We love to see it go, but WHERE exactly does it go?
You‘ve been eating less and exercising, and you are losing weight (yay!). Your body is now tapping into that extra fat that it has stored. Surprisingly though, while you are shedding pounds, that fat doesn’t just burn up and disappear. Registered Dietitian and SlimFast Plan Consultant, Maryann Walsh answers the question, “Where does fat go?”
In 2013, an Australian Physicist, Ruben Meerman, who had himself lost 33 pounds, wanted to find out where fat goes once and for all. He couldn’t get a straight answer from any health professional he interviewed, so he set out to do research of his own.
Source: http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/events/2014/09/uts-science-focus-science-weight-loss
Meerman’s research was published in the British Medical Journal. The findings of his team were that 22 pounds of fat turned into 18.5 pounds of carbon dioxide, which was exhaled out. The remaining 3.5 pounds was excreted as water in bodily fluids such as urine, sweat and tears (this doesn’t mean we can cry away fat though, but it would be nice!) These findings concluded that 84% of fat is exhaled as carbon dioxide while the other 16% is excreted as water.
With all that being said, “extra breathing” isn’t necessarily going to make you lose weight faster. The acts of lowering calorie intake and exercising initiate the process of breaking down stored fat to use for energy, which then leads to the carbon exhaled as carbon dioxide. So, keep eating the appropriate amounts required for you to lose weight and keep exercising. And lastly, keep these fun facts in mind the next time you are thinking about where all that fat is going! Adios fat!
ABOUT MARYANN
A consultant of the SlimFast® Plan, Maryann is a Registered Dietitian with Bachelors degrees in Biological Sciences and Dietetics and a Masters of Food and Nutrition. She has extensive experience working with clients of all ages and from all walks of life, helping them to achieve their wellness and weight-loss goals. Learn more about Maryann.