Saturday, January 20, 2007

Weight Loss Scams

It's not just bad trainers that are taking your money during your quest for fat loss. It's weight loss companies, too.

So it's time to expose another myth - the myth that an ingredient can help you burn more calories and fat and help you achieve the body of your dreams.

Well, that's nothing more than wishful thinking. Sorry.

Two of the biggest "Calorie-burning" miracles are supposed to be Green Tea and Caffeine. And you'll find these two ingredients in almost every diet product.

One I saw just the other day was called "Calorie Metabolism Boost Body Burn" or something...but it really should be called, "Money Burn".

Buyer beware, I say. Or buyer be prepared, that's even better. Get to know the truth about these products and whether or not they will do what they say, or just burn a hole in your wallet.

Because I guarantee that no one is losing body fat because of all the caffeine and Green Tea extract that they are taking in pill form. No way.

But what about the research that all these weight loss companies are promoting?

With Green Tea, all the rhetoric is taken from one study that showed young, male subjects burned an extra 80 calories per day from Green Tea extract. 80 calories? That's no big deal. You know how fast you can consume 80 calories (a couple sips of soda and you're even).

And that's on a dose of Green Tea you probably won't even find in 90% of the weight loss products on the shelves.

And caffeine? Well, just watch the revolving door at Starbucks and you'll see that caffeine just ain't doing the job for fat loss.

But don't I recommend 4-6 cups of Green Tea per day in my nutrition recommendations? What gives? And now you say it doesn't help for fat loss?

Now wait a minute, I recommend several cups of Green Tea per day for health purposes. But I still really don't think that Green Tea, whether in tea form or pill form, will help fat loss. But it will help your health.

Plus, Green Tea doesn't give you a caffeine overdose like some big-chain coffees will (can you believe you can get 600mg of caffeine from 1 of those huge, strong big-chain coffees? That's the equivalent of over 7 Red Bulls!)

Let me leave you with this. If you want to really boost your metabolism, do it with the following three steps:

1) Eat several small, protein-based, fiber-rich meals per day.

2) Use hard strength training exercises and workouts.

3) Harness the metabolism-boosting properties of interval training, and kick traditional cardio to the curb.

To your fat loss, and real, lasting results!