Where Does the Fat You Lose Really Go?

Have you ever thought about how you lose weight? Not about the diet or workouts you use to lose weight, but the actual process of what happens to the fat when you burn it. 

It might just gross you out.

We all know that you need to consume less calories than you burn to lose fat. Then, in what appears to be a feat of magic, fat just “disappears” from your stomach and butt.

Do you poop it out? Do you pee it out? Is it lost through sweat?

Well, it isn’t poop. But you’re 16% correct if you answered pee and sweat.

 WAIT, WHAT!?

 Here is how fat loss works. When fat is used for energy, or burned, your body has to get rid of it. It does this through two ways:

Here is how fat loss works. When fat is used for energy (burned) your body must get rid of it somehow. It does this in two different ways:

• It excretes it as water through your skin (as sweat) and your kidneys (as urine) when you urinate.
• Your body excretes it as carbon dioxide, through your lungs, when you breath out.

The medical journal BMJ has published a study that shows the breakdown of these two methods during fat loss. Their research revealed that approximately 84% of the fat lost turns into carbon dioxide and is exhaled from the lungs as you breathe, while the other 16% becomes water and is excreted from your body in sweat or urine.

It makes you wonder when we wear masks while dieting if fat is just accumulating on our masks (kidding, kind of)!

What does this mean for you?

Nothing, fat loss is still fat loss and to lose fat you need to burn more calories than you take in. But the next time somebody says they’re gonna “sweat it out” to lose fat, they’re not a COMPLETE idiot. But if they’re not in a caloric deficit, the fat will not be in that sweat.

Nothing, fat loss is still fat loss, and to lose fat you simply need to burn more calories than you take in. So, the next time somebody says they’re “gonna sweat it out” to lose fat, they’re not a COMPLETE idiot. However, if they’re not in a caloric deficit (calories in < calories burned), there will be no fat coming out with that sweat.

Relevant Reading: Calories In, Calories Out – Reality or Myth?

Also, if you don’t sweat much, that doesn’t mean you aren’t losing fat. Your body will simply get rid of it via the two things we all do, by breathing and peeing!

Now don’t start getting scared if you don’t sweat much, that doesn’t mean you aren’t losing fat. Your body will simply get rid of it via the two things discussed above that we all do, by breathing and peeing!

If you need help finding out what your caloric intake would need to be daily to be in a deficit, use our free TDEE Calculator to see approximately how many calories you are burning daily, then log your diet and keep your caloric intake below that number.

For some awesome resources for losing fat, firstly let me introduce you to our free training and diet app at The Tiger Fitness Trainer.

• Drop Factor Book: http://www.dropfactorbook.com
• The Cut Diet: http://www.cutdiet.com