Hey Fatty - How Long is it Going to Take You to Lose 10lbs?

There is nothing magical about weight loss.  As I've pointed out in the boxing nutrition part of the site, it all comes down to the number of calories you put in your mouth - the number you burn off in day.  If it is a negative number (caloric deficit), you lose weight.  If it is a positive number (caloric surplus), you put on weight.

So, if you're fat and not liking it, then you know what you have to do - burn calories or prevent them from entering your body in the first place.  I think that has been made more than abundantly clear...

How long will it take to lose your bulge?
Photo by Juan Shot

But, how long do you have to wait to start seeing results?

It's actually pretty simple.  1 lb of bodyfat is approximately 3500 calories.  So, the quicker you create a deficit of 3500 calories, the quicker you are going to lose a pound.

Let me walk you through it...

Say I am 165lbs and have a bodyfat percentage of 25%.

1.  How much of me is fat?  Take your total weight and multiple it by your bodyfat percentage:

165lbs X .25 = 41.25lbs of fat.

2.  Figure out how much fat you really want to lose.  Remember that 3% is absolutely essential for survival and you will live a miserable existence trying to reach that number.  For a really ripped look on a man, 7% will do just fine.  So take your total weight and multiple it by your ideal bodyfat percentage:

165lbs X .07 = 11.56lbs

3.  Figure out how much fat you actually need to lose.  Subtract your ideal level of fat from your current.

41.25lbs - 11.56lbs = 29.69lbs

In this case I want to lose 29.69lbs of fat. 

4.  How many calories is 29.69lbs of fat?  Well if one lb is 3500 calories - multiple 29.69lbs x 3500:

29.69 x 3500 = 103,915 calories that you need to lose.

5.  Figure out how long that is going to take.  To do this you need to know what sort of caloric deficit you have created.  Using the boxing nutrition calculators, I've determined that I need to eat 2700 calories a day in order to maintain my current weight.  If I stay that course, I likely won't quickly lose any weight.  I can do two things: eat less, or exercise more to create the caloric deficit.  I suggest doing a bit of both.  So, I drop my calories to 2500 and do an extra 30 minutes of cardio in the day to burn 500 more calories giving me a caloric deficit of:

(2700 calories - 2500 calories) + 500 calories = 700 calories

6.  Figure out how many days it takes you to lose one pound.  If 3500 calories equals one pound, how many days will it take to burn an extra 3500 calories?

3500 calories / 700 calories = 5 days for 1 lb of weight loss.

7.  Figure out total days required for your goal.  Therefore, how long will it take me to lose the 29.69lbs?

29.69lbs X 5 days/lb = 148.45 days or approximately 5 months.

In reality, as you train you will increase in muscle size and your metabolism will increase as well which will further add to your caloric deficit and speed up the weight loss.

And, finally, here is a calculator that can figure all of that out for you.  I didn't present it first, as now you have a good idea of how this calculation is made.  Knowledge is power, so if you understand the process, you understand hwo to accelerate or decelerate the weight loss.

So how long is going to take you to reach your ideal level of bodyfat?  Leave a comment and let us know.

If you like this post then please consider subscribing to my full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

Get all your boxing equipment in the How to Box Store:

• Save to del.ici.ous
• Digg This!
• Stumble It!
• Submit to Facebook