Where does the fat go that you lost?

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  • AirCircleI
    AirCircleI Posts: 334 Member
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    This sounds weird, but my boyfriend and I keep having a fight about this, as a result of this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL2e0rWvjKI&list=UUHnyfMqiRRG1u-2MsSQLbXA&index=3&feature=plcp

    which seems to suggest that you only lose fat by pooing, peeing, or sweating it out - but what happens to the fat? Does it turn into the same weight of water?

    I am confused!!
  • weightloss12345678
    weightloss12345678 Posts: 377 Member
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    interesting question
  • eschwab855
    eschwab855 Posts: 258 Member
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    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....From the Mayo clinic web site and it is loaded with weight loss info...http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/MY00432/TAB=expertanswers....Copy & paste
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    Mostly it turns into CO2, which you breathe out.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    Mostly it turns into CO2, which you breathe out.

    Yep, it turns into CO2 and water, producing energy at the same time.
  • westdove
    westdove Posts: 174
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    Wow, this was def some good reading this morning! Thanks for the question and interesting responses...
  • eschwab855
    eschwab855 Posts: 258 Member
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    Wow, this was def some good reading this morning! Thanks for the question and interesting responses...
    did you go to the mayo-clinic site love that site so much great info
  • Tami113
    Tami113 Posts: 117 Member
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    That information is classified by the federal government. You do not have proper clearance for that information.





    LOVE IT!




    Actually, it's MAGIC! TaDaaa!!!
  • Tami113
    Tami113 Posts: 117 Member
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    In wood burning, the ashes left weigh less than the wood that burned; but if you could capture all the smoke from the fire and weigh all the tiny particulates and steam and other components of the smoke, their mass would add up to the difference between the mass of the wood and the mass of the ashes. Combustion scientists have actually done this experiment, and the mass really does balance out.

    Okay, I know a lot less about the physiology of weight loss than I know about combustion science, and I just told you most of what I know about combustion science. But don't think I'm going to let that stop me. :)

    Let's say you lost a little over 2 pounds this week, and that exactly 2 pounds of the fat you lost was water, was converted to water in the fat-burning process, or became dissolved in water. Forgive me for going all math-geek on you, but:

    Water weighs 8.33 lbs per gallon, so 2 lbs/(8.33 lbs.gal) = 0.24 gal

    There are 128 ounces in a gallon, so (0.24 gal)*(128 oz/gal) = 31 oz
    (Doncha just love the English system? :huh: )

    And seven days in a week 31 oz/week/(7 days/week) = 4.3 oz

    Now, if you're drinking eight 8-oz glasses of water a day, you had better be peeing out at least 64 ozs per day. 4.3 oz/64 oz = 0.067 = approx 7%.

    Are you really going to notice a 7% increase in the volume of your pee? IDK, but I'd guess that normal non-fat-losing pee volume may vary more than that from day to day anyway.


    This is exactly the answer i was looking for!!! Thank you so much. As a science major inlike tangible, visual information and this definitely does it.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Hopefully out the window never to return. LOL
  • Tami113
    Tami113 Posts: 117 Member
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    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....From the Mayo clinic web site and it is loaded with weight loss info...http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/MY00432/TAB=expertanswers....Copy & paste

    Another excellent explaination! Thank you. Lol, i could have googled it myself but i figured others had the same question. Yay to MFP nerds!!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    You are all so wrong. It turns into adorable little alien creatures and walks away during the night.
  • Evelyn_Gorfram
    Evelyn_Gorfram Posts: 706 Member
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    We also express fat as oils in our skin, hair etc...
    I had not thought of that (perhaps because my skin & hair are very "dry"). But of course I should have - it makes perfect sense.

    Knowing that it's helping me lose weight will make me look forward to things like cleaning out my earwax. :happy:

    [/quote]
    ....we lose moisture through expiration and perspiration... small amounts but still important to remember.
    [/quote]
    I think I had made a deliberate assumption that those amounts were small enough to neglect - and then went and forgot to say so anywhere (oops! :embarassed: ).

    One thing that I've noticed is that when I exercise until I'm sweating like a stevedore, and then go shower all that sweat off, my skin feels cleaner and better than almost any other time. I wonder if driving all those oils & toxins & sweat molecules out through my pores is an especially good way to clean them (or something :).
  • findingfit23
    findingfit23 Posts: 846 Member
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    great info!
  • woou
    woou Posts: 668 Member
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    You are all so wrong. It turns into adorable little alien creatures and walks away during the night.

    coverlaugh.gif
  • katemiddletonisawesome
    katemiddletonisawesome Posts: 152 Member
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    You are all so wrong. It turns into adorable little alien creatures and walks away during the night.

    adipose!!!
  • Evelyn_Gorfram
    Evelyn_Gorfram Posts: 706 Member
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    You are so cool! I love people who understand what is really going on! Brains are so SEXY! OMG!

    Hey, baby - come on over to my place and I'll show you my mass balance calculations... :wink:
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    the fat you lose goes to my *kitten* when I'm sleeping. STOP IT!
  • Perry62
    Perry62 Posts: 6
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    I GUESS MAYBE BIOLOGY WAS NOT MY FAVORITE CLASS, MY GRANNY TOLD ME TO EAT ALL MY VEGGIES!, SO THAT IT CAN HELP ME THE CORRECT WAY TO LEAN TOWARDS A LONGER LIFE ( WHAT THAT MEANS AS AN ADULT ) VEGGIES SEND YOU TO THE BATHROOM WHERE WE FLUSH THE ADDED FATS!!!!
  • eschwab855
    eschwab855 Posts: 258 Member
    Options
    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....From the Mayo clinic web site and it is loaded with weight loss info...http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/MY00432/TAB=expertanswers....Copy & paste

    Another excellent explaination! Thank you. Lol, i could have googled it myself but i figured others had the same question. Yay to MFP nerds!!
    I did not just google your question I have been on the Mayo-clinic for a while doing research on how I lose weight I want to know this stuff for 2 reasons 1 knowledge is power 2 because the huge amount of mis-information on these boards it helps when people ask stupid questions like this

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