Exactly how does fat burn and from where?

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AmandaJ
AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I am at the gym sweating like a pig on the treadmill, elliptical or stair climber burning calories and my heart rate is at a good percentage. My quesion is where is that fat being burn off from. I know I am losing, but do you slowly lose from all over or how does the whole fat go away thing work??

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  • licia67
    licia67 Posts: 109
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    You slowly lose from all over. Fat leaves your body in sheets, kinda like peeling an onion. Where you carry the most fat, (where it goes first) will take the longest to leave.
    The owner of the gym I work at said that it is usually after the first 20 minutes of cardio that the fat burning process kicks in...
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,020 Member
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    You will lose fat from all over, you can't "spot reduce" .....does that answer the question?? That much I do know for a fact!

    I'm not a medical professional. Did you try google or MayoClinic.com?

    _______________________
  • AmandaJ
    AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
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    Well that sort of answers the question but no I already knew you couldn't spot reduce. I was really wondering about the scientific aspect of it.

    licia67, you mean my stomach will be the last thing to get thin. UGHHHH! It is definitely the biggest area. :ohwell:
  • michlingle
    michlingle Posts: 797 Member
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    From what I understand, when you gain weight the size of your fat cells increase and they will also reproduce. So once you've "earned" that fat cell it's there for life. The size of it is what will change as you lose weight. They shrink and expand at the same rate.
  • AmandaJ
    AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
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    Oh bother, that means I have lots of fat cells, especially in my stomach. Thanks for the info, seriously!
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    In a nutshell....

    When you need energy, a.k.a. your blood sugar is low/you're exercising/you're fasting, hormones are released that cause your big fat cells to release triglycerides into your blood stream. Fat cells are made up of a lot of little lipids, mostly in the form of these triglycerides. From there the trigs circulate in your blood and are taken up by other cells that need the fatty acids stuck to them and they use those to make ATP, your body's energy currency. The glycerol backbone of the triglyceride can be used to make glucose too. So they aren't burned like..in a flame. They are actually broken into pieces and used in metabolic pathways. The waste resulting from these is lost in the form of water (sweat, urine). I can get into more detail but I assure you it only gets more complicated, not really much more interesting. :laugh:
  • AmandaJ
    AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
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    Thank you for that description, I appreciate it. So I thought I read on here from Banks that sweat was not a good indication of how hard you are working. Today I was sweating like crazy, like dripping and stinging in my eyes crazy. And according to my HRM I was in the high 80%. So does sweating mean you are burning fat?
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    Thank you for that description, I appreciate it. So I thought I read on here from Banks that sweat was not a good indication of how hard you are working. Today I was sweating like crazy, like dripping and stinging in my eyes crazy. And according to my HRM I was in the high 80%. So does sweating mean you are burning fat?

    It just means you're using energy. It isn't an indicator of how much or from what substrate (glucose vs fatty acid). Just sitting around sweating because it's hot doesn't equate to the same caloric burn as running on a treadmill.
  • AmandaJ
    AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
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    Okay, I was on the elliptical when I was sweating like that. I will keep doing what I am doing! Thanks!:flowerforyou:
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Sweat is a heat regulating mechanism. It has only a vague correlation to the quality of a workout, calories expended, etc. One should not use sweating as an indicator of anything other than......sweating.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    Sweat is a heat regulating mechanism. It has only a vague correlation to the quality of a workout, calories expended, etc. One should not use sweating as an indicator of anything other than......sweating.

    Or how much deodorant to apply. :bigsmile:
  • AmandaJ
    AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
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    I knew that we sweated to cool our bodies down but wasn't sure if it played in the weight loss much at all. Thanks for all the in-depth answers.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    right, I actually said the opposite. Believe it or not, usually, the better shape you are in, the easier you will sweat. Although a lot of it has to do with your particular body, how hot your body runs, your genetics...etc. Specifically, a body in better shape will shead heat more efficiently (sweat more), that doesn't mean a person who sweats more is in better shape than someone else, it just means for an individual, as they improve their fitness, usually their sweat levels go up.

    Just for context; I think the comment was in regards to red faced people when working out. I was commenting on how this could be partially due to a person's inability to properly cool themself through sweat because they are out of shape and their body has become inefficient at cooling itself. Although red face doesn't necessarilly mean out of shape, it can be an indicator (but should NEVER be the soul indicator).
  • AmandaJ
    AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
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    Thanks for clearing that up and sorry I got it mixed around backwards. Now I know. I appreciate the more knowledgable people sharing their wealth of info; it is a extreme help!!

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