Puddle Jumping: How Much Dieting and Working Out Does It Take To Loose An Inch

I figured out how many inches I need to lose to feel happy and healthy once again. I'm not going to share this number just yet, but as part of my curiosity, I looked up and researched how much dieting and working out it's going to take to loose an inch at a time.

What I discovered is that there doesn't seem to be any concrete scientific formula for losing an inch. A lot depends upon body type and so many other factors.

This frustrated me. I want a mathematical formula that I can check off my to-do list and get into shape. But, it's nowhere to be found.

So, I went about it another way.

I searched for how many calories are in a pound. I discovered that for every pound of weight, it took an estimated 3500 calories to put it there. In other words, for every 3500 calories extra that I burn, I should lose approximately one pound.

WHEW!

So, what will that take?

Since my first steps to fitness are being focused on trying to achieve 10,000 steps per day, I used that as a starting block. I found this quote:

A person weighing 70kb can burn about 440 calories by walking 10,000 steps briskly. If you're trying to lose weight, you should aim to burn 600 more calories than you take in through food and drink every day.

If I take in less than 2000 calories a day (I'll just round it out at this number since it's easier to do the math that way), then I need to burn 2600 calories a day for weight loss.

So, roughly, I'm burning off one meal per day by walking 10,000 steps, which equates to about 5 miles of walking.

While, that's obviously not enough to attain my goal, it's not a bad start.

In addition to 10,000 steps, I'm also trying to eat more salads, juicing fruit, opting for coconut milk smoothies and trying to take in smaller portions.

See what other Fitness Friday bloggers have to say about staying fit and eating healthy: