Last Night I was watching one of those discovery channel shows, about Grizzly Bears..........I know, so what....

Anyhow, something interesting caught my attention...

A grizzly Bear (mammal) will go into Hibernation for 6 months, and will not eat or drink ANYTHING for the entire 6 months...but will burn up 100 lbs of stored fat to maintain life and all the needed nutrition to do so....

After hibernation, the Grizzly will spend the next 6 months putting that 100lbs of extra weight back on for the next winter...

What does this have to do with us? Probably nothing, other than I have always been puzzled about people stating they are not eating enough, or need to eat more when they exercise, scared of the so called starvation mode, etc, etc....I have always wondered...when are we going to use the stored fat we have to cover these things?? Isn't that what it is there for? As a stored energy source so we don't starve?

I always go to the gym first thing in the morning, and have always done so on a empty stomach, other than Water and Vitamins, etc, not eating for about 10-12 hours prior..dinner night before...

I have done this because I WANT my body to turn on itself and use that stored fat I been saving.....and I have to say it has worked for me...energy is not a issue..

You always hear about marathoners chowing down on extra Pasta the night before a big race...but they have no fat....they would do their bodies harm...but me, I have that extra gas tank to go the additional distance without filling up.....and I'm going to use it! Not save or hold onto it....unless I'm planning on going into hibernation....

Just early morning rambling...off to the gym....

I was thinking the same thing this mornig, but not b/c of bears.lol

If you have fat on your body and you refuse to feed it, it has to come off.

I have lived like a grizzly, sort of, as far as losing 100 lbs and gaining it back. When I was gaining it back, I hibernated, naps & no activity.

So we are similar! LOL

B-52, I think that some of the problem is that the Calories in vs. out is not instantaneous as we expect a math problem to be. When we step on the scale, we aren't measuring fat, we are measuring total body weight and we can't see what is really happening. So we start looking for reasons for why this isn't happening. Personally, if my body was going to go into starvation mode, this last month would have sent it there big time. But I have kept moving, logged my food and except for one week where nothing moved, I have watched the scale go down every other day.

Yep, the math will always owe you

Hmmm hybernatiing for six months sounds like a great idea.

always thought it would be great if the more we eat the thinner we go....oh its nice in my mind some times lol

Now if the bear had the lap band....

B-52, every time you post about how you work out early in the morning, with no Breakfast I shake my head in wonder.

Now, I've mentioned before there's no morning workout for me, schedule doesn't permit. But I do aim for 30-40 mins of aerobic exercise 4 weekdays, plus a longer maybe 90 min run and usually 3-5 hours of hiking/snowshoeing on the weekend. Plus I teach nursing, on my feet about 75% of my work day, I run a skills lab and pretty much am anything but sedentary.

There is no humanly possible way I could workout with out anything to eat before. Now, not a meal, but I eat light all day, I'm up to about 600 cals before I hit the gym at 6pm, and I usually have a Protein shake (low carb ) before and come out famished, shaking , stomach growling and overall wiped out when I'm done. I'm thinking about borrowing a glucometer from the lab to see where my sugars fall before and after.

I just would love to pull out those fat reserves (I have about 45lbs of them) instantly when I'm working out, but it just doesn't happen. On long, endurance hikes (with a pack, elevation, etc) or runs greater than about 4-5 miles, I totally "bonk" if I don't fuel up.

But my hubby doesn't start nomming gummies until he hits 10 miles. Of course he runs marathons and I only do 1/2s.

Maybe my tolerance for low blood sugar is less? I always run low anyhow. Maybe my glycogen stores suck and my body is too effective at storing fat and preparing for hibernation? I wonder what a bear's BMR is? You don't see them running marathons ! I haven't met any yet in the woods, but I've see the signs , the love some bugs in trees ( scratched up bark).

Anyhow, I think it's awesome this is working for you. Every one of us is different and unique human machines and we must all share our stories so people can try and experiment to find what works. I'll think I'll track blood sugars. Curious to see the readings when I feel " hungry".