A Little Confused About Fat Burning page

[PumpkinHead]

Hi all,

I am new to PB eating. I'm 25/F, 5'5, 110lbs. My goal is not to lose weight - I actually want to gain weight, but in a healthy way. Though my arms & legs are kind of scary skinny, I still have a lot of belly fat (the kind b/w my muscle & skin), so my goal is to "distribute" my weight from fat to muscle, if possible. And generally I have weird digestive issues (bloating to the point of distended belly, IBS) and some other health concerns like hair loss that I'm hoping may see improvement on a lifestyle diet like this.

Anyway, I'm a little confused about how my body is going to learn to burn off fat without going totally low carb since I really really don't want to lose more weight. According to PB I should be consuming 100-150g of carbs per day in order to maintain weight. If I stick to this, will my body ever learn to burn fat for energy instead of carbs, or do I have to go seriously low carb (ketosis?) for it to start burning fat, and then add carbs in?

I guess I'm just concerned about losing more weight - I don't think it would be healthy. But I'd like to transition to my body using fat for fuel instead of carbs. Will this still happen?

Thanks for any info you can provide

[IcarianVX]

Your body already knows how to burn fat, it just needs you to adjust your eating patterns to allow it. A lot of fat in the places we don't want it (as opposed to "evenly distributed") is due more to hormone fluctuations rather than calories in/calories out and the amount of exercise that you do.
By lowering insulin throughout the day, your body will also regulate other hormones, like estrogen, testosterone, T4/T3, etc. When your body has a better balance of these hormones, then you will lose fat even if you don't try. It's why calories in/calories out is so flawed. It would be great if your body was a solid state machine and X controlled Y. But, X controls Y, R, F, D and C and those in turn all control other variables.
You might have to lower your carbs down initially if you don't notice changes after the first 4 weeks or so, but that should only be for a few weeks to get your body adjusted. I had to go VLC (less than 20g day) when I started but can now eat between 75 and 100 on non-training days and still am seeing differences week to week.
Try eating most of your carbohydrates around times that you exercise - even if you are just walking that day or whatever. When you exercise, your body is more adept to utilized the nutrients when your insulin is spiked (due to the carbs you ate). So if you eat 3 times per day, you could eat half of your daily intake at the meal closest to the time AFTER you exercise and spread the other half over the remaining two meals.
Another thing you could look into is Intermittent Fasting, which I and others do with great success. I still lift very heavy on occasion and IF works great with my schedule. I fast for 16 hours per day on training days and eat about 100-150g of carbs right after I work out along with protein. My second meal of the day is VLC and high protein and fat (like 100g of fat in one sitting). This works for me, but you may need to do things differently. Just experiment and see what works best for you.

[js290]

Fatty Acid Oxidation

“BODY BY SCIENCE” — ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN »

[jaysond]

Fatty Acid Oxidation

“BODY BY SCIENCE” — ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN »

-Low blood glucose stimulates the secretion of glucagon, whereas, elevated blood glucose calls for the secretion of insulin

just read that in the link! wow!!!!!!

[john_e_turner_ii]

A female at 5'5" and 110 pounds, you sound like you are at an ideal weight. I think IcarianVX's advice has some good options in there. If you are new to PB, give the change in eating habits a chance first. However, do your best to workout your whole body with resistance training each week. You should see some positive changes within 30 days. If you are not used to doing a lot of exercising, the I recommend following the Primal Fitness plan as a start. Walking, sprinting and some weight training will do wonders. After 30 days or so of eating primal, you might begin having an idea of the effect it has on your body.

Be patient, because for those that only have a little fat to lose, it seems to take the longest to come off. Don't expect to lose it in a few weeks or a month. It might take several months for it to finally go away.

[Sue]

You're probably malnourished because of your gut issues and need to deal with that first. Then when your gut is settled you will probably find that you will gain some weight as the body nourishes itself again.

[secretlobster]

Going by BMI, 110lbs is actually slightly underweight for a 5'5 woman. I'm surprised to hear that you have a significant amount of belly fat... You must be VERY deficient in muscle. Primal is going to work well for you!!
Lowing your carb intake from grains is not, by itself, going to cause you to lose weight. After a while, it WILL cause you to lose fat. Don't be too afraid of that, and also don't be afraid of getting carbs as a side effect of eating enough veggies. Remember that the body is looking to find equilibrium - Over time, with a healthy diet, it will create a healthy distribution of different tissue types (muscle, fat) that corresponds to the nutrition you get and the type of exercise it is accustomed to. So, I wouldn't worry too much about losing weight by lowering carbs. Make sure you're getting enough calories to sustain your activity level. While you should be focusing on eating lots of protein, you should also make sure that your body is using it to build new muscle tissue. If you are committed, the results will follow! And everyone here has experimented with the PB because we are all different. If you're not seeing the changes you want, you may find that you need to make changes. I have a good feeling you will see the results you want.

[Sue]

You should probably try the GAPS diet to heal gut:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread27963.html

[runner_79]

JAYSONDECRAMBA- first of all CONGRATS!!!!THATS A MASSIVE DROP
can you give me an indication of what you are eating please man.
thanks

[DigitalSurgeon]

Check out the post over at - Jack Kruse just posted. I think this explains it.