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By David Barr
So you want to lose weight, right?
And you want to lose it fast! Well it seems as though everyone is
trying to lose weight these days, yet so few are succeeding. It
may be that those lucky people are naturally gifted for fat loss.
Then again, maybe they have a secret. In this article we're going
to cover one-such "secret" and how it can not only help
you burn more fat, but help improve your diet overall.
Getting Started
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In order to get the fat burning
fire ignited we're going to talk a lot about stimulants. Just
so we're all on the same page, this specifically refers to
low doses of caffeine. This is the fat-burning helper that's
found in beverages like coffee and tea.
In my experience it's best to
use quality products for stimulating fat loss because you
can be sure that the dosages are precise, and there are often
other helpful ingredients. In other words, more bang for your
buck.
Now that we're gotten that out
of the way, let's get to the tips!
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1) Metabolic Boost
One of the most beneficial effects
of stimulant use is that it boosts our metabolism, essentially stoking
our fat burning furnace to a new high. Not only is this helpful
during exercise, but it means that we're burning more Calories all
the time. This translates into greater fat loss, even when food
intake isn't perfect. This shouldn't be taken as an excuse to eat
junk food, but it's nice to know that we have a little insurance
for those less than ideal times.
As an added bonus, stimulants have
the ability to shift our body's fuel from carbohydrates to fat.
This means that we're not only burning more Calories overall, we're
burning those Calories specifically from fat!
2) Maintaining the Metabolic Furnace
Believe it or not, one of the most
powerful benefits of stimulants is their ability to help us maintain
muscle mass during a diet. This is so critical because it is this
muscle that acts as our metabolic furnace to help us burn Calories.
The more muscle we have the higher our metabolism and the more fat
we can burn.
The Dieting Brick Wall
We've all been there. In a diet plateau
- at some point in the diet, weight loss tends to slow down and
then stop altogether. It's like hitting a brick wall for fat loss.
If we want to avoid this then we have to avoid this then it's critical
to maintain our metabolic furnace. Here's why:
One of the biggest diet killers is
a vicious cycle that begins with losing muscle during a catabolic
diet. Once the muscle beings to fade, so does our metabolism. Once
our metabolism starts to decline, we have to drop Caloric intake
even further to lose more fat -the worst part is that this only
serves to cause more muscle loss! And the cycle continues form there.
Fortunately for us, stimulants allow
us to maintain muscle by causing our fat cells to give up energy!
This muscle-sparing effect not only helps to maintain our metabolic
furnace, but it also means that we're directly burning fat instead!
Talk about a double win for the good guys.
3) Helping With Appetite
Ask any habitual dieter and they'll
tell you that appetite ruins diets. That constant gnawing feeling
disrupts concentration, sleep, and even our mood. I've experienced
the latter, and unfortunately this means that so has my wife! The
result is often that we drop the diet and go crazy with food. This
splurge is particularly detrimental to our egos for having given
in to our temptation.
Although a hunger-induced binge isn't
the end of the world, there's a way to avoid it altogether and keep
our fat-loss fire going. This is where stimulants come in -they
help keep our appetite at a manageable level, so we're not thinking
about food all of the time. Not only that but the cravings and subsequent
binges can be completely eliminated!
4) Increased Energy
Lethargy is one of the most common
side effects of calorie-reduced diets, and with good reason. When
our body thinks it's starving, it essentially shuts down our metabolism
to preserve fuel (i.e. fat). One of the ways in which this happens
is by inducing a feeling of fatigue, or at least decreasing our
motivation to get up and get going. This not only reduces the amount
of calories we expend overall, but can be an absolute workout killer.
Fortunately stimulants help to avoid
these problems by giving us an energetic feeling. Sure this energy
feels great, but there's more to it than that; it helps keep us
active!
Active Energy
When we feel lethargic, we simply
don't want to move. Even getting up to got to the kitchen can feel
like a chore. But the feeling of energy induced by stimulants ensures
that we'll be moving all day. Whether it's running errands, or going
for an extra little walk, that great feeling keeps our spirits and
fat loss high.
Training Boost
When we feel energetic we also feel
motivated to go to the gym. This means that we'll be sure to keep
on schedule, and better yet keep our intensity high! By sticking
with higher intensity workouts we're sure to cause bigger improvements
in the way we look, and feel great while doing it.
Mini-Summary: More energy means feeling
better, more activity and gym intensity, which means far greater
fat loss!
5) Brain Boost
We all know about this one! After
all, most of us couldn't survive the day without our morning cup
of joe!
As the diet progresses, we tend to
feel mentally sluggish. This happens as our body begins to slow
down our metabolism, which can ultimately hinder our overall performance.
This effect is so prominent in some people that they specifically
avoid dieting for this reason.
The good news is that stimulants offer
a way to combat mental fatigue during a diet. They provide a feeling
of increased alertness so we're more mentally active. Not only that
but they enhance both focus and concentration. This means that they
cannot only minimize mental fatigue, but they might even enhance
mental performance beyond normal!
This is well known by many a student,
most of whom use some kind of caffeine before a long night of studying.
Little do they know that it's a great help to dieters as well!
6) Muscle Strength
We all now that proper workouts are
critical to the success of any diet, but can they be maintained
throughout? People will often come to me complaining of poor workouts
and an inability to lift like they once had. Their strength has
decreased and they just don't feel like they're getting the most
out of their workout. As you've probably guessed, this is a big
problem for their diet, but the good news is that once again stimulants
can help.
If you remember the vicious cycle
of losing muscle mass leading to fat-loss failure, strength-loss
works in much the same way. It begins by losing strength on a Calorie-reduced
diet. This in turn reduces the stimulus for our muscle to grow and
repair, which results in muscle loss, a lower metabolic rate, and
a dieting brick wall. If we want to keep losing fat at this point,
a reduction in Calories is necessary, which only feeds the negative
cycle.
Strengthening Stimulants
Once again stimulants can help us
avoid such a cycle by increasing our muscle strength during training.
So instead of losing strength, we're likely to maintain or even
increase it. In fact, many people benefit by increasing strength
and subsequently muscle mass during a diet, which yields a very
positive metabolic cycle.
This effect is possible because there
are a couple of different ways in which stimulants increase muscle
strength. You might expect a small benefit from just one positive
action, but by combining these strengthening effects, the difference
is profound.
7) Better Cardio
So far we've covered ways in which
stimulants can help us lose weight by increasing our feeling of
energy and increasing our muscle strength. But we still have yet
to cover the most popular fat loss stimulator, cardio. As if stimulant
use couldn't get any better, they also have specific effects on
improving our cardiovascular endurance.
It may surprise you to learn that
one of the ways that they help is by causing fat loss. Yup, you
read that right: by stimulating direct fat utilization we actually
improve endurance!
This happens because stimulants cause
the release of lipids from our fat cells, which provides fuel for
burning. This translates into more energy available for exercise.
It's worth pointing out that this phenomenon normally happens during
cardio, but the stimulants help to accelerate and enhance the process!
Longer Is Better
As a consequence of having more energy
for cardio, we're able to work harder for longer. This means increased
energy burning from (drum roll please…) fat! More energy used
and more fat burned translates into a noticeable difference in your
body composition.
Clients report that when they use
stimulants during a diet they often get dialed into "the zone".
When this happens in a cardio session, their focus is better yet
they somehow lose track of time. Usually the timer to end their
session goes off before they're even feeling fatigued. That's serious
performance.
How To Use
It's usually reported that people
have best results with stimulants when they carefully follow the
directions on the label -it's definitely not a situation where more
is better. Starting at a low dose and then working your way up is
always a good idea. By testing your sensitivity in this way you're
much better able to optimize the effect. As always, consulting with
your doctor is a great idea during safe effective fat loss.
About The Author
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