Where does the fat go when we workout???!!!

With the changing life styles and shift in priorities, it is getting more difficult in recent times to maintain a healthy body and weight. Workout was never a separate activity in the past as people would get their daily requirement of activities through their jobs itself and they chose their jobs based on what they were good at and hence enjoyed what they did. Also, there was no concept of eating exotic and incorrect. It was simple, easy to digest timely meals always. But with the so-called advancement in technology, we have machines to do most of our work and then we spend most of our day sitting in front of more machines and finally retire our day all tired, as our activities throughout the day have not brought us any joy but instead drained us with monotony!

All this can be broken and reverted with a simple – One hour ME time! One hour of body and mind recovery – but the catch is, it must be done EVERY SINGLE DAY! Just like we need to breathe everyday, eat everyday, we need to workout EVERYDAY!

To address the issue of weight management, lets first understand…

…, how does the body form these fat cells?

When food enters our body, the essential nutrients enter our blood stream and are sent across our body. But most often, we tend to consume more than we actually need (note that even excess healthy food or protein gets converted to fat and it is not a favor we do to our body). This extra energy that is consumed is stored in small packets all around the body. The excess storage leads to these fat deposits throughout the body.

What happens to the fat during a workout?!!

When we are active, our muscles need energy. The deposits are then converted to energy and provided for these activities.

After 30-60 minutes of any aerobic activity (running, brisk walking, surya namaskars/intentive yoga asanas, playing an intensive sport, swimming, cycling, or whatever cardio-activity you may love), your body starts burning the fat. Until then, the body is only burning the stored glycogen for energy, and that is the reason why we need a good workout (which exceeds 30 minutes) of moderate to high intensity cardio activities to burn the excess fat. Regular daily activities would not suffice.

How do the fat deposits leave your body?!!

Majority of it through the carbon dioxide exhaled and the remaining minor part through the water released (sweat and urine).

When we workout, our respiratory rate increases and hence more CO2 and sweat is released from the body. This is the ONLY way it can escape out.

Hence, it is extremely important to breathe consciously during a workout. Ensure that your breathing is long and deep and not short and shallow.

Tips: 5 minutes of Pranayama everyday (any time, even during breaks at work), helps in improving the way we breathe throughout the day and during workouts and this would help tremendously in weight management as well. Bonus benefit – stress management and keeps you calm always!

What are the other ways for the fat to breakdown apart from workout?

When we consume lesser food than required for our daily activities, the body breakdowns the stored fat for the remaining energy.

Hence, when chalking out a weight management workout, a balanced diet plan is most important. Planning an excellent workout and not working on the Diet, would not show the desired results.

The body must be given all essential nutrients and the exact amount protein and carbohydrate required based on the intensity of one’s workout and daily life.

Then, on performing the additional workout, the body starts to burn the excess fat for the release of energy, retaining the muscle mass and without weakening the body.

The end result of a workout must be a more ENERGIZED you & not a more TIRED you. If and only if this happens -> it shows that you are on the path of HEALTH and FITNESS!