You know those diets that require you to squash your calorie consumption so much that the second you go back to eating normally, you’re back where you started?
PSA: they’re not the greatest thing to put your body through because it rebounds like a trampoline.
That’s the thing with fad diets. Not only do they leave you feeling seriously deprived while you’re on them, but you usually end up worse than you did when you started.
Fat burners can be much the same.
However, if you choose a quality one and are using it properly, you may not be destined for the same fad-diet fate.
Because they’re not doing all the work for you, there isn’t as much of a rebound effect as there is with extreme calorie cutting.
And if you’ve found a clean, stim-free one, you’re looking at an even better outcome.
What Are Fat Burners And Why Take Them?
You see many weight loss supplements lining shelves in health food stores, fitness stores, and any other place you can buy supplements, but what are they?
Fat burners tend to be a natural (or sometimes non-natural) combination of various herbs and nutrients that work to increase energy levels, boost metabolism, and may even help to suppress appetite and reduce caloric intake.
Some fat burners contain stimulants like caffeine, while others are stimulant-free—it all depends on your preference and what you’re looking to accomplish.
The whole idea behind the benefit of taking a fat burner is this 1:
- They trigger thermogenesis by raising your body’s core temperature to enhance calorie burn (weight-loss boils down a lot to calories in versus calories out)
- They regulate appetite and help curb cravings by regulating the release of hunger hormones (leptin and ghrelin) and insulin
- They enhance fat oxidation during exercise while preserving lean body mass
But it’s also important to remember that popping any amount of fat burning supplements won’t be the key to unleashing your fat mass.
They are there solely to assist with fat loss when used in conjunction with a good diet and training program.
What Happens When You Stop Taking Fat Burners?
Most fat burners you find will 100% work when taken correctly for short-term use. But when it becomes a chronic thing, you enter risky territory.
Three main issues can arise when you stop taking a fat burner:
1. Your body adapts quickly and taking it away cold turkey can cause problems
The thing about fat burning supplements is that people often miss the last part—the “supplement”. It’s not a magic pill that’s literally going to melt fat off your body, but people take them as if they do.
Fat burners are kind of like caffeine. When you start taking it, you’ll notice a slight thermogenic effect, increased energy and alertness, and maybe a reduced appetite.
Still, as you’ve probably noticed with caffeine, your body builds up a tolerance to it pretty quickly.
Fat burners operate on a similar principle, especially ones that are loaded with stimulants. So essentially, you’re spending money on a product that isn’t really working for you and is likely doing more harm than good.
2. The rebound effect
The second issue is that like a calorie restricting diet; you may encounter a rebound effect once you stop taking fat burners because of metabolic alterations.
You may initially experience a drop of weight or fat, but maintaining that loss is an entirely different story when you’re no longer taking your fat burner.
Many studies suggest that short-term caloric restriction is counteracted by mechanisms that reduce metabolic rate and increase calorie intake (your appetite comes back hard), thus causing you to regain any weight you lost 2.
3. You enter a chronic state of stress
Third, we have the issue of conventional fat burner ingredients. Most fat burners you’ll find on the market are pumped full of stimulants that send your body into a consistent state of ‘fight or flight’, which means your entire recovery and hormonal systems are jeopardized.
Cortisol secretion becomes dysregulated, your body is pumping out adrenalin and noradrenalin when it doesn’t need to be, and you’re constantly in stress mode.
Everything about ‘fight-or-flight’ signals the opposite of what you want to do. It causes weight gain, fat storage, digestive dysfunction, and everything else you’re trying to avoid.
Stimulant-heavy fat burners taken daily for an extended period can wreak havoc on your adrenals because they’re continually poking and prying at them to release more and more cortisol to keep your energy levels up.
But the adrenals can’t keep up with that long-term, so once you’ve axed your fat burner, your adrenals are still pooped and can’t secrete enough hormones to keep you functioning properly.
Hence why may you feel tired, lethargic, and experience weight gain after stopping your fat burner.
How To Avoid The Pit Of Disaster
The best solution to avoiding the dangers of fat burners is to invest in one that’s actually worth the money and will do what it claims with none of the long-term risks or rebound effect.
But even with completely natural and clean fat burners, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Don’t exceed the recommended dosage: There’s a dosage on the bottle for a reason—what’s listed elicits the most favorable effects with the least amount of side effects.
- Cycle on and off: Like we said, your body can build up a tolerance to certain ingredients, and even if they’re natural, your body needs a break. It’s always looking to maintain homeostasis, so when you first feed it stimulants, it responds accordingly. But once you’ve taken them long enough, your body adapts, and the stimulants are no longer effective, so your body slows down metabolic rate to compensate.
When you find a fat burner with clean ingredient and one that is stim-free, you’ve found both a short-term and long-term win. Burn Lab Pro is exactly that.
It’s a 100% stim-free fat burner designed with long-term success in mind.
Containing a blend of five unique ingredients, Burn Lab Pro is designed to boost fat loss, increase energy, and maximize muscle growth, all while keeping your body in balance and preventing long-term metabolic adaptations that will leave you in the weeds.
Investing in Burn Lab Pro will ensure your progress sticks—even after you stop taking it.
References
- AE Jeukendrup, R Randell. Fat burners: nutrition supplements that increase fat metabolism. Obesity Reviews. 2011 Oct; 12(10): 841-851.
- D Benton, HA Young. Reducing Calorie Intake May Not Help You Lose Body Weight. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2017; 12(5): 703-714.