Burning calories is the best way to get thin, right?  Well, yes……and no.  Almost every fitness studio in existence hocks the idea that their classes are harder and burn more calories.  In addition, many producers of fitness equipment proclaim that their product burns more calories than their competitors and that it is possible to lose fat and to look just like the model that is selling it by burning more calories.  Unfortunately, in the real world, this is not usually the case.

Here is a good example:  One pound of fat equals around 3200 calories.  Now, no matter what exercise you choose to partake in, it stands to reason that if you burn 3200 calories then you will burn 1 pound of fat, 6400 calories equals burning 2 pounds of fat, etc.    In an ideal world this equation would be absolutely true, and on paper it looks beautiful.  However, there is one aspect that is not taken into account; when you partake in a difficult long workout and burn tons of calories; you are depleting your reserves.  Guess what happens next?  Yep, your body starts screaming for you to replenish them.  So, unless you have a will of iron, you end up eating more calories than normal, and thus basically taking one step forward and two steps backward. 

Eating more after a very hard workout is simply a survival mechanism hardwired into our DNA.  When the body burns huge amounts of energy, naturally it wants to replace that energy as soon as possible.  Look at it this way, in evolutionary terms, in the past when we burned large amounts of energy it was for a very specific purpose (Avoiding getting eaten, battle, etc.).  Because of our lifestyles, we needed to replace that energy as soon as possible in order to better prepare for any other circumstances that came along.   Fast forward to present day.  Our bodies run basically the same as they did thousands of years ago which means that if we burn off thousands of calories, naturally, our body wants to replenish those reserves as fast as possible in order to be ready for the next battle.  This translates to, maybe without even realizing it, eating larger portions, more portions, a bit more sweets, etc. 

So if we aren't supposed to burn tons of calories, how do we lose the weight?  The answer is to teach your body to burn fat, not just to burn calories.  Contrary to popular belief, burning fat is NOT the same as burning calories.  For example, with Tabata Training Protocol, in 4 minutes, you burn 9 times more fat than in an hour of steady state cardio.  This is where most of the fitness industry is simply ill informed.  It is possible to lose HUGE amounts of fat without burning huge amounts of calories.  In other words,  you burn less calories in 4 minutes than in an hour of cardio, but with steady state cardio you will never burn the amount of fat that you can doing high intensity short burst interval training. 

Does this mean that burning calories does not equate to weight loss?  Absolutely not!  All exercise forms of exercise are amazing for the body.  Doing steady state cardio is still a great way to stay fit and lose weight.  That being said, there are shortcuts, that if done correctly allow you to side step the difficulties of taking two steps forward and one step back.  Basically, burning loads of calories will allow you to lose weight, but more than likely it will also increase your appetite.  And, if you are one of the people, like most of us, who need a bit of help, this is the last thing you want.  Try out the 4 minute workouts and watch the fat disappear.