Where Do Those Extra Pounds Come From?

We often ask ourselves where the extra pounds come from. They can sneak up on you if you don’t weigh in at least once a week. I personally keep track of my weight each day, the scale is my friend and it needs to be yours too. If your scale is not your friend and you hate to hop on the thing, I’m sure there is a reason.

You see the scale does not work like a fortune teller. It may not tell you what you want to hear but it does give you the facts and sometimes that is hard to swallow. Especially if you have a scale that not only tells you your weight but your BMI , fat and water content.

So let’s take a look at where those extra pounds come from. Whether you are aware of it or not approximately 3,500 calories equal one pound. It is possible to burn up to 350 calories per hour with a hearty work out and as you can see this doesn’t come anywhere close to being a pound.

So now we have established what it takes to gain that extra pound so let’s look at what we might consume in one day.

Breakfast:                             calories                                             fat

8 oz glass of OJ                      456 (57 cal. per oz.)                        0
Biscuit w/ eggs & sausage       581                                                38.7
1 cup of hash browns              302                                                 9.2 (fruit would be better choice)
                    Total                  1,339                                             47.9

Let’s move on to lunch:
16 oz soda pop                       208                                                  0
Burger w/ condiments              608                                                36.8
Small fry (double large)            291                                                15.7 (you should never eat fries)
                    Total                  1,107                                               52.5

Heading off to dinner:
8 oz of beer                              96                                                    0
Or
8 oz of wine                            168                                                    0
Chicken Fillet                          515                                                  29.4
Baker w/ butter & cheese        393                                                  22.3
1.5 cup salad (no dressing)      102                                                    5.8 (includes eggs & cheese)
                  Total                    1,082 or 1,010                                  57.50


If this looks like a normal day to you, let’s see how you did.

Total calories for day depending on your dinner beverage: 3,528 total fat: 157.90

I’m sure you can see where the extra pounds are coming from. Even with an hour of a hard work out you could still gain a pound per day.

Are you ready for the really scary part of the story? A healthy adult with a 2,000 calorie a day diet has a recommended 65 grams of fat in it. As you can see the amount of fat in the diet above almost triples that amount, that is where all the heart disease and clogged arteries come from.

The good news is that you can absolutely do something about it. There is help everywhere, paid help and free help all you need to do is seek the help and get on the path to healthy eating and living.

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Getting to the Heart of the matter

Let's get to the heart of the matter.

There are new studies that come out all of the time about health and fitness. The human body has an endless amount of "un-knowns" to be studied.

There are hundreds of studies that come out each year. Studies that we need to examine a little closer. Everyone is different so each individual has to assess the studies and see if it resonates with what they know about their own body.

We have all known for years that cardio. exercises are effective ways to keep our pulminary systems in shape.


The latest study suggests that resistance work is the best way to burn fat and calories. To someone that really wants to loose weight and burn calories might decide to forgo the cardio. work out and turn just to resistance work.

what worries me is the way these studies get interpreted by different individuals.

The reason that this is troubling to myself is because without a stong heart muscle it doesn't really matter how much fat and calories you are burning.

Your heart is the center or YOUR universe wether you like it or not.

So why wouldn't it matter?? Well because without a strong heart you won't be pumping those weights.

Your heart and lungs work together and form your pulminary system. Your lungs collect the oxygen and the heart distributes that oxygen to the MUSCLES, without the oxygen the muscles don't function and neither do your other organs.

So if your heart is weak and has to work harder to keep up the muscles demand for oxygen, the diagnosis is called hypertension or high blood pressure.

The "simple" solution is diet and exercise. Being aware before the onset is the best rule of thumb. In order for that to happen we need to get educated.

So keep doing the cardio. work but add weights 3 to 4 times a week.

Keep in mind while practicing resistance training to only train every other day. Giving your muscles a day of rebuilding and recovery.

The most important thing is to have fun. Sometimes that's hard to do so stay tuned we are going to have some fun with weights next time.

Until next time,
Really take care of yourself,

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