I've been trying to figure out where all the fat goes when you work out, eat less calories the whole nine you know! So I decided to ask my fellow 20's bandsters and future bandsters. I checked on Wikipedia and I just don't get it, maybe my comprehension skills are in the 3rd grade level when they should be in the 4th grade level on this concept! LOL...Any laymens explanation would be greatly appreciated.

I've been trying to figure out where all the fat goes when you work out, eat less calories the whole nine you know! So I decided to ask my fellow 20's bandsters and future bandsters. I checked on Wikipedia and I just don't get it, maybe my comprehension skills are in the 3rd grade level when they should be in the 4th grade level on this concept! LOL...Any laymens explanation would be greatly appreciated.

Good question! Here's an answer I found on the 'net:

The Know-It-All author A.J. Jacobs weighs in with the answer. "It breaks down into carbon dioxide and Water," A.J. says. "The carbon dioxide you breathe out and the water you either sweat out or you pee out."

The fat cells stay in your body, he says. "They just get thinner. They're just waiting for more fat to come in. They're very sneaky."

Oy, I know about those sneaky fat cells! So it sounds like we breathe, sweat and pee out our fat loss. My dietitian did mention this is one reason why we need to consume 64 oz. of water/fluids each day . . . to help our body excrete that fat we are losing!

I want my fat cells to go away :thumbup:

That actually made a whole lot more sense then I thought it would. Thanks so much, I didn't even know what to google to figure it out! I knew that our fat cells never went away and we're born w/ a certain number of them, just never knew what was in the fat cells and where they "went" after you loose weight. Makes so much more sense, thanks again!

I want all my fat cells to go away as well!

It turns into more than carbon dioxide and Water, your body converts fat into energy, that's what its for.

I may be wrong, so somebody correct me please, I'm thinking back to 20 years ago here, when I studied some of this but I *think* fat is used to produce more of the chemical ATP which powers your muscles. So you do literally burn it up and as we all know, energy doesnt simply disappear, its converted from one form to another, so your fat basically becomes energy and is dissipated as heat. And then of course, there are the waste products of metabolism - carbon dioxide and water.

It turns into more than carbon dioxide and Water, your body converts fat into energy, that's what its for.

I may be wrong, so somebody correct me please, I'm thinking back to 20 years ago here, when I studied some of this but I *think* fat is used to produce more of the chemical ATP which powers your muscles. So you do literally burn it up and as we all know, energy doesnt simply disappear, its converted from one form to another, so your fat basically becomes energy and is dissipated as heat. And then of course, there are the waste products of metabolism - carbon dioxide and water.

Yes, exactly Jacqui! When you take in fewer calories, your body turns to its fat stores for energy. Since matter can neither be created nor destroyed, your body converts it (the fat) into the waste products - the carbon dioxide you breathe out, and the water you pee or sweat off. I think the ATP you mentioned comes from Krebs cycle (also known as the citric acid cycle), and this is a quote from Wikipedia:

"In aerobic organisms, the citric acid cycle is part of a metabolic pathway involved in the chemical conversion of carbohydrates, fats, and Proteins into carbon dioxide and water to generate a form of usable energy."

So you're not wrong :rolleyes2: You've got good brain cells thinking back 20 years! It's been awhile for me too, I remembered Krebs cycle having something to do with energy.

Interesting stuff! I love chemistry/biology.

not to get too technical here, but basically your bodys main fuel is glucose, a 6 carbon sugar...glucose braeks down too easily to be stored, so your body changes it into another sugar glycogen

when your glucose levels are low, because you arent consuming the groceries or you are working out, the body will convert the stored glycogen back into a sugar that can then be broken down and used...

the breaking of the ATP to ADP is the actual energy, and I dont want to go too into it for fear of losin everyone!

Your adipose cells (fat cells) have large storage containers to store the sugars until they are needed, as the sugars are removed from the cells they shrink in size..after you eat a do-nut, they increase! While most cells )i forget if bloodcells can or not) are capable of storing "energy" the fat cells are specialized for this task

Good question! Here's an answer I found on the 'net:

The Know-It-All author A.J. Jacobs weighs in with the answer. "It breaks down into carbon dioxide and water' date='" A.J. says. "The carbon dioxide you breathe out and the Water you either sweat out or you pee out."

The fat cells stay in your body, he says. "They just get thinner. They're just waiting for more fat to come in. They're very sneaky."[/i']

Oy, I know about those sneaky fat cells! So it sounds like we breathe, sweat and pee out our fat loss. My dietitian did mention this is one reason why we need to consume 64 oz. of water/fluids each day . . . to help our body excrete that fat we are losing!

Isn't science beautiful? lol