Tuesday fitness fun fact
The Facts About Burning Fat
Turn your body into a fat burning machine
By Paige Waehner, About.com
I once had a client who asked, "When I eat too many calories, how do they know to go straight to my thighs [or gut for men]? Do they have some kind of homing device or what?" I suppose that's one way to look at it since our genes usually determine where we store excess fat. But, a more important point is that, if we didn't eat too many calories, we wouldn't have any extra calories to store. We have no problem eating those calories, but getting rid of them is a whole other problem.
We all have areas where fat cells seem to congregate and, sadly, thrive. The real challenge is burning that fat and keeping it off. We hear a lot about fat burning, from working out in the 'fat burning zone' to eating foods or taking supplements that supposedly burn more fat. But, gimmicks aside, what we all want to know is: What's the best way to burn fat? Knowing a little more about how your body works can help you become a better fat burning machine.
The Basics of Burning Fat
If you're trying to lose weight, knowing how your body uses calories for fuel can make a difference in how you approach your weight loss program. We get our energy from fat, carbs and protein but. Which one our bodies draw from, however, depends on the kind of activity we're doing. Now, most people want to use fat for energy, which makes sense. We figure, the more fat we can use as fuel, the less fat we'll have in our bodies. But, using more fat doesn't automatically lead to losing more fat.
Understanding the best way to burn fat starts with some basic facts about how your body gets its energy:
- The body primarily uses fat and carbs for fuel. A small amount of protein is used during exercise, but it's mainly used to repair the muscles after exercise.
- The ratio of these fuels will shift depending on the activity you're doing.
- For higher intensity exercise, such as fast-paced running, the body will rely more on carbs for fuel than fat. That's because the metabolic pathways available to break down carbs for energy are more efficient than the pathways available for fat breakdown.
- For long, slower exercise, fat is used more for energy than carbs.
- When it comes to weight loss, it doesn't matter what type of fuel you use. What matters is how many calories you burn as opposed to how many calories you take in.
This is a very simplified look at energy with a solid take-home message. When it comes to weight loss, what matters is burning more calories, not necessarily using more fat for energy. And, the harder you work, the more calories you'll burn overall. Think about it this way: When you sit or sleep, you're in your prime fat-burning mode. But, you've probably never contemplated the idea of sleeping more to lose weight, as lovely as that thought is.
The bottom line? Just because you're using more fat as energy doesn't mean you're burning more calories.
Great Article, Terry
There is one more factor that some dieticians include that is, if you only eat protein and fat before you exercise , your body will be forced to turn the protein into carbs for energy, which takes much longer and is less efficient, thus raising the likelihood that your body will use its own fat for energy (+some of the protein DOES turn to sugar allowing for more intense exercise compared to exercise while fasting).
It's a complicated process, very difficult to understand.
Best Wishes,
Dave
