Could a person work off all their body fat in one continuous bout of exercise?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts
  
  

Keep on running ... on the treadmill.
Burn it off ... on the treadmill. Photograph: Ruslan Dashinsky/Getty Images

Would it be possible for a person to lose every excess gramme of fat from their body in one, continuous bout of exercise, for example, running for several days non-stop on a treadmill, on an empty stomach? Disregarding the need for sleep, food and toilet trips, and lactic acid build up (and the sheer stupidity of such an endeavour) what are the rate-limiting steps that prevent us from doing this?

Mike Power

• Post your answers – and new questions – below or email them to nq@theguardian.com

 

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