What is the difference between a pound of muscle and a pound of fat? A lot. Take a look above.

The muscle is ordered and dense, the fat is sprawling and disorganized.

Both have their purposes, but the former is useful for activity, the later is useful as insulation and for reserves.

Unfortunately, most Americans are carrying around quite a lot of the later and not enough of former. That’s not good.

One pound of muscle will burn 50 calories per day at rest. The fat more or less just sits there.

So, to increase one’s metabolism we often recommended to add 10 pounds of evenly distributed muscle.

This will help tone people right up without them looking like an outlandish muscle builder.

And with respect to metabolism, then the daily calorie burn rate is increased by 500 calories.

Fascinatingly, over the course of a week, that means an extra 3.500 calories burned than someone who doesn’t have the muscle.

And what will that extra 3,500 calories a week burn? Amazingly, 3,500 calories just happens to be the same amount of calories in a pound of fat!

Now, here are two more key pieces of information to keep in mind.

The average person can lose about a pound of fat per week with proper exercise and nutrition until approaching a healthy weight.

But, the average person through specific exercise involving strength training will only add a pound of muscle each 4 – 6 weeks.

And this is exactly why we tend to see so many people who fall into the trap of a yo-yo diet.

Specifically, they work like hell to take the weight off, but it comes right back on as soon as they let up on what’s usually a very strict nutritional and aerobic exercise routine.

I’ve had this problem too. It’s the old hare v. tortoise competition.

Instead of being the equivalent of the hare sprinting to achieve fitness goals at an unsustainable diet and pace, slow it down a bit more to the pace of a tortise.

Add in a good amount of strength training and make sure to have plenty of protein in the foods you eat to allow the body to create more muscle.

Then your metabolism will help you do the work and what you will be carrying around isn’t going to be pounds of useless fat, but instead useful muscle.

It will make you look and feel great!

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Sorry for the day late post on this one. Guess it’s better to catch up than miss altogether. Have a great Thursday, especially to my brother who has his birthday today.