When you burn FAT, where does it

go?
After getting this lockdown extended for yet another number of days, I’m sure most
of us must have gained at least a couple of pounds. And many of us might be among
those lucky ones to shed off some (Those who did - aap ke dedication ka raaz kya
hai?

But have you ever wondered, where does that extra weight go?
What happens to the fat when you lose weight?

According to a study, the majority of people (even doctors, dieticians & personal
trainers) did not know the answer.
A very common response was - the fat is converted into energy, which was wrong
because it violates the law of conservation of matter. Science buddy, SCIENCE.
Some said it turns into muscles (which doesn’t really happen) and some assumed it
disappears via the colon. Well, none of it is true.

So, okay. No energy, no muscles, no loo. Then what is it? Where does the fat go?

The correct answer is - your fat is converted into carbon dioxide and water.
Yes. You read it right. You exhale your fat. Interesting, no?
For processing this interesting piece of information, let me give you some fun facts
about fat metabolism.

Science of Fat Loss :

Before that, tell me what’s the chemical formula of water? Yes H2O.

And carbon dioxide? CO2. Right.

Now can you tell me the chemical formula for human fat? Yes, there IS such a thing.
Believe it or not, it has been there since the ’60s.
Its C55H104O6.

Some of the molecules might have a little more carbon atoms, a little more hydrogen

atoms and some might have less but all of them have 6 oxygen atoms. That’s an
important piece.

Yes, Its the fat.

Now the question is how does this thing get out of our body?
Don’t get intimidated, but if we look at this simple chemical equation,

C55H104O6 + 78O2 55 CO2 + 52 H2O

 Fat + Oxygen Carbon dioxide + Water

Interesting thing is, all this up here is the weight. The FAT - is the weight
(kg), Oxygen here- also weight (kg), water and carbon dioxide- also the
weights.
It is all the matter of Kilograms. So when people say that you burn energy, it's not
true. Because again, SCIENCE. Energy has the unit Joules (kJ). And it clearly doesn’t
match the equation out here.

It looks very simplified but this is what we call biochemistry which actually takes 3
years of university studies to understand and learn.
But the crux here is, our fat with the help of oxygen, turns out into carbon dioxide
and water. This is not as simple as it looks. You have to eat less, move more and a lot
of other things to lose weight which we will talk about later.

So one thing is clear, our fat doesn’t burn into energy, we EXHALE most of our fat.

The big FAT FACT

If you happen to lose 10 kg of weight, 8.4kg of it is breathed out of your lungs and
the remaining 1.6 kg transforms into water. Simply put, almost all the weight we lose
is breathed out.

If we really exhale our fat, can breathing more help in

reducing fat?

Sadly, NO. Breathing fast or more than required is called hyperventilation and it will
only lead to dizziness and possibly you fainting out.
The only way you can advisedly increase the amount of carbon dioxide getting out of
your system is, by moving your muscles more and more.
If doing a high-intensity workout or lifting weights scares you, I got you some good
news. Even standing up can increase your metabolic rate. Instead of sitting, try doing
things while standing. Going for a walk improves your metabolic rate up to 3 times.
And so does cleaning and cooking and all those little activities that keep you moving.

Apart from this, also take care of how much and what you eat. You don’t want to eat
so much more than required and expect to burn fat by moving a lot.
Having said that, the bottom line is if you want to get rid of that fat, then eat less,
move more and breathe.