How to Lose Fat Home -> The Library -> Training Tips -> How To Lose Fat To lose fat, you must take in fewer calories than what it takes to maintain your current bodyweight. Eating below that maintenance level will create what is called a "caloric deficit". This simply means you are eating less than you are burning. The next step is to add in some exercise. Exercise will increase the size of your caloric deficit without eating less food. Keep up this diet and exercise induced caloric deficit and you will lose fat! Here is an example of the math: 2200 calories/day your maintenance level - 500 calories/day eating less than your maintenance level - 500 calories/day exercising and moving around _______________   1200 calories/day   Through diet and exercise together you have created a caloric deficit of 1000 calories. One pound of fat contains 3500 calories, therefore if you have a caloric deficit of 1000 calories a day for seven days you will burn 7000 calories and, theoretically, lose 2 pounds of fat! Notes: A good rule of thumb to start with is to eat ten times your bodyweight in calories (e.g. if you weigh 150 pounds, eat 1500 calories). The best rate for losing fat is one to two pounds per week. Any more and you are probably losing too much muscle as well. People who are extremely overweight can lose fat faster, though, as they have much more to lose. In the real world, these numbers are simply estimates. There is no way to control everything you eat or your metabolic rate or exactly how many calories you burn during exercise. Follow the principles and don't concern yourself too much with the numbers.