Training & Nutrition - Did anyone ever try fat-burner supplements?

I've been slowly making some positive changes to my eating habits. This has been taking place all summer. I also am commuting 5 days/week plus misc. bike errands.

My problem is, I cannot seem to loose the 30 or so pounds I should loose. I've been reading about the various fat-burners that are available and I am tempted to try one, but I have heard so many stories of people getting sick on them or ruining their metabolism.

I am hoping someone here can talk me out of it. I always believed if a person is patient enough, good 'ol diet and exercise is enough.

I tried a few; all failed miserably.

The best results I found was with a paleo-style diet --no grains, no refined sugar, very little dairy, but lots of grass-fed meat, fish, and veggies. I'm 6'2", and went from 260 pounds to 215 in less than a year. My body fat (as measured in a hydrostatic body fat test) went from 29% to 19%. My weight (as shown on the bathroom scale) has remained mostly flat over the past year, but I've been working out a lot. I think I've been losing fat at basically the same rate at which I've been gaining muscle. It's about time for another body fat test to measure the progress.

Speaking of working out...

Biking is not necessarily the best exercise for burning fat. Weight lifting and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, which *can* be done on a bike) have gotten a lot of press lately as being very effective for fat loss.

Of course, everyone is different. YMMV. You need to find what works for *you*.

I've tried a couple and IME they don't work. Real drugs work, but they aren't real highly recommended. What works is portion control. Get used to eating smaller meals, a very little at a time. After a while, your body will adapt to the smaller meals and they'll seem just fine.

I've poked around on a weight lifting site and guys are lossing upwards of 40 pounds in 5 weeks! But then as you read on, they are dealing with side effects.

OP, how many pounds were you and have you lost since?

I am 5' 2" tall.
I started at 180# three years ago.
I was 125 when I got married 15 years ago!
My goal is not so much weight loss, but to get lean. I do want my 30" waist back!

I was down to 150 last summer. Then life got in the way. I was back up to 172 some weeks ago. I've been hovering at 168 all this week. I am playing with my diet, eat cleaner, etc. I am a bike commuter and I could do more rides on weekends. A friend who lifts told me it may do me well to use a fat-burner for a month to get a good jump start. I am so confused by what I read, both books and the web. Everyone has the "hot set-up" that worked for them but may not work for me.

Really, I hate to say it but it seems pretty simple. Eat less.

I'll be blunt. You gained weight because of an unhealthy lifestyle. Fix the lifestyle by exercising more and controlling your food intake and you'll lose weight. Taking a pill is a poor long term solution.

You'd be far better off meticulously monitoring how many calories you're eating in a day and ensuring that you maintain a 300-500 calorie/day deficit. There are numerous programs and apps out there to assist you in counting calories.

Really, I hate to say it but it seems pretty simple. Eat less.

Yes. It's extremely simple, but very difficult.

Everyone I see on a diet looks like their ready to kill somebody. Reward yourself weekly tho

I'll be blunt. You gained weight because of an unhealthy lifestyle. Fix the lifestyle by exercising more and controlling your food intake and you'll lose weight. Taking a pill is a poor long term solution.

You'd be far better off meticulously monitoring how many calories you're eating in a day and ensuring that you maintain a 300-500 calorie/day deficit. There are numerous programs and apps out there to assist you in counting calories.

Thats what I've been doing. I used an online calculator (can't remember where anymore) that figured I should consume 1600 calories/day. I've been doing that consistently for a few weeks now.

My goal is not so much weight loss, but to get lean.

Same thing. If you lose weight, you'll be lean. If you want to be lean, you need to lose weight.

Exercise more.
Eat less.


One of the things that works for me is to adopt a more active lifestyle. "They" say we are supposed to exercise at least 90 minutes a day in order to lose weight. That's 10.5 hours (630 minutes) of moderate (not high intensity) exercise a week.

So walk briskly for 20 minutes a day 5 days a week at lunch = 100 minutes.
Cycle 1 hour a day 5 days a week, and 2 hours on a 6th day = 420 minutes.
Walk your kids to the park and play tag or ball (run lots) with them for a couple hours 2 days a week = 240 minutes.

And right there, you're at 760 minutes for a week.

Add in taking the stairs whenever possible, parking far away from the grocery store so you get some extra walking in, weightlifting while watching TV, walking or jogging around the soccer field when your kids are playing rather than sitting in the stands ...

Shake things up now and then ... double the amount of cycling you do, start a regular weightlifting program over winter, join a spinning class twice a week ...

Fat burner supplements are and invention of the devil. We are living in a generation of pill poppers. It seems that everybody wants to swallow pills and get instant results. How about some hard workouts ?? You don't need pills... What you need is an excercise routine that will bust up your ass and make you sweat blood.
Bootcamp style of training. Weights, kettlebells, bodyweight excercises, all combined together... into an intense workout.

I don't know anything about fat burning supplements. But what I can tell you is that if you want to maintain your weight loss, you have to eat less than you do now. And eating less than you do now is also all you have to do to loose the 30 pounds, no pills required.
Rather than pills you should look into learning what to eat such that you can keep the calories down without feeling hungry:
fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole wheat stuff, lean meat, fish, eggs, canadian bacon, milk.

Thanks for the positive replies. I am trying to cut out my white sugars and white flour. I am also consuming leaner meats as well. Its a work in progress!

Thats what I've been doing. I used an online calculator (can't remember where anymore) that figured I should consume 1600 calories/day. I've been doing that consistently for a few weeks now.


Steve,

I would double check all your numbers. Something doesn't look right here. You are commuting 5 days a week, running errands on a bike also & eating only 1,600 calories/day & not able to lose weight? How far is your commute and what other exercise are you getting?

How far is your commute and what other exercise are you getting?

Excellent questions ... if Steve's commute is only 10 minutes each way, that's not going to do much for the weight loss.

I've been slowly making some positive changes to my eating habits. This has been taking place all summer. I also am commuting 5 days/week plus misc. bike errands.

My problem is, I cannot seem to loose the 30 or so pounds I should loose. I've been reading about the various fat-burners that are available and I am tempted to try one, but I have heard so many stories of people getting sick on them or ruining their metabolism.

I am hoping someone here can talk me out of it. I always believed if a person is patient enough, good 'ol diet and exercise is enough.


I used fat burners 8 years ago, essentially green tea pills.
What i discovered is that fat-burners are dangerous in a way that they don't discriminate which fat to burn. Fat-burners ended up burning bad fats but also good fats. I definitively stopped when i discovered i was loosing hairs because of that.

The best way to loose weight is to alternate days with weight lifting and days with cardio workout while improving your intake. And inside the cardio workout alternate different kind of cardio workout (running, cycling, swimming). The same goes for weight lifting.
Doing both training (muscles and cardio) in the same day is not advised because cardio workout tends to burn muscles you're trying to build with weight lifting
Overall in a day you will loose more calories with your muscles than with your cardio training.
It takes time to build muscles. I got noticeable results after 6 months of constant training. But once you gain muscles it never really goes away.
Depending on your morphology (endomorph, mesomoprh, hectomorph) your workout will be different tho. (more cardio less weight lifting and vice versa)

But to loose weight the most important part is not the workout but what you eat. You will eat less if you eat food from each of the 4 categories at every meal (proteins, carbs, good fats, fibers). I'm talking here about a long term diet. It's different for a specific workout program.
Imagine 4 empty bottles in front of you. Your body needs to have all the 4 bottles full. If you fill only 1 or 2 bottles the other 2 bottles are still empty and you don't stop eating filling the same 2 bottles which ends up into the fat bottle when your body asks for the other 2 bottles to be filled.
Proteins and fibers are the most important as they affect hunger.
Greek yoghourt, wheat bran and flax seeds are the best
Change juices that you drink with homemade vegetables, fruits, fibers, nuts based smoothies.
Eat beans and lentils

But the best thing to do to loose weight is to always prepare food for the next day it avoids eating bad stuff. I always have smoothies or beans ready to eat in case of sudden hunger.
And If i eat proteins and fibers only during a meal i know i will have to eat carbs sometimes during the day. Brain which needs lots of carbs will asks for that and if i didn't have smoothies ready i would eat sugar junk food. That's why it's important to always eat food from the 4 categories at every meal and have food ready in case of emergency.

if you read the fine print on any of the ads for fatburners, sensa, etc. The claims of huge losses in short times always have an asterisk with the fine print reading "results not typical" and typically include wording like "when taking our product and following the suggested diet and exercise plan" The sensa ads list a large weight loss...but when you look at the time period......it is basically the recommended 1-2 pounds a week rate of loss.

bottom line supplements like these don't work. There is no magic, as much as I wish it personally.

+1 on all the folks above that recommend dietary changes. That's the only way.

If a sexy body came in a pill, one of 2 things would happen:
1. That pill would be sooooooo expensive that most people couldn't afford it.
2. If that pill WAS affordable, everyone would have a sexy body.

Exercise to get healthy and tone your body, diet to lose the fat, and accept that it's not going to happen overnight.

Excellent questions ... if Steve's commute is only 10 minutes each way, that's not going to do much for the weight loss.

We still haven't heard any details about Steve's exercise routine.

Years ago before they outlawed it I would do the asprin-caffeine-ephedra stack (trucker speed). I lost weight, but I was also dieting and exercising during that time.

Man, did that stuff make me want to go a million miles an hour. I don't know if it directly caused weight loss but it sure made me want to work out a lot harder. So in that regard it was effective.

I take oxy elite pro. I've lost weight but Ive been watching what I eat (though not too closely) and exercise a good 50 to 100 miles a week of riding. I'm kind of stuck on my weightloss progress since I started eating junk food and beer after feeling good about myself but will get back on track to lose another 20 pounds.

What I noticed from those pills is that they do not necessarily burn fat but rather increase your heartbeat and your energy levels. This I consider to be good since it makes me want to exercise and by raising my heartbeat (i think) it burns a bit more fat than without. Since it gives me more energy it also makes me workout harder. So it doesn't really burn fat but might help you exercise a little harder and may suppress appetite. The latter does not work for me.

Well, I did read an article once which said that people who fidget tend to weigh less than those who don't. And many things I've read have said that generally being active whenever possible assists in weightloss. Apparently also sitting up burns more calories than lying down, standing burns more calories than sitting, and walking burns more calories than standing.

So ... if you've got an office job, get up once an hour and go for a walk around the office, or go jog up and down the stairs a few times. Instead of lying down on the sofa to watch TV in the evening, clean the house, go for a walk, go for a ride, ride a trainer, join a spinning class, do some gardening, lift weights ...

We still haven't heard any details about Steve's exercise routine.

Thanks for all the great posts. It certainly has made me rethink the "pill popping."

Some more details are as follows:

My work commute is a very hilly 6.5 miles round trip. I am averaging around 20 minutes one way. I ride this 5 days a week. I also started riding to the library and post office on my SS/FG. That is 2.5 or more miles round trip. I go to the PO at least 3 times a week or more as needed. I have other commutes I do, but are not routine.

I feel myself getting stronger as I am able to push bigger gears on climbs than I did 3 weeks ago. But I am very fatigued by day's end. I am on my feet all day at my job (I work in a warehouse).

Eating as of late has been going well as I have really cleaned up my diet. As mentioned above, I am doing maybe 1600 calories or so. I do drink coffee, black. And I drink a lot of water.

I also attempt to get 8 hours of sleep per night. Sometimes I do get cut short, though.

Hope this helps. Any questions, just ask.

Years ago before they outlawed it I would do the asprin-caffeine-ephedra stack (trucker speed). I lost weight, but I was also dieting and exercising during that time.

Man, did that stuff make me want to go a million miles an hour. I don't know if it directly caused weight loss but it sure made me want to work out a lot harder. So in that regard it was effective.


E/C/A stack, I think its refered to. It was an old school weight lifter's go to for getting cut for competetions. Guys I work with told me stories about "the old days."

Thanks for all the great posts. It certainly has made me rethink the "pill popping."

Some more details are as follows:

My work commute is a very hilly 6.5 miles round trip. I am averaging around 20 minutes one way. I ride this 5 days a week. I also started riding to the library and post office on my SS/FG. That is 2.5 or more miles round trip. I go to the PO at least 3 times a week or more as needed. I have other commutes I do, but are not routine.

I feel myself getting stronger as I am able to push bigger gears on climbs than I did 3 weeks ago. But I am very fatigued by day's end. I am on my feet all day at my job (I work in a warehouse).

Eating as of late has been going well as I have really cleaned up my diet. As mentioned above, I am doing maybe 1600 calories or so. I do drink coffee, black. And I drink a lot of water.

I also attempt to get 8 hours of sleep per night. Sometimes I do get cut short, though.

Hope this helps. Any questions, just ask.

The 1600 calorie diet will probably work for a few pounds, maybe 15 if you are 30 pounds overweight. After that you will need more exercising. 9 miles of commute a day isnt bad but I would try to increase it to 20 miles 4 times a week. If you can do that and keep the 1600 calorie a day intake you will see the weight drop in no time.

The 1600 calorie diet will probably work for a few pounds, maybe 15 if you are 30 pounds overweight. After that you will need more exercising. 9 miles of commute a day isnt bad but I would try to increase it to 20 miles 4 times a week. If you can do that and keep the 1600 calorie a day intake you will see the weight drop in no time.

More exercise I don't know.
The problem is that the body adapt itself to the effort made. The Yoyo effect.
The less calories you eat the more the body adapt. You end up gaining fat for the same intake. (In north america anyway)
The more exercise you do the more the body adapt. You end up burning less calories for the same effort.
The only way to go around that is to cheat the body.
Interval training, changing the kind of exercise and normal meal once a week can cheat the body

My work commute is a very hilly 6.5 miles round trip. I am averaging around 20 minutes one way. I ride this 5 days a week. I also started riding to the library and post office on my SS/FG. That is 2.5 or more miles round trip. I go to the PO at least 3 times a week or more as needed. I have other commutes I do, but are not routine.


For the next month, try doubling the amount of cycling you do. :)

Dr Oz sent a number of OTC fat burners to a testing lab, and they found
a BUNCH of dangerous chemicals in them.

The prescription diet pills are also dangerous.

But if you are going to do pills, be smart, see a Doc, and
go in for monthly checkups.

Try adding a large serving of greens with dinner.

Green tea extract or the actual tea. Natural metabolic fat burner and good for you too.

I don't recommend them. I think most of the weight lost from thermogenics is water weight since you sweat like mad. Whatever else you lose is going to be either fat or muscle, and that's just based on your diet. Water weight just comes back anyway. If you only have a little bit of fat left to burn, sure, give it a shot. Otherwise, eat healthy and exercise daily. If you are weightlifting, up the protein, or you'll lose muscle/feel weak.

Everyone I see on a diet looks like their ready to kill somebody. Reward yourself weekly tho

Extremely This.


On my current intended-to-be-permanent diet I eat very little "yummy" foods during the week. But on Fridays I have "cheat day" where I get to enjoy a reasonably-portioned meal of anything I avoid during the week.

You have no idea how easy it is to say "Just wait until Friday" if you have urges to eat crap during the week. Without Friday, however, I would probably give into temptation far more often than I do now.

A lot of those fat burners are essentially legal over the counter speed. Think Ephedrine, just a less harmful and more legal version. Still harmful though. We used to take Hydroxycut and Ripped Fuel when I was in the army, specifically for the speed effect on missions where you need to be awake and alert for days at a time, and I for one would struggle to force myself to eat.
What makes them effective is that they suppress appetite, but at the cost of side effects. They can still cause all sorts of health problems and its best advised to avoid them.
If you practice portion control, after a few weeks your stomach shrinks a little and smaller meals make you feel as full as larger ones used to.

I have found that you must do many of these good ideas in increments, not all at once. Losing (not loosing) weight is physical AND mental.
Longer range view = completely buying in to the healthier lifestyle.
Medium range view = increasing your miles (NMT 10% per week)
decreasing your overall calories (NMT 10% per week)
Short range view = losing (not loosing) quick water weight to get you motivated

Lets round to 4000 calories in a pound. One less candy bar (300 calories) and a little more riding (say 300 calories) a day is 600 calories a day or 4200 calorie difference a week (one pound)


First thing: Cut all the empty calories. Soda, dressings, some snacks
Add physical activity with 10% gains in milage or weight lifting a week

I actually just posted this same thing in the road cycling forum. The information i'm about to post is found in Donnelly, J., Jakic, J., & Gunderson, S. (1991) Effect of very low calorie diets and exercise. Sports Medicine. 12. No. 4. p. 237-249

so heres the dealio. There has been research done showing that when you are given a constant amount of exercise and change variables like youre diet there are 3 scenarios that can occur.

1) If an individual wanted to lose weight and not muscle using only dieting, the percentage of weight loss would be composed of approximately 72% fat weight and 28% fat-free weight (fat free weight can include lean tissue, water, glycogen, etc.)

2) If an individual wanted to lose weight and not muscle using dieting and exercise the percentage of weight loss would be composed of about 80 % fat weight and 20% fat-free weight.

3) If an individual wanted to lose weight and not muscle using only exercise the percentage of weight loss would be about 95% fat weight and 5% fat-free weight.

So how do we interpret these findings? It's better to not restrict your caloric intake and simply eat what you would normally eat (but be serious about what you're eating, obviously pizza, donuts, cheeseburgers etc. will be a detriment on your riding abilities). Since it seems that you have already started eating healthier...keep doing that! As was posted earlier, you're body adapts to the changes in your diet and you will eventually hit a wall in how much weight you lose from dieting. Instead of severely restricting your caloric intake, stay on th same amount of foods you're eating now but make sure you're eating a healthy amount of calories per day.

Once you have stabilized your diet, your body won't be going through a yoyo effect of constantly having to adapt to different amounts of caloric intake. (This is bad). Instead, now that you are continually exercising your body will keep shedding the fat weight that you want to lose, instead of losing lean tissue weight as well!

Hopefully this was somewhat clear and you get the gist of this information.

I tried a few; all failed miserably.

The best results I found was with a paleo-style diet --no grains, no refined sugar, very little dairy, but lots of grass-fed meat, fish, and veggies. I'm 6'2", and went from 260 pounds to 215 in less than a year. My body fat (as measured in a hydrostatic body fat test) went from 29% to 19%. My weight (as shown on the bathroom scale) has remained mostly flat over the past year, but I've been working out a lot. I think I've been losing fat at basically the same rate at which I've been gaining muscle. It's about time for another body fat test to measure the progress.

Speaking of working out...

Biking is not necessarily the best exercise for burning fat. Weight lifting and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, which *can* be done on a bike) have gotten a lot of press lately as being very effective for fat loss.

Of course, everyone is different. YMMV. You need to find what works for *you*.

I'm with Keith, more or less. I think it's more WHAT you eat, not HOW MUCH. My wife and I started a Low Carb High Fat diet back in May/June. I've lost 13 lbs and now by introducing more carbs I'm staying very steady at my goal weight of 165. My wife has lost 15 lbs and I think she want's to drop another few but she's really hot as she is. We just avoid carbs, eat moderate protein, and eat lot of fat.

[...]

So how do we interpret these findings? It's better to not restrict your caloric intake and simply eat what you would normally eat...

^^
This!

I've be getting back into shape after a very long time (20yrs) off from racing. I eat no junk or processed foods and 65-80% (5-7g/Kg) of my calories comes from carbs. I make sure my caloric intake is at or slightly above my TDEE (training calories not included) and never go below my BMR. I get my caloric deficit from my training expenditure. At one time, I got lazy and stopped counting calories. I fell below my BMR and plateaued for weeks. I'm back on track and I'm down 45lbs so far now. It has been great working for me.