fat burners...

[MAD_MAX333]

Do they work?? i just bought some for like 40 bux a bottle... enough for a month in it... twice a day.. all natural...

do these actually work or help burn fat?? i work out 4 times a week weight training and itake whey shakes daily, fat burners and creatine...

what are your thoughts...

[rpd1794]

The ones with Ephedra always worked for me....but then some people had to take four times the suggested amount so the government could pull it

The new stuff hasn't done much for me aside from making me pee every ten minutes. So it's back to the old cut the calories and add the cardio.

[krj]

Do they work??

The short answer - no, they don't.

The somewhat longer answer - obesity (and all of the many associated and serious health risks) is such a national epidemic, that if there were truly a safe and effective way to "cure" obesity through "fat burners":

1. it would be all over the maintstream news
2. it would cause shock waves internationally - because we are not the only western country experiencing this health issue
3. we'd all be thin

Save your money and renew your gym membership.

[sotzo]

I was under the impression that most of these types of pills increase the core temp of your body increasing your metabolism slightly. So if anything they will help you burn more calories than you normally would, but should only be used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise.

[krj]

I was under the impression that most of these types of pills increase the core temp of your body increasing your metabolism slightly. So if anything they will help you burn more calories than you normally would, but should only be used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise.

Actually - not so much.

You temporarily speed up your metabolism immediately after eating a meal (due to the thermic effect of food), but taking these fat-burner pills will not speed up your metabolism (nor will it increase your core body temperature).

Your basal metabolism is the sum total of:

A) all the involuntary activities that are necessary to sustain life (circulation, breathing, temperature regulation, hormone secretion etc.)
B) the voluntary activities that we participate in daily
C) the thermic effect of food (which is actually considered negligable)

"A" (all the involuntary stuff) by far accounts for the largest component of a person's daily energy expenditures.

Voluntary activity level (ie. day to day activities and exercise) is the one issue that we can all directly impact - and because lean muscle is more metabolically active than fat, it's also the most efficient for actually and legimately raising your body's metabolic rate.

Again, if there were actually pills that could burn fat, the maintstream health field would be all over it.

[Gil]

Do they work?? i just bought some for like 40 bux a bottle... enough for a month in it... twice a day.. all natural...

do these actually work or help burn fat?? i work out 4 times a week weight training and itake whey shakes daily, fat burners and creatine...

what are your thoughts...

Mad Max,

IMO, the only thing that these pills burn is your money. You may lose fat temporarily, but to keep the desired effect, you will have to buy more and more. The intent of pill and supplement makers is not to give you a "one shot is all you need" deal, but to keep you coming back. Keep working hard in the gym, up the cardio, maintain a sensible diet, and you'll be fine.

[ProWriter]

I've only found one that's any good; the rest are all a waste of money, unless you're just trying to lose a few pounds for a few months and then gain it right back.This one works suprisingly well.

[The Shield]

LOL...(just writing to have at least 10 characters so don't read this for it's not relevant...)

[AMG]

Get some grapefruit, that is the most powerful fat burner in the world besides crack.

[mikeyb99]

Gotta agree with KRJ but there's one more thing to consider. Most of the fat burners out there area combination of ephedra, caffeine and aspirin. Or if you get the "all-natural" stuff it'll say guarana (caffeine), some other kind of weed (blanking on name but it'll contain ephedra) and willow bark (aspirin).

These compounds stimulate your sympathetic nervous system- the same one that's activated during a heightened stress response (hence the jittery, shaky, nervous, need-to-pee feeling). In this respect you will burn a slightly greater amount of calories and be able to carry out a greater exercise workload (work longer at higher intensity= more calories burned).

But by far the greatest effect these compounds have is as an appetite supressant. This stuff basically kills your appetite and personally I could go for most of the day without eating simply because I wasn't hungry and never thought about it. I'm not saying this is healthy (because it's not and is about the worst thing you can do) but it's better that you have a full appreciation of the effects so you can make an informed decision.

Bottom line in my opinion- not really worth it but it can have a significant effect when combined with appropriate cardio and calorie restriction.

[PTI]

One of the best fat reducing exercises out there today is the push away. Its cheaper than supplements and works even better. It a pretty easy exercise to do. The best time to do it is at the dinner table. Just reach up, grab the edge of the table and push your fat body away from the table.

[Welpe]

I've only found one that's any good; the rest are all a waste of money, unless you're just trying to lose a few pounds for a few months and then gain it right back.This one works suprisingly well.

Oh that's BS! That's just not possible...

[krj]

Oh that's BS! That's just not possible...

Welpe, I see that you got rid of your "carbohydrate free" or "Atkins approved" or some-such-thing saying that was underneath your screen name a while back. Good move my friend - I was ready to sic ProWriter on ya!

[Welpe]

krj, why you be hatin' on the foam bread, brotha? Goodness, last thing this board needed was "ATKIN'S BLOWOUT: 2005!!"