When is a pound lost and where does it go?
Replies
-
this thread was my first love of the mfp forums0
-
What?! You don't pee fat out.
I could feel your shock and it made me giggle:laugh: :flowerforyou:0 -
The original poster asked some interesting questions, and I like the way she thinks.
A "heat engine" takes in heat and converts a portion of it into mechanical work. When nutrient molecules in the body are combined with oxygen ("burned"), that's an exothermic reaction; it produces heat. Muscle cells use that heat energy to do work. The whole human body can be usefully regarded as a heat engine.
And yes, calories *are* energy, rigorously and exactly. A calorie is the amount of heat energy required to increase the temperature of a gram of water by a Celsius degree. (A nutritional calorie -- the sort we all talk about here -- is 1000 calories, as defined. It is also equal to 4186 joules, which is the work done by one newton of force over a parallel displacement of 4186 meters. A "typical" person weighs about 667 newtons, and can be lifted a little over six meters, straight up, by a nutritional calorie of mechanical work.)
A pound is lost when a pound of stored nutrients in the body (hopefully, fat) has been converted to ... well, not just energy. If an entire pound of fat were all converted to energy (according to E = mc^2), a dieter would be like an atomic bomb. But, as another commenter pointed out, chemical bonds in the pound of fat are broken, some of it is oxidized, heat is produced by that reaction; most of the rest of the broken-down nutrient molecules become waste and are eliminated in the same way as any food waste. The energy required by your body is supplied by the food you eat; if you don't eat "enough," you're in a calorie-deficit situation, and some stored body fat is internally "eaten" as well. As the OP said, about 3500 cal of deficit is equivalent to a pound of fat; as for WHEN this happens: as soon as your body requires a single calorie more than you've eaten, 1/3500 of a pound gets burned. When your cumulative deficit reaches 3500 cal, a full pound will have been used. (For the elimination of the unburned waste, I suppose there's a time delay measured in hours.)
But, in any case, that pound of fat didn't turn into nothing. A very small fraction of it is turned into heat and used by your muscles; the vast majority is turned into feces and urine, and returns to nature in the usual ways.
People ask me from time to time how much weight I've lost. Of course, I tell them that "lost" is probably too strong a term. I pretty much know where all of it is. Most of it's at the grocery store; quite a bit is at Burger King and Taco Bell and so on. I could go pick it up at any time. So, it's not really lost; it's more like "misplaced." I hope to leave it that way.
Oh, and TL;DR...
...but I think he's saying that the pound of fat is peed out.0 -
O-M-G :laugh:0
-
well you can stay at maintainance at burn 500 cals a day n you will lose a pound every week.
2nd ques when you are burning fat look for when thing when you go to toilet to pee you will notice something white in your pee is like chicken fat thats how some of your fat comes out n some as a sweat. because when i did a diet few years back when the white thing came in pee i got scared that its something serious but found out its nothing just fat so a doctor knows best.
I found some white stuff in my poop, I wonder if I'm still losing fat?
Only if it floats! LOL0 -
I feel like since I have now read this thread, I have finally "arrived". Thanks MFP folks, my life is forever changed! :flowerforyou:0
-
A new awakening....I feel like since I have now read this thread, I have finally "arrived". Thanks MFP folks, my life is forever changed! :flowerforyou:0 -
To the never never land for all the lost pounds a.k.a pound heaven. LOL
:laugh: 0 -
This is the absolute best MFP thread ever.0
-
This is the absolute best MFP thread ever.
Correction: This is the absolute best MFP thread ever that hasn't been mod-nuked.0 -
To whoever said you PEE it out:
"Ketonuria is a medical condition in which ketone bodies are present in the urine.
It is seen in conditions in which the body produces excess ketones as an alternative source of energy. It is seen during starvation or more commonly in type I diabetes mellitus. Production of ketone bodies is a normal response to a shortage of glucose, meant to provide an alternate source of fuel from fatty acids."
Note where it said DURING STARVATION or in Diabetics...
This is not a "common" type of "where does my fat go?". It is not something to strive for or be pleased to see. It is actually bad.
^^^this0 -
FU Science!well you can stay at maintainance at burn 500 cals a day n you will lose a pound every week.
2nd ques when you are burning fat look for when thing when you go to toilet to pee you will notice something white in your pee is like chicken fat thats how some of your fat comes out n some as a sweat. because when i did a diet few years back when the white thing came in pee i got scared that its something serious but found out its nothing just fat so a doctor knows best.0 -
FU Science!well you can stay at maintainance at burn 500 cals a day n you will lose a pound every week.
2nd ques when you are burning fat look for when thing when you go to toilet to pee you will notice something white in your pee is like chicken fat thats how some of your fat comes out n some as a sweat. because when i did a diet few years back when the white thing came in pee i got scared that its something serious but found out its nothing just fat so a doctor knows best.
YESSSS I
you for doing this! 0 -
oh
hi0 -
WHHHHHHHHYYYY???
0 -
I lost a pound the other day but I didn't notice any white stuff in my pee. Does that mean it was just water weight?
This means your pee was converted into muscle mass.0 -
WHHHHHHHHYYYY???
Yes...but I missed it the first time around. That "you pee out fat" comment was sooooo worth the resurrection of this thread.0 -
OMG, I missed this classic the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th time round!0
-
I'll never tire of this thread.0
-
BUMP0
-
It's like my birthday came early!0
-
*swoon* Thanks Gordo. I've finally unclenched.0
-
It goes up to the "mother" ship. Dr. Who says so.
0 -
It goes up to the "mother" ship. Dr. Who says so.
I'd so take those pills.0 -
thank you!!
This thread really cracked me up!
Now I'm ready to go on night shift...and make sure the patients dont't have White stuff in their urine!0 -
Ok, I HAVE TO SAY THIS. I'm hoping it's already been addressed, but in case it hasn't, I'm a science teacher and this just has me HORRIFIED.
Fats and Carbohydrates are very long chains of carbon oxygen and hydrogen. When you burn fats or carbohydrates for energy, the energy that is release comes from breaking down those chains in to individual links (the atoms). The atoms are then recombind into WATER and CARBON DIOXIDE. So the short answer, you exhale/pee that weight out.
Protien also has C H and O but you can add in a lot of Nitrogen as well, so in addition to carbon dioxide and water, you also get ammonia. Since ammonia is toxic in large doses, this gets chemically rearranged into the salts that compose your urine and sweat. To really gross out my students I then explain how this basically means that sweat is just a very dilute form of urine.
There, rant over.0 -
BEST THREAD EVER..... :drinker:0
-
Ok, I HAVE TO SAY THIS. I'm hoping it's already been addressed, but in case it hasn't, I'm a science teacher and this just has me HORRIFIED.
Fats and Carbohydrates are very long chains of carbon oxygen and hydrogen. When you burn fats or carbohydrates for energy, the energy that is release comes from breaking down those chains in to individual links (the atoms). The atoms are then recombind into WATER and CARBON DIOXIDE. So the short answer, you exhale/pee that weight out.
Protien also has C H and O but you can add in a lot of Nitrogen as well, so in addition to carbon dioxide and water, you also get ammonia. Since ammonia is toxic in large doses, this gets chemically rearranged into the salts that compose your urine and sweat. To really gross out my students I then explain how this basically means that sweat is just a very dilute form of urine.
There, rant over.
But, but, Dr. Who....0 -
LOL mine too!0
-
Island of misfit pounds :laugh: My sides hurt! Thanks for bumping this thread!0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.5K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 430 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions