Why Fat Burning Pills Don't Work

Caught your attention, huh?

I've decided that I'm going to do a new category on Nutrition.  I believe it to be the very core of better health and losing weight.  We cannot expect to achieve any of our health goals without proper nutrition.  Protein and essential fatty acids are very important to be successful.  Are you consuming a gram of protein for each pound of lean body weight?  If not, you are not nourishing your muscular system to help it become stronger and leaner.

With all the fads and promises of a quick fix out there, it makes it hard to know what to do or what to take when it comes to nutrition supplements and vitamins.  Promises of taking a pill and not having to exercise and you can still lose weight are misleading.  You lose muscle but the fat stays, stubborn as ever, because burning fat for energy is harder than burning muscle.

I was going through my weekend emails and things that I get from places like JillianMichaels.com, MaxMuscle.com, WomensHealthMag.com and others when I came across this article from Max Muscle Sports and Fitness:

Excerpt from Real Life: LIFESTYLES OF THE FIT AND MAXED By Scott LeCates

To Diet or To Pop a Pill?
Still there is the temptation for a quick fix through socalled miracle fat burners. This seems to be the single greatest challenge for MMSN’s Certified Sports Nutrition Specialists. “People are tantalized with the proposition of the magic pill. Instead of taking a nutritional approach to their lifestyle, they will invest $50 to $60 a month into a single pill to do the work,” Chad said. “Two weeks later, what weight they have lost is mostly muscle and not 10 to 15 pounds of fat as promised. Reality is, it just doesn’t work that way.”

Tammy said fat burners have their place in a nutrition program but people who only use them to lose weight will burn muscle for energy. And, that is in direct conflict with the Max Lifestyle. When dieting, it is vital that people get enough protein and glutamine because without them, the metabolism will continue to slow as more and more muscle is lost. Protein has just 4 calories per gram and requires more energy to digest than carbohydrates or fats making it more thermogenic than any other macronutrient.

Fat burners can be used effectively after a person has hit a plateau in their fat loss program forcing the body to adjust to new caloric requirements.

     (You can read the full article HERE.)

 Proper nutrition is important - I can fully attest to that.  I would not have lost 32 lbs in 30 days* without it.  Well, there was hard work in there too, my personal trainer has been KICKING MY BUTT - but I've said it before that the core of being in better health - whether you are doing it to lose weight or just feel better - is proper nutrition.

*RESULTS NOT TYPICAL.  I firmly believe that by giving up soda and drinking at LEAST 8 glasses of water per day, giving up added sugars, simple carbs, adding more fiber and making sure I have my daily vitamin requirement, have given me these fantastic results.  I usually eat 1500-1800 calories per day based on my activity level, spread across 5-6 meals per day.  Eating that frequently was hard at first, but now it has become a way of life.