Burning Fat How we do it!

Facts on Fat

• Fat is necessary for cells

• It is also an energy reserve (more than twice the energy

storage capacity than carbohydrate)

• A lean adult man can store about 131,000 calories in fat,

enough to keep them alive for 65 days

• By understanding how fat travels through the body, you

can understand why it is important to keep your own fat

storage in control.

Eating fat in a meal

• Fat will form globules in the stomach and intestines (such

as when you put cooking oil in water)

• Gallbladder secretes bile acids, which make the globules

smaller

• Then acids are broken down by enzymes

• Small fat fragments are taken up or absorbed in the small

intestine, packaged with cholesterol, and enter the blood

stream

• There, they are used by exercising muscles or stored

Using dietary fat

• Fat resides in fat storage cells called adipocytes

• Most are just under the skin, some may surround organs

• Adipocytes either STORE fat from the blood or RELEASE fat

into the blood

• After we eat, INSULIN keeps fatty acids inside the adipocytes

• When we are fasting or exercise, INSULIN starts to drop while

other hormones like EPINEPHRINE begin to increase

• When EPINEPHRINE binds to adipocytes, fatty acids separate

and enter the blood for energy.

Exercise

• Exercise causes blood insulin levels to

fall, which is a key to prevention

and/or control of diabetes

Fatty acids in the blood

Fatty acids from the blood

to the muscle

• Albumin is a protein carrier which carries fat through the

blood. This is because fat does not easily dissolve in

water.

• One albumin can carry many fatty acids through the

blood to the muscle cells

• Fatty acids are removed from the albumin by the

capillaries surrounding the muscle, where they are then

taken into the muscle.

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Fatty acids from blood to

muscle

• Fatty acids must pass through 2 barriers to get from the

blood to the muscle. First, the lining of the capillary

(endothelium) and then the muscle-cell membrane

(sarcolemma).

• Once fat is inside the muscle, a molecule called

coenzyme A (CoA) is added to the fatty acids. This

prepares the fatty acid for either OXIDATION (for

energy) or STORAGE (to stay in the muscle).

ENERGY BALANCE AND

EXERCISE Making the most of your fat

Energy imbalance

Exercise

• 80% of the fatty acids entering the muscle during exercise are

oxidized for energy

• However, if they enter while eating, most are stored in the

muscle instead

• Exercise intensity matters. Most fat is burned when exercising

at low to moderate intensity (25 to 60% of maximum)

• At very low intensity, most fatty acids come from the blood

• At higher intensities, they come from the muscle stores

• Above 70%, less fat is burned and more carbohydrates are

used instead

After exercise

• After exercise, we continue to burn energy, which helps muscle cells to recover

• As a result, your metabolic rate in increased

• This increase is greater with high intensity exercise, or with resistance training. It is also especially elevated after eccentric exercise because there is a higher need for repair of cells

• So, you burn more fat DURING low/moderate intensity, but burn more fat AFTER high intensity and weight training.

Increase fatty acid by

Exercise because:

• Exercise causes proteins to deliver more fatty acids,

which improves efficiency and amount

• Exercise may cause fat to conform to mitochondria

(where energy is produced) which makes it more

available for use

• Exercise increases the number of capillaries, which

means more pathways into the muscle for fat burning

Bottom line:

• Keep consuming fat (unsaturated) in your diet in

moderation

• Maintain balance between calories needed and calories

used

• Exercise at low to moderate to burn more fat in a session

• Exercise at higher intensity and with weights to keep

burning fat after the exercise

• Know your triglycerides level. This gives you insight on

how your fat metabolism is performing

• Keep you insulin in check, as this also affects fat

metabolism