Someone showed me this excerpt from an e-mail health newsletter, which doesn’t really add up, in my opinion. Look at here:
I began studying exercise physiology and the mechanics of how a fat cell really deals with burning. I found that a fat cell is really just a storage center for potential energy in a solid form. That’s right, you really don’t have fat, you have POTENTIAL ENERGY. Now doesn’t that sound better?
My research* has shown that having an abundance of fat cells gives me less energy. And when I do exercise and get to the point of burning fat, it makes me even more tired! Where’s all that potential energy? I think the health expert is full of POTENTIAL CRAP.
I wonder if the writer of that got his degree at one of those non-accredited universities…
* I eat a lot.
Buffet o' Blog 
Potentially Muscular
It is true. Fat is potential energy.
The purpose of fat: if your body has too many calories, store it for a rainy day. the human body tries to not waste much when it comes to nutrition.
In ancient times, being heavy was a sign that you could afford food. or at least had access to it.
Unlike today, being heavy is mainly a sign of overeating, physical inactivity, and on a smaller scale: genetics.
With the human body, if one has too much “potential energy” then they can afford to expend some. Like if you make too much money, one can afford to invest.
and,obviously, with all things “potential”….It is a waste if not used.
So if you have potential energy. USE IT!
My “curse” is that I can’t acquire any potential energy. poor me. 🙂
Potentially Politically Correct
So I don’t have fat, just potential energy. Let me think…..nope he is wrong.
I don’t feel much better when I look in the mirror.
Metabolic Manliness
I am one who has a high metabolism and thus do not require much exercise to maintain a slim figure. However, I am not immune to cardiovascular disease.
Back when I played sports, I tried to learn of ways to increase my weight (naturally, not with steroids) and it was my research in nutrition that I learned how the human body operates on a basic level. In essence, I could not gain weight if I did not have the excess calories a.k.a. potential energy needed to gain weight.
I ate a lot and ate healthy. I soon gained twenty pounds (of muscle) and was able to do things physically that I previously wasn’t able. It took some time to get used to being active. Though I was skinny, I wasn’t physically fit.
One must train the body in order to make it function the way one wants it to.
Training takes time. Physical training takes time and effort, just like with spiritual training. However, physical fitness should not be the ultimate goal.
The apostle paul writes ” For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8
Paul also writes “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Therefore, run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who comptes goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. I do not run like a man running aimlessly nor do I fight like a man beating the air. No, I train my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Important Doctor
As our readers know, I tend to laugh in the face of ‘conventional wisdom’. So I hate to say it… but the guy that wrote the article makes a good point. … Fat IS a lot of ‘potential’ energy… but as our BoB editor pointed out, the more you have it ironically the less energetic you feel… quite a paradox really. The answer to this conundrum is quite simple… lets say you go to the gym… you may find it easy to do multiple reps of the 10lbs weights. but when you move up the 100lbs weights you may struggle to lift them more than a time or two. You can use this same analogy when referencing ‘excess stored potential energy (E.S.P.E). If you are only say 10lbs overweight (have 10lbs E.S.P.E) then you find it easy to run, jump, and do various activities. but with 100lbs E.S.P.E. you have to work 10times as hard to accomplish that very SAME activity, thus giving you the tired unenergetic feeling. Also too much E.S.P.E. does not tend to look very flattering in the mirror 🙂
Thomas Wayne
Hey, Important Doctor, did you personally research your facts about being 100 pounds overweight? 😮 (heh heh)
According to these crazy theories, shouldn’t the 10x normal amount of E.S.P.E. compensate for being 10x more overweight than normal?
Important Nutritionist
Also, if you’re carrying around a lot of extra weight (or espe, or whatever) , shouldn’t you burn more calories just doing normal activities since you’re, in essence lifting more than average all the time? Could it be that this is the reason overweight (or excessively energetic) people are huffing and puffing after climbing just one flight of stairs where a person of average size may have to climb 5 or 6 before being winded? That’s why heavily energized or overcharged people can lose a greater amount of weight with less activity than a person with only 10-15 lbs. of extra energy to expend. Or maybe it’s the other way around in reverse. I don’t know, but I’m feeling awful “energetic” right now, as well as quite gaseous. Gotta go (literally)!
Thomas Wayne
Yeah, if I run around the block, I get a much greater workout than someone skinny would. Yet this increased calorie burnage doesn’t seem to help me lose weight. What gives?
That bacon & cheese diet just isn’t working for me… (but it sure is fun!)
Important Doctor
To answer the nutritinist & Thomas Wayne, once again… minute per minute if you were to compare someone that’s fit and someone that is a BMI overachiever, the big person would absolutely burn more calories per minute. & yes you would in theory burn more calories doing ordinary activities. The problem lies in the fact that we (the ‘bmi overachievers’) tend to relagated exercise into the what ‘if’ category… to quote Thomas Wayne “what IF I run around the block”… the question is… DID you run around the block… or did you stay at home on the couch eating twinkies & funions while you ‘thought’ about exercise. so in short… someone with E.S.P.E ‘could’ lose weight faster… it’s just that many times we never get around to it.
Thomas Wayne
I’m one of them there “BMI overachievers”. heh
I’m saving up lots of potential energy, just in case I ever needed it for some catastrophic event. Like if there was a huge overflow of hot molten magma (lava) flowing at me, then I could outrun it and go as far as necessary.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’d get in my trusty brown El Camino and drive off into the sunset… But I know that I have some potential energy saved up if I ever needed it. And knowing is half the battle…