Are you Burning Fat or Just Burning Calories?

There’s a huge misconception, endorsed by many celebrities, that you can eat whatever you can and burn it all by hitting the gym the next day. It’s not something one should follow, especially when trying to burn excess body fat and get fit. Unknown to many, weight loss and fat loss are not the same, and weighing scale does not show amount of fat burnt. That’s why we should not always depend on weighing scale to measure success and look at other non-scale victories like these (18 Non-Scale Victories That Prove you are Losing Weight). The numbers on the weighing scale can get fluctuate with the amount of water retention, salt intake, and the amount of carb intake (for every gram of carb, the body holds three gms of water). Burning calories in the gym would not always translate to burning fat because when we exercise, our bodies will start to burn calories, but the calories that are burnt come from glycogen (glucose molecules) stored in the muscles and liver. If we continuously replenish these glycogen stores (by eating high carb and sugar rich food), instead of the body tapping into stored fat, it will continue to burn glycogen, keeping the fat storage intact. So, what should you do to burn fat and not just calories alone. Read on to find out.

Mistakes That are Slowing Down Weight Loss

Burning Calories vs Burning Fat:

Every food that we consume have different amount of calories in them, that either get used up to release energy or get stored in the body. Extra carbs are converted to glycogen molecules and stored in the muscles and liver temporarily. The extra calories are also converted into fat molecules and stored in fat cells (which is kind of a permanent storage area). Also, the extra calories are stored as triglyceride molecule in fat cells around the body. When the body needs energy, it triggers release of glycogen molecules from muscles and liver, and when those run out, it turns to fat cells. So, to lose excess weight, we should aim to surpassing the glycogen stores and reaching out to fat deposits. Read about 12 Best Ways To Burn Both Calories and Fat in this post.

12 Best Ways To Burn Both Calories and Fat:

1. You would be surprised to know that it takes around 30 to 60 minutes of cardio exercises (running, jogging, cycling, etc., for the body to start burning fat. Doing cardio exercises three times a week, for one hour would help use up glycogen store and tap into fat reserve. Here’s a list of  “8 Easy Cardio Exercises you can Try at Home.”
2. Include HIIT Exercises: Exercising at high intensity, burns more calories, long after you have finished exercising. HIIT workouts are popular to burn fat when compared to cardio exercises such as walking or running on the treadmill because the body continues to burn calories because of increased oxygen consumption for up to 24 hours after the workout. HIIT also boosts enzymes that are responsible for fat burning and also decrease levels of fat-producing enzymes. HIIT exercises are great for busy women because they burn more fat and calories in less time, and can be done anywhere one wants. Here is a list of “7 Minute Fat Burning HIIT Exercises That you can Do at Home.”
5. Practice NEAT activities: You would be burning a considerable amount of calories without even realizing or breaking a sweat by doing these “non-exercise Activity thermogenesis routine on a daily basis and fret not, they are as basic as cooking your own food, washing the dishes, and walking the pet dog. Basically, just try to be on your feet for the majority of the day and say bye-bye to sedentary lifestyle.
6. Cut Down Sugar: If one consumes more sugar, the body will convert the glucose to glycogen molecules and the extra glucose to fat deposit. By cutting down sugar, you will not be providing the body glucose that can be stored as glycogen for temporary use, and to derive energy, the body would reach out to its fat storage. Combined with regular exercise and a good control over diet, you would be able to shed weight really well and get your dream body and goal weight quickly.
7. Start Strength Training: Lifting weights burns calories and fat even at rest. It increases metabolism and keeps muscles active and when the body burns calories at rest, it is from the stored fat. Do not rely on cardio alone to burn fat, lift those dumbbells in the gym as well.
8. Try These Ways To Increase Metabolism: The key to burn stored fat is to increase metabolism, so that the resting heart rate is high. As we have mentioned above, when the body burns calories at rest, it is mostly from stored fat, and a robust metabolism helps you achieve that. Here are “21 Trick To Boost Metabolism That you should Try.”
9. Eat a Protein-Rich Diet: To prevent muscle loss, increase metabolism, and build muscle, you gotta eat a high-protein diet. Rati Beauty diet places a great deal of emphasis on nutritious diet, including protein to help you lose overall weight. Download the Rati Beauty app for more details.
10. Cut out Processed Foods: Any packaged with more than five ingredients is considered to be a processed food with high amount of calories. Cut out processed foods to lower the amount of calories getting inside, so as to allow the body to utilized stored fat.
11. Increase portions of Veggies and Fruits: The body needs nutrients to run, so never cut out veggies and fruits from your diet. In fact, increase the portion of veggies and fruits to provide the body with enough nutrients to run its normal functions.
12. The best way to lose weight, get into calorie deficit by following Rati Beauty diet, mix both cardio and weight training. This way the body continues to burn calories and pushes your body to access energy stored in the form of fat.

Breathe In, Breathe Out: There’s another important factor needed to burn fat – oxygen! Fat molecules are broken down in a process called as “oxidation” which requires oxygen, and that too three times the amount of fat that needs to be broken. So, do remember to practice breathing exercises to burn more fat.

16 Amazing Ways to Burn Extra Calories Outside the Gym
How Sugar Hurts Weight Loss Goals

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