There is something I don't get about burning fat and HIIT

[mill99]

Hey everybody and hey Boss Man,

There is something I don't understand regarding fat loss. I am a dude who is lean, I am 150 lbs for 5'7' and I don't need to lose weight. My diet is really good and high in protein and my carbs are only whole grains. I know that with HIIT you burn way more fat than doing slow cardio. I want to lose the fat around my belly button and I know you can't target any areas and you need to lose fat overall. My question is, how can I have a flatter stomach doing HIIT but without losing overall weight ?

Another question: If I burn let's say 400 calories during HIIT and my calorie intake is the standard 2000 (adjusted to 2400 when I do HIIT) will I have a more tone up body thanks to the HIIT without losing weight ?

Thanks everybody who can help me!

[Boss Man]

I would think it's possible, although everybodys body is different is different, so you never know.

The one way to achieve what you do, would be to possibly cut the grains to some extent. Not completely, but substitute some of the grains for lower Gi ones like Broccoli, Tomato, Beans, Peas, Mushrooms, etc, bearing in mind that whilst having moderate Carb intake can potentially cause an energy deficeit when you exercise, causing the body to potentially source fat, you may deprive the body too much of a ready energy source, to the point where it sees muscle as something to scavenge, in order to fulfill its needs.

People who have gone through exercise induced catabolism / atrophy, have reported an ammonia type smell, which may possibly be tied into an excessive ketone production, (I'm not sure of that), which occurs the more you cut carbs and the more your body uses Fat to provide energy.

In your case, I would say your body probably won't recruit muscle for energy, unless you're seriously low carb, but as long as you're getting around 30-40g per meal as an average, you'll be fine on that front and should be able to stave off exercise induced muscle burning, even with something quite intensive like HIIT.

However substituting some of your grain consumption for lower GI carb alternatves may benefit your situation.

[Athene]

The calories-in-versus-calories-out way of viewing weight loss is kind of dated. Check out this talk by Gary Taubes on YouTube. It's about making your body adapt to strenuous exercise (ie. build muscle and use fat for energy) rather than estimating how many calories you burn in your life, and how it balances out against the calories that you eat. It's really the chemical responses that your body has to the food you put it in that has a greater impact on your body composition. You will actually burn more muscle and waste away by doing long, low-instensity workouts over HIIT. Your body will adapt to what you ask it to do, and if you don't use your muscle, your body will burn it up to fuel those marathon runs

It's an hour long talk, but well worth it if you're interested in how we get fat, and the best way to prevent it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obUBaclfsys

[Boss Man]

Good call on the chemicals, as things like Ghrelin, Leptin and Adiponectin, influence fat intake and one or more of those have differing levels of production depending on the consumer weight or negative mass composition.

[bendetwile2]

Hey everybody and hey Boss Man,

There is something I don't understand regarding fat loss. I am a dude who is lean, I am 150 lbs for 5'7' and I don't need to lose weight. My diet is really good and high in protein and my carbs are only whole grains. I know that with HIIT you burn way more fat than doing slow cardio. I want to lose the fat around my belly button and I know you can't target any areas and you need to lose fat overall. My question is, how can I have a flatter stomach doing HIIT but without losing overall weight ?

Another question: If I burn let's say 400 calories during HIIT and my calorie intake is the standard 2000 (adjusted to 2400 when I do HIIT) will I have a more tone up body thanks to the HIIT without losing weight ?

Thanks everybody who can help me!

Mill99,

Great post. I had the same problem a few years back. I became very frustrated with all my effort that was going in and little returns. Now I am the most physically fit I could have ever dreamed of! Was my program easy? No, of course not. I pushed through and put the work in and the results followed. I would love to help you achieve your goals as I used to be in your exact situation. Message me for details. Talk soon. Enjoy your day.

-Ben