Why Your Body is Lazy…

Let’s talk about fat—not the kind on your plate, but the kind hanging around your waistline, waiting for a reason to leave.

Your body is lazy but efficient. It always chooses the easiest fuel first. And when it comes to energy, your body has two main fuel sources:

1. Fat – The slow-burning, long-lasting energy source.
2. Sugar (Carbs) – The fast, easy-to-use energy source.

When you’re cruising at a low intensity (walking, easy jogging, scrolling Instagram for the 47th time today), your body burns mostly fat. Why? Because there’s time to go through the long, bureaucratic process of turning fat into usable energy.

But when you crank up the intensity—sprinting, lifting heavy, going all out—your body says:
“Screw this, I need energy NOW.”

That’s when it switches to burning sugar, because sugar is quick, no paperwork required.

Even if you have plenty of fat available, your muscles won’t burn it fast enough during high-intensity work. Why? Because fat has to go through a long process before it can be used for energy:

1. Break it down – Stored fat gets turned into fatty acids.
2. Send it to the muscles – Fatty acids travel through the blood.
3. Get through security – Fatty acids must pass through a special transport system to enter the mitochondria (your muscle’s energy factories).
4. Burn it for energy – Only inside the mitochondria can fat finally be turned into usable fuel.

Meanwhile, sugar skips the line and goes straight to work. That’s why fat-burning slows down when exercise intensity goes up. Your body prioritizes survival over efficiency.

So what’s the takeaway?

1. If you want to burn more fat, train at a lower intensity for longer periods (think Zone 2 cardio).
2. If you want to push hard, expect your body to favor sugar over fat.
3. Your body isn’t designed to maximize fat-burning—it’s designed to keep you alive.

The good news? You can train your body to get better at using fat. The more you exercise, the more efficient your mitochondria become.

The bad news? You can’t out-train a bad diet. If you eat like an unsupervised 10-year-old at a birthday party, you’ll store more fat than you burn.

Stay disciplined,

Coach Collis Stutzer

www.cgsfitness.com