Just because you have already implemented great habits doesn’t mean that you cannot squeeze just a little bit more maximal being out of your health. Many of you are looking into starting that next phase or just starting your health journey this year. Or perhaps you have already entered your journey and plateaued. This week at Maximal Being, we get into 3 Easy Steps to Stay in the Fat Burning Zone.

3 Easy Steps to Stay in the Fat Burning Zone
1. Meal Timing
2. Avoid Lactose in the AM
3. Fasted Exercise

Human Burn ATP, Not Calories

The holidays are a particular time for family and togetherness. Rich food, high in saturated fat and sugar, is abundant and is the source of staying out of the fat burn zone.

However, I am proud to say that I have successfully escaped the holiday pounds and am here with some tips on how to get out of that funk and back in the fat burn zone.

As humans, we are taught that we run on calories. In reality, we burn adenosine triphosphate or ATP, not calories. Calories are a human-made construct that has led to decades of fad diets, obsession, and obesity.

The primary manner in which we generate ATP is in the cellular powerhouse, the mitochondria. This mitochondrion is genetically all mom (thanks, mom), and the DNA origins are that of bacterial species.

The Mitochondria Love Fat Fuel

Within the mitochondria is a process called the electron transport chain (ETC) that generates exponential amounts of ATP. Think of the level in Super Mario brothers where you eat the star…yup!

You can access the ETC via NADH or FADH, produced by carbohydrate and amino acid breakdown. However, one caveat is fat! Fat skips the line and goes right into the ETC to help with that bonus round of ATP. It can also generate ATP the same way as carbs and protein via beta-oxidation.

Before the holidays, I had reached a plateau in my training, so I put my biochemistry nerd goggles on and used these hacks to drop an additional 4% body fat.

Time Matters to Stay in the Fat Burn Zone

I have been using time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting (IF) for a while, with improvements in my body composition, energy level, and overall feeling of health. There is excellent evidence to support the use of IF for fat loss.

As discussed in our article, the way IF works is by releasing fat in the form of ketones after about 8-12 hours. To harness this fat-burning, I then decided to shift my carbs from the first meal, boost my fat, and institute meal timing.

Meal Timing to Stay in the Fat Burn Zone

Before starting IF, I would use this concept. Allow me to explain.

In America, we tend to gravitate toward carbohydrates for breakfast. Cereal, oatmeal, fruit. When you ingest carbohydrates in the am, you shut down your body’s natural fat-burning engine and use the most accessible ATP source, carbs.

Couple this with lots of fat too, and any excess energy will store as fat.

On the other hand, as you burn fat after 8-12 hours, you will keep burning fat if you eat fat in the morning. Fat is excellent for stimulating your colon to empty and remove waste (for those blocked up). Thus, having fat and possibly protein as your first meal will keep you burning fat.

How to Do Meal Timing

As we discuss in our macro nutrition articles, keep your life simple and think of each food as one macro. Nut butter, for instance, is not protein. They are fat. The highest macro amount within them is fat.

Take each food, look at the back of the nutrition label, and whatever the highest number is, that is the macro your food represents.

In general, if you are not exercising, eat fat and protein. When you exercise, eat carbs and protein. You can be fat-fueled with workouts, but note an adjustment period via the article we cited during our discussion about ketosis. 

Taking this meal timing concept one more step, timing your first meal after a fast to being fat/protein will help you continue using beta-oxidation (burning fat). The minute you introduce carbohydrates, you switch from burning fat to burning carbs via glycolysis.

Food that Keep You Meal Timing and Burning Fat

Therefore, boost the power of fasting with meal timing. Burn fats while you fast and keep burning fats by making your first meal primarily fats and protein.

Along the same lines, I have discussed the foods permitted in the am while you are fasting. Foods include homemade kombucha, bone broth, coffee, tea, water, and water with trace minerals.

Some will tell you that butter, half and half, and cream are permissible. However, I would argue that you should try to avoid these foods while fasting, and here is why.

Avoid Lactose While Fasting to Burn Fat and Stay In the Zone

Lactose is a sugar that comes from dairy products. Dairy contains the simple building blocks of glucose and galactose. As stated above, the minute you introduce a carbohydrate or glucose into your body, you will switch from burning fat to burning carbs.

Glucose is the simplest carbohydrate form; thus, ingesting lactose will stop you from burning fat, and you will shift over to glycolysis for energy.

Lactose Intolerance Will Make Your Gut and Middle Unhappy

Additionally, 6-8 out of every 10 Americans is lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance will not only cause gas, bloating, diarrhea, nausea, and possibly vomiting but will also interfere with the digestion of other foods that you need.

Lactose sensitivity is also widespread and can be a precipitant of a leaky gut. A leaky gut is a pro-inflammatory condition, and inflammation can cause you to retain water and fat due to the impact on your sleep, health, hormone, metabolism, and stress response.

Instead of lactose in the am, stick to pure forms of fat, such as MCT oil or coconut oil. Though primarily saturated fats, some saturated fat is not bad for you and will allow you to boost your fat-burning state of being again.

Fasted Workout, Fat Burning Zone Multiplier

My final tip for you for staying in the fat-burning zone is a bioscience buster if you ever heard one. The concept I am talking about is fasted exercise.

Conventional bro-training will teach you that there is a “golden hour” for exercise. Namely, you HAVE to EAT within 15-30 minutes of exercise; otherwise, your workout benefit is ZERO.

Show me some evidence that proves this concept to be accurate, and I will shut up. I have yet to find anything conclusive.

Fuel for your Workout

If you do not eat enough food, you may feel like you are running on empty during subsequent training adventures. Because the good you eat needs to be converted to glycogen within the muscle to fuel your muscles. It would be best if you had creatine with phosphorous (phosphocreatine) as well.

Both of these fuel sources will deplete fairly rapidly; however, your body will be able to replete them at any point after working out with minimal amounts of food.

Oh, did I also mention that fat can turn into muscle glycogen? I did, didn’t I? That’s right; you can use your body’s fat as fuel for your muscles.

Hydrate, Electrolyte, and Fat-Fueled Fat Burning Zones  

So, unless you are a marathon runner or elite athlete with multiple events and no body fat, you can use your fat stores as fuel for your workout. 

You may experience a little bit of a drag in the beginning while you are transitioning. The damper may be due to low intake the previous day or improper hydration/electrolytes the day of your workout.

Therefore, the day prior, ensure you eat enough food for your height, weight, sex, age, and activity level. The morning of the exercise, hydrate with trace mineral drops containing sodium, potassium, magnesium, and zinc.

With time, your body will quickly adapt, you will be back to cleaning, snatching, and squatting more than ever before.

Fat Burning Zone Summary

I profoundly hope that these three easy steps to enhancing your fat-burning zone have helped get you to that next level of health. Remember to stick to science and simplicity. As always, it’s Doc Mok, and I am here to Maximize Your Health!

3 Easy Steps to Stay in the Fat Burning Zone
1. Meal Timing
2. Avoid Lactose in the AM
3. Fasted Exercise