After how much time of proper dieting and exercise will my body begin to burn fat?

Question

I've been eating correctly (protein, fruits, etc) and doing cardio / strength training 5-6 times / week. Losing weight is not the problem- I've already lost 4 lbs, and my muscles are much stronger and larger, but the fat is still covering them.

My question is, due to my diet and exercise, when will my body begin to burn fat? I've read about people beginning to see "fat melt off" at about 4 weeks of proper diet and exercise. Is that the average amount of time?

Answer 1

Christina, it sounds like you've got a really good thing going and I APPLAUD your perseverance. But consider this information,

1. As long as you burn more calories than you take in, you will continue to see progress.

2. Seems the focus of your question is whether your body is burning glycogen or fat. And that depends on the ratio of cardio to strength, and the type and intensity of cardio you are doing. YOu see, the body burns muscle sugar (glycogen) for about half an hour after repetitive cardio exercise. So it's not until after the first half hour that your body begins to burn fat calories. So I always recommend you do an hour of cardio (walking, running, joggin, swimming, rowing, whatever) .

I will include my complete recommendations here, although I suspect you are already on a good plan:

Do this forever. Drink lots of water, walk, run, or swim an hour every day except 1 then do stretching and upper body toning. Eat fruits & vegetables.

No alcohol
no bread
no burgers
No candy
No chips
no corn
no fried foods
No pasta
No pizza
No potatoes
No sodas
No sugar

Good Luck

Answer 2

I found the book to be very informative and easy to read.

I've lost 17 pounds in 12 days, I'm just concerned that I'm losing too much weight, too quickly. I will admit I haven't followed the guide exactly. I'm not sticking perfectly to the listed foods and meal plans (but mostly) and doing very little exercise, but the weight keeps flying off.

It clearly works and if I'd followed it exactly I think it would scare the living daylights out of me because of the amount that I'd lose. So thanks again for the information. I've never purchased anything like this before because they are usually full of trash, but 3WD has been a pleasant surprise.

Get started today!

Answer 3

can burn up to 2 pounds a week in a healthy way
So about a week...some people actually see weight gain in the beginning though but thats muscle growth

Answer 4

each person's metabolism is individual, so, as long as you are losing some weight and building muscle, you are converting fat to muscle, fat is less dense than muscle so when you build muscle and lose fat, your weight will drop more slowly.