Burning Calories
Physical activity helps with weight loss and with maintaining a stable weight over time. When you exercise, you burn more calories than you do when you are inactive.
A pound of fat equals 3500 calories, so to lose 1 pound in a week, you need to burn 3500 (500 per day) calories. It is best to cut 500 calories per day through cutting out calories from your diet and burning calories through exercise.
A pound of fat equals 3500 calories, so to lose 1 pound in a week, you need to burn 3500 (500 per day) calories. It is best to cut 500 calories per day through cutting out calories from your diet and burning calories through exercise.
The number of calories you burn when you exercise depends on the type of activity you do, how hard you exercise, and for how long. It's best to exercise at a moderate to brisk, but comfortable pace, so as to keep going for a long time. The longer you exercise the more calories you burn.
How long to exercise:
If you are just beginning to exercise after a long time of little or no activity, start out by adding a small and comfortable amount of activity to your daily routine. For example, do a 5 minute of walking two or three times per day. Then gradually build up to doing at least 10 minutes of non-stop exercise per session. Your goal is to do 30 minutes of physical activity, 5 days a week.
How hard to exercise:
Your doctor can tell you how hard to exercise by giving you a heart rate goal. The number is a percentage of your maximum heart rate, which indicates your capacity for exercise. It may be as low as 55% or as high as 79%.
Calculate your maximum heart rate:
Subtract your age from 220 to figure out your maximal heart rate.
220 - your age = heart rate max
Example: For a 50-year-old person:
220 - 50 = 170
Signs that you are exercising too hard:
- You can't talk while exercising
- Your 10-second pulse is higher than the number you are trying to maintain
- The exercise you are doing feels hard, very hard, or as if you can't keep it up for the amount of time you plan to exercise
This information is a summary from "Diabetes A to Z" and is provided with the permission of the American Diabetes Association.
It is a comprehensive book and recommended by the American Diabetes Association with the most up-to-date recommendations presented in a simple, yet informative format.
Click on the image to go to the American Diabetes Association bookstore.
Note: Care4life has no commercial interest in any of the books or resources it recommends.