Here's some info to help with those trying to lose weight. To lose one pound of weight, you need to burn 3,500 calories. Knowing this can help you set some realistic expectations as to how much weight you can expect to lose, and it'll help you understand how long and slow the process really is.

For example, the average man burns 2,500 calories a day, the average woman burns 2,000 a day. So to lose just 1 pound, you need to take in 500 fewer calories a day than you use for an entire week! No weight loss miracles here... but this is what's really required to loose weight.

There are two ways to take in fewer calories than you burn.

First, you can eat less than you use. If you want to sit around and not exercise, that's fine. But you need to take in fewer calories than you burn. Start tracking your calories - all of them including snacks, drink, chewing gum, etc... you'll see what you are up against.

Second, you can burn more calories. I guess there are drugs that can help you do this. But that's not a long-term solution (you'll either stop taking the drugs or end up dying from them). The only reliable way to burn more calories is by exercising. While the amount of calories burned varies by exercise and by person, the numbers are smaller than you think. You'd probably need to jog an hour a day to burn those extra 500 calories. And of course you'd be starving afterwards.

Given this information it should be clear that the best plan is a combination of reduced calorie intake and increased exercise with an expectation that it can take months to see "significant" results. But if you stick with it, it will work.