How Your Body Really Burns Fat: Can We Control It? 

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I've lost 50 pounds of fat mentally watching this video

“There is a heart in all that fat.” is poetry

00:04 Understanding how the body burns fat 01:52 Visceral fat around the heart can lead to health conditions 03:38 When we exercise, certain chemicals are released that activate hormone-sensitive lipase, which breaks down fats into fatty acids. 05:19 Glucose is metabolized aerobically and anaerobically, while fats can only be metabolized aerobically 07:13 Consistent overall fat loss leads to increased muscle visibility 08:56 Exercise intensity affects the proportion of fats burned. 10:42 Athletes in different sports have different muscular development, but they all have low body fat. 12:27 To lose fat, burn more calories than you consume.

As someone who donated my mom's body for science I appreciate such videos ....

So grateful for those who donated their bodies to Science like this to help and inspire people like us here. And you guys at IHA rock!

Quite a difference seeing fat in a real body than in diagrams! 😮 Thank you for the video!

I'm in my 50s and seriously started daily strength exercise the last 11 months and am shocked at myself, finally have a flat belly and 6 pack emerging. Yes hard work and consistency pays off.

I've been watching videos for decades about burning fat and I must say this video is the best I have ever seen! This is the ultimate description. Thank you 🙏🏼

I lost 150lbs by going low carb. My only exercise was casually walking my dog 8 doors down and back every day. I went from 321lbs to 170lbs. I have kept the weight off for 5 years now. I tried all kinds of diets, but the only diet that works for me is a low carb diet. It’s a good thing I lost the weight because last year at age 62 I required Open Heart Surgery to replace my aortic valve. My valve had gotten damaged by endocarditis at sometime during my lifetime. I don’t know when or how, but my surgeon suspects I had Strep throat at some point in my life and that probably caused it. I had a 5mm hole in a leaflet of my bicuspid aortic valve. I’m lucky to be alive. I wish you’d do a video on endocarditis one day. Or on what a strep throat infection can lead to.

You had me at “yes there’s a heart in all that fat”, that I had no clue. This is what I horribly needed to personally see. Thank you!!!

That was probably the best breakdown of the fat burning process I've seen. Really useful to have the visuals too. Thank you.

Thank you so much for making anatomy understandable for common people without too much previous knowledge. I really apreciate it.

I lost about 25 pounds over the last 2 years, simply by going to the gym and doing cardio and weight machines consistently. I didn't do intense exercises, just went to the gym consistently. Lots of socializing there (I'm retired now), but I found that going 3-5 days a week made it easier to mix it up and never get bored. I was also doing a lot of walking, until the heat of the summer months prevented that. I still need to lose about 15 more pounds to my first goal, but I'll get there. My BMI went from 36 to now 30. Seeing the difference between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat really explains how important diet and exercise really affects the body. P.S. My cholesterol and triglycerides are very good now, my A1C is normal, and I haven't eaten "junk food" and sodas for about 10 years. Of course, I'm still a sweet tooth lover of baked items, but everything in moderation and again, consistent trips to my gym helps.

Man this one brought out my inner nerd and I was so content for 14 mins...love this

This is honestly one of my favorite RU-vid channels, great content and I learn so much

Often times, we go to school and we take biology and learn all these terms for the test, but in reality, we're not really understanding the information that we have learned, even less, know how to apply it in real life. This video has finally explained what all that jargon means, and now it makes sense. Thank you guys for such an excellent explanation of how fat is lost from our bodies.

Thank you for making these free! Your videos are absolutely amazing! Kudos

0:06: 🔥 This video discusses the process of burning fat and losing subcutaneous and visceral fat. 3:27: 💪 During exercise, the body breaks down fat stored in adipose cells to provide energy for the muscles. 6:26: 🔥 The process of losing fat involves pulling fatty acids out of adipose cells, causing the cells to shrink and the overall tissue to get thinner. 9:09: ✅ There is no one best way to exercise for fat loss, as different types of exercise can be successful in burning and losing fat. 11:56: 🔥 The key to losing weight and fat is to burn more calories than we consume. Recap by Tammy AI

The best fat burning/ fat facts I’ve ever seen! seeing that human cadaver was some thing I will never forget. Especially seeing the fat surrounding the heart was shocking thank you so much for making this. It definitely will have an impact on how I look at visceral fat moving forward..

reading this in a book and watching you show and explain it is two different world, so much more interesting and so much easier to understand the whole process. THANKS for this man,

you guys should go over fasting, and what happened after lengths of time. since intermittent fasting has become more prevalent as of lately.

You guys have taught me more anatomy than my biology teacher ever did. Keep up the good work!

First of all, I wanna say that I've discovered this channel about a month ago and I just cannot stop watching! Thanks guys, the knowledge you share here are very high quality, and you help a lot of people understand a lot of topics that once were somewhat difficult, you are awesome!! So, I'm gonna bring something to discuss here, see if I can get to a better understanding: about four years I've made a program of nutrition and exercise with a Dietitian and I was introduced to intermittent fasting (I did in a way I was already kind of used to, which I had 8-10h without food and it was during nighttime, as so the moment I was sleeping) but the point is that I was instructed to break the fast primarly with fat source food (generally from "good" sources) and so the dietitian explained to me (I'm just gonna simplify here) that over time, if I kept breaking fast with "fat", my body would build the structure to use the fat more easily to produce energy, and so at some point, it would start using the fat that was already in my body to burn into energy for the muscles, decreasing my body fat % faster. I wanna know if this realy apply biologically (without going into the discussion if is intermittent fast is bad or good) and if this brings any real results. I can't tell if it worked for me, because I've always had high volume of physical activity, so I mantained BF% ok levels, also the pandemics happened and I stopped attending the program. Anyways, sorry for the looong coment, and if anyone has any thoughts to share here, thanks!!

One of the finest video on this most sought after subject. Thanks a lot for it.

Nice one guys! Really important to see the visceral fat, as well as the subcutaneous - as many people are in denial of this. We can finally see internally and imagine the health issues that comes with it. Maybe worth going into further depth in future updates. Great educational channel 👍

I went for a bladder scan a couple years ago. The doctor doing it was training someone what to look for. The doctor told the trainee this is a textbook scan. Unlike most others she found my bladder easily. I got the impression the doctor got frustrated a lot due to having great difficulty even finding the bladder in a lot of patients. Another reason that visceral fat causes a hindrance. Great video, thank you.

He makes an excellent point near the end of the lecture. Covert Bailey used to tell people that the best exercise is 'the one you will do'.

Love the conclusion! The best exercise is the kind you’ll stick with long-term.

Beautiful explanation. I've listened to these topics on different videos, but you guys once again shine as the best of them all. Quality production, thanks

Thank you for such a vivid and detailed explanation.

Weights and interval training are my go-to exercises. Love it!

From my own experience I totally agree: In > Out = Gaining weight. Out > In = Losing weight. Now you can just play around with what makes it easier for you. In: What do I eat? How often do I eat? How long is my fasting? etc. Out: What can I do to burn calories? Is there a sport that I like? Can I find some hard labor in my (or any) garden to help me burn calories? etc. I'm now 51, 198cm and went from 118kg and 25% body fat to 95kg and 14% body fat over the last 4 years. But it's a change of life style, never just a diet. It always starts easy, than it's hard in the middle. Now it's easy to maintain my weight and my fat percentage.

(Sept 2023) - Actually seeing real fat tissue from the inside out and looking at details of how fat is metabolized all within less than 15 minutes to encourage people to lose weight… This is a brilliant video! It might scare some people because of the cadavers used. But I definitely am inspired to keep trying to lose fat weight. Thank you! 😅

Amazing video! Very clear and in depth. Thank you for spreading your knowledge

This is so encouraging and educational! I love learning these things, there’s so many opinions and “ads” that portray misinformation that you just disproved! Thank you!

This is the most comprehensive video I've ever watched about how the fat accumulates within the human body! Thank you!

Sure, I clicked cause I wouldn't mind losing 10 lbs. But the education I get from you guys is so much more valuable. I trust that you're giving knowledge and not marketing something. Thank you

This was awesome, thank you so much!

Thank you for the time and work you put into making these kinds of videos. I appreciate it.

I read a science article a few years ago where scientists were wondering where the excess fat (weight) went while loosing it, how does it leave the body. While the body was doing its burning fat process, the actual weightloss did not go out in urine or bowel movements, like always thought ... It goes out through our nose ... we exhale it out!!! I wish I saved there article, it was so interesting. Thank you for this extremely interesting and valuable video!!!

I used to read somewhere that after burning the adypotic cells remain in the body, so you can gain weight back easier than before. And that if you gain new fat, their amount grows, but if you lose fat back, they never disappear. So basically you have to either always keep to the diet, or do the surgery to remove these "fat vessels" I would love to hear scientific evidence on that

Wonderful explanation! Thank you so much for your effort in delivering this education.

I've only just discovered this page lately. Absolutely love it. I wonder if you guys could do a video on what happens to the body during fasting?

These are quite literally the best videos for me to watch whenever I eat my food at home or during my lunch break at work, perfect length and remarkably informative. Actually feels like I'm learning a lot despite me having a job that feels like its pretty much the polar opposite of health (just last week I injured myself like 4 times in one day xD). Plus the more muscle based 'bodybuilding' videos help a ton, as I'm currently cutting and trying to do the exact thing this video that Jonathan keeps mentioning (about showing skeletal muscle through the skin haha).

This is so cool to see how the body is actually working, it's like an very efficient machine. Thank you for this.

Best video on fat loss I have ever seen on youtube. Thank you for your service sir.

Great video love the way you break things down and make them easier to understand

I love this guys face and his delivery. Just pleasant to watch and listen to. Great job!❤❤❤

This video is incredible. The use of actual human cadavers to show direct visual examples instead of just diagrams or little 3D graphics is simply awesome.

I greatly appreciate the education and enjoy the format!

Thank you for going directly to the point

Absolutely motivating. Thank you for this very insightful video. I learned so much!

My lord I’m shocked yet concerning about how much visceral fat in inside the body. My concern is from my mother who was obese and died of hypertensive heart disease. It’s frightening. Thanks Johnathan for another great video x

I’ve heard these terms for years but this pulled it all together for me. Great video. Thank you.

This is exactly the breakdown I’ve been looking for. You explained everything so well and easy to comprehend. I’m on another weight loss journey after having my first baby and had been getting discouraged but this has helped motivate me to keep going!

I love how you really get in depth into the details of explanations and the carefulness by which you clearly value correct information and avoid misinformation. The general friendly and sincere attitude by which the information is presented makes it enjoyable as well as educational (why was it never like that when I went to school!? ;) ). The best way for me to burn fat I found was to bike on a fitness bike in my home for like an hour, mixing in a bit of high intensity intervals when I felt like it, but otherwise just biking away to some nice music or even to a movie, just with the pulse up not too high but still so I'd be sweating somewhat. Even without music or movie it's still really enjoyable, for some reason I don't get anywhere near the same motivation from biking in the real world, so the fitness bike in the home really has done the trick for me. I combined this with an intermittent 16/8 fasting and I'll do the biking in the last hour of the fasting. During this stage I figure that my body would already be lacking carbs more and so it seems logical to me that I would then be burning more fat in this hour than if I had eaten some time before it. The energy for the workout has to come from somewhere and if I haven't eaten anything there's really only the fat to take from. The days where I don't bike I do some weight training and boxing on a bag instead. Currently im on day 45 and I lost 10 kilos while I can visibly see also my muscles have become larger so my conclusion is I must have lost more than 10 kilos of fat, most is probably that pesky visceral fat inside my belly (I look, or rather I LOOKED, a bit like those grey thin alien with the bulgy bellies and thin chest/arms/legs). I also generally feel way more comfortable in my body, I feel physical comfort and I am attributing it to a natural consequence of working out sufficiently regularly, but perhaps probably the fasting has something to say here too. Im convinced the long mostly medium intensity exercise for an hour and the intermittent fasting is extremely helpful in burning fat. It's not long now that I don't think I need to actively lose more fat, so I can start to maybe decrease the fasting period a little, maybe to 15 or 14 hours, and then start eating more during the 9-10 hour feeding window.

Thank you for tackling this topic. Appreciated.

Awesome information. Great video.

This was super informative and well presented! Thanks for this!

Thank you once again, doctor. so simple and yet so true.

I'm 40 and was struggling with burning fat, it's stubborn!! Even with doing cardio. I'm doing body recomposition and hope to see results by the end of the year!!

Very insightful video. I am sure this focus on body and sports, fat loss, etc will move the channel way more. Thank you for sharing.

Currently taking bio and this is a great way to put how the process of energy is expelled from the blood stream into real perspective! Great video, thanks to buddy!, for being a real one

this is beyond awesome. i wish i had a teacher like this in high school and college. A+

Really glad I found your channel, this is one of the best videos on fat loss I've seen. Liked and subscribed 🙂

Love your facts and transparency.

I’m a retired RN, 62. I love your presentations. I’m currently a weight lifter and do cardio 3x a week. Weight loss at 62 is getting harder & harder. Best wishes !

Thank you. That was very informative. When I had a personal trainer he always started me off with cardio then weights (this was for weight loss and muscle definition) He would refer to my fat burning zone while doing cardio and I was told to stay between a certain number. I listened but never understood why. He just said it was the fat burning zone. So interesting!!

You made it so simple. Thanks.

Oh boy was not expecting the real deal. New to the channel but this video was very informative. Thank you

I love the view of the actual fat and how it truly looks. Great video

Thank you! This vid confirmed what I’ve been suspecting for years about myths such as dedicated fat loss and certain workout types being the most efficient. It’s all burning calories, so spread it out. Some high intensity cardio for your heart and overall form, some resistance training for your muscle strength, some low intensity jogging, cycling, long walks. And consistency most of all. Do it all, but don’t overdo anything... And then there’s the maybe most important factor; what comes in at the other end - the diet. If you want to loose fat, eat less. But be aware that you eat the right things so you get the nutrients you need. Otherwise you’ll wear yourself down...

I'm always motivated and inspired whenever I come across this channel; I'm always learning something new everytime.

I just want to say thank you. Beautiful bideo not many would appreciate or understand. Really informative. love your work ❤️

the enthusiasm shown while explaining the concepts is outstanding.

This channel makes me love exercise! I always think about what's happening to my body when doing different types of exercise and it's so motivating

I am a registered nurse and you guys are absolutely amazing. I love your RU-vid site. I have learned so much. Thank you for your knowledge. Thank you for all these wonderful people who donated them selves to science to help others understand the way the body works.

Thank you for the video ❤

Great video for understanding metabolism about burning fat. I request you to please make one more video about role of supplements and pre and post workout meals to be taken and what they do to the body.

I'd love a video on the physical effects of a large weight loss. I've lost 58 pounds over the past year. While I feel great and have much more energy, I also have saggy skin, digestive changes, and weird random cold areas on my skin. I'd love a video talking about the side effects.

That was the clearest explanation of fat burning that I've seen. Thank you.

Well Done! Great video, Thanks for sharing.

Any time I’m thinking about stopping taking care of my calorie intake, the food I eat and working out, I’m coming back to see this video.

My physical therapist told me it takes about 20 minutes of cardio at 60-80% to reach a fat burning state. So instead of working out for 20 minutes twice daily I’m trying to do at least 30-40 minutes once daily.

Thank you for all the info

This was extremely helpful. Thank you!

Great video, as a bodybuilder, obviously resistance training for muscle growth. Fat loss we do steady state cardio anywhere from 30-60 mins keeping the heartrate between 120-130bpm so as not to burn into too much glycogen and then muscle depending if its fasted or not, but no regular running or high intensity interval Training for those who don't know 🙏

I don't enjoy ANY exercise particularly lol.. but I like to mix weights and cardio consistently 2-3x per week. But, for me, the most important thing for losing fat is to reduce sugar and processed carbs and utilize intermittent fasting which really helps reduce appetite!

Fantastic informative video, very simplified and easy to understand… gained alot of knowledge. So thank u ❤

Brillian, informative, well-communicated content. Thanks

Its crazy how he just grab the insides of someone like nothing. Massive respect

Would you consider doing a teaching video on liposuction of fat....how does the body recover? Does the fat eventually redistribute back to the area treated? Should this procedure be considered if the person has been or has decreased bmi/total fat ratio? Thank you!!!!

Great video on the bodies processes for burning fat. The best part for me was enjoying your exercise. If I don’t enjoy it then eventually I’ll stop going. This helps someone else. 😊

Excellent, excellent presentation. Thank you.

Ive burned roughly 85lbs of this stuff over gheast 13 months. Protip: dont get overweight if you can help it. If you can move and you can have even a little discipline, please, move your body and exercise some restraint eating. Its so much harder to do this kind of work at 39-40 with a whole family and work as opposed to when youre in your 20s with more free time. Ive done most of my fat loss by being in a caloric deficit and i started walking. Then I moved to indoor cycling and now i road bike. Biking is just incredible for cardio. Easy on joints. Able to scale intensity instantly. This is one of the best videos I've seen on this topic, and I ingested a lot of these videos over the last year.

Good video!! Having dieted down to single digit body fat and a hobbyist bodybuilder, I will say that he is right that you can’t spot reduce fat. BUT if you are lean enough and your abs won’t show as well, if you work them and make them more blocky, it does help with the illusion better. Its something I overlooked for years out of sheer laziness not wanting to work my abs. But it’s made a huge difference in my physique now with more solid abs. But patience is key with fat loss. Find some meals you love and enjoy the process. And last tip, a 2 meal per day higher protein and more fat, low carb keto approach condensed to a 16/8 fasting and eating window can work wonders for those who don’t want to count calories. And once the weight is off, you can slowly bring carbs in if you like to weight train. Lowering carbs is great to help you lose weight. Not that it’s magic. It’s just really hard to overeat on protein. Good luck, happy to help anyone I can!!

love this channel, educational and entertaining!

Great video, very well explained.

That's it. I am downloading this episode! A solid 15 minutes, which no fat-losing commercial promise has ever featured. Thank you!