When it comes to fat loss, you have to burn it up and churn it out over time.

Did you know that if you lose a lot of weight quickly you will more than likely gain it back just as quickly and in different places? I don’t mean if you lose weight in Kansas City you’ll gain it back in Ohio – I mean it may come back with a vengeance, redistributed on areas of your body it wasn’t lost from! Quick weight loss for any reason is not a good idea.

Here’s why: Often with extreme and fast weight loss, you lose muscle tissue as well. When the weight comes back it comes back as fat. Redistributed weight isn’t uncommon. The regained fat will typically redistribute to places on your body that you are genetically predisposed to get it. If you typically store fat in your stomach, then you’ll gain it back there. Same with the thighs or buttocks. So if you lose weight fast in your chest, for example, just take a look ‘around’ you, and you may find it!

Because you tend to lose muscle tissue with fast, excessive weight loss, your metabolism will slow down so your body will not burn the calories you take in. Your metabolism is the ‘furnace’ of your body that burns calories. You actually end up gaining more weight because your metabolism is slow, and what you eat will be stored as fat. There is a caveat, however – exercise.

Recommendations for safe and effective weight loss advise you to shoot for losing one to two pounds a week. This gives your body the opportunity to adapt to the weight loss and minimizes the loss of lean tissue and muscle. Remember, your metabolism is in your muscle tissue, so we want to spare this at all costs!

Let’s do some simple math. One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. If you want to lose one pound a week, then the equation is that you must either burn 3,500 calories a week or cut down consumption by 3,500 calories per week.

Each week, you have seven days, seven opportunities, to meet the equation of 500 calories per day. You can burn it or not consume it. Or both? Yes, I would say try both. Exercise to maintain your muscle mass and cut out the daily treats that put your caloric intake over the top.

Here’s an example of how to apply what we’re talking about: Let’s say you weigh around 150 pounds, and you walk for 30 minutes at a pace of four miles per hour. That’s two miles. You can expect to burn 170 calories! If you weigh more, then you’ll burn more. If you walk faster, you’ll burn more. If you walk on an incline, you’ll burn more.

Try this website to calculate your activity levels and calories to help guide you. There are plenty more if you don’t like this one: www.caloriesperhour.com.

Visit www.MyFitScript.com for more information on exercise and weight management as well as a NEW monthly feature by Coach Teresa!