Two things got me jogging again. My best friend started it and said he was getting great results, and I discovered that instead of bulking up on carbs, I should be eating the good fats for fuel. Omega 3's and 6's were the best for fueling my long jogs of 30 minutes or more. I felt good, but I knew there was something missing.

Oils are vital to our health and I'm not here to preach oils in your diet, but I found something out about them that absolutely was an ah-ha moment for me. We need a certain amount of good fats in our diet because they are essential to cell growth and heath. Then with carbs, these are used main for fuel for our muscles. But how does that help me burn fat?

Don't muscles just use sugars for fuel? That's why I see those athletes down a candy bar when playing sports. I couldn't do that, but to them it's a sharp energy lift. Sugars are like gasoline on a fire. They burn fast and with a lot of energy and then they are gone. The body simply craves more sugar. Still how does oil fit in and when?

It turns out that the body can also use oil, the good oils, to burn as fuel. Oils are converted into food the muscle can use and it actually burns more efficiently and much longer than sugars. In addition, oils actually allow for the continual burning of fat cells, so when the muscle is working with oil as fuel, it also turns to the fat cells and uses them. And it happens like this.

Studies involving cyclists show they burn fat in the area the muscles are being worked - namely the legs - and that the abdomen is generally unaffected. A big factor in this is the diet of the cyclist. If they ingest foods rich in the omega oils they burn fat faster. If they carb up before a run, those normally have the tummies that need some work. But there are other exercises that help burn fat fast.

Cycling is good exercise, but doesn't burn much fat if the intake is mainly carbs. Switch to omega oils and watch the pounds melt. Swimming is good, too, and the same diet applies. When an exercise targets a muscle group, like weight lifting, sit ups, all work better with a diet rich in omega oils. Any exercise that is aerobic and can be done over time, say 30 minutes or longer, coupled with a high omega oil diet, is a fat burning exercise. And then there are exercises that are not helpful.

Short sprints, golf, basketball, tennis, really anything where you are using short spurts of energy, your muscles will look first for sugars to supply high energy in bursts. As you work longer aerobic exercises, the body starts burning fat. And when you get to that level, the body will continue to look for fat as fuel. But which exercises are the best for fat burning?

When you perform aerobic exercises of 30 minutes or more, such as jogging for more than a half hour, your cardio rises and the muscles will change from burning sugars to burning fat. Yes, all muscles burn sugars, but the fats are converted to fuel by the body after the carbs are depleted. But the best trick of all is to not eat after you jog or long term exercise for up to an hour so the muscles continue to use the fat as fuel. So where would you find a good program that involves good oils and fat burning?