In the course of a 24-hour time period your prime fat burning opportunity is at night while you are sleeping but only if you allow it to happen. Of course you burn extra calories when you exercise or are physically active, but in terms of your basal metabolism of fat, nighttime rules!

Following a meal you tend to burn calories for energy mostly from sugar (60% glucose/40% fatty acids). After three or four hours you will start burning higher amounts of fat, which is why it is important to go 5-6 hours between meals, as the Leptin Diet recommends. Doing so helps clean fat blobs (triglycerides) out of your circulation during the day, so that leptin can enter your brain better at night and help you sleep properly.

Once you are sleeping, and around 7-8 hours after your last meal, if your liver is working right, you will now burn 60% of your calories from fatty acids and 40% from glucose. This is your prime fat burning time, and the easiest way to create it is by following the Leptin Diet and by doing regular aerobic exercise (which also helps clear fat blobs out of your circulation by using them for fuel).

Strength training, done at any time of the day, can also enhance this nighttime result. This is because the need to repair your muscles from the workout helps maximize the release of growth hormone during sleep, which increases muscle metabolism of calories. If you are doing the Leptin Diet properly, then those extra calories will come mostly from stored fat.

Various nutrients taken before bed may enhance calorie burning as well as the overall repair response, as desired. While I do not consider this type of nutrition as a primary weight management strategy, it may help out a little bit. In my mind the main thing to notice is that you wake up feeling like you slept better, meaning that your muscles feel great and the sleep was more rejuvenating in nature. Nutrients do not replace the importance of exercise, but often enhance your recovery from exercise (which takes place during sleep). Check out the Leptin & Weight Loss section for more weight loss support.