A pound of fat equals 3500 calories. To lose 1 pound a week, you need to burn more calories than you eat in a week. To do this you must either increase you weekly activity or decrease your food intake or both. Losing 1-2 pounds of fat a week is a very sensible goal. By using the combination of increased activity and eating less that will total 3500 calories in 7 days.

How to Burn these calories?
Your weight X distance = energy used walking. The time does not matter as much as the distance. If you speed up walking a mile in 13 minutes or less, you are burning more calories per mile. For beginner walkers, it is best to increase the distance before increasing the speed. A simple rule of thumb is 100 calories for a 160 pound person. You actually burn more calories per mile at very slow speeds because you are basically stopping and starting with each step and your momentum isn't helping to carry you along. At very high walking speeds, you are using more muscle groups and arm motion and with a racewalking stride. Those extra muscles burn up extra calories with each step. Running may burn more calories per mile as there is an up and down motion lifting your weight off the ground as well as moving forward.

Lawren Smith