Many of us start pounding away on the treadmill¹ in the hope we can melt our spare tyres, bingo wings and love handles. But new research has revealed that we may be able to burn more fat without actually doing more exercise.

我们大部分人都在跑步机上咚咚咚地跑着，希望可以消解啤酒肚、蝴蝶袖和腰间赘肉。但新一项研究显示，也许我们可以不用多做运动就可以燃烧更多脂肪。

Simply changing the timing² of when we eat means we could burn up to 22 per cent more fat, scientists claim.

科学家称只要改变我们进食的时机就可以多燃烧22%的脂肪。

As part of the experiment, Dr Adam Collins, of the University of Surrey, recruited 30 volunteers. These included 13 men and 17 women who did not normally do a lot of exercise.

萨里大学亚当柯林斯博士召集了30名志愿者，其中13男17女，都不怎么运动。

For four weeks, they took part in three classes a week; a high intensity³ training class, Zumba and a spin class. They all consumed a drink before and after each class, but some were drinking a placebo⁴ with no calories, while others consumed a calorie-controlled carbohydrate⁵ drink.

连续四周，他们每周参加3堂课，分别是高强度的训练课、尊巴舞和旋转球课。他们都每节课前喝一杯饮料，但有些人喝的是不含热量的安慰剂，另一些人喝的是控制热量的碳水化合物饮料。

This allowed Dr Collins to test the effects of eating carbohydrates⁶ before and after exercising. At the beginning and end of the experiment, they tested how much fat the volunteers were burning while at rest, along with their weight, waist circumference⁷ and blood sugar and blood fat levels.

这样柯林斯博士就可以测试运动前后进食碳水化合物的不同效果了。在实验初始和终了都测试了志愿者休息时候脂肪燃烧量及体重、腰围尺寸、血糖和血脂水平。

The experiment showed men should eat after exercising to maximise fat-burning, while women should eat before. This is because men are more muscly, and as carbohydrates are stored in muscles, this is their bodies' preferred fuel. Women's bodies, on the other hand, are programmed to burn fat in order to conserve⁸ carbohydrates in the body.

实验显示，男性运动后进食可以让脂肪燃烧达最大化，而女性应该先吃。因为男性肌肉更多，碳水化合物存储在肌肉中，是男性身体最佳能量来源。而另一方面，女性身体得先燃烧脂肪才能在体内储存碳水化合物。

Being able to switch between burning glucose⁹ (carbohydrates) and fat, is the key to good health. Most people who are obese¹⁰ are metabolically¹¹ inflexible¹².

可以转化葡萄糖（碳水化合物）和脂肪是健康的关键。大部分人肥胖都是因为不能灵活新陈代谢。