Although exercise is a great way to get lose weight, diet is actually the most important part. There is 3 basic parts to losing weight effectivly. 80% is diet, 10% is resistance training, and 10% cardio. Running on a treadmill for hours a day will cause you too lose weight, but its the wrong type of weight. Too much cardio with the wrong diet will only cause you to burn up muscle. Same goes for too much resistance training.
There are various ways to find out how many calories you need. Some better then others but also expensive. The following is a formula(Harris Benedict principle) to figure out your BMR(basal metabolic rate):
MEN 66 +( 6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
WOMEN 655 +( 4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
This will give you your BMR.
If you don't exersice and are sedentary, multiply your BMR by 20%
If you are slightly active, BMR x 30%
If you exercise 4 days per week or more BMR x 40%
If you are very active BMR x 50%
If you are heavy labor or train for some sort of athletics BMR x 60%
Now take that number and add that to your BMR. This is how many calories you need to maintain. Subtract approx 500 calories daily to lose weight and add to gain weight. Just remeber to re-do the formula when you lose or gain weight.
