Going to the gym for an hour can easily burn 500 or 600 calories

In America the latest fad is having your metabolic rate evaluated so that you can know exactly how many calories you need to eat every single day in order to maintain your weight. The test will also enable you to find out how many calories you need to eat in order to lose weight.

When you go to have your calorie rate measured you will be asked to breathe into a special machine which will measure the amount of oxygen that you consume over a given time. The doctor or health professional will also need to take into account your age, gender, weight and height in order to give you an exact reading. On average a woman needs to eat about 2,000 calories a day to maintain her weight and a man needs on average 2,500 calories daily.

However these figures are just an estimate and will vary significantly with different people. Many people who are overweight claim that they have a problem with an extremely slow metabolism and research has shown that this is very often an excuse which actually is not the case at all. Obese people often look for a reason other than eating too much as to why they are overweight.

If you are somebody who believes you have a slow metabolism you should speak to a doctor about getting it checked out so that you will know for sure what you should be eating everyday. If you do have a slow metabolism your doctor may recommend that you get exercise a few times a week in order to speed up your metabolic rate.

It is estimated that in order to lose one pound of weight every week you need to eat 500 calories less per day than the above the recommended amounts, and if you want to use 2lb. a week you need to eat 1,000 calories less per day. Going to the gym for an hour can easily burn 500 or 600 calories and that is why exercise is such an important part of weight loss. Not only does it prevent calories from piling up by burning the fat but it also increases your resting metabolic rate as well as making you stronger and healthier in general.