Quote Originally Posted by rvinay
Now this is not a scientific explanation in the strictest sense; however, this is how I understand the process.

Fat "synthesis" or the creation of fat in the body can only happen if there is a caloric surplus in the body.

Basically if you eat more than you expend then you can gain fat.

As far as I understand, that's pretty much the end all be all of the entire equation.

If you burn 2000 calories in a day, and you eat all 2000 calories right before you go to bed, then you still won't gain any fat. Because in that situation the total calorie excess = 0. Where would the energy possibly come from to generate any fat tissue?

Burning Calories
The likelyhood that you are going to eat the exact amount of calories needed to end up with a Zero balance is highly unlikely.

A rough calculation for the amount of calories needed to come close to hitting that would be your total LBM * 12.5 calories = total daily caloric intake.

To get your LBM you would want to use something like the 9 site parillo fomula to get your body fat% and figure out your LBM (lean body mass).

So for a person with 150lb's of LBM their total caloric intake needed would be 1875 calories.

Now then with that said this is all just an estimate. There are many other things to factor in. One of those things being that not all calories are created equal.

1. Protein: Each gram of protein is worth 4 calories. Protein is critical for muscle synthesis and repair/growth of the muscle tissue. In addition diets that are high in Protein generally force the body to expend more energy because it is not easily converted into usuable sugars or energy like carbohydrates or fats. As a bonus your metabollic rate will generally increase due to an increase in muscle mass (if you are physically active, and these returns do diminish until eventually they plateau and your metabolic rate just evens out.)

2. Carbohydrates: Equally important for muscle mass, which in turn effects your metabolism. Carbohydrates are also worth 4 calories per gram of carbs. Unlike protein, carbohydrates are easily converted into sugar. Which if eaten in excess will be stored in the liver as glycogen, or in your body as fat stores. Without carbohydrates our minds would be hazy and we would be generally lethargic. It is worth noting that not all carbs are created equal. Candy Bars, sodas, and processed pastas and breads etc etc... are by far the worst carb that you can put into your body because of their GI ranking which I will discuss later. The best carbs are green leafy vegetables due to their high fiber content. Fiber helps to mobilize fat that is absorbed through the digestive tract. In addition to this fiber cannot be broken down by the human body and thus does not count to your overall caloric intake (just the fiber..not the actual carbs). It is because of our inability to break down fiber that we can get full on greens. A bonus if you are on a calorie deficient diet.

3. Fats: Fats are very important to the human body. Each gram of fat is worth 9 calories; While it is an essential portion of our diet it is very easy to get carried away... especially with the wrong kinds of fat. Omega-3 fatty acids have been proven to increase metabolic rates. One of the most common places to get Omega-3 Fats are eggs!! Another place is from flaxseed or flaxseed oil. To give an example generally you generally only need about two tablespoons of flaxseed oil a day. Which equals roughly about 28-30 grams of fat. It doesn't take much. You don't want to get fats from things like transfats (fast food, canned food.. tv dinners.. etc etc), saturated fats etc etc.. You want omega fats, monounsaturated fats and poly unsaturated fats.

The GI, aka Glycemic Index, This is important in relation to sugars and carbohydrates. You want to pay attention to where certain things lie on the GI. For instance I believe Maltodextrin is the highest at 110, followed by dextrose (common table sugar) at 100. The reason why this is important is due to the insulin-spike factor. While insulin spikes are not always a bad thing, when occuring on a frequent basis your body does not get a chance to recover. In addition the higher an item ranks on the GI the faster your body is able to convert this fuel into energy. the downside is that your body only uses what it needs at the time since the conversion happens so quickly (think about a sugar high). When this happens the sugars or carbs not used are quickly stored in the liver and fat stores.

There are times however when an insulin spike is desired. These times are usually immediatley after a hard workout. After working out your body is in a catabolic state; meaning that it is breaking down your body (usually muscle tissue) in order to preserve as much of your weight as possible. This can be stopped by drinking something high on the GI such as a beverage that his high in Maltodextrose (about 50-100g or so). Your body is able to quickly use this as energy and stop your body from breaking down. By doing so you are able to increase your metabolism by preserving as much muscle mass as possible.

Further benefits of drinking something like this would be the release of the hormone of IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor 1) which in turn stimulates the production of GH (growth hormone). Growth hormone is responsible for muscle growth and general repair of your body. Your body releases GH once every 90 minutes of sleep during the last phase of sleep (REM) where our brains release a D-wave signal which stimulates GH production. So you can see why getting 8 hours of sleep a night is important. This gives you a bit over 5 cycles of REM/D-wave sleep which stimulates GH.

However as with anything please keep in mind that if you take anything in excess or not enough it will be bad for your body. The above was just information about how there are more factors at hand than just caloric intake.

I can honestly go on and on about this forever but I'm going to cut this short. I doubt the majority of the board even has any interest in this. I'll be glad if anyone even reads all of this. :thumbsup:
daihashi Reviewed by daihashi on . Burn more calories while high? If you do cardio-vascular exercises (like running) while high, will it burn more calories? Or is heart-exercise like this even safe while high? Thanks! Rating: 5