The Facts About Fat Loss
While many people that are overweight strive for fat loss, it is important to understand that it’s just not possible without increasing exercise and making changes to the diet. By increasing exercise, body fat will be burned for energy which will result in overall fat loss. In addition, you will gain muscle, making you look slim and trim.
Everybody knows exactly what excess fat looks like from the outside, but how does it get in the body in the first place? This fact sheet about fat loss should clear things up a bit so you can gain a better understanding of how fat is processed in our bodies. You will also learn about fat loss and what can be done to achieve it.
Fats are introduced into the body directly from the food that’s consumed. Fats are broken down by the enzyme lipase while in the digestive system before being transported into the blood stream. These digested fats are then absorbed by both fat cells and muscle and are either burned through activity or stored as fat to be used later.
Everybody Needs a Little Fat
Fat is a necessary part of a healthy diet, just not excessive amounts. There are few reasons why the body needs fat in order to function properly. These reasons are:
* The body is unable to produce essential fatty acids internally so they must be given to the body from the food that is consumed.
* Since some of the vitamins we need are fat soluble, consuming fat is necessary to deliver the vitamins to our bodies.
* Fat is one of the best sources of energy since it contains twice the calories of either carbohydrates or proteins. Fats are fine to consume as long as they are being burned to supply the body with energy.
How Fat is Stored in the Body
There are a number of places that fat is stored in the body. Most of the fat will be found under the skin. This fat is called subcutaneous fat. The thickness of the subcutaneous tissue will vary from one are of the body to another. For example, it is nearly non-existent in the eyelids, but is rather thick at the waistline. In addition to being a store of energy, fat also serves as a cushion to protect the body for impact. The other type of body fat is called visceral fat.
Fat is stored in a variety of places on the body. These areas are different depending on the gender. Everybody has a small stockpile of fat around both the kidneys and the liver.
Main Fat Storage Areas
Men: Abdomen, Buttocks, Chest.
Women: Buttocks, Hips, Breasts, Waist.
If a person becomes overweight the extra fat deposits will begin to clog the arteries. Clogged arteries can often cause serious health issues such as heart attack. For this reason it is important to adopt a fat loss plan.
How Fat is Broken Down
Since energy is needed while exercising, fat will be stored for use during the time when food in not being consumed. It is unfortunate, but the energy that is stored in the fat cells in not the source of energy the body uses first. Since the most readily available stores of energy are the glucose supplies, these are used for energy first. After the glucose supplies are used the body starts breaking down carbohydrates and turning them into glucose to use for energy.
If you are interested in fat loss, the next energy source is the step that counts the most when trying to deplete the reserves of stored fat. Lipolysis is the process that the body uses to break the body fat down into fatty acids and glycerol.
The fatty acids are broken down in order to produce energy or they are used to produce glucose. This breakdown of fat is the last resort and makes fat loss difficult once it has been stored in the body.
good article, regarding fat loss being difficult because you cant use it as the first energy store, a good way to attack it is to go for some cardiovascular exercise first thing in the morning before any food.
Because the body has been fasting through sleep, it will be starved of all proteins and carbs and so you can work your body to use the fat stores at the first source of energy.
Couple this with a high protein, low carbohydrate diet and youll soon be burning it off…