For the scientists: When you lose excessive amounts of weight...where does it go?

Question

I was watching "Biggest Loser"...and they've lost around 800lbs. If everything stays on the earth...what does that weight (fat etc) become once it's not on the person?. (please don't say it goes in the toilet) I mean when you exercise etc and lose it. Does it become something else?

Answer 1

I think the fat is disenegrated or something of the sort.  The Mary M person is retarded.  You don't just lose weight.  Your volume changes.  If you pay attention in science, you learn about calories.  So, the fat is just built up calories and you can burn them by exercising.  And, I do believe it goes in the toilet.  That or goes out in swear.  I don;t know.

Answer 2

It's consumed as energy by your own body. When you work out, you burn the calories, the fat, the carbs. They break down into molecules and are used in cell respiration and other metabolic processes so that you can keep exercising/moving/being alive. They don't just "disappear".

Answer 3

I'm sorry, but it does go in the toilet. When you exercise and/or diet to lose weight, your fat reserves are metabolized to provide energy to your body, with the metabolic byproducts being excreted as waste.

Note, mass is NOT converted into energy by the body. This cannot happen in chemical processes, but only nuclear processes. Rather, it's the chemical bonds between the molecules that are the source of energy.

Answer 4

The mass-to-energy conversion mentioned here by others is NOT why you lose weight.  The amount of mass you lose through energy is infinitesimal.  The reason you lose weight is because these fats break down and the smaller molecules can be dissolved in the blood.  They are then recognized as waste products and eliminated through the urine.  In the meantime, you eat less and burn calories in order to prevent the further build-up of fats.

Much of a person's weight may also be to excess water weight, which can be eliminated through the urine or perspiration.

TR, now that you mention it, none of the matter is converted into energy.  Of course, that's only nuclear.  All of the energy in the body is contained in the chemical bonds and released during a reaction.

Answer 5

Since fat is mostly hydrocarbons, the hydrogen and carbon become oxygenated, or "burned." CO2 and H2O are created, which you literally exhale, or evaporates from your skin.

Answer 6

i'm not a scientist, but come on. There's only so much hypothesizing one can do here: the weight goes nowhere. There's less gravitational pull on the person, kay, luckily they have less volume as a whole, but that's it.

Answer 7

Your body mass is made up of bone, muscle, fat and water.  Fat is simply stored energy.  To get rid of this stored energy, you must use it.  Your body uses energy to make amino acids, cells, think, move, talk, digest, etc.  So the ways to use up all this stored energy is to either exercise or to eat less.  You must use more energy than you consume in order to utilize excess stored energy.

Mass can be converted into energy.  That is weight loss.

EDIT:  TR, good point.  I oversimplified the matter.

Answer 8

all matter thats here was in existence a moment after the Big Bang, matter just changes states. Just like the candybar you ate went through a chemical change and part of it became your thigh, it changed to energy when you excercised, ate less, and your body useed up your fat stores. That kinetic  energy when used (example, you jogged on a treadmill) was transferred to the device, where it will be used by the next jogger.

Answer 9

The fat gnomes whisk it away to the land of "soon to return".   At least that  has been my experience.  I have come to the conclusion that dieting makes you fat.  Thats why I quit dieting, I can't afford to gain any more weight. Being a vegetarian seem to be working good for me.

Answer 10

When someone has fat cells (stored energy) and they exercise, the energy is converted from the fat cells into fuel the body uses through metabolism.  This releases heat, which is why we sweat when we exercise.

This is also why the term calorie is used.  A calorie isn't necessarily food related.  It's the amount of energy (fuel) needed to heat one cubic centiliter of water one degree Celsius.