I know that’s a ridiculous question to ask, but I’m serious. Suddenly I find myself at 29.4 pounds lost and my favorite pair of work pants are being held up by my hips! The waistband doesn’t even touch my waist. But, where did the weight go?

So what happens? Does it evaporate? Does it disappear in a puff of smoke while I’m sleeping? I don’t need to track its whereabouts, and I don’t need to stay in touch, but I’m curious. Nearly 30 pounds is a lot of weight. I don’t think it washes off in the shower. How does it just disappear?

To find an answer, I turned to MayoClinic.com. They said, “To understand the answer, it helps to remember that fat is basically stored energy. Your body converts fat to usable energy for your muscles and other tissues through a series of complex metabolic processes. This causes your fat cells to shrink.”

Hmmm…. that’s an interesting thought. So, the fat doesn’t fall off so much as it shrinks, gets used up, or burned off. Honestly, I’d never thought about it that way — even though I know that increasing exercise burns fat, or reducing calories forces your body to burn the stored energy (or fat) you already have. I just didn’t put it together for my own weight loss. I find it fascinating that our bodies can work that way. They just know what to do without being given direction. How I wish my children worked liked that!!

Have you ever pondered how weight loss really works?  What did you learn?