How to Lose Weight

Step 1: Understand Your Body

Step 1: Understanding your body.

Have you ever wondered where the fat you burn goes? Does it disappear into thin air?

Since we are all familiar with the law of conservation of mass, we know that mass is neither created nor destroyed, it simply gets converted from one form into another.

When you understand how your body works, it'll make weight loss much easier for you.

What you need to understand is that the reason why people have a naturally curvy/ skinny built is not only because of their different metabolic rates and bone structure but also because of the amount of fat cells their body has. You cannot lose fat cells naturally and can only gain them during pregnancy or obesity (in case your body doesn't have any more space to store your body's fat)

These already existing fat cells in your body are either saturated with fat which makes them swell to be able to store the fat. Or they can shrink, when all the fat reserve is used up.

We all know that calories are measured in forms of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. And logically, more work needs more energy. The proteins, carbohydrates and fats are digested and transformed into forms of usable energy in your body. Some of this energy goes to digest food, the remaining is either used for extra work (exercise or simply moving ) or gets converted into fats to be stored in your fat cells.

Basically, to lose weight (shrink your fat cells) you need to use more energy than you consume. Why?

Because when you have used up all the energy consumed and yet you need more, your body will have to get the energy from the stored fat.

By the law of conservation of mass, this fat has to turn into another form, which in this case is water, heat, carbon dioxide, and ATP (energy) molecules.

The water exits our bodies as sweat and urine, and we exhale the carbon dioxide. Now that the body has relieved fat cells of some glycerol and fatty acids, they shrink. But if the fat tissue shrinks, what happens to our skin?

Why don't we outgrow our skin as we get older? Our skin has a protein called callogen that gives it the property of being elastic. But only to a certain extent. For moderate weight losses or weight gains, skin has the ability to shrink or stretch accordingly. But in cases of drastic weight losses, people have folds of extra skin left over from their fatter days. Their skin had become so outstretched that it hangs limply from their now thin body, like worn out elastic.

That is why people try to avoid sudden weight losses and opt for gradual weight loss.

However, there is another solution for loose skin (other than plastic surgeries) like:

"1- Skin-firming lotions :

You want creams that contain herbal ingredients, aloe vera, and even some vitamin E and A. These are all ingredients that are designed to increase the collagen and elastin in your skin.

2- Limit exposure to sun:

Your skin needs to be nurtured so it can gain back the collagen that has lost its elasticity. Being out in the sun too long and too much exposure to hot and chlorinated water can loosen up your skin even more than it is now. Limit your exposure to both of these things, along with tanning booths and you'll see your skin start to firm up in no time.

3- Scrubs:

Scientists think the reason using sea salt scrubs (or other scrubs) helps tighten skin after weight loss is that they encourage increased blood flow, which in turn encourages healthy, elastic skin. Whatever the exact reason, it does seem to work for many people... try using a good scrub in the shower twice a day, at least three times a week, and see if it helps you! Mineral scrubs are also extremely good, just a little bit of sand can go a very long way.