This Is How Many Calories You Should Burn If You Want to Lose a Pound

Losing weight can be a difficult challenge for many people, especially when you factor in rigorous workouts, clean eating, and counting how many calories you should burn if you want to see results. Although the scientific rule of thumb is that you need to burn 3,500 calories to lose one pound, burning 3,500 calories in a day probably sounds daunting and impossible. The good news is, it's also not ideal.

Instead of aiming to burn 3,500 calories in a day, you should consider burning 500 calories per day for a total of 3,500 by end of week. Losing one pound per week is more ideal because it indicates that you are losing fat and not muscle, according to Christine Luff, a certified personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist.

If burning 500 calories every day sounds like a hard goal to accomplish, you should consider the fact that cutting back on calories in your daily diet will also help create a deficit. One manageable way to achieve your goal: cut out 250 calories from your diet and burn 250 through exercise. This way, you won't feel totally deprived of those foods you love, and you also won't feel burnt out from trying to burn 500 calories through exercise alone. Just be sure you are getting enough food to sustain all the hard work you are putting in the gym! Sounds like a win-win situation, doesn't it?