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How do Fat Loss Supplements Work?

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Published: 01Sep2009
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The goal of incorporating a supplement or drug into a weight loss program is to assist the participant in complying with the necessary eating and moving guidelines that lead to weight reduction. They should never be viewed as the answer but as a viable part of the overall solution. Long term success will always be determined by lifestyle.

There are two functions dietary supplements try to accomplish as they relate to weight or fat loss:

1) Increase the caloric deficit by helping the body burn calories. The result is that you don't have to continually work harder to keep losing weight. For example, to lose 1 pound per week you need to eat 500 fewer calories per day than you burn. Assume when you're not taking the supplement you burn 2000 calories per day, meaning you can consume 1500 per day to stay on track to your goal. Incorporating a supplement might help you burn 2250 calories per day because of the product's thermogenic (or calorie wasting) properties, and its ability to compel you to move more. As long as you continue to consume 1500 calories per day, you will now lose 1.5 pounds per week.

2) The second function a dietary supplement may accomplish is lessening the participant's drive to eat or absorb calories, making it easier to comply with a reduced calorie diet (e.g. 1500 calories of food per day in the example above). This allows you to make steady progress. The body prefers to gain weight, not lose it, and the number one reason people fall off diets is that their appetites increase in order to force them to recover the weight lost. Reducing the desire to eat and/or helping one to feel fuller sooner and longer as well as reducing unneeded calorie absorption can give the dieter satisfaction while significantly reducing the body's calorie intake. Now what happens when you stop taking a dietary supplement?

It is recommended to use supplements when you need a little help (and most of us do at some point), and that you stop when you reach your goal or you feel you have your lifestyle and appetite under control. Fat loss supplements are not intended to be used for continuously or indefinitely to maintain weight loss.

Summary The primary goal of dietary supplements for fat loss is to assist you while you tackle the real problem, which is making adjustments to your lifestyle that will allow you to achieve and maintain fitness. Discontinuing the use of a supplement should not affect your results because maintaining means consuming as many calories as you burn, which means you get to eat more once you reach your goal. Therefore, staying with the same example above, you can now consume 2000 calories per day instead of 1500 because you do not need to lose more weight. The extra 500 calories is a lot of food and should satisfy your appetite, and your new physique should keep you motivated.

Neal Spruce is chairman of the board for the prestigious National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and founder dotFIT, LLC. Neal is a fitness specialist, author, licensed teacher, researcher, bodybuilding champion, personal fitness consultant and speaker. dotFIT is the leading online fitness and weight loss program.

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