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"Diana, just a quick heads up to let you know we are still using your cookbook and the guys will often be heard saying what would Diana say about this or that....really good feed back... I made your potato salad and the oriental coleslaw on Sat. for a family luncheon and had rave reviews so thanks again."
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Burning Fat vs Carbohydrates
Debunking the myths about the fat burning zone and weight loss.
Myth: if you workout in your fat burning zone you will lose more body fat than if you workout at a higher intensity.
This is not the case. To lose body fat and weight, you need to have a calorie deficit. It is all about calories in vs calories out. If you consume fewer calories than you burn in the day you will lose body fat. It doesn’t matter if you workout out in the fat burning zone or not. It matters how many calories you burned in your workout. If you are working out in the lower intensity, fat burning zone it will take you longer to burn the same number of calories than if you were working at a much higher intensity in the fast burning carbohydrate zone.
You are never using only fat or only carbohydrates for fuel. It is a percentage of each. When you are sitting watching TV you are burning both fat and carbs for fuel. This is not going to lead to weight loss because you are not burning very many calories, even though some are from fat. When you go for a walk, this is an aerobic activity and you start burning more fat as fuel.
Once the intensity kicks up, you go anaerobic and you begin to use more carbohydrates for fuel. Carbohydrates are easily metabolized and are a quick source of energy. Since you have limited stores of carbohydrates, once they are used up you start to lose energy and it becomes difficult to maintain the intensity. You then slow down, become aerobic again and start burning more fat for fuel, which is then converted into carbohydrates for energy. A highly trained athlete can switch over to fat burning quite soon into their workout whereas someone less fit will burn carbohydrates and then burn out sooner. Athletes are not lean because they burn fat sooner, they are lean because they train2-4 hours a day and therefore burn more calories.
Bottom Line: If you only have 25 minutes, you will burn more calories doing a fast run than you will doing a moderate pace walk for the same amount of time. Even though you burned more carbs for fuel, the carbs will be replaced over time through diet and the breakdown of your body fat. So in the end fat is broken down.
If you aren’t fit enough to push yourself to work at a high intensity, or you have a physical weakness that prevents you from doing so, you can still burn a lot of calories by doing low-intensity workouts for a longer period of time.