How To Starve Fat Cells (Not Your Body)

Summary

In this video, Dr. Nick Zarowski explains how to lose fat without losing lean muscle by using strategies like intermittent fasting, particularly a 24-hour fast, which preserves muscle while burning fat. He also emphasizes the importance of controlling insulin levels by reducing sugar intake and focusing on whole foods like proteins, vegetables, and healthy fats. Additionally, he highlights the value of exercise and maintaining a calorie deficit to optimize fat loss. The overall goal is to starve fat cells while nourishing the body with proper nutrition.

Takeaways

• 💪 Starving fat but not the body is key to maintaining lean muscle while losing fat.
• ⏳ A 24-hour fast helps burn fat and preserves lean muscle, as supported by research.
• 🧬 Ura nitrogen levels increase during fasting, signaling muscle breakdown, so it’s crucial to balance fasting and muscle preservation.
• 💡 Lowering blood sugar and insulin levels is essential for fat loss, as high insulin blocks fat burning.
• 🍽️ Eating healthy foods like proteins, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats helps feed the body, not the fat.
• 🚶 Exercising during fasting, such as walking, helps burn stored sugar and access fat for energy.
• ⚠️ Overeating unhealthy, high-carb, and sugary foods can lead to fat storage and prevent fat loss.
• 📊 Monitoring calorie intake can prevent overeating, and eating in a slight calorie deficit can accelerate fat loss.
• 🥦 Healthy, whole foods allow for more consumption while keeping the body nourished and satisfied.
• 🔥 Burning through stored glycogen through exercise and a healthy diet helps access and burn fat more efficiently.

Q & A

What is the main idea behind 'starve your fat but not yourself'?

The concept emphasizes losing fat while preserving lean muscle, promoting fat loss through methods like intermittent fasting and a healthy diet without depriving yourself of necessary nutrients.

Why is intermittent fasting effective for fat loss?

Intermittent fasting, particularly a 24-hour fast, helps lower insulin levels and switch the body from burning sugar to burning fat for energy, all while preserving lean muscle.

What happens to insulin and blood sugar levels during a fast?

During fasting, blood sugar levels drop, which in turn reduces insulin levels. Lower insulin levels promote fat burning since high insulin blocks fat loss.

What is the significance of Ura nitrogen in fasting?

Ura nitrogen is a byproduct of muscle breakdown. In a 24-hour fast, its levels increase slightly, but not significantly enough to break down muscle, allowing fat to be burned while maintaining lean muscle mass.

How does diet affect fat loss even when not fasting?

Eating a diet rich in proteins, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits nourishes the body and prevents fat storage, unlike processed foods high in sugar and carbohydrates, which promote fat gain.

What role does glycogen play in fat loss?

Glycogen is stored sugar in the body. To burn fat, the body needs to burn through stored glycogen first. Exercising while fasting helps deplete glycogen stores faster, encouraging fat burning.

Why is exercise important during fasting for fat loss?

Exercise, like walking, helps burn through stored sugar (glycogen), allowing the body to switch to burning fat for energy more quickly, which enhances the fat loss process during fasting.

Why is it important to avoid overeating even with healthy foods?

Even healthy foods, when overeaten, can lead to fat storage. It's important to monitor portion sizes to avoid consuming excess calories that the body doesn't need, which could be stored as fat.

How can calorie tracking help with weight loss?

Tracking calories can give you a better understanding of how much energy your body needs. Eating in a slight calorie deficit (about 500 calories less per day) can help promote fat loss without depriving the body of essential nutrients.

What types of foods should you focus on to 'feed your body and not your fat'?

You should focus on whole foods like lean proteins, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits, which nourish the body and promote fat loss. Avoid processed foods, sugary drinks, and fried foods, which contribute to fat storage.

Outlines

00:00

🧘 Starve Your Fat, Not Yourself

This paragraph introduces the concept of fat loss while preserving lean muscle, emphasizing the importance of intermittent fasting. The speaker references a study highlighting that a 24-hour fast can help starve fat cells while preserving muscle, due to the increase in urea nitrogen after 24 hours, which indicates minimal muscle breakdown. Maintaining lean muscle mass is especially crucial as we age.

05:01

🍽️ Fasting and Blood Sugar Control

The focus shifts to optimizing fat loss during fasting by regulating blood sugar and insulin levels. High insulin levels, caused by eating carbohydrates and sugar, block fat loss. Fasting helps lower blood sugar and insulin, enabling the body to burn stored fat for energy instead of sugar. By controlling insulin, you set your body up to efficiently burn fat for energy.

🥑 Feed Your Body, Not Your Fat

The speaker emphasizes the importance of eating healthy, nutrient-rich foods to fuel the body without promoting fat gain. A whole-food diet rich in proteins, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats is key to feeding the body, whereas processed foods, sugary drinks, and fried foods only contribute to fat gain. The quality of food consumed plays a critical role in weight management.

🏃 Burn Sugar to Burn Fat

This paragraph discusses the need to burn stored sugar (glycogen) in order to promote fat loss. Exercise, particularly brisk walks or light workouts, accelerates the process of depleting glycogen stores, allowing the body to access and burn fat more quickly. Combining fasting with exercise can maximize fat burning by starving fat cells of their energy source.

🍽️ Avoid Overeating for Fat Loss

The speaker advises against overeating, even when consuming healthy foods. While nutrient-dense foods satisfy hunger and nourish the body, it's still essential not to consume more calories than the body needs. Tracking calories for a short period can help understand how much fuel your body requires. Eating in a slight calorie deficit (about 500 fewer calories than needed) can further enhance fat loss.

Keywords

💡Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dieting pattern where individuals alternate between periods of eating and fasting. In the video, it is discussed as an effective method for 'starving fat but not yourself,' as it helps burn fat while preserving muscle mass, particularly during a 24-hour fast, which is said to optimize fat burning while preventing muscle breakdown.

💡Lean Muscle

Lean muscle refers to muscle tissue that is free from excess fat. The video emphasizes the importance of maintaining lean muscle during weight loss, as lean muscle mass helps to keep the metabolism functioning optimally, especially during fasting. Preserving lean muscle is key to avoiding negative effects on the body’s structure and metabolism.

💡Fat Loss

Fat loss is the reduction of stored fat in the body, which is a central theme of the video. The speaker emphasizes strategies like fasting, controlling insulin levels, and exercising to promote fat loss while maintaining overall health. The video highlights the balance between losing fat and ensuring the body gets enough nutrition to remain healthy.

💡Blood Sugar

Blood sugar refers to the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. In the video, it is explained that lowering blood sugar through fasting or diet is essential for triggering fat burning. When blood sugar levels drop, insulin also decreases, allowing the body to start using fat as its primary source of energy.

💡Insulin

Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. The video points out that high levels of insulin prevent fat loss, as it encourages the storage of fat. To promote fat burning, the video recommends lowering insulin levels by reducing carbohydrate intake and engaging in fasting, allowing the body to access stored fat for energy.

💡Calorie Deficit

A calorie deficit occurs when you consume fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight. The video suggests creating a deficit, either through eating less or through exercise, as a way to encourage fat burning. This method helps ensure that the body uses fat stores for energy, supporting weight loss efforts.

💡Glycogen

Glycogen is the stored form of sugar in the body, primarily found in the liver and muscles. The video explains that burning through stored glycogen is necessary for the body to switch to fat as an energy source. Once glycogen is depleted, fat loss accelerates, which is why the video recommends both fasting and exercise to help use up glycogen.

💡Healthy Diet

A healthy diet in the context of the video refers to consuming whole foods rich in proteins, healthy fats, and micronutrients from fruits and vegetables. The video contrasts this with an unhealthy diet high in sugars and processed foods, which can lead to fat gain. Eating a nutrient-dense, whole food diet helps 'feed the body, not the fat,' ensuring the body stays nourished while losing weight.

💡Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions, such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat, and abnormal cholesterol levels, that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The video warns that excess fat can contribute to metabolic syndrome, and it encourages practices like fasting and reducing sugar intake to avoid this condition and improve overall health.

💡Exercise

Exercise is any physical activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness. In the video, exercise is recommended as a key factor in burning sugar and fat, particularly during fasting. Activities like brisk walking help the body access fat stores more quickly, boosting the effects of fasting and healthy eating in achieving fat loss.

Highlights

Starving fat while maintaining lean muscle is the ideal case for healthy weight loss.

Intermittent fasting, particularly a 24-hour fast, is effective in targeting fat cells while preserving muscle.

Urea nitrogen increases after a 24-hour fast, indicating minimal muscle breakdown and fat loss.

Maintaining lean muscle mass is crucial for health as we age.

Blood sugar and insulin levels play a key role in fat loss; lowering them helps the body burn fat for energy.

High insulin levels, caused by consuming carbohydrates and sugar, block fat loss.

Eating a whole food diet rich in proteins, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats helps feed the body without feeding fat.

Consuming sodas, fried foods, and fast foods leads to feeding fat rather than the body.

Burning stored sugar (glycogen) is essential for accessing fat storage for energy.

Exercise, such as a 30-minute brisk walk during fasting, helps accelerate fat burning.

Overeating, especially foods high in sugar and carbohydrates, leads to cravings and hunger.

Tracking calorie intake can help understand how much fuel the body needs to prevent overeating.

Consuming 500 calories less per day than the body requires creates a calorie deficit, aiding fat loss.

The body is designed to store excess energy as fat, especially when overeating.

Combining fasting, exercise, and a balanced whole food diet is a long-term strategy for maintaining weight loss and health.

Transcripts

starve your fat but not yourself is the

ideal case scenario for anyone who's

trying to lose weight you maintain lean

muscle all well getting rid of the fat

from your body which is of course going

to make you unhealthy cause metabolic

syndrome and even disease in this video

I'm going to show you exactly how to do

that hey Wellness Warrior I'm Dr Nick

zarowski and one of the things that we

want to look at right away when we talk

about starving fat off our body but not

actually starving ourselves is

intermittent fasting and there's a

reason for this is because there was a

study done and what they looked at is

what is the best time to fast to

actually starve your fat cells and

interestingly what they found is that in

a 24-hour fast this was going to be a

time frame which actually helped you

starve the fat cells on your body which

you're trying to get rid of but also

helped you preserve lean muscle and what

I mean by that is during this fasting

time what was found is that Ura nitrogen

actually started increasing in the body

about 24 hours into the fast and why is

that significant well it's significant

because that is a byproduct of muscle

breakdown so as I mentioned earlier one

of the things we really want to do is

maintain lean muscle mass this is very

important for us today it's very

important for us as we age and so if we

want the perfect fast that is just

focusing on fat but not actually

breaking down our body it seems to be

that that 24-hour fast is an ideal

scenario but now that we're back on the

topic of starving fat but not ourselves

there's a few other things to consider

first of all how can we get the best

results on that fast and starve the fat

but also how can we even when not

fasting continue that process of

starving fat but not ourselves because

we all want to eat good food and eat

lots of it but we want to make sure

we're making the right choices it brings

us into our next topic and that's really

focusing on what our blood sugar doing

is doing and what our insulin is doing

so as you know when you are in a acid

State one of the amazing things that

happen with it is that it helps drop our

blood sugar down when you drop your

blood sugar down it automatically drops

this hormone called insulin down and

this is really important because insulin

is going to block fat loss if it's

raised to a high level in the body how

do we raise insulin to a high level well

we eat lots of carbohydrates and sugar

and it's going to raise insulin up and

it's going to block fat loss but we want

the opposite of that so first tool is

that we're going to use this fat to drop

our blood sugar drop our insulin and

allow us to start attacking some of that

fat for energy and how this works is

that your body is probably burning sugar

right now but when you drop blood sugar

and you drop your insulin levels what

will happen is it'll allow your body to

actually start burning the fat on your

body for energy so let's talk about a

few factors that's going to help with

this process Beyond fasting because we

already established that a 24-hour fast

has been proven to help you burn fat but

maintain leaning muscle so we know that

that is like an ideal fast for someone

who's trying to starve fat but not

yourself hey it's Dr Zan I want to help

you improve your health naturally

because true Health only comes naturally

the best way to stay in contact with me

is by joining my newsletter nobody cares

about your health like I do click on the

link below this video to join my

newsletter and we'll stay connected for

life now first we have to make sure that

we feed our body and not our fat this is

a really important topic one of the

things that I see so often is that some

people who are diving they'll say you

know what I watch so and so and they eat

so much food and you know what they're

constantly losing weight and they

maintain a good figure all the time

whereas it's like I eat hardly anything

and I gain fat well a lot of times what

you're going to see in this scenario is

that the individual who is eating a ton

of food they happen to be eating really

healthy food they're eating proteins and

vegetables and fruit whereas the person

who say I'm hardly eating anything and

I'm continuing to gain weight or I can't

lose weight well they're drinking a soda

they're eating fried food they're eating

french fries and hamburgers and that

sort of thing so we have to make sure

that when it comes to our diet and when

it comes to actually feeding our body

and not our fat that we're actually

giving our body what it needs it needs

the vegetables it needs the

micronutrients from the fruit and then

you need the good proteins this is what

our body needs and then the healthy fats

so if you focus on a good whole food

healthy diet that's rich in protein and

also fats in good healthy Whole Foods

then you're going to find yourself in a

position where you're feeding your body

but not your fat once you start getting

into consuming sodas and fried foods and

fast foods well all of a sudden you're

going to start feeding your fat but not

your body so therefore we want to make

sure that we're eating the right Foods

all the time and the other thing that we

have to really focus on doing is well

burn sugar we want to be burning the

sugar out of our system so here's what

happens is our body likes to store sugar

in the form of glycogen and when you

have this stored sugar what happens is

it's going to block fat loss so

therefore we want to burn through a lot

of that storage sugar so that you can

find yourself in a position where you're

burning that fat for energy and also

whenever you're trying to get the best

results with your fasting what you're

going to find is that when you eat a

healthy diet and also you exercise to

help burn through storage sugar you're

going to access that fat storage much

quicker so that you can actually start

burning fat for energy and lose weight

starving those fat cells so whenever

you're fasting it's actually a great

idea to continue to exercise go for a

nice 30 minute brisk walk and walking is

going to be a really good way to start

burning that fat for energy therefore

starving the fat so when you walk when

you exercise you're burning fat you're

burning sugar now the next big factor

that I want you to really focus on is

don't overeat this is something that's

very important and the fact of the

matter is if you're eating good healthy

foods like we talked about over here

you're going to be able to eat a lot of

them and actually nourish your body

correctly and feel fulfilled and

satiated whereas if you're eating

unhealthy Foods ones that are high in

sugar high in carbohydrates you're not

going to be able to eat as much of them

and you're going to always be hungry and

left with cravings and so we want to

always make sure we're eating those

healthy foods to feel satisfied but we

also don't want to be eating too much

and this is where you may actually want

to pay attention to how many calories

you're eating I'm not a big fan of

tracking calories in the sense of

watching them every day because it can

be a little bit too much for the average

person it's a little bit overwhelming

Over time however it's always good to

track your calories for a short period

of time to truly understand how much

your body needs is far as fuel goes

because our bodies are an amazing

machine they're designed to actually go

through periods of starvation so that's

why when you overeat your body stores

all of that energy that you're eating

that food as fat so if we don't want to

put a bunch of food into fat storage

what we ultimately want to do is not

overeat so figure out how many calories

you need throughout the day you can go

to like calorie calculator.net you can

type in all the details and and

specifics of your body figure out how

many calories and then make sure that

you're not overeating and if you want to

even push the fat burning a little bit

further you can put yourself into a

calorie deficit consuming about 500

calories less per day than what is

required of your body that will actually

help you lose weight so these are the

scenarios in which you would use to

actually start starving your fat but

feeding your body appropriately and this

is going to be the strategy for losing

weight today and losing weight 10 years

from now and keeping it off so go ahead

and put in the comment section below if

you have any questions I'm Dr Nick

zarowski and if you like this video I

think you'll love this one

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