How Much Is a Pound of Fat?

How Much Is a Pound of Fat?

It is a well known fact that to lose weight and 'just' 1 pound of fat, we have to burn or create a deficit of about 3,500 calories. This can be achieved through a mixture of exercise and diet. 

Exercise needs to be an aspect of our lifestyle alomgside healthy nutritional choices - exercise and nutrition go hand in hand and compliment each other. There are no quick ways and fixes to losing belly fat. Reducing the size of abdominal fat cells requires more than just cutting calories and therefore exercise should be a part of the equation.

Degree Search have produced this detailed, concise and informative infographic which has lots of facts and figures on fat, calories and exercise.

As the infographic shows, to lose 1lb of body fat we need to burn 3,500 calories, which would take us (based on a 180lb person):

- Running at 6mph for 4 hours 17 minutes

- Cycling at 14-16mph for 4 hours 20 minutes

- Walking at 3mph for 13 hours

According to the infographic, 3,500 calories is equivalent to approximately eating:

- 14 Snicker Bars

- 6.5 Big Macs

- 7 Large Fries

Interestingly, the above infographic also shows that muscle burns more calories pound for pound than fat.

- 1lb of muscle burns 7-10 calories each day

- 1lb of fat burns 2-3 calories each day

This therefore, supports the evidence that the more lean muscle our bodies contain, compared to excess body fat then the more calories our body will burn each day, even at rest.

It must be noted though that fat is also essential to our health such as an energy source, proper functioning of brain and nerves and maintaining healthy skin.

High 5,

Matt

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