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Fat cells never go away once you've got them. Fat cells also really don't want to be empty. When you loose weight the fat is broken up in to H2O and CO2 (you li
by simonbarker87 11y ago
Fat cells never go away once you've got them. Fat cells also really don't want to be empty. When you loose weight the fat is broken up in to H2O and CO2 (you literally breath and pee fat away) but the fat cell generally holds onto the water for a while and then, along with a load of other fat cells, will expel that water in one go(which is why you tend to keep a stable weight for a few days and then find you've lost 1 or 2 lbs "overnight"). It's called the Woosh effect I think?
Problem is that the body doesn't want to get rid of that fat cell because "hey, it might be handy one day to store extra energy when we can't eat for a few days because the baboons ate everything" and so it's fairly easy to top that cell back up with fat in the future.
With regards to the slow metabolism refereced in the article (I skimmed it) this is tied to leptin levels which needs to be topped up with "refeed days" every now and then just to kick start you metabolism again. A refeed day is basically a day where you eat a lot of carbs and keep your protein and fat as they usually are on the normal diet days.
Very broadly speaking (and short cutting lots of science and variations), it is easier for a previously fat person to get fat again than it is for a skinny person to get fat in the first place.
- garyrob 11y agoYou are supplying potentially very interesting information... could you please point to sources?
- simonbarker87 11y agoNo specific sources for my official comment, this is knowledge I've accumulated from 4 years of lifting weights and tracking calories. Places I learn from along the way: http://strengtheory.com http://strengtheory.com - Greg knows his stuff http://fitness.reddit.com http://fitness.reddit.com - has gone downhill since becoming a default sub but they are looking at changing that, still good bodybuilding.com is pretty good to be honest once you get over the hard sell of supplements, Jim Stoppani has a PhD and was a researcher at Yale I believe "The mathematics of weight loss" TED talk by Ruben Meerman is pretty solid from memory Elliott Hulse is a YouTuber (so take some of the stuff with a pinch of salt) but pretty good.
- 49para 11y agoWhy is it that fat cells never go away but your muscles will start catabolizing as soon as you stop drinking protein shakes ? Are there any studies on this or is it more bro-science ?
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoBecause, survival. Muscle is expensive - your body wants only enough to survive. Fat is life - your body wants all the stores it can afford.
- simonbarker87 11y agoThis, our DNA isn't set up to maximise muscle mass. Big cats however are a good example of animals that are designed to keep muscle mass on - damn things can eat once a week, sleep all the time and look like they work out everyday
- 49para 11y agoRight, I understand the idea. I just haven't seen any studies on the idea that an empty fat cell will never be destroyed. I have seen quotes like "your whole body is reconstructed over a period of years", i.e. cells have a lifespan, so if your body is reconstructing cells why would it put resources into rebuilding empty fat storage containers. Or, the other option would be fat cells are immortal, which seems to be extreme as well. Just looking for some actual studies on this ...
- simonbarker87 11y agoah, ok - get what you mean. To be honest I can't point you in the direction of any studies so any explanation from me would be educated guess work. Ok, a quick google pulls up this article in the NYTimes referencing a study - have read the first paragraph or so and article is on the right lines of what you are after. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/health/research/05fat.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/health/research/05fat.html