would like more info.

Looking at the above list, we can see that brushing our teeth for an hour would burn 228 calories.  Cycling at 12-14 mph would burn 792 calories.

Brushing your teeth whilst cycling would…….be absolutely ridiculous. Try to take this seriously!

Agreed, cycling at an average of 12-14mph may be too much if you are just starting. But because you are using your bodies largest muscle group you will burn calories.

Let’s assume then, that you have decided to give cycling a go in your weight loss efforts. How do you put it all together?

To bring things back to its simplest form we have to keep a log of our intake and our output.

To some, calorie counting is something only die hard dieters do and it doesn’t work!

In my opinion, the whole concept of dieting is wrong, and it is the quality of food that counts.

Having a healthy, balanced diet with regular exercise is the utopia we are aiming for.

I am not going to go into what represents a healthy balanced diet here, because you would not be overweight if you followed one!

The old adage, you are what you eat is very true. If you eat foods high in fat, you will get fat!

How would you feel if you could eat almost anything you wanted and still lost weight?

To a certain degree, you can, if you take things back to their simplest form, and remember…….

TO LOSE WEIGHT, YOU HAVE TO BURN MORE CALORIES THAN YOU CONSUME!

Get yourself a bike; it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

Start off slowly, and build up until you are comfortable doing more intense riding. This is when you will get the best gains, when you train in your anaerobic zone.

Keep a daily log of everything you eat and all your activity.

Burn more calories than you consume and for most people you will lose weight.

I know it sounds a little simplistic, but why try to re-invent the wheel? Your bike already has two!

As with any form of exercise, if you are just starting out, or increasing your activity, please consult your medical professional first.

Dave W
Cycling For Fitness

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