It takes a lot of calories to continue to feed blood to muscles, to perform cellular repair, and to maintain internal body temperature amongst other things. Thus less muscle mass will mean fewer calories are required.
Dieters often concentrate on counting calories. This is wise, given that the basic equation of weight loss will always remain: calories consumed > calories used = weight gain. More calories consumed than calories used will result in weight gain. However, although the statement makes it sound as though a calorie is something that you eat, and if you eat fewer you will lose weight, this is not quite the case. Additionally, some people may become obsessed with counting calories, and this is unhealthy.
In its simplest terms, a calorie is a measure of energy. In science, the unit that measures it is the calorie, cal. Because the amount in food is typically so large, the food calorie is actually a thousand of those, or kcal (kilocalories). Food calories are sometimes denoted with a capital C in order to make the difference clear. Whatever name they are assigned, the basic point is that a calorie represents a certain amount of energy and not a quantity of mass or weight. So, how does that make you gain or (hopefully) lose weight? The explanation revolves around what the body does with that energy.
When food is consumed it is digested. That much is common knowledge. What happens next is sometimes not so well known. Part of the digestion process involves breaking down foodstuffs, for example, carbohydrates, into smaller parts. The process yields energy that the body can use to power muscle movement, cell repair, and a million other vital aspects of human biological functioning.
Note the little phrase “can use”. What happens when there is more energy available than the body needs immediately for all those functions? It doesn't shed all of the remaining energy; it in fact stores some of it. Like a battery that is ready to provide energy when a tiny motor needs it, excess energy is stored in chemical bonds. When the energy is needed later, those chemical bonds are broken and the energy is released. But chemical bonds are bonds between two or more things. In this case they are primarily the bonds between molecules in fat cells, also known as adipose tissue.
Typically, glucose in the blood stream provides all the energy that the body requires. When there is a deficit, the liver is stimulated to provide more. However, if this process continues, the body will go after that energy stored in fat cells in a process known as ketosis. In simple terms, this is how body fat is reduced. Create a large enough “energy deficit” for long enough and the body will make available the energy stored in fat by breaking down those fat molecules. The net result is less fat stored and a lower percentage of body fat overall.
That is the goal of most dieters, whether they realize it or not. The idea is not simply to lose weight. After all, the number on the scale isn't that important in most cases. Building up muscle, for example, actually increases the weight because it is relatively more dense. What is important is the distribution of that weight- whether too much of it is in the form of stored fat, and where that fat is stored.
If you wonder why it can be so difficult to shift that balance, consider the following: A single pound of body fat is equivalent to 3, 500 calories. This means that you need to burn 3, 500 calories in order to convert one pound of fat. That explains why a diet needs to be a long-term commitment. Burning that many more calories than you consume simply takes time.
So, reducing the number of calories taken in will result in the body storing less in the form of fat. Reducing them enough will cause the body to burn the fat that is there to provide energy for life. The consequences to the dieter are a more attractive figure, ample energy for all of life's goals, and better overall health.
