Nobody talks about this, but one important factor to losing weight is your nervous system.
That is, your brain and the nerves that run throughout your body - the neurons.
They interact with other parts of your body, and can encourage - or discourage - faster weight loss.
The key is to harness their power, starting with your brain.
Now, this isn't magic.
How many calories you eat DOES matter tremendously. Anybody who tells you that you can lose weight while eating whatever and however much you want is trying to sell you something you don't want to buy.
And how many calories you "burn" - oxidize for energy - also matters A LOT.
Calories in doesn't always equal calories out. That should be obvious. Too many people are putting in more calories than they oxidize, which means more calories stay "in" than go out - they're stored in the body as adipose tissue. Weight gained.
And whether you consume calories through eating highly processed foods - sugar, refined grains, salt, oil and so on makes a big difference. Or whether you eat calories combined with fiber and antioxidants. But this article is not about the calories in.
On the calories "burned" side of the equation, one major factor is called "innervation." That's how much your neurons connect with your fat tissues. That influences how quickly that fat gets burned.
The Two Steps of Fat Oxidation
What does fat loss or weight loss actually mean?
There're two steps:
1. Fat mobilization or lipolysis
That's getting fat molecules out of storage. It's a complicated chemical process, but that's the gist.
Pull them from your waist or wherever, and get them into your bloodstream.
2. Fat oxidation
That's the fatty acids going from your blood into your cells. There, the mitochondria oxidize them, converting them into ATP - cellular energy.
You need both steps. Fat that in not mobilized remains in storage. Fat that's mobilized but never burned just returns to storage.
One Major Fat-Loss Factor
That's thermogenesis - how much fat your body oxidizes just by staying alive: your body temperature.
Which is controlled by your nervous system. The way neurons connect to your fat changes the way the fat is burned.
The Biochemical Your Neurons Release Into Your Fat Cells to Stimulate Them
Your neurons send little "wires" (called axons) into your fat to release chemicals to stimulate the mobilization of fat.
That main chemical is epinephrine or adrenaline. That promotes the fat mobilization process.
Adrenaline comes from two sources: our adrenal glands and our sympathetic nervous system, which is associated with alertness and action.
The Key to Stimulating The Neurons to Connect With the Fat Cells and Release Adrenaline
Movement.
Movement, NOT exercise (though that's not to say you shouldn't exercise too. You should.)
1. Shivering
Yes, getting cold a la Wim Hoff the Iceman, though you don't have to go to such extremes. Stay safe.
You don't even have to take take ice baths (though they can help) or move to Antarctica.
2. Fidgeting
As far back as the 1960's, scientists discovered that people who ate a lot but didn't gain weight often engaged in a lot of small movements. Not "exercise," but fidgeting. What are often called "nervous" behaviors.
They were people who just kept moving in small ways, such as bouncing their knee while sitting. They were energetic and moved a lot while talking. They bob their heads while listening. They stand up and sit down a lot. They pace back and forth.
It seems incredible, but such people burn from 800 to 2,500 more calories every day than do the rest of us.
Remember, 2,500 calories is more than most men need to eat in one day.
And fidgeters burn that just by fidgeting.
Modern studies confirm all this - and they show people who deliberately start fidgeting, lose weight 20-30% faster than before.
So, even if you can't bring yourself to go on long walks or runs, or work out in a gym, can you bounce your knee up and down while you're sitting? Yes, obviously - you can do THAT.
Does tapping a pen in your hands actually "burn" up fat?
No, but these constant small movements DO trigger your nerves to release more epinephrine. That mobilizes more fat, so more fat is oxidized.
The process is called Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT).
Your Brain and Nervous System Include Your Mindset
Believe all the movement and exercise you do is burning lots of calories and improving your weight and health.
Actual exercise works as a placebo.
Researchers told one group of physically active hotel room attendants that their job duties met the US Surgeon General's standards for getting enough healthy exercise. The control group were told about exercise, but not that they were getting enough just by performing their job duties.
The actual behavior of people in both groups did NOT change.
However, four weeks later, the workers were re-examined.
The control group - who had NOT had their beliefs changed - were no better off than before.
The room attendants who were told their jobs gave them a healthy lifestyle actually improved their health and fitness.
They experienced reductions in weight, hip-to-waist ratios, blood pressure, body fat and body mass index.
It appears that just being told - by authoritative scientists, presumably - that their on-the-job exercise was healthy, made those room attendants believe they were getting enough exercise - and their bodies showed the health benefits! Even though the actual physical demands of their jobs did NOT change.
Conclusion: increasing the innervation of your nerves with your fat cells through your beliefs and through small but constant movements will greatly increase how much fat you mobilize and oxidize.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24736043/
https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2019/09/27/study-discovers-loss-of-innervation-in-fat-related-to-obesity-diabetes-aging/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12468415/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/551265/
https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3196007/Langer_ExcersisePlaceboEffect.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqPGXG5TlZw
https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/brain-anatomy/axons-cable-transmission-neurons