Calories & Sugar Burning Activities

You are burning a combination of both fat calories and sugar calories all of the time. Your ratio of fat calories being burned in relation to the amount of sugar calories being burned, however, varies depending upon what your activity level is. At rest, up to 60 percent of all of the calories you burn come from fat, the rest generally comes from sugar. You can alter this ratio by increasing your activity level to burn a higher percentage of fat, burn a relatively equal amount of fat and sugar or burn more sugar than fat.

1. Determine What Your Heart Rate Zones

   • 1
     Subtract your age from 220. For example, if you are 35 years old calculate the following: 220 - 35. The answer is your maximum heart rate (MHR), which in this example is 185.
   • 2
     Multiply your MHR by .65. Using the MHR of a 35 year old person, the calculation is as follows: 185 x .65 = 120.25 (or 120 when you round off the number). The result is your "fat burning" heart rate zone. In this zone, 60 percent of all of the calories you burn come from fat, the remaining 40 percent of calories burned come from sugar.
   • 3
     Multiply your MHR by .75. Using the MHR of a 35 year old person, the calculation is as follows: 185 x .75 = 138.75 (or 139). The result is your "aerobic" heart rate zone. In this zone, 50 percent of all of the calories you burn comes from fat and 50 percent from sugar.
   • 4
     Multiply your MHR by .85. Using the MHR of a 35 year old person, the calculation is as follows: 185 x .85 = 157.25 (or 157). The result is your "anaerobic" heart rate zone. In this zone, you are burning a higher portion of sugar calories.

   Change Your Ratio of Fat to Sugar Calories Burned

   • 1
     Set a ratio goal. Your goal can be to burn the highest percentage of fat calories possible. Or it could be to burn an equal amount of fat and sugar calories. Or it could be to burn more sugar calories than fat calories.
   • 2
     Put on and set up your heart rate monitor. (Refer to the device's owner's manual for instructions on how to do this.)
   • 3
     Engage in aerobic exercise. Speed walk or jog, bike, dancr or some other activity where you have tight control over the pace of your work out.
   • 4
     Adjust the pace of your work out to increase your heart rate to a level near your "fat burning" zone if your goal is to burn the highest percentage of fat possible. Adjust the pace of your work out to increase your heart rate to a level near your "aerobic" zone to burn a relatively equal portion of fat and sugar. Adjust the pace of your work out to increase your heart rate to a level near your "anaerobic" zone to burn a higher percentage of sugar.