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You might train hard for 60 minutes, then eat one large meal that contains more calories than you burned during your workout. That does not make takeout bad. It means your food choices matter.
To lose body fat, your body needs to burn more calories than you eat over time. This is called a calorie deficit. Working out and walking both help, but exercise does not always make up for eating too much.
A workout might burn a few hundred calories. The amount depends on your body size, the type of workout, how hard you train, and how long you exercise.
Adding a few hundred calories to your day is easy. Extra sauce, a large order of fries, a few drinks, dessert, or late-night snacks all add calories to your day.
These foods are not bad on their own. The problem is how much you eat over time. If you often eat more calories than your body uses, losing fat becomes harder.
Your body needs energy every day, and food provides that energy. We measure this energy in calories.
Your body also burns calories throughout the day. You burn calories when you walk, exercise, work, and even sleep. To lose fat, you need to eat fewer calories than your body uses over time. This is called a calorie deficit.
For example, if your body uses 2,000 calories each day and you eat 1,700 calories, you have a 300-calorie deficit. This does not mean you need to eat exactly 1,700 calories. It is only an example of how a calorie deficit works.