Turn Your Body into a Fat Burning Machine

Posted by juleslein on March 30, 2009

By Paige Waehner, About.com

I once had a client who asked, "When I eat too many calories, how do they know to go straight to my thighs? Do they have some kind of homing device or what?" I suppose that's one way to look at it since our genes usually determine where we store excess fat. But, a more important point is that, if we didn't eat too many calories, we wouldn't have any extra calories to store. We have no problem eating those calories, but getting rid of them is a whole other problem.

We all have areas where fat cells seem to congregate and, sadly, thrive. The real challenge is burning that fat and keeping it off. We hear a lot about fat burning, from working out in the 'fat burning zone' to eating foods or taking supplements that supposedly burn more fat. But, gimmicks aside, what we all want to know is: What's the best way to burn fat? Knowing a little more about how your body works can help you become a better fat burning machine.

The Basics of Burning Fat

If you're trying to lose weight, knowing how your body uses calories for fuel can make a difference in how you approach your weight loss program. We get our energy from fat, carbs and protein but. Which one our bodies draw from, however, depends on the kind of activity we're doing. Now, most people want to use fat for energy, which makes sense. We figure, the more fat we can use as fuel, the less fat we'll have in our bodies. But, using more fat doesn't automatically lead to losing more fat.

Understanding the best way to burn fat starts with some basic facts about how your body gets its energy:

* The body primarily uses fat and carbs for fuel. A small amount of protein is used during exercise, but it's mainly used to repair the muscles after exercise.
* The ratio of these fuels will shift depending on the activity you're doing.
* For higher intensity exercise, such as fast-paced running, the body will rely more on carbs for fuel than fat. That's because the metabolic pathways available to break down carbs for energy are more efficient than the pathways available for fat breakdown.
* For long, slower exercise, fat is used more for energy than carbs.
* When it comes to weight loss, it doesn't matter what type of fuel you use. What matters is how many calories you burn as opposed to how many calories you take in.

This is a very simplified look at energy with a solid take-home message. When it comes to weight loss, what matters is burning more calories, not necessarily using more fat for energy. And, the harder you work, the more calories you'll burn overall. Think about it this way: When you sit or sleep, you're in your prime fat-burning mode. But, you've probably never contemplated the idea of sleeping more to lose weight, as lovely as that thought is.

The bottom line? Just because you're using more fat as energy doesn't mean you're burning more calories.

The Myth of the Fat Burning Zone

One thing we know is that exercising at lower intensities will use more fat for energy. This basic premise is what started the theory of the 'fat burning zone,' or the idea that working in a certain heart rate zone (around 55 to 65 of your maximum heart rate) will allow your body to burn more fat.

Over the years, this theory has become so ingrained in our exercise experience that we see it touted in books, charts, websites, magazines and even on cardio machines at the gym. The trouble is that it's misleading. Working at lower intensities isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it won't burn more fat off your body unless you're burning more calories than you're eating. One way to increase your calorie burn is to exercise at higher intensities.

Does this mean that, if you want to burn more fat, you should avoid low intensity exercise? Not necessarily. There are some specific things you can do to burn more fat and it all starts with how and how much you exercise.

Fat Burning Tip #1: Incorporate a Mix of Low, Medium and High Intensity Cardio Exercise

You may be confused about exactly how hard to work during cardio. You may even think that high intensity exercise is the only way to go. After all, you can burn more calories and, even better, you don't have to spend as much time doing it. But having some variety can help you stimulate all of your different energy systems, protect you from overuse injuries, and help you enjoy your workouts more.

Fat Burning Tip #2: Exercise Consistently

It may seem like a no-brainer that regular exercise can help you burn fat and lose weight. But, it's not just about the calories you're burning. It's also about the adaptations your body makes when you exercise on a regular basis. Many of those adaptations lead directly to your ability to burn more fat without even trying. When you exercise regularly, your body:

* Becomes more efficient at delivering and extracting oxygen -- Simply put, this helps your cells burn fat more efficiently.
* Has better circulation -- This allows the fatty acids to move more efficiently through the blood and into the muscle. That means fat is more readily available for fueling the body.
* Increases the number and size of mitochondria, also known as cellular power plants that provide energy for the body.

And, don't forget, regular exercise will also help you manage your weight. The more activity you engage in, the more calories you'll burn, and the easier it is to create the calorie deficit needed to lose weight.

Fat Burning Tip #3: Lift Weights

Adding more muscle by lifting weights can also help with burning fat, especially if you're also dieting. Lifting weights:

* Preserves muscle mass -- If you diet to lose weight, you actually risk losing muscle as well as fat. Muscle is metabolically active, so when you lose it, you also lose the extra calorie-burn muscles can provide.
* Keeps your metabolism going -- Some studies have found that a diet-only approach to weight loss could lower a person's resting metabolic rate by up to 20% a day. Lifting weights and maintaining muscle helps keep the metabolism up, even if you're cutting your calories.
* Helps you burn extra calories -- If you lift weights at a higher intensity, you can actually increase your afterburn, or the calories you burn after your workout. As About.com Weight Training Guide Paul Rogers states in his article, Burn More Fat, "If you can get afterburn...that’s a bonus because you burn fat during the exercise and after you cease as well."

There's no way around the fact that, when it comes to burning more fat, we have to work at it. There is no magic exercise, workout or pill that will do the job for us. But, the good news is that it doesn't take much activity to push the body into that fat burning mode. Try incorporating some type of activity every day, even if it's just a quick walk, and build on that over time as it becomes more of a routine. Do that and you're on the way to burning more fat.

Sources:

Kinucan, Paige and Kravitz, Len. "Controversies in Metabolism." www.drlenkravitz.com. Retrieved Oct. 3, 2007.

Kravitz, Len. "Fat Facts." IDEA Fitness Journal, Sept. 2007.

Thompson, D.L. et al. "Substrate use during and following moderate- and low-intensity exercise: Implications for weight control." European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology 1998; 78(1), 43-49.