5 Facts on Body Fat

Most people don’t know too much about body fat except that it is something bad that needs to be battled. The truth is that body fat is an essential part of life. A “slim” adult female carries 100,000 calories of fat in her body.

So while completely getting rid of body fat is impossible, a better understanding of its management can lead to higher levels of fitness and health. Take a look at these five facts about body fat:

Fat cells do not increase with age

Actually, the fat cells in the body do not usually increase after puberty. Even with weight gain that tends to happen as people age, the actual amount of fat cells is relatively the same over the years. The difference, however, is that those particular cells expand with age – sometimes up to 10 times larger. Weight maintenance is about keeping those fat cells at manageable levels – not reducing them completely.

Even non-fatty foods cause weight gain

Your body calculates the amount of fat it stores based on the number of calories above what you actually need to function. So if you eat “non-fatty” things like fruits and vegetables in excess, you will still gain weight. Of course, it is much more difficult to exceed your calorie range with foods that contain a small number of calories – but too much of any food, or drink, will lead to weight gain.

You must exercise 20 minutes, at least, to burn fat

Don’t be fooled by fitness programs that tell you 5 or 10 minutes are all that is needed to get the body you want. In general, the first 20 minutes of a workout only address the calories you ate that particular day. You will not begin to burn stored fat until the 21-minute mark. So a 30-minute cardiovascular workout only burns 10 minutes of excess calories and fat. Remember that you do not need to do high-intensity workouts to feel the positive effects; even a brisk walk 3 or 4 times each week will help you in your weight-loss goals.

There is a fat-burning formula

In order to lose one pound of body fat through diet or exercise, 3,500 calories must be burned. To put that in perspective, the average person would need to walk briskly for nine hours or run for 33 miles – for every pound! This is why losing weight through fitness and food choices takes so much time—but slow and steady really does win the race, because you want to lose fat and create a sustainable healthy lifestyle, not a temporary one.

Targeting fat in one area is impossible

This is both true—and untrue. When it comes to particular foods, diet supplements, and exercises, there is no way to target fat loss in one isolated spot on the body. However, you can target fat in specific areas through procedures like laser body sculpting. Through the use of a cold laser, this form of fat removal stimulates cellular activity in the fat tissue beneath the skin, causing the fat to exit the cells, after which it is flushed from the body naturally. Many people are finding laser body sculpting is a smarter, less-invasive way to tone up particular areas without traditional methods like liposuction or plastic surgery.

Understanding the way the human body relies on body fat is the first step in managing it. An improved exercise program, better diet, and procedures like cold laser fat removal are the next steps in reducing body fat in safe ways.