Science behind fat loss

Lots of fitness aspirants use words weight loss & fat loss interchangeably. It is important to understand that weight loss can be due to fat burn, water or muscle loss. For most of us fat burn is our fitness goal. We look to ditch that love handles & burn fat on abdomen so that our abs are visible. Let’s dig more into science of burning fat. 

Metabolism is the driving force that converts the food( carbohydrates) you consume into fuel that is used for carrying out our daily activities & enables our body to function properly. Any excess carbohydrates are stored as fat. For your body to utilise stored fat as energy, you need to monitor your daily calorie intake from all three macronutrients & avoid overeating & binge eating. Eating nutrient rich food with proper portion control will help you maintain a calorie deficit. This coupled with regular workout will help you increase calorie deficit & burn that unwanted fat. The idea is to have more or healthy fat since your body needs fat for development & growth. If you do not have much fat in your diet, your body will not burn fat & will continue using carbs to generate energy. So the focus should be to burn the stored fat.

When you increase the intake of fat in your diet( 55 % to 65%), you start using fat as energy source & your fat cells start to shrink. As a result you start looking leaner. However you overeat or consume excess carbs( that are required for bodily functions), your fat cells start to refill & will cause your body fat to increase. Your body should have a negative energy balance which essentially means you are burning more than you are consuming. Rather than focusing on counting calories of every mean, focus on consuming nutrient dense food( medium calorie dense & high in micro-nutrients & fibre) & burning the calories through regular exercises.

It is also important to note that proper hydration goes a long way in burning that excess calories. You burn one calorie for every ounce of fluid you absorb.

Our recommendations to burn fat:

1. High activity level: We all know that physical activity burns calories and builds muscle. Whether it’s going for a walk, playing a sport, hitting the gym or indulging in NEAT( check out our blog on NEAT), you need to increase your activity levels to burn fat and get lean.
2. Stay hydrated: Losing more than 5% of body weight from dehydration can decrease your ability to workout by close to 30%. Lean muscle in the body is comprised of roughly 80% water and it needs that water to properly function.
3. Mix up your workout routine: Do not follow a repetitive workout routine. It’s important to switch it up! Complement your cardio work with some resistance training to build muscle as you burn fat.
4. Clean up your diet: Sugar-filled beverages like soda, lemonade and cocktails can increase belly fat. Replace these drinks with hydrating fluids like water. Replace processed foods such as chips and baked goods with protein-rich nuts and veggies. This shift in diet will increase your fiber to help you feel full and ultimately prevent overeating
5. Practice portion control: Another easy way to cut calories is to practice portion control. Decreasing the portion sizes of your favorite foods is a quick and simple way to save you some calories.
6. Commit to quality sleep: Sleep deprivation activates appetite and can lower your metabolic rate, which leads to overeating and fewer calories burned.