I am always asked the question, “How can I lose the most fat while I workout.” There is science behind the answer. First you need to workout when your body is low on glycogen. Glycogen is another name for carbs stored in your muscles and liver that is used for energy. When you workout, you body burns both carbs and fat for energy. So when your body is low on glycogen, it has no choice but to burn more fat for energy. This is the main reason why you burn more when you workout first thing in the morning in a fasted state because your body is low on glycogen, blood sugar and insulin.
So when you’re trying to lose fat, a low carb diet will help. When you don’t eat less carbs than a normal diet – meaning less than 30 to 40% of your diet is carbs – your body is not going to have as much glycogen available for energy. So that means when you do workout on a low carb diet, you will have less carbs and glycogen in your body and, therefore, you will burn off more fat for energy.
If you also workout while fasting, you will burn a much higher percentage of fat because fasting lowers your glycogen level without the need for low-carb dieting. The longer you fast before you workout will make the percentage of fat you burn higher than if you did not fast. However, the longer you go without fuel the less energy you will have for your workout. To double the effects, if you combine a low carb diet with working out while in a fasted state, you will burn more calories than just doing one alone.
It’s important to recognize that when you first go on a low carb diet, you will lose a bunch of weight because you’re losing a lot of water weight initially. The reason for this quick weight loss is that approximately 3 grams of water is stored with every gram of carbs.
Lastly, when you eat less carbs in a day, you will be eating more protein. As a result, you will lose weight for various reasons. First, eating more protein will increase your body’s fat burning metabolism because your body has to burn a lot more calories to digest the additional protein. Specifically, you’ll increase your metabolism by up to 4%. In addition, you will be building and/or maintain lean muscle mass which further speeds up your metabolism. When approximately 30% of your calories come from protein you’ll probably eat up to less than 500 calories per day. Lastly, eating more protein will also help suppress your appetite.
