Industry Figure Tom Chappell

If you’ve ever read anything about losing weight, you’ve probably read somewhere that muscle burns more calories in your body, just keeping itself alive, than fat does.

“More” is a funny word. “More calories burned…” How much more?

A pound of muscle burns between 40 and 120 calories a day, just staying alive. 80 calories a day, say.

And a pound of fat? It burns…a little less. Actually, I lied: it burns so many fewer calories per day that if you were to guess, you likely wouldn’t be even close, unless you’re one of the surpisingly large number of people who guess zero calories a day. And they’re silly! It couldn’t be zero! Fat is not a dead thing, it’s alive, it’s animal cells, gotta burn something to live. So of course it’s not zero! No, it’s 1 to 3 calories per day, to keep a pound of fat alive: call it 2 calories a day, on average. Much larger than zero! And much, much smaller than 80.

So, if you add a pound of muscle that didn’t used to be there, that’s a new 40-to-120 calorie deficit every day, just keeping that muscle alive. And remembering our rule of thumb from yesterday, that’s going to be 4 to 12 pounds of weight lost, the first year alone, just because you acquired and maintained that new little muscle. That’s splendid!

In contrast, what if you try to lose weight by dieting alone? There’s every chance that your body, when looking for something to cannabalize, might decide to devour some delicious (and expensive-to-maintain) muscle, rather than precious fat. After all, food seems to be a bit scarce. Plus, you don’t seem to be using that pound of muscle, watching TV and all.

If your body does decide to devour, say, a pound of muscle to make up for the calorie deficit, then that’s going slow your metabolism by 80 calories a day, eliminating 8 pounds a year of weight loss, which brings everything back in to balance. Problem solved! You’re not going to die of famine after all, and you still have most of your precious, and apparently beloved, fat!

Let’s review:
  1 pound of muscle burns 40-120 calories a day (4 to 12 pounds a year).
  1 pound of fat burns 1-3 calories a day (about as close to zero as we can get).

Same thing if you start slacking off on your exercise: pretty soon, your body decides to exchange that pound of expensive muscle for a pound of fat, and your metabolism slows by 78 calories a day, making you eight pounds fatter in the first year alone.

So, want to take weight off, and keep it off? It’s not going to happen without faithful, consistent exercise.

You’re going to have to exercise a little more.