Where does the fat go?

Guru

Silver Member
Last question of the day!

Where does the fat *go* when you lose it? Do you wee it out or something? Does it get absorbed into your blood?
 
surely its wee'd out Guru? good question. I think what happens is that when you overeat, your fat cells expand (hence cellulite) as the excess fat grips to the cell and then when you 'diet' the fat that is gripping to the cells is wee'd out. sounds good, dont know if im right tho!
 
oh I dont know...please someone know the answer! If you just wee it out i would think there would be something you could take just to get rid of it!? (I wish)
 
You only take in a very few calories, right? 450 or below (if on SS). That isn't enough to keep an adult woman going in terms of basic functions, let alone any energy to actually do anything. So the body needs extra energy from somewhere - which it draws from fat. Its very complex and to do with complicated chemical equations and all that, but essentially you live on the crisps and chocolate you ate when you didnt' need them, because now you do.

Calorie is a measure of heat energy, so if it helps, think of the energy you are storing as fat as being 'burned off' as your body needs it. The energy in the fat cells is released, carried into the bloodstream and used.

I think.
 
Liz S is right - your body converts the fat to energy which "runs" your body. When the fat is converted a byproduct is ketones, hence going into ketosis - ketones are wee'd out which is why you can test for them:)
 
I'm a bit of a science geek, so I'll try and make it non complicated without sounding patronising! I apologise if I do either, it's not intended!!!

Basically, a calorie is a unit of heat, or energy. 1lb of fat is roughly 3500 calories, or 3500 units of heat or energy. If a piece of chocolate has 65 calories in it, what it's saying is that your body will use up around 65 units of energy to process and digest that piece of chocolate. As you probably know, the recommended number of calories a day is 2000 for women and 2500 for men, because that's how many units of energy on average an active adult will use. And in exercise it's the number of extra units of heat that are burnt up through that activity. So we're losing weight because we're using up more energy than we're consuming. But your body can't just go well, no energy, shut down now! So instead it converts some of that fat and uses it as energy.

What basically happens is a metabolic process where enzymes break down the carbs into glucose and other sugars, the fats into... er.. glycerol (i remember now!! lol) and the proteins into amino acids.

Those glucose, glycerol and amino acid molecules then travel through your blood stream, rather than sitting as fat in one place. They're either used up along the way or in the final stage they react with oxygen and the energy within them is released.

Your body then uses that energy to 'fuel' all it's processes. Our muscles are basically like little engines that our bodies use to do anything, and they turn energy into motion. So every movement you make, that's fueled by that fat. In a way, it is that fat!

But I guess that doesn't completely answer the question does it! In a car, if it uses fuel, you get emissions through the exhaust. Your body doesn't quite do that. There is no emission. Just movement.

Does that make any sense at all?!
 
Wow Caroline, that's really interesting!! Sadly though, I now have visions of little people running around my body making fuel - strange I know!!
 
That makes total sense. Thanks for that, Caroline!
 
I'm glad I was able to make it make sense!!
 
Yay! Thanks for the answers! I have been peering down the toilet looking for the lost fat haha
 
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