If you've ever lost weight and wondered how those excess pounds left your body, science has an answer: You exhale most of it.
 

A new study reported by Live Science found that fat doesn't evaporate by turning into energy, and it isn't broken down and excreted by the body.  The body stores excess calories as fat in the form of triglyceride molecules made of three types of atoms: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. When people lose weight, triglycerides break down and are oxidized. This process devours oxygen and produces carbon dioxide and water.
 

Scientists at Australia's University of New South Wales found that when dieting, 84 percent of the fat is lost by turning into carbon dioxide, which leaves the body via the lungs, and the remaining 16 percent becomes water.
 

"These results show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for weight loss," the researchers said. "The water formed may be excreted in the urine, feces, sweat, breath, tears or other bodily fluids, and is readily replenished."
 

Regardless, weight loss advice is the same: To lose weight, one has to either eat less or exercise more.
 

To read the complete Live Science article, go here.