Spiritual Weight Loss PDF eBook Free Download How To Transform Your Body & Reverse Aging PDF | Page 36
Spiritual Weight Loss
accurate) model for this. For purposes of this discussion, we will take the two
different scenarios and analyze them separately:
Scenario #1: The body is in an energy (or calorie) deficit, meaning it is
taking in fewer calories than it is burning.
Scenario #2: The body is in an energy (or calorie) surplus, meaning it is
taking in more calories than it is burning.
Scenario #1: Energy Deficit
When the body is burning more energy than it is taking in, it must make up the
deficit somehow. There are two different modes the body can be in, and which
mode it is in determines how it makes up a calorie deficit:
In sugar-burning mode, the body burns sugar (glycogen) and muscle
(protein) for fuel
In fat-burning mode, the body burns fat for fuel
There are a variety of complex biochemical factors which influence how much
and what the body burns to meet an energy deficit. This book will focus on the
most important factors that are under our control, and leave the sophisticated
biochemistry to the textbooks!
The body's preferred energy source is glycogen, which is a form of sugar that is
absorbed into the blood stream when the body digests carbohydrates. Besides
the glycogen in the blood stream, the body can also store glycogen in the
muscles and the liver.
When there is an energy deficit and glycogen is available, the body will burn it
first, until its glycogen stores run out. When the body has run out of glycogen
stores, it is said to be in a glycogen depleted state. Athletes who exhaust the
body's store of glycogen during intense exercise call it “hitting the wall”.
Typically the body will not burn significant amounts of muscle or fat until the
glycogen stores are depleted. Once this occurs, the body begins to burn a
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