My personal opinion is to stay away from the supplements. If you're looking for some sort of quick fix it may work, but it's not something you want to be relying on for your whole life. SparkPeople really promotes changing your way life as opposed to a "Diet" or "Quick Fix".
There are natural ways to boost your metabolism that are far better than any supplement. More exercise, getting more sleep, eating healthier, building more muscle, all these things will help your body operate better.
Also, the biggest thing to keep in mind is that none of these pills are FDA approved. If there were such a thing as a "Fat Burner" we would see more doctors prescribing them to obese patients. Most of the pills contain caffeine and other ingredients that increase your energy so you exercise more. Exercising more leads to faster metabolism and more fat loss. Perfect example is Phen-Phen. Many people took this to help aid their weight loss. Many people ended up having heart attacks and other hear-related problems. So much that Phen-Phen is now illegal in the U.S.
So, just some thoughts. Do your best to do this the natural way. It will be easier in the long run to achieve a life style change with out taking some pill or supplement.
matt
JOGGER5079 3/21/06 11:17 A
Thanks for the advice. I lost 60 lbs on Atkins, but at doctors request, need to stop the diet. I'm maintaining right now and am enjoying more fibrous food. I do cardio 4x's a week, 45 minute intervals, jogging at 5 - 6 mph. Also, beginning to work with free weights/swiss ball 3x's a week. I feel this is a good 'mix' for me, not going over 1500 cals/day. I agree with you, supplements should not be the focus, however, right now I'm in a plateau state and would like the extra "boost" so to speak.
Again, thanks for the reply!
jogger
PHITNESS 3/21/06 10:46 A
I haven't messed around much with thermogenics and various other fat burners and blockers. I have only tried Dexatrim Natural with green tea - which is excellent and Stacker 3 Ephedra Free With Chitosan - which also is excellent.
I guess I give both of these the thumbs up because either I got a placebo effect and I just kept going hard and/or I treated them like "icing on the cake" - they weren't and aren't the centerpiece of my success, just a little extra boost to keep things revved up.
If you're caffeine-sensitive, you may experience jitters from the more intense supplements (Stacker, Hydroxycut, etc.) and you may want to just go with a green tea Extract type of pill.
Once again - they should be treated like "bonuses" in your fat-loss program, not the focus points.
Good luck!
JOGGER5079 3/21/06 10:40 A
I tend to stay away from supplements, but I know there are some out there that will increase your metabolism and help you shed pounds. I'm not interested in "diet pills", but would like to hear your recommendations for fat burning supplements.
