When weight is loss, where does it go? There are so many schemes and products out there that promote instant, quick and easy weight loss. These products promote weight loss without exercise? You will be much wiser and more informed about such schemes and products after reading through this article.

Weight can be lost when any one or a combination of the following is achieved;

• Fat is lost
• Muscles are lost
• Water is lost

Correct Weight Loss means losing fat while preserving muscle mass with minimum loss of water.

“Fat” is such a common and household word yet very few people can grasp the concept of fat! Think of fat as energy.  In fact, 1 kilogram of fat has the approximate same amount of energy as 1 litre of petrol. Imagine your fat storage areas such as belly, thighs, buttocks as being similar to fuel storage tanks.  It is your body’s way of saving energy for a rainy day. Its just like the American government storing fuel in their fuel reserves for to ensure that there is always a stable supply of fuel.

Similarly, your body will always frantically try to save energy as fat deposits in your belly, thighs, buttocks. This in preparation for famine or any other eventuality where there is a food shortage.

But we now live in a time of abundance where food is all around us.  There is so much food around us that we do not really need to store energy anymore. Little does your body’s survival system know that we are out of the stone ages and continues to store excess calories in the form of fat.

1 kilogram of fat contains 7700 calories of energy. To remove this fat from your body, it must be burnt! That’s right! You can’t urinate it off or remove it in your feces. You can’s sweat it out either. You can physically remove it via liposuction but not many opt for such a solution.

Fat is sent to your cells to be burnt in tiny power plants called mitochondria. Each cell in your body has between 200 to 2000 of these tiny power plants. The mitochondria convert fat and glucose molecules into energy with carbon dioxide and water as by-products. To those who are technically inclined, see how a mitochondria works here in this simple schematic.

This is so vital to understand so that you don’t fall for all the quick fix marketing gimmicks out there that are supposed to make your fat disappear into thin air. Correct weight loss, where the loss comes from burning fat while preserving muscles, requires effort. It can’t be done sitting on the couch and popping in some fat burners or rubbing snake oil on your belly!

You may have seen sales pitches that promote state of the art technology that can send electrical impulses or lasers that can burn fat off without exercise. Then you have ointments and creams that can supposedly melt fat away while you sleep.

Fat can only be burnt in your cells. There are ointments that are able to loosen stubborn fat in areas like the thighs or buttock region. But once loosened, it still has to be burnt!

Calories consumed must be less than calories burnt. The energy deficit can be made up by tapping into your fat stores. You can reduce calories consumed by reducing your food intake and increasing calories burnt by adding the element of exercise. This is correct and sustainable weight loss!

Losing 0.5 to 1 kg of pure fat a week is Correct Weight Loss. This should be the goal of anyone trying to lose weight correctly. Anything more than this and its probably muscle or water.

As I have always said, if there was a quick, easy and effortless way to lose weight, Oprah would have found it.