Sit and Burn Calories?

Hi,

Can you really just sit and burn calories?

You have probably seen the ads:  Just sit and watch tv all day and watch the weight and fat melt off your body.  Is it all BS?

Well, pretty much. 

Yet, sitting does burn calories.  Even sleeping burns calories.  Your body at rest is burning calories.  If it isn't burning calories that means you are dead. 

Okay, so let's assume - for the sake of argument - that you are not dead and don't want to be.  Can you really just sit and burn calories and actually lose weight?

The answer is no.  Unless...

And no this is not where I tell you about the latest and greatest miracle pill that will allow you to sit and lose weight. 

So let's look at this a little deeper. 

Sitting will burn about 80 calories an hour.  Now this will vary a little bit.  A very small person might not even burn that much.  A very muscular person will probably burn more (because more muscle = a higher metabolic rate).  Still, we can use 80 calories per hour as an average. 

So if you did nothing but sit all day long, you would burn just over 1900 calories.

Since a pound has 3500 calories you could easily burn off a pound of fat in two days (1900 x 2 days = 3800 calories). 

Now the problem is that you can't eat anything.  So if you can go without eating anything and only drinking water (regular water, not the sugary kinds) then yes you can burn some of that fat off of you. 

But, this isn't the healthiest way to do so.  And you are going to be very tired and lethargic. 

And, the odds are you are not going to be able to do that for very many days. 

If you add something simple like a moderate walk, you can burn around 350 calories per hour. 

So let's say you keep your calorie intake the same, but add a simple 30 minute walk 5 days a week.  You would burn an extra 1750 calories in 1 week.  In two weeks you will have lost 1 pound (1750 x 2 days = 3500 calories). 

It is easy to do and as an added bonus, you will feel great.  Another added bonus, is that your muscles will get stronger and a little bigger.  Which means, when you are sitting you will be burning more calories.

Here is the bottom line.  You don't have to kill yourself with exercise.  A simple walk will get you started on the path to losing weight and burning calories. 

It doesn't matter if you can't do 30 minutes to start with.  Start with 15 minutes.  Start with 10 steps if you have to.  The point is just start and build up from there. 

Forget the sit and burn calories mantra.  It is no way to live a life. 

Thanks,

Mike Val
http://www.valshealthsite.com/