Does Burning Calories Mean Burning Fat?

When you start focusing on fitness, one of the objectives for most of you is to lose extra fat and stay fit. You try exercising, going on a diet, tracking your routine and trying to get into healthy eating patterns. During this fitness journey, one main thing everyone focuses on is calorie consumption and how many calories we burn during the day. But do you really think consuming fewer calories and exercising more helps in losing fat? Does burning calories mean that the body is burning fat?

Let’s first look at what calories are. As most of us are aware, calories measure the amount of energy in food. The body needs calories and fats to supply the energy required to perform any activity.

How does our body function?

When we exercise or do any physical activity, the body looks at recently consumed calories along with energy stored for fuel. So, the calories you consume from food are used up immediately when any physical activity is required. What happens to the calories that aren’t used immediately? It gets stored as energy reserve in the body. The body converts unused calories into triglycerides which are stored in fat cells.

Why do people say consume less calories and you will be able to burn fat?

When you consume less calories and engage in exercise or sports, your body requires more energy and automatically looks at the stored fat to convert it to energy. But does this happen so easily? The answer is a big NO.

Each time you are burning calories, you are not burning fat. The body first draws calories from the carbohydrates (the reason why most people say they are cutting carbs. It is a way of training the body to look at the other alternative - stored fat, instead of carbs), and later moves to the stored fat. There are various factors involved before the body looks at burning the stored fat for energy. One of the key factors is oxygen. The body requires a good amount of oxygen to shift towards the stored fats and the easiest way to get more oxygen is to increase the heart rate, which happens through cardio exercises. Now, we understand why the notion – consume less calories and exercise more to burn those fats.

Still wondering why is it wrong to interpret it this way? It is important to note that if the body doesn’t get enough oxygen, it will not look at burning stored fat and you will end up losing water weight. This will have a negative impact on the body causing it to slow down the metabolism. When the metabolism decreases, you start gaining weight instead of losing weight. Also, not all calories are equal. In an effort to lower the calorie intake, we might deprive the body of enough nutrients. So, it is essential to consider what you eat when trying to lose fat.

To sum it all up and answer the question, burning calories does not necessarily mean burning fat. It is really important to understand the basics before experimenting with the body. Also, each body reacts differently and each of us have a different metabolism rate. Understanding the body's nature plays a crucial role before trying these ways. The safest way is to seek expert opinions before taking these steps. If you wish to learn more about programs at KellyKinetix, visit this link Fitness (kellykinetix.com). If you are ready to book a discovery call, Consultation and start your journey visit https://www.kellykinetix.com/consultation