As you probably know, most New Year Resolutions involve money or weight loss. People often decide it’s time to get out of debt or lose a few pounds this time of year. Ironically, these two topics have a lot more in common than you would even imagine.

Let’s look at money first. In today’s economy, many of us are experiencing similar things. We look at the checkbook and realize finances are getting tighter and tighter by the minute. We are not taking in as much money as we are used to but our bills are just as high, or higher, leaving us feeling quite uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable we get, the more we realize maybe this is year we finally do something about it.

Our diet is the same way. There is often a time we realize clothes are feeling tighter and tighter by the minute. We aren’t burning as many calories as we used too, but our food intake is as high, or higher, leaving us feeling pretty uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable we get, the more we realize maybe this is the year we finally do something about it. Sound familiar?

If you think of calories the same way you think of money, you may discover you are in debt to your eyeballs. Every pound of fat stored is like over-drawing 3500 calories. In order to erase that “debt” you have to “work it off” just like you’d have to work off a monetary debt. If you don’t work it off, that debt will simply never go away.

The solution? When it comes to diet and fitness, this means you need to quit spending (quit eating so much) and start working (which means you need to start burning some calories). It really is that simple.

Dieting is all about checks and balances. Weight loss is simple mathematics. For every pound of fat you need to lose, you simply need to burn off 3500 calories. You can either eat a lot less, burn a lot more, or do a healthy combination of both – which is a lot more comfortable.