Fat to Fit: A few words on shrinking and shredding.

Forget the fad diets, "quick fixes" & lists of "top ten rules to fat loss". Let's be real. The human body is a machine, fueled by food & tested by activity. So there must be a simple science to fitness, right? Absolutely.

Here's how it works (expressed in simple terms & a little bit of math):

Food is fuel. It's not intended to be leisure or stress relief. Sure, we make it that, but we'd be foolish to expect to "have our cake and eat it too" by living off of beer and hot wings managing to pull off 6 pack abs. Laziness (lack of exercise) also reinforces an unfit lifestyle.

When we eat food, we take in calories. When we exercise, we burn calories.

It's recommended (USDA food pyramid guidelines, 2005) that you consume calories in these amounts daily:

Sedentary adult female: 1600

Active adult female/sedentary adult male: 2200

Active adult male/highly active adult female: 2600

(Another quick tip for a slightly more accurate # is to multiply your body weight by 15)

Now, take this daily caloric recommendation and apply the following:

1lb. of body weight=3,500 calories. So if you want to lose 1 lb. per week, for example, you'll need to burn 500 cals more than you eat every day (500 cals/day x 7 days in 1 week =3,500, 1 lb. burned in 1 week).

To ensure safe, efficient fat burning, aim to lose no more than 2 lbs. per week (anything more than this is generally not healthy, as it calls for your body to burn precious muscle tissue and starves itself in too great of a caloric deficit).

Add physical activity and you're in business!

Torch calories regularly by committing to physical activity!

Burn 5 calories per minute on a brisk walk, 10 calories per minute on a moderate intensity jog, or push your metabolism to sky rocket by engaging in aerobic activity such as recreational sports or resistance training. For healthy adults, 30-60 minutes of physical activity 3-5 days a week (Even if it's not the cheesy crunches on Dr. So-and-so's top ten list) is guaranteed to improve your cardiovascular health & physical conditioning.

Give it a go!