Where does it go?

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flausa
flausa Posts: 534 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Alright, so I've been on this new adventure since late January, and I've watched as my body has slowly but surely been shrinking. I've read threads on clean eating, strength training, cardio, eating back exercise calories, balancing carbs/protein/fat, and more. But I haven't yet read a really good geeky explanation of where the excess weight goes. I can understand the weight gain through too much fuel going in (though it's not an exact balance of extra weight amount going in = extra weight amount attaching itself to your hips). Since we know, basically, that matter is neither created nor destroyed, we know the extra weight lost isn't just disappearing into thin air (and neither is it all going down the toilet). So where is it going? What's happening to it? Is it being converted to energy? If so, is that energy disappated around us or being used by us? Is that part of why weight loss isn't strictly calorie in/calorie out as well? Which leads to the question of how can I lose more weight in a week than I should based strictly on the numbers? And how can you continue "losing inches" when the scale doesn't reflect "losing weight"? Anyone with some lovely, geeky, fact-based answers?

Replies

  • kell_riley
    kell_riley Posts: 312
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    lots of very interesting questions there that i have no answers to sorry, so bump for later
  • kell_riley
    kell_riley Posts: 312
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    oops double post sorry
  • MellowGa
    MellowGa Posts: 1,258 Member
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    I believe you poop it out...but that is a guess
  • stephaniezoundi
    stephaniezoundi Posts: 1,148 Member
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    bump
  • Lollyvoddy
    Lollyvoddy Posts: 194 Member
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    Lol. I used to believe the poop thing too. But actually everyone has the same amount of fat cells, but they are bigger the heavier you are. As you lose weight, the cells literally shrink (empty).

    http://www.ironmagazine.com/viewarticle-964.html
  • thibautseeker
    thibautseeker Posts: 69 Member
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    Two things are happening fat is being burned when you eat less calories than those you are expending and also when you exercise you are building more muscle which does weigh heavier than fat.

    Calories are the measurement of energy used by the body to basically live. Your body needs the energy provided by food to do all the amazing things it does for you to be alive.

    So when you lose inches but not 'weight', you have burned fat but you've also built muscle which has counter-balanced the weight loss.
  • Coran121
    Coran121 Posts: 1
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    You breath it out, urinate, and sweat it out. Has nothing to do with poo
  • MellowGa
    MellowGa Posts: 1,258 Member
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    yep a little search on google...

    Body fat: What happens to lost fat?
    When you lose weight, where does the lost body fat go?
    Answer
    from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
    Body fat breaks down during a series of complex metabolic processes.

    When you burn more calories than you consume, your body uses fat (triglycerides) for energy. This causes your fat cells to shrink. In turn, triglycerides are broken down into two different substances — glycerol and fatty acids — which are absorbed into your liver, kidneys and muscle tissue. From there, the glycerol and fatty acids are further broken down by chemical processes that ultimately produce energy for your body.

    These activities generate heat, which helps maintain your body temperature. The resulting waste products — water and carbon dioxide — are excreted in urine and sweat or exhaled from your lungs
  • mamaredhead
    mamaredhead Posts: 112
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    I like your explanations -- but I'm sure missing the geek part in those answers! ;-)))
    (too bad I can't provide it either, but I'm working on it ...)
  • rosieef
    rosieef Posts: 57 Member
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    I believe the fat cells shrink and are used as energy. You've got the same number of fat cells whether you're you at 120lb or 240lb, but if you're bigger your fat cells are bigger! That's why liposuction doesn't really work - it just sucks the fat cells away, it doesn't address the issue of the cells being too padded, just hoovers them up...

    At least that's what I've been led to believe!
  • sunshine79
    sunshine79 Posts: 758 Member
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    I believe the fat cells shrink and are used as energy. You've got the same number of fat cells whether you're you at 120lb or 240lb, but if you're bigger your fat cells are bigger! That's why liposuction doesn't really work - it just sucks the fat cells away, it doesn't address the issue of the cells being too padded, just hoovers them up...

    At least that's what I've been led to believe!

    ^^^^

    This is the way I understand it
  • flausa
    flausa Posts: 534 Member
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    I like your explanations -- but I'm sure missing the geek part in those answers! ;-)))

    Ayup! Still not completely providing detail as to where 50 pounds of mass have gone. I understand the shrinking fat cells, and the release of waste in the form of urine, excrement, sweat, and CO2, but there has to be something else happening, because I'm not excreting more than I used to. Science nerds, where are you?
  • Carolyn_T
    Carolyn_T Posts: 33
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    I did a biological sciences degree and am a teacher of science.

    During normal day to day life, your body respires (turning glucose in food and oxygen into carbon dioxide, energy and water). This means, with every breath you take in, you are turning the glucose from your food with oxygen in the air within your cells. Every breath out you are releasing water and carbon dioxide, and energy to live day to day life.

    If you have your energy stored as fat, then by excercising you can take the fat (stored energy) and use this up in respiration. So yes, the fat you have is turned into energy (for excercise) and water (released on sweat) and carbon dioxide in every breath out. It doesnt just disappear - its converted into energy for us to use as energy :)

    Hope this helps?

    x
  • monkeydharma
    monkeydharma Posts: 599 Member
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    You may not be excreting more than you used to - but since you are eating LESS and exercising more, it is the same as excreting more. An example:


    2000 kcal in + 0 exercise = 2 liter out. Balanced

    1200 kcal in + 500 kcal exercice = 2 liter out. Means: if the output is the same, and the input has decreased, then the difference has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is the energy stores in your body aka fat cells. As they are used (and cannot be replenished since you are eating less than you require for a balanced equation) the stores are depleted, meaning weight loss.
  • flausa
    flausa Posts: 534 Member
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    I had a friend direct me to another source and a video that talks about where energy in food comes from. The focus isn't on where does weight go, but sources of energy, burning energy, etc. and gives a bit more detail about the process of respiration that Carolyn_T mentioned. Also mentions metabolism and calories, so quite handy in understanding what it is we are actually doing in this balance of diet/exercise. The video is lengthy, but really informative! http://www.learner.org/workshops/energy/workshop5/?pop=yes?pop=yes&pid=1712

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