[Barry Buternowsky (OP)]

Recently I decided to lose some weight because the doctor made a comment that my BMI is a bit high. This was surprising since I've run triathlons over the last few years. I guess that's what happens when you hit 40.

I started running more, and focusing on my eating. Until now, I've depended entirely on exercise to keep my weight in check. I charted my weight very carefully over a few months. On average I was able to lose 1 - 1.5 lbs per week. I had to be really careful with my diet and exercise in order to break through a few weight barriers. Sometimes no matter what I did, the weight would not drop for over a week. In fact, sometimes it would go up.

My question is: does the body store excess energy as fat as easily as it does consume fat. For example, say I decide to eat too much one day. Will the body turn it into fat within 24 hours, or will it stay in a more easily burned form for longer so that the next day I can eat less and easily burn it off?

[Nizzle]

The body stores fat easier than it consumes.
Fat is stored in adipose tissue, which is made up of adipocytes (fat cells). However, there's a limit to how much fat one fat cell can store, and if you consume more fat, the body will respond by activating mitosis in these adipocytes, ie make more fat cells.

The hard part about dieting however is that once these fat cells are made, they're not easily destroyed or disposed of. The fat content of each adipocyte will lower when you're on a diet and you're exercising, but the number of fat cells won't go down.

Now, the next time you eat fatty food, there are more fat cells to be filled, and therefore, more fat will be extracted and stored from that food.

Liposuction is a solution to get rid of entire fat cells, but I wouldn't recommend this surgery unless it's absolutely necessary for your health.