Could be considered a gross question when it comes to weight-loss...

RockyMountainHigh · 11-29-2005, 10:21 PM

But I was just sitting here thinking and had a totally random thought. Where does the weight go when you "lose" it? Because I don't remember being in the bathroom getting rid of 4.5 pounds of body weight this past week, and yet, it's gone. It's a conundrum. LOL

justmarvi · 11-29-2005, 10:24 PM

anj · 11-29-2005, 11:21 PM

I think your body uses the converts the fat into energy and uses that...or something like that. I really don't know, but it's an interesting question.

Congrats on the 4.5 pounds though!

RockyMountainHigh · 11-30-2005, 10:37 AM

I posted this on one of my other boards (an army wife board) and one of the ladies came back with this from Google:

When I lose weight, is the mass burned for fuel, and if not, what happens to it?

If, by "mass" you mean the mass of the food, Yes, because we are talking about a calorie, a unit of heat or energy. When you lose weight it is because you have expended more energy than you consumed. This means that you have not only burned off all the food you just ate
(by building muscle and running other bodily functions), you also drew from your reserves (fat). So yes, you "fuelled" your body with the mass you consumed.

If you are talking about the mass of the fat we burn, the answer is still Yes. Our bodies "burn" calories through metabolic processes, by which enzymes break the carbohydrates (starches) into glucose and other sugars, the fats into glycerol and fatty acids and the proteins into amino acids.

These molecules are then transported through the bloodstream to the cells, where they are either absorbed for immediate use or sent on to the final stage of metabolism in which they are reacted with oxygen to release their stored energy.

It helps here to understand the concept of the calorie ----

Often the misconceptions about weight gain (and loss) are a result of people not understanding what we mean by a "calorie". They often think a calorie is a little "thing" that has to be gotten rid of. A calorie is a unit of energy (or heat). For food it defines how much
energy is needed to burn of a unit measure of a particular food. For exercise it means how much energy your body is burning. So all this means is that the more calories a food *has* the more energy it takes to burn it up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that mystery was solved. LOL You were right, Anj.

11-29-2005, 10:21 PM	#1
RockyMountainHigh Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Western Slope, CO Posts: 248 Gallery: RockyMountainHigh WOE: LapBand & common sense Start Date: November 15, 2007	Could be considered a gross question when it comes to weight-loss... But I was just sitting here thinking and had a totally random thought. Where does the weight go when you "lose" it? Because I don't remember being in the bathroom getting rid of 4.5 pounds of body weight this past week, and yet, it's gone. It's a conundrum. LOL

11-30-2005, 10:37 AM	#4
RockyMountainHigh Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Western Slope, CO Posts: 248 Gallery: RockyMountainHigh WOE: LapBand & common sense Start Date: November 15, 2007	I posted this on one of my other boards (an army wife board) and one of the ladies came back with this from Google: When I lose weight, is the mass burned for fuel, and if not, what happens to it? If, by "mass" you mean the mass of the food, Yes, because we are talking about a calorie, a unit of heat or energy. When you lose weight it is because you have expended more energy than you consumed. This means that you have not only burned off all the food you just ate (by building muscle and running other bodily functions), you also drew from your reserves (fat). So yes, you "fuelled" your body with the mass you consumed. If you are talking about the mass of the fat we burn, the answer is still Yes. Our bodies "burn" calories through metabolic processes, by which enzymes break the carbohydrates (starches) into glucose and other sugars, the fats into glycerol and fatty acids and the proteins into amino acids. These molecules are then transported through the bloodstream to the cells, where they are either absorbed for immediate use or sent on to the final stage of metabolism in which they are reacted with oxygen to release their stored energy. It helps here to understand the concept of the calorie ---- Often the misconceptions about weight gain (and loss) are a result of people not understanding what we mean by a "calorie". They often think a calorie is a little "thing" that has to be gotten rid of. A calorie is a unit of energy (or heat). For food it defines how much energy is needed to burn of a unit measure of a particular food. For exercise it means how much energy your body is burning. So all this means is that the more calories a food has the more energy it takes to burn it up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- So that mystery was solved. LOL You were right, Anj. __________________ STEPHANIE

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11-29-2005, 10:24 PM	#2
justmarvi Very Gabby LCF Member!!! Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 3,218 Gallery: justmarvi

11-29-2005, 11:21 PM	#3
anj Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 731 Gallery: anj Start Date: 1/12/04	I think your body uses the converts the fat into energy and uses that...or something like that. I really don't know, but it's an interesting question. Congrats on the 4.5 pounds though!