Although it may seem unlikely, eating many small meals throughout the day -- separated by 2-3 hours -- is one of the most effective methods of losing weight.
Why?
Several reasons...
First, eating often helps keep the metabolism elevated. One of the worst mistakes dieters make is to stop eating altogether, or to dramatically reduce the size and number of meals they eat. While severe caloric restriction works for weight loss initially, it does not last for long, because the body to responds to a reduced calorie intake by reducing the metabolic rate. In other words, the fewer calories you take in, the slower your metabolism. Eating often helps reduce this trend, even if the meals you consume are relatively small.
Secondly, eating often helps balance blood sugar and therefore, energy levels. By avoiding huge spikes in insulin, one can avoid putting the body into "fat storage mode" -- something that happens in the face of elevated insulin levels. Best of all, it helps to curtail those unbelievable craving for sweets that occur in the face of huge vacillations in blood insulin levels.
Is it easy to eat 5-6 small meals a day? No, it does require some preparation -- you will need to plan and prepare your meals ahead of time, or use a meal replacement supplement (I've written quite a bit about meal replacements on UltimateFatBurner.com -- click here to learn more about them).
How many calories should each meal be? Depends on your weight, of course. The best thing to do is to multiply your weight by 10 to 15 and divide by 5 or 6 (use the lower value if you're fairly sedentary and your goal is weight loss -- use the higher number if you're working out and want to gain some muscle. You'll need to tweak things a bit, of course, but this is a good place to start).
So if you weight 150lbs, multiply that number by 10 and you get 1500 calories. That translates into 5 small meals of 300 calories. Multiply by 15, and you've got 5 small meals of 450 calories, or 6 of 375.
Give it a try... you'll find that despite the hassles, eating often will help you attain your weight loss goals much more quickly, and leave you energized throughout the day.
UltimateFatBurner.com has been providing reviews of fat burners, diet supplements and weight loss programs since 1999. Since that time, our audience has been trusting us to provide the real bottom line on what they can expect from these products. Most "review" sites have only one interest... selling products. We're interested only in providing balanced, unbiased reviews of products -- our site is supported mostly by Google advertising; we do not need to sell products to survive online. While all manner of supplements are reviewed on UltimateFatBurner.com (even prescription diet pills), our main focus continues to be fat burners.Why?Put simply, that's what the majority of our audience wants. Therefore it makes most sense to devote the majority of our resources to such reviews. With that said, here are the four latest fat burner reviews posted on UltimateFatBurner.com (as of late March 2006)...1) Lean Balance: Lean Balance is a caffeine-free fat burner offered by Liposystems. It contains 3 sources of calcium which "enhances the body's own ability to burn fat." Of course, Lean Balance also contains a slew of other ingredients, all of which we'll examine in a moment...Read the Lean Balance review! 2) Lipozene: Lipozene, the newest offering from Obesity Research Institute LLC, offers the usual... weight loss without a whole lot of work. Lipozene is also as an "As Seen On TV" product. I've written about this many times, but the biggest "scam" weight loss products are the ones sold via radio and TV advertisements.Read the Lipozene review!3) Zotrim: Despite the hype, the Zotrim "slimming pill" is a pretty common formula containing a blend of 3 herbs -- mate, guarana, and damiana (exactly how much of each ingredient is included in the formula is hidden from us -- it is displayed as a percentage of the formula, making it impossible to access the efficacy of this product).Read the Zotrim review!4) Nxcare's NV: NxCare's NV claims to be the first rapid fat burner with "beauty enhancing properties." In other words, NxCare claims NV can help you lose weight fast, while improving the look of the your skin, hair, and nails.Read the NV review!Enjoy!
In the world of outrageous product claims, green tea is one supplement that actually shows real promise -- both as a fat burner and for overall health. First of all, it's a fantastic antioxidant (meaning it effectively neutralizes free radicals within the body). Researcher indicates the active ingredient in green tea -- epigallocatechin gallate -- may be 200 times more powerful than vitamin E as an antioxidant.And of interest to dieters?
Green tea may be useful as a glucose regulator. -- meaning it slows the rise in blood sugar following a meal.
It does this by slowing the action of a the digestive enzyme amylase. This enzyme is pivotal in the breakdown of starches (carbs), that can cause blood sugar levels to soar following a meal. This is pretty exciting stuff -- along with a chromium, and possibly a vanadyl supplement (both useful insulin regulators) green tea might be the missing link in proper glucose management.Green tea also contains caffeine, which itself has thermogenic (fat burning) properties. Preliminary research indicates green tea may have a positive effect on the metabolic rate, causing increased calorie burn for those who use it. additionally, a recent study further validates green tea's effectivness for fat burning. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Vol. 81, No. 1, 122-129, January 2005), indicated the ingestion of a tea rich in catechins (catechins are a major component of green tea extract) leads to both a lowering of bodyfat AND of cholesterol levels.While green tea is certainly a promising supplement, it is still not a miracle pill. There's no understating the importance of a good diet and exercise program in any weight loss program, and without them, even the best weight supplements will provide you with little in the way of benefits. For reviews of the best and the worst weight loss programs, please visit UltimateFatBurner.com today!
I've been talking a bit about protein lately, so I'll continue the trend with today's post. Not only is it safe to eat a high protein diet (see this post for more details), but it seems that eating in this manner may actually benefit you in ways you didn't expect. It seems, for example, that a protein rich diet may actually help you burn fat. For instance, recent studies have indicated that high-protein meals actually raise post-meal thermogenisis (fat burning) and resting energy expenditure (Source: Journal of American College of Nutrition, 21(1):55-61, 2002). Other research presented recently at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity showed that protein rich foods (like lean meat, fish, chicken, turkey and so on) can increase feelings of satiety. In other words, you feel fuller longer. This is increases the likelihood you'll stay on your diet.If that weren't enough, a recent four month study from the University of Illinois found that overweight subjects who exercised regularly and ate a low calorie, high protein diet lost significantly more weight than an identical group who exercised but ate a low calorie, high carbohydrate diet instead (J Nutrition, 135:1903-1910, 2005).Still on the high-carb bandwagon? Maybe it's time you switched...
A while back I wrote a brief piece on the Atkins diet, and how it always irritated me that the people critiquing it never seemed have any idea what they were talking about. One of the beefs these experts always had with the Atkins diet (and any low carb/higher protein diet diet) was its higher protein intake. Increased protein intake, these "experts" claimed, was dangerous, and could impede kidney function. While I agreed that people with kidney disease would be ill-advised to implement a high-protein diet, there was absolutely no evidence of any sort to indicate a higher-protein diet had negative health implications in healthy individuals.Well, guess what?A recent review of available research material by University of Connecticut researchers determined that there is "no significant evidence for a detrimental effect of high protein intakes on kidney function in healthy persons." So once again, if you're eating a higher protein diet, don't be swayed by negative comments from the "experts." The evidence does not justify their comments.This research is available for your review online, at the Nutrition and Metabolism web site. Click here to visit the site, or right click this link and choose "Save Target As" to download the PDF report of this research.
The Hoodia Scam
Hoodia gordonii is one of the most hyped weight loss supplements on the Net. According to the advertising, Hoodia crushes hunger cravings, inevitably leading to weight loss. Unfortunantely, there's very little evidence Hoodia is good for anything (I've written exclusively about Hoodia on UltimateFatBurner.com. For a complete review of Hoodia, please click here!). But there's another problem as well...According to ConsumerLabs.com..."It has been speculated that there is more hoodia being sold today than could possibly be made from all the Hoodia gordonii plants in existence. It is believed that some products may be derived from other species of Hoodia or similar succulents from around the world. In such cases, consumers are likely not getting what they expect from the product."It should also be noted that Hoodia is both endangered and rare and is protected by stringent conservation laws in both South Africa and Namibia. For that reason as well, it's even less likely that your Hoodia weight loss product actually contains any Hoodia.As usual... buyer beware! For those of you who are interested, I highly recommended a membership to ConsumerLabs.com. These guys independently evaluate many health/fitness/weight loss products and provide the real skinny on their label claims and more. You can find out more about a ConsumerLabs membership by clicking here!
What's a smart way to eat if you're looking to lose weight? That's right... replace high glycemic carbs (like breads, pastas, sweets, and so on) with high fiber fruits and vegetables. That's one important strategy. Here's another...Increase your protein intake. Recent studies have indicated that high-protein meals actually raise post-meal thermogenisis (fat burning) and resting energy expenditure (Source: Journal of American College of Nutrition, 21(1):55-61, 2002). Secondly, it requires 25-30% of the caloric value of any protein source to be digested and utilized by the body. So a 400 calorie protein-based meal would only add 275-300 calories to your daily caloric intake. The remainder of those calories would be required for processing. For carbs, only 6-8% of calories is required for processing, and for fats, it's only 2-3%. So what are good sources of protein? Good question! Lean sources of beef, pork, turkey, chicken, fish, and even some dairy sources are fantastic sources of high quality protein (for more on sources of lean proteins and even data for individual cuts, please click here!)For individuals "on the run", high quality whey proteins and meal replacements may be the answer (click here for more on these supplements).Bottom line? However you want to do it, adding protein-rich foods to your diet is a great weight loss strategy for anybody!
If you're using or thinking of purchasing Emagrece Sim (also known as the Brazilian Diet Pill), or Herbathin you need to be very concerned. It has been found that these Brazilian manufactured diet supplements actually contain prescription controlled pharmaceutical compounds that can be dangerous. This, from a recent Health Canada release...
"Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that Emagrece Sim, also known as the Brazilian Diet Pill, and Herbathin, contain the prescription-only pharmaceutical compound fluoxetine HCl (the active ingredient in Prozac), the controlled substance chlordiazepoxide HCl (an active ingredient in Librax) and the controlled substance fenproporex. Emagrece Sim and Herbathin are not authorized for sale in Canada.
Consumers who are taking these products are advised to continue taking them and consult with their physicians immediately, as medical supervision is required for discontinuing chlordiazepoxide HCl, fluoxetine HCl, and fenproporex. Abrupt withdrawal of these drugs could lead to serious physical and psychological symptoms, such as fatigue, agitation, accelerated heart beat, anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts."
Wow! Isn't that something. This really emphasizes the fact that it's sometimes dangerous to buy products outside Canada and/or the U.S. (via the Internet, for example), as these products may have different quality control and asessment criteria than those sold from within these countries. If you're using either one of these two "supplements", I'd suggest printing off the Health Canada press release, and bringing it with you on your next trip to your doctor -- professional advice would definitely be an asset when discontinuing the use of either of these products.
I love nature shows. I was watching one recently that focused on a group of alligators somewhere in Africa (I've forgotten exactly where). This group of alligators lived in a stream that was frequented twice yearly by migrating wildebeast. The rest of the time, they were pretty much on their own. Of course, when the wildebeast showed up, all you-know-what broke loose. The alligators took down as many wildebeast as they could and feasted mightily. I was amazed to hear the narrator say that the alligators would now not need to worry about eating for months, so slow were their collective metabolisms. Of course, after that I got thinking about dieters and the plague of the slow metabolism. So many people think that the best way to lose weight is to drastically reduce caloric intake. While this works intially, it does not work for long, because the less you eat, the less calories you require, and the slower your metabolism. The body quickly adjusts to the reduced caloric intake, and the weight loss stops or even reverses. Obviously, if you want to lose weight you need to keep your metabolism as elevated as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to eat many small meals throughout the day. This balances blood sugar levels, meaning waning energy levels and cravings are a thing of the past. Eating often keeps the body in "burn" mose as opposed to store mode... critical for weight loss. How big should your meals be? Take your weight, multiple by 10 or 12, and divide by 6. A 180 lb. man, for example should consume between 1800 and 2160 calories daily, with each meal containing between 300 and 360 calories.
Simple right? And, oh so effective...
Click here for even more ways to boost your metabolism naturally... and easily!
Just a quick post to let you now the latest version of UltimateFatBurner.com's newsletter has been mailed out, and the back issue is available for your perusal right here! What's covered in this issue? Well, there are new fat burner reviews for NxCare's NV and the "slimming pill" Zotrim. I've also got a good bit of material on Nitric Oxide (NO2) supplements, if you're into working out and body building supplements. Pete Sisco (known for his work with Iron Man magazine) has updated his fantastic "Train Smart" Precision Training publication and re-released it as "Lifetime Strength" -- and that's discussed too. The newsletter is published roughly twice a month, and often contains a synopsis of the new material presented on the Web site. Many of our subscribers enjoy this feature, as it keeps them abreast of any updates without needing to visit the site regularly. If you'd like to join our over 30,000 subscribers, you can do so here. Please do not use a free Internet address as these often block our newsletter (much weight less material is arbitrarily labeled as "spam") from entering your mailbox. If you're subscribing from Earthlink or any service that requires a manual verification process, please whitelist our service, as I do not process manual verifications.Hope to see you subscribed for the next issue!
Fiber is an understated but effective weapon in the battle of the bulge. Why? Basically, it fills you up without adding much in the way of calories and slows the release of glucose into the body... thus slowing the release of insulin. Unfortunately, fiber doesn't have much sex appeal and rarely gains the attention it merits. Too bad... Nancy Howarth, a nutritionist from Tuft's University in Boston, suggests people who add an extra 14 grams per day to their diet could expect to lose 4 pounds and decrease food intake by 10% in 4 months. This is actually quite easy to do (just add a serving of Kellogg's All Bran Buds to your daily routine), since the typical low quality North American diet does contain nearly enough fiber. The average North American consumes 15 grams of fiber daily -- 10 grams less than the minimum recommended amount of 25 mg.
It not surprising therefore, that an exciting new fiber supplement is turning up more and more on the labels of top selling fat burners. That fiber supplement is called glucomannan. Glucomannan is an unabsorbable polysaccharide derived from the konjac root. Several clinical studies validate glucomannan's ability to lower LDL cholesterol and blood lipid levels -- as well as blood sugar levels. There also appears to be some preliminary evidence that 1 gram of glucomannan, taken with 8 oz. of water one hour prior to meals, has a significant influence on weight loss (one study showed almost 6 pounds of fat lost in two months -- with no changes in eating habits).While consuming a fat burner containing glucomannan won't end your weight loss woes (and certainly is not an alternative to consumer high fiber fruits and vegetables), it is an option worth looking into, especially if a specifically hectic lifestyle makes it difficult to consume properly structured meals rich in fat-busting fiber.
If you're one of the few that hasn't seen the commercial, Relacore is a highly advertised fat burner that claims "excess belly flab is not your fault." The problem, the makers of Relacore contend, is cortisol -- a nasty little stress hormone. In other words, you're not fat because you're sedentary and overconsume calories, you're fat because your stressful, hectic lifestyle is making you fat.
Great marketing. No wonder people are buying this stuff by the truckload. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no scientific evidence to justify any of the advertising claims made by Relacore. In fact, it's a mystery to me why the FTC or the FDA haven't moved against these guys yet. After all, they did move against the makers of Cortislim, a nearly identical product advertised much in the same way! (At this time, a possible Relacore class action lawsuit is being investigated. Click here for more details!)
Anyhow, the title of this post indicated that Relacore had surprised me... how has it done that? Well, I reviewed Relacore on UltimateFatBurner.com and asked visitors for their feedback. Here's what was interesting...
Although not all the comments were glowing, many respondents said they were happy with the product -- not because it had been effective for weight loss -- but because it was useful for reducing stress levels. That's not all that surprising really... Relacore contains magnolia bark, standardized for something called honokiol.
Here's what Supplement Watch has to say about Magnolia bark...
"... a small dose of honokiol, or a magnolia bark extract standardized for honokiol content, can help to "de-stress" you without making you sleepy, while a larger dose might have the effect of knocking you out. When compared to pharmaceutical agents such as Valium (diazepam), honokiol appears to be as effective in its anti-anxiety activity, yet not nearly as powerful in its sedative ability."
Interesting, eh?
Of course it also bodes the question... why not advertise Relacore as a "de-stresser" (as which it appears to offer some value) instead of a weight loss product (as which it offers none?). It's time for companies to begin acting and advertising in a more ethical manner... and one that truly meets the needs of their respective audiences.
Ephedra is a controversial but popular ingredient in weight loss products, over the counter cold remedies, and herbal bronchodilators. The US government recently outlawed the sale ephedra in fat burners -- this law was later overturned by Judge Tena Campbell (of the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City) who struck down the ban on the sale of supplements containing 10 mg or less of ephedra per serving. In her opinion, the FDA had failed to make its case that ephedra was dangerous at that dosage. This was good news for fans of ephedra -- a compound that has been highly demonized and plagued by inaccurate and inflammatory media reporting. Low dose ephedra products began to reappear on the market. Unfortunately, not everyone plays by the rules, and some retailers continued to manufacture full-dose ephedra products (containing 25 mg ephedra per serving) despite the continuing ban on products containing higher levels of ephedra. Well the chickens came home to roost lately. Under the directions of the FDA, US Marshalls moved to seize large amounts of Lipodrene, Stimerex-ES and Betadrene, as well as the raw materials required to manufacture them. To review the full FDA press release detailing the action, click here! These products were all labeled as containing 25 mg of ephedra per tablet -- 2 and a half times the legal limit. What's most irritating about the behavior of some supplement companies is that by their irresponsible behavior, they run the risk of ruining it for everyone else. If you're a fan of ephedra, chances are you'll be happy being able to get your hands on any product providing the legal 10 mg/dose. But if some manufacturers continue to ignore the ban, we run the risk of the re-establishing of a full ban on ephedra. And like I say... if you're a fan, that's really not good. If you are a fan, there are plenty of legal ways you can have your ephedra back. Click here to learn how!
It always drives me stark raving crazy when I see some 15-second news clip on TV featuring some nutritionist or other bad-mouthing the Dr. Atkins diet. Of course, they never have anything positive to say... "this low carb diet is dangerous", or "high protein diets are dangerous" is usually what can be expected to come out of said "expert's" mouth. To anyone familiar with the Atkins diet, it's obvious that our esteemed expert has done little more than read the back flap of the Atkins diet, and has no real experience with it. Calling the Atkins diet a low carb diet is a gross simplification of the plan, and does an injustice to individuals unfamiliar with the diet. True, the Atkins diet does start with an induction period, where carbohydrates are reduced in order to reduce the body's reliance on glucose and to reduce insulin resistance. This induction period is relatively short however, and shortly afterwards dieters are encouraged to reintroduce low-glycemic fruit and vegetables back into their diets. At this point, overall carbohydrate consumption will fall far short of what was typically normal in the individual's diet -- but that's because carbs of low value -- breads, buns, pastas, sweets, etc. have been eliminated. This is certainly not detrimental or dangerous... on the contrary!
And what about the "dangerous" high protein element of this diet? First of all, the Atkins diet isn't a high protein diet... it's a higher protein diet. Typical North American diets are chronically low in high quality protein. True, a bout on the Atkins diet might see your daily consumption of protein skyrocket from 30-40 grams per day to 100-150 grams per day. This is neither excessive nor dangerous. In fact, I challenge any "expert" to provide proof (in the form of a credible, peer-reviewed, double blind clinical study) that a moderately elevated protein intake leads to serious health issues in healthy people (i.e. those without kidney issues). While I am aware increased protein intake does increase levels of phosphorus, potassium and urea and does increase strain on the kidneys, there is no evidence that this is not easily dealt with by the body... especially with all the water you should be drinking on your diet.
Bottom line? If you're going to put down the Atkins diet, at least be familiar with it, and provide arguments that hold water. Because in the end, the Atkins diet still remains the diet I've seen friends and associates achieve the most dramatic results with.
Fight Back Against Unethical Supplement Companies!
While I don't like to tarnish the whole supplement industry with one brush, I can honestly say this is one industry in which unethical behavior -- manifesting itself mostly as false and unethical claims -- runs rampant. While there are governing bodies in place to stop this sort of thing, they are for the most part under-staffed, and unable to deal with the huge number of wonderous fat burners on the market, all offering incredible results with a minimum of work. Occassionally though, the good guys win... it wasn't too far back that the Federal Trade Commission successfully sued the makers of Cortislim for making fakse and unsubstantiated claims.The problem you as a consumer faces is, of course, how to receive
redress when you've been sold a pig in a poke (and by that I mean a fat burner supplement that promises great results but delivers nothing?). The good news is that you can do something! While you shouldn't expect miracles overnight, you can fight back against unethical weight loss and supplement companies by lodging a complaint with the appropriate regulatory government body.
In the U.S., you should submit your complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. You can do that by using the form found here!
In Canada, you should submit your complaint to the Canadian competition bureau. Use the form here to do so!If you've been "stiffed" by an unscrupulous supplement retailer, or are tired ridiculous claims, do your part to stem the tide... file a complaint today!
