For years people believed that to lose fat you need to “burn” fat. That you must stay in a specific zone to ensure you’re fat burning as fuel. They taught, and believed, that this is how you lost the excess fat you desired to part ways with.

fat burning
Are You Really Burning Your Fat Off

I used to believe it too. I preached it for over 15 years to clients.

Spend at least 30 minutes, twice a week, in the “Fat Burning Zone”.

But, was the information I believed as true as I thought?

I began to ask myself some questions:

Is this really how we lose fat?

Are we “burning” fat away? 

Is it just stored energy being converted or is something else happening?

Luckily, I came across this article from 2014 that discussed fat and where it goes when we lose it. The article discusses what happens to fat at the molecular level and where it really “goes” when we lose it. Suddenly, my questions started being answered. 

For years we believed fat was being burned off, but really it becomes just a vapor. 

Fat isn’t converted to energy by staying in a particular heart rate zone. Instead, it turns into a vapor and we breathe it out as carbon dioxide. That’s right, it’s just a gas. Portions are lost in water and other body secretions, but the majority of your fat turns into a mere gas. 

In the article, “When we lose weight, where does it go?”, the author Ruben Meerman states:

 “If you follow the atoms in 10 kilograms of fat as they are ‘lost’, 8.4 of those kilograms are exhaled as carbon dioxide through the lungs. The remaining 1.6 kilograms becomes water, which may be excreted in urine, feces, sweat, breath, tears and other bodily fluids, the authors report.”

What does this mean to us as we move forward with fat burning?

How can you lose more fat? If the loss of fat isn’t related to working in a specific heart zone, how are we supposed to lose the excess fat? 

Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as simple as you would like it to be. In fact, it’s more complicated than rocket science. There are multiple variables to consider, but we start by building more lean muscle

At M3 we focus on 9 specific variables to help our clients lose fat, gain muscle and live a healthy, balanced, and active lifestyle. We focus on diet, muscle growth, cardiovascular output and recovery. 

Are you ready? Contact us today! Our M3 Coaches are here to help you find a solution that will work for you and help you breathe out more fat and live healthier! Our experts are here to guide you along this journey that truly is more complicated than rocket science.