Fat Burners - Miracle Pills or Plain Rip Off

I went to Dischem this morning and just out of interest counted the number of weight loss miracle pills that were on offer in the two very well merchandised "slimming aisles" (yep, there are two full double-sided aisles of the stuff!). There were 347 brands of pills, drops, creams and some combinations thereof. That does not include the slimming teas, slimming water and the few other utterly crazy inventions on offer. With this variety in mind, I shouldn't be surprised that the question "what can I take to lose the fat faster?" (or the variations such as "does this brand work?") comes up with amazing regularity in session.

So, here are my feelings on the matter. You are welcome to agree, disagree, comment or challenge anything you read.

Well, my opinion on the question "do weight loss supplements really work" is both yes and no. Here is the low down.

Most slimming supplements available in South Africa are based on the traditional CEA formula. CEA stands for caffeine, ephedrine and aspirin. I can already hear the USN and Evox guys disagreeing! But the point is, whether the fat burner you choose has ephedra, garcina cambogia, pyruvate, HCA or any of the other "miracle" ingredients marketed this particular season, they are all thermogenic. Same thing, different season... that's how marketing goes!

Anyway, let's look at how thermogenics work.

In most simple terms, they raise the body's core temperature. In order to keep up with this increased temperature, your body needs to work a bit harder and thus, it burns more energy. The more energy you burn, the more fat you lose, right? Well, the principle is very sound, but it all falls apart when you look beyond the principle and add up the numbers. The increase of 0.1 degrees in body temperature (which is what you will get if you take the pills as directed) will result is a whole 80kcal expenditure in 24hrs for the average person. Wow! This is a total of 2,400kcal a month! A whole 270gr! Isn't that fantastic! And you paid R400-R500 for a month's supply, you lucky fish!

The other thing that thermogenics do for you, generally due to the high concentration of caffeine in them (natural or otherwise) is that they perc you up! Now, of you use that extra energy boost to go to the gym and kick butt, then you have a chance. But if the added energy is used to fuel routine trips to the fridge to pick up cold beer... well, you might be somewhat disappointed with the overall results.

The only "real" slimming result most people experience when taking weight loss supplements is the diuretic effect, again coming from caffeine or some more serious substances, depending on the brand of fat burner. Again, it is all very good to dehydrate yourself, but how long do you think you can last before you drink some water and put the "weight" back on?

So let's look at the history of fat burners and I will give you my answer right there!

The original CEA fat burner was designed for bodybuilders who are preparing for competition. To those who have no interest in bodybuilding, let me briefly explain the "pre-contest" phase.

The bodybuilders you see in magazines and on the web don't look like this all year round. In fact, they only look as ripped as that for a few days (weeks at most) and again, the light when the shots are taken plays a big role! So, what happens is 12-16 weeks prior to contest these guys start "cutting" for the show. This process involves hectic exercise (between 3 and 7 hours a day, mostly intense cardio) and even more hectic dieting (read protein shake, protein shake, chicken breast with plain lettuce leaves, more protein shake, more chicken breast). Needless to say, this is not a regime for the weak at heart (or body) and exhaustion sets in. For these guys, fat burners are absolutely invaluable. They give them the extra energy kick to keep pushing on the stationary bike after 2 hours have gone by and its time for posing practice. They also affect their appetite, so they can survive the grueling 3 months on protein shakes. (Sadly, for the rest of us this appetite-suppressing effect is not particularly useful, cause if we only ate when we were hungry, we wouldn't have picked up weight in the first place!)

So, bottom line, unless you are a body building competitor preparing for a show... you are really wasting your cash on these potions.

To make matters worst, the stuff can be down right dangerous to you too. The key here comes in the bodybuilding cycle (again!). Those dudes prepare for contest for 3 months but then have 4-6 months of what they call off-season which basically means no pills, more relaxed diet and ONLY 2 hours of exercise a day. During this phase they would put on about 10-20 pounds of fat (yep, that's right!) that they will have to get rid of in the next pre-contest... Sad, hey...
Ordinary folk, on the other hand, simply live on Phedra Cut. All year round! And when the slimming is not happening satisfactory fast, they just up the dosage. Which is OK, if you don't mind having cardiac arrest or heart attack...

If you are serious about weight loss, there is only one right way to do it. And I am sorry to break it to you, people, but XenaLean is not essential to it. Exercise and correct nutrition, on the other hand, are!

Have fun!

Jeni