How And Why You Store Body Fat

If you're currently facing an issue with your body weight, one of the questions that you might be asking yourself is how you store body fat in the first place. What is it that got you to where you are now and how can you go about getting yourself out of this situation of being overweight?

Understanding how and why you store body fat can provide good indication that will let you look into the process of fat burning so you can uncover the precise steps that you need to be taking in order to move yourself forward.

Let's have a quick look at why you store body fat and how this process takes place.

The Issue Of Energy Imbalance

The very first thing that you need to understand is that the process of adding body fat to your frame very much is a function of how much energy is coming in versus how much energy is going out.

If you're consuming a high calorie diet that has you taking in more calories than you're burning off daily, this is going to cause you to begin to store excess body fat.

Since the body has more energy than it needs for its everyday purposes, it has to do something with that energy and the most logical thing to do is store it for later use.

This way, should you encounter a period of starvation, you'll have built up energy reserves to turn to.

It takes you having an energy surplus of 3500 calories over time to accumulate one additional pound of body fat.

The Type Of Nutrients Consumed

Now, one thing that you do need to think about in terms of why and how you store body fat is the type of energy that you're eating.

Protein rich foods will be least likely to be converted to body fat stores because this nutrient takes a lot of energy just to break down.

As your body is expending this energy breaking the protein down, this means less energy would be left over to store as body fat.

After proteins, if you overeat in carbohydrates, you may not necessarily store these as body fat either. If you've been following a lower carbohydrate diet for example and have just completed an intense workout session, the storage form of carbohydrates in your body – your muscle glycogen levels will be lowered or even depleted.

When this is the case, the carbohydrates you eat in excess will actually go towards that storage first, and only once it's filled up will you begin converting carbohydrates into body fat stores.

Then you have fats. Since fats take very little energy to break down and the storage place for them is in fact your fat stores, this is the nutrient that is most likely to get converted to body fat.

Note that this does not mean you should eat a fat devoid diet however – some dietary fat is necessary for proper health and functioning, but just remember that if your calorie intake is too high, then this dietary fat may turn into body fat.

If you maintain a proper calorie balance, then there won't be a problem.

So there you have the main points to keep in mind about how and why you store body fat. If you want to minimize fat storage, eat a lower calorie diet that's rich in proteins and contains moderate amounts of carbohydrates with small amounts of healthy fats sprinkled in.

Safe Body Fat level

When starting up on a fat loss diet plan, very often a great deal of energy and focus is placed right on the exact body weight that you're at. You want to weigh a certain number of pounds or kilograms and that's all that you have on your mind: reaching that goal weight.

But, one thing that you should stop and think about for a second is what level of body fat you're at both at your current weight and what you will be at when you reach your goal weight.

Maintaining a safe level of body fat is incredibly important as there are negative health risks associated with being on either end of the spectrum.

Let's have a look at this issue further so you can see for yourself where you should stand.

The Dangers Of Too Much Body Fat

Most people are already quite aware of some of the biggest dangers of having too much body fat, but to summarize, when you have too high of body fat levels, you'll likely be experiencing higher overall cholesterol levels which could set you up for heart disease, you'll also be at risk for diabetes as the body tends to respond less to insulin when too much fat is present, and you'll also be putting your bones and joints at risk for health problems due to all the excess weight coming down on them.

All in all, carry too much body fat and you'll really be doing a detriment to your overall health and well-being.

The Dangers Of Too Little Body Fat

On the flip side of the coin, if you don't have enough body fat you could run the risk of nutrient deficiencies. Since many of the vitamins that the body needs are only fat soluble, if you aren't eating enough dietary fats in the first place, you likely won't be taking these nutrients in, and then since the body has such low fat stores, there won't be any place to store them.

Having too low of body fat levels can put your bones at risk for osteoporosis as well, especially if you're a female.

Those females who do suffer from very low body fat levels will also notice that they stop menstruating, so that's another negative health effect to be aware of.
Finally, when you have very low body fat levels you're also going to notice that you feel tired on an ongoing basis, are constantly hungry, and may not even be able to focus and think as clearly as you normally would.

Your Optimal Range

So what's the safe body fat range?

For females who do require more essential fat, you want to be between 21-33% if you're 20-40 years of age and be 23-35% if you're over the age of 40. This is the recommended amount to maintain proper health and going outside of these ranges are what will bring about the problems listed above.

For males, they can be quite a bit leaner and have a healthy range of body fat set to 8-19% for the age group of 20-40 years and have a healthy range set to 11-22% for those that are 41-60 years of age.

What is the connection between the body fat and cholesterol?

It's no secret that if you're overweight, you're going to suffer from a number of negative health risks.  Everything from high blood pressure to the development of diabetes to a higher incidence of stroke can be linked to being obese or overweight. 

But, one connection that sometimes goes overlooked is that of body fat levels to your cholesterol levels.

Let's take a closer look at what this is all about. 

The Diet That You're Eating

The very first thing that you need to consider regarding your body fat level and how it relates to your cholesterol is how you gained that body fat in the first place – the diet that you eat daily. 

Those who are quite obese and who are carrying an excess of body fat often got this way because they are eating far too much fast and convenience food. 

They didn't get that way because their diet was too full of fresh fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and lean proteins as these foods are naturally lower in calories and you just wouldn't eat enough of them to accumulate that degree of excess body fat. 

Because of the types of foods they're eating, this means they will have higher intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol, therefore this will cause their overall cholesterol level to go 

up.

While in a few very rare cases if someone was feasting on healthy fats (such as consuming high quantities of nuts, nut butters, and healthy oils) each day in addition to their usual diet that could cause them to become overweight without suffering high cholesterol, those cases are far in between. 

The Lack Of Exercise 

The second major reason why being overweight or obese can cause you to have high cholesterol levels is because the second thing that most of these individuals are doing is not exercising. 

Being overweight is attributed to too many calories coming in while too few calories are going out. This is accomplished through that higher calorie diet along with the lack of physical activity to burn those excess calories off. 

Those who are exercising regularly and who are still at a slightly higher body weight may not see nearly the same degree of blood cholesterol levels as those who aren't.

Exercise does help to combat high cholesterol levels so this on its own will definitely provide some benefits. 

Even still, if you're exercising but eating a diet high in saturated fat you're still going to be running into problems as far as your overall cholesterol profile goes.

So there you have the information you need about the connection between having high body fat levels and having a high cholesterol level. It's vital that you do take your body fat level seriously so that you can gain control over it and avoid all the negative health consequences that come with high cholesterol.

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