Fallacy of Failure, Self-Sabotage, & The Fat Burning Zone
Article Round-Up: 1.28.24
Enjoy this week’s curated articles, podcasts, and more from the web to help you live a healthier, happier life.
Featured Thoughts: The Fallacy of Failure [video]
Published This Week:
Why Things Go Wrong Just When You Start Winning (And What To Do About It)
Takeaway: Self-sabotage is when people do (or don’t do) things that prevent their success toward a goal, and is common in people who find they backslide just when they start seeing progress. It usually stems from fear, or more directly, fear of having to step out of one’s comfort zone into a new role or identity.
In this article, you’ll learn how to evaluate and overcome self-sabotage to get out of your own way.
How Many Friends Is It Possible To Have?
Takeaway: In the 1990s, evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar suggested there was an upper threshold for the number of stable relationships a single person could cognitively handle. It became known as “Dunbar’s Number.” That number is 150.
This article is an interview with Dunbar and explains some of the nuance to this theory. A great one for the curious!
Why Relationships Matter For Burnout
Takeaway: Relationships are tricky. They can be the answer to your burnout or another contributor. Managing expectations and boundaries is crucial. Check out this interview with a clinical psychologist, Debbie Sorensen, as they explore the topic in more detail.
From Sorensen:
“It does take time and resources to have a social life and there is a tipping point where it becomes another stressor. If you get too busy socializing all the time, you're not gonna have time to yourself to recharge.”
Reader Question:
I always see the graph with different colors on the treadmill at the gym. One section says the fat burning zone. Is this where I should keep my heart rate to burn more fat?
These tables on the treadmill indicate the different “cardio zones.” What this “fat burning” zone is highlighting is actually a lesser known concept, respiratory quotient.
Respiratory Quotient is the ratio of CO2 and oxygen being exhaled from your body. Specific ratios indicate which nutrient is being used as the primary energy source: protein, fats, or carbs.
Lower intensity exercise results in a lower respiratory quotient, which indicates a higher proportion of fat is being burned for fuel, hence the “fat burning zone” you often see labeled on treadmills and other cardio machines.
Yes, lower intensity exercise preferentially burns more fat for fuel. Higher intensity—more carbohydrates.
This data was interpreted to mean that if you wanted to burn more body fat, you needed to keep the intensity at a certain level or else you’d begin to burn carbs instead.
However, this doesn’t capture the full picture.
Even though you’re burning a high proportion of calories from carbs at higher intensities, you are also burning more calories overall. Even if the proportion coming from fat is lower, the total calories burned from fat usually still greater.
Let’s put this into context:
(We’ll use made up, simple numbers to illustrate the concept.)
Lets say in the fat-burning zone you’re exercising at 50% of your maximum heart rate (HRmax). This results in 200 calories burned after thirty minutes, 70% of which is utilizing fat as the main energy source—the “fat burning” zone.
This results in 140cals total being burned from fat. (200 x 0.7 = 140. The math is mathing!)
Now, let’s say you’re exercising at 80% of your HRmax. In that same thirty minutes, you burn 400 calories, due to the increased difficulty. Because you’re at a higher respiratory quotient, you’re now only burning 40% of calories from fat. You’re no longer in the “fat burning” zone.
The total calories being burned from fat in this case is 160cals. (400 x 0.4—more maths!)
Even though you’re burning a smaller proportion of calories from fat (70% vs 40%), the total calories from fat is still higher in the second scenario.
This is the myth of the fat burning zone.
Burning a higher proportion of calories from body fat stores does not inherently make it a better strategy for weight loss. As you can see above, you’d actually be better off exercising at a higher intensity in order to reach your goals faster.
Low intensity exercise has it’s place. However, you can ignore these tables on the cardio machines, and your Apple Watch or Fitbit, when it tells you you’re “in” or “out” of the fat burning zone.
P.S. Don’t forget to join us for our live virtual group workouts every Saturday at 9am EST. Click here to register to receive the zoom links. It’s completely free.