By David Tepera, February 11, 2026

Just know, our bodies are an amazing machine that’s in constant repair and replacement. Once a cell has performed it’s job, a new one comes along to replace it. That’s survival on a daily basis.

During our youth and adolescence, cells grow faster than they die off. Once we reach our genetic height, cells plateau and homeostasis kicks in. All that means is our body is on cruise control until we become destructive or hit the golden years.

What’s interesting is that we can lose brain cells, skin cells, along with hair follicles, but for some reason, fat cells found God and can never be destroyed. They are here to stay. Okay, hopefully, you got that joke.

Here’s the deal. Again, during our youth, fat cells are being produced, but once we reach late teens, we have all the fat cells through the rest of life.

The misconception people might not know is that as you gain weight, you don’t produce more fat cells, nope, they just expand and get bigger.

During my orthopedic career, I witnessed plenty of large fat cells in surgery. So, for all of you women who claim to be big boned, I never saw it out of more than 3,000 joint replacements. Don’t hate on me because I keep it real.

Now, we have fat cells for survival. They benefit the human body by storing energy when needed. Other important benefits are regulating hormones, body temperature, protecting organs, control blood sugar, and support immune function.

Historically, when food was scares, our ancestors survived harsh winters and famine from fat cells. This is why the body will never destroy them because it’s needed to survive.

It’s interesting because you can stand an obese person next to an anorexic, and they have the same amount of fat cells. Let that sink in for a moment.

In today’s world, there are methods to eliminate or shrink fat cells. This list is constantly changing due to the demand. I’m not wasting time to explain.

For those of you who want to lose weight, perform your cardio exercise in the morning on an empty stomach. It’s referred to as “fasted cardio” and will burn fat better than any other time of day.

Other than that, love yourself because those stubborn fat cells are here to stay.