Jim Kata

Okay, so I know that some of these (or some may say all of these) are not too good for you. But my question is what do they really do to you that is so bad? I heard they tear up your insides, but cannot find any info to verify that except for word of mouth.

The reason I am asking, is because I am somewhat lazy and impatient when it comes to results from a gym. I do do various types of push ups and various types of squats and various types of crunches to keep fit...but I started all that too late (meaning the belly was already there).
I am a pretty skinny guy but my belly is pretty big. Big enough to be embarrasing. I would even go as far as saying that the only substantial amount of fat I have on my body is on my belly. So I am thinking about taking some of these natural fat burning products. I have seen someone lose 20 lbs off of these pills in about 2 months and she still hasn't gained any of it back 6 months later (or she is hiding it very well). Any advice/thoughts/or whatever?

Mael

well, i personally wouldn't use them. some people have adverse reactions to them. and if you have a heart condition then it's a big no-no. but the person who lost 20 pounds in 2 months on them isn't a big deal. if you're trying to lose weight, the best goal to shoot for is about 2.5 pounds per week, or 10 pounds per month. when you do it at that pace, it's usually slow enough that your doing it by changing your eating/lifestyle habits, which is why she's keeping it off. just my 2 cents.

Leviathan[NCV]

They can cause severe heart problems. You cant sit around, take pills, and expect to be thin, you're going to have to wait another hundred years for medical science to get that far. Go on a caloric reduction diet, keep working out, add cardio twice a week, and it'll be gone in six months.

On that note, after a one month heavy gym run (normally I just lift at home with the bench) with cardio every other day, I was able to lose about 16 lbs in a month.

suviko

Go to LesMills BodyPump class & Core training if you can endure the idea of group training. You will see fast improvement at first if you are out of shape and that will give you ego boost to keep going. The fat-burning products weightlifters use will work a lot better if you also train well at the same time. But you must realise that if you are just eating pills and not changing a thing, it will come back when you stop eating them and it could even be that you get adjusted to the effect and stop controlling what you eat and gain the weight back sooner than later. :I

Also, doing training feels really good. This coming from a person who didn't move a limb before last year for like 5 years.. Nothing beats the feeling of waking up in the morning and feeling how your stomach feels trimmed after good workout yesterday.

gonadman

You may want to check out this thread:

Ephedrine & other weight loss solutions

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-Carlos Castaneda

Loup

As suggested by gonadman:
Ephedrine & other weight loss solutions

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zenmaster10665

Ephedrine is very dangerous stuff. I used to take one of these "mini-thins" every morning to stem my appetite and give me energy for my gym workout....they do work, however, the damage to your heart is well known...Case in point (and forgive me for not knowing the guy's name) is the baseball player who recently died from Xenadrine (tons of Ephedrine in that stuff)

very dangerous.

My suggestion(s) based upon personal experience:

Cut apporximately 500-750 cals from your diet...

eat a small, low-cal breakfast (mine is about 250 kcal)

eat a low-cal lunch (mine is about 400-450 kcals)

eat a low-fat dinner (typically about 700-800 kcals in my diet)

This works for me...as well as picking up rollerblading, however, I ahve had to take a week off as I damaged my arch

Anyway...that is about 1350-1500 cals/day even without exercise...assuming you Basic Energy Needs are for about 2500 kcals/day...you will find that, in 70 days at a caloric deficit of 1000 kcals/day...even without execrcise...you should lose about 20 lbs.

Obviously, if you are excercising, you will need to boost you caloric intake to make sure that your body does not go into starvation mode and shut your metabolism down completely...

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

butthead

Sigh, if you misuse it, yeah, it is going to be more risky than using it properly. Duh. This whole "it's an evil dangerous drug, STAY AWAY" shit is bullshit.

You don't know anything about it so please do us the favor of trying to keep information accurate and clear by shutting your mouth.

a1t3r3g0

It will come back if you keep eating junk, but come on, you are being way too general. I took Xenadrine EFX (!!ephedrine free!!) for 8 months and lost 55 pounds with it and working out about 5 times a week. I stopped taking them this last December and I have kept it off AND lost an additional 20 pounds on my own from dieting and continuing to exercise. In the last couple of months I've been focusing on gaining muscle with much success. I owe it all to the EFX because it gave me the engery to start and now I am in the best shape I've ever been in!

UofODuck

I took ephedra for a little over a month and developed anxiety attacks as a result. Now I have to take a drug to keep the anxiety at bay. However different drugs affect different people in different ways

zenmaster10665

Could you please enlighten me then, butthead, with your knowledge of Ephedra?

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

zenmaster10665

Okay, so just to "keep information accurate and clear" I decided to gather some information for this thread.


Tell me, who do you trust...The American Heart Association, The Consumer's Union, and the United States General Accounting Office's testimony to various Congressional Subcommittes or Butthead?


And here are some links for 'ya:

http://www.americanheart.org/present...tifier=3010678

http://www.consumersunion.org/supple...SMJephedra.pdf

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d031042t.pdf

http://www.consumersunion.org/products/sb1418-303.htm

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

butthead

Before you start thinking you know, you need to know that ephedra and ephedrine are different things with different properties.

Boomshakalaka.

And for trust? I know enough about pharmacology and am smart enough to figure things out for myself, no need to blindly trust sources.

Ephedrine and ephedra have risks, but they are no where near the poison you make them out to be. Herbs like ephedra are unpredictable in potentcy. Ephedra also contains numerous alkaloids, many being methamphetamines. Ephedrine is an isolated chemical and is very predictable. Ephedrine is safe for nearly all people, when responsibility is exercised.

Be fair.

*EDITED by candyman* - Don't need the potty mouth, butthead.

MSD

All I can say is that they didn't seem to do any harm to me, but I gained 5 pounds while on an ephedrine-based pill.