How to Burn Stored Body Fat for Energy
Have you noticed how the keto diet is all the rage right now? So many people are skipping the critical step of learning the science behind burning fat for energy. They have no idea what they're doing, no idea how it works. And no wonder! If you google “keto diet” you’re bombarded with tips, tricks, how-to’s and recipes. Who do you trust? Where do you even start?
Have you ever thought about where you get your energy? There are two primary energy sources: one is sugar (glucose), the other is fat. The glucose energy comes from eating carbohydrates - bread, rice, oatmeal, potatoes, chips, cookies, candy, cake, etc. The fat energy comes from a process where the body produces ketones, a type of acid.
Shifting from burning sugar for energy to burning fat lets you tap into your stored fat reserves. If you are overweight, good news! You literally have an endless supply of energy stored on your body, waiting to be released! When you shift to burning fat for energy, you eat delicious food, get and stay slender, full of energy, looking great, feeling great, having confidence.
How we gain weight:
If you are a sugar burner, and most people are...the body converts sugar to glucose and uses it for energy. The glucose storage in the body is limited. As you go throughout the day, eating foods made up mostly of carbohydrates, they break down into glucose and get used up as energy. Since the storage space for glucose is limited, if you eat more carbs than you need for energy, the excess gets converted to fat and is stored on the body. It’s a normal and natural process.
Why most diets fail:
Most weight loss diets are designed to use around 50% of total calories consumed from carbs, which are converted into glucose for energy. That’s how the diet experts tell us to eat to be healthy and to lose weight.
Let's say you're following a diet where you're restricting your calories to lose weight. You're still eating 50% of your total calorie intake from carbs, but you're creating a calorie deficit. Since the glucose storage space is limited, you're burning up your energy supply. Because you created your calorie deficit and you're not giving the body any more carbs, you run out of energy.
Here’s an example:
Let's say your body needs 2500 calories to function and maintain your current weight. Let's say you now decide you're going to diet and eat only 1500 calories per day. 50% of your total calories will come from carbs. This seems right. You create a 1000 calorie deficit. You should lose weight, right?
Let’s keep going with the math. You're only allowing yourself 750 carb calories (50% carb calories, that's 750 of 1,500 calories). Remember, your body and brain use the glucose from the carbs for energy. With the calorie deficit, your body will run out of its primary energy source. The result? You feel tired and hungry. Sound familiar?
When you run out of energy, your brain says, “Oh my gosh... I don't have any energy…” It doesn't know to switch over to fat for energy yet. It wants the most readily available energy source there is. Glucose is the easy one for it to get to.
When it doesn't get the glucose for energy, your hormones send you signals. You feel tired, hungry, and you know beyond knowing all you gotta do is eat more carbs. Then you can feel normal again. Then you can think clearly. Then you can have the energy to get your day done. And so you do. You fall off the wagon. You go back up to eating 2500 calories to feel normal. Because your body needs that much to function.
Then you tell yourself, “Well, crap. Now I'm off my diet again. I can't lose weight this way because I'm not creating a calorie deficit, because I can not stand it. I can’t be that tired and I can’t be that hungry. I had stuff to get done today…” Does this help you to understand why diets are so hard to stick to?
There is a better way:
Our second energy source is fat. We know carbs and sugar are converted to glucose for energy. What about fat? Fat is converted to ketones, a type of acid produced in the liver. Ketones are actually a very clean, efficient, natural, source of energy. When the body realizes the glucose energy reserves have run out and no more is coming, then it will take the fat that's stored on your body, convert it to ketones and use the ketones for energy. This is awesome!
The most accessible energy source to get to is glucose. If there is no glucose in the storage tank, then your body will switch over to fat for energy. The body is brilliant and efficient. Your body is amazing! If there’s no glucose, the body is searching and searching, going, “Oh my gosh, my glucose reserves are low... there's no glucose in this body... we still need to go on... what do we do... we switch over to fats…”
Fat is a harder energy source to get to, but once this shift happens... ... oh my goodness! The magic happens! You are no longer tired and hungry. Because burning fat for energy is a clean, efficient, natural process, you feel fantastic. The pounds and inches melt away. You shrink.
Here's the best part... Since the fat energy source is unlimited, there is no crash, people! There is no mental fog! There is no getting tired. There is boundless energy!
Yes, this is why I switched from being a sugar burner to a fat burner. I will never go back, never! Once in a while, I enjoy a sugary treat, just for the taste or experience, like a birthday party or Christmas. But I don't ever want to be a sugar burner again. I love how great I feel as a fat burner.
It’s my mission to help as many people as I can make the transition from sugar burner to fat burner. If you want to know how I did it and how you can do it too, check out the Cowgirl Up Diet.
Download the free guide —> 12 Painless Ways to Stop Sugar Cravings and Jumpstart Weight Loss.
Today’s blog post is an excerpt of the Cowgirl Up Diet. You can get a sneak peek of the Cowgirl Up Diet by watching this video:
Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below and let me know what your biggest weight loss struggles are right now.