Human body energy stores and losing weight

Many dieters think of stored energy as just body fat, and that to lose weight they need to follow a diet to enable the body to use up these fat stores. But there is more to losing body fat stores than just dieting, there are other stores of energy which can limit or interfere with the process of fat burning.

There are other stores of energy within the body; glycogen (carbohydrates) and protein (muscle). How the body uses these stores for energy production can change the way the body uses fat. This article discusses the stores of each energy component within the body and how they can affect weight loss.

Carbohydrates stored in the body

Glycogen is basically carbohydrates stored in the body. It is stored mainly in the muscles and to a smaller degree in the liver. Glycogen is a large storage molecule made up of millions of glucose (sugar) units. The process of storing carbohydrates causes it to hold about three times its own weight of water. The body can store a maximum of around 500 grams of glycogen but the exact amount of storage at any given time will depend largely on the nutritional status of the individual. Even if glycogen stores are full there will only be the energy equivalent to approximately 2000 calories, in other words if you didn’t eat for a whole day then most of these stores could be used up.

But how does this all relate to losing weight?

Storage of sugar (glycogen) causes the body to hold three times its weight in water. This means that if your muscles have 500 grams of glycogen storage then you’ll also be holding an extra 1500 grams of water, so a total weight of two kilograms (4.4 pounds). If you used up 90% of the glycogen stored in the muscles – which is quite likely if you cut food intake dramatically or was following a low-carbohydrate diet – then you’ll lose just less than 4 pounds in weight. This is what tends to happen when following a very low calorie diet and especially a low-carbohydrate diet, all the weight loss comes from fluid loss through reduced glycogen stores. It’s the reason why dieters lose so much weight within the first few days, and also the reason why so many dieters regain the weight after the diet ceases, the fluid is simply replaced as glycogen stores are replenished. The fact is that most of the weight lost was NOT fat loss in the first place. Knowing this information helps many people make sense of the fact that slow steady weight loss (around 1-2 pounds each week) is the best policy for permanent weight control. » Read more: Human Body Energy Stores and Losing Weight