Originally Posted by zimbo
I burned an extra 10000 calories from cycling last week and didn't lose a pound (and wasn't trying to, btw). Which means, of course, that unless you're keeping track of how much you burn and how much you eat it's hard to diet sensibly.
I would recommend no more than a 1000 calorie per day deficit, preferrably only 500 (i.e. 1 pound per week). It's way better for you in the long run to lose weight slowly.
--Steve
That's because it takes roughly three times that level of calories burned to get ride of one pound of fat. The secret to weight loss is exactly what you said - lose weight slowly in the long run with careful watching food intake and propoer exercise over the long haul. Too much exercise too quickly results in injury, constant fatigue, mental burnout, and just lsoing interests.