Get out of your Fat Burning Zone -

Next time you are on a treadmill, elliptical trainer, stair climber, or other cardio machine at the gym, notice the programming option that allows you to stay in a “fat-burning” zone. It’s based on the fact that at lower intensities, the body uses a greater percentage of its fat stores for fuel. Sounds great, but do the math and it is not so great.

At a lower intensity level, your body will indeed burn a higher percentage of fat than carbs but still burn fewer calories overall. For example:  A 150-pound woman who walks on the treadmill at 3 mph (a 20-minute mile) burns about 112 calories in 30 minutes.  At this moderate intensity,  half of those calories from burned are from fat.   If she takes it up a notch and for 30 minutes at 4 mph (a 15-minute mile), only about 40 percent of her calorie burn might be from fat, but she is burning more calories overall—about 170 in those 30 minutes, or about 68 calories from fat.

The Bottom Line:  Burn more calories and make more of those calories come from fat by increasing your overall effort. A great way to achieve that is by doing intervals—periods of higher intensity followed by a slower recovery pace.