Fat burners?

[Maple25]

I just started running/walking again in order to get fit and lose weight. I worked it up to 5k which I am really proud of since it is making me really tired but it gives me a sense of accomplishment and feel great when I am doing it. I am not losing any weight yet even though I am trying my best. I am 43 years old, about 20 pounds overweight. My metabolism isn't what it used to be
I was wondering if it was contraindicated in MS to use any fat burner products such as "Universal Nutrition Animal Cuts"?
It contains caffeine among other things. Has anyone used it?
My neuro is on a medical leave so I can't ask her...
Thank you for the insight.

[its2much]

Exercising

Years ago (about 12 years or so) I walked three miles every day for two months to lose weight (about 25 pounds at that time - I need to lose many more pounds now!).
At the end of two months I had put on four pounds . My endocrinologist told me I had put on four pounds of muscle..... Not very encouraging to say the least.

[MsGymRat]

My experience

Hi Maple 25!

I will be 45 this week. I started exercising in 2009. I was having mild symptoms back then but didn't know I had MS. I was about 20 lbs. overweight too. I started out walking then ran then did five 5Ks since then.

I started going to a gym and lifting weights and doing cardio three days a week. I had a personal trainer for about 2 1/2 years. My personal trainer never recommended fat burners or any kind of supplement so I don't know much about them. Whenever I read about them I end up unsure about taking them.

The only thing I use is green tea. Some of them are vile and bitter. I love one that I buy from Aldi food market with lemon and ginseng. I drink two cups two hours before I work out and I swear by it. It's a natural fat burner and I have only had a cold twice since I've been drinking it, not even a cold, just a sore throat. Once I had a sore throat that lasted six hours and another one that lasted 12 hours.

I have lost 22 pounds since 2009. It's just awesome. My body fat was 27% when I started going to the gym. Now it's only 14%!!! I used to wear a size eight. Now I wear a zero or two in pants and I have to buy petite sized dresses. I'm not really petite per se. I am 5'4" but I drown in regular sized dresses.

I always praise God for putting a fire in my heart to exercise back in 2008 or else I think I would be in a wheelchair by now. Also, I don't think I would have had the confidence to exercise if I had known I had MS before I started exercising.

I am not sure you need a fat burner. I've lost a lot of body fat with just cardio and strength training. I work out six days a week. I do strength training and cardio every day right now just for fun. lol When I look at the labels on those kinds of supplements I am always leery. I just don't know exactly what they are, you know? I'm not sure we should be taking things like that with our medical histories.

I do drink a veggie protein supplement by Lifetimes about twice a week. It has hemp, chia seed, brown rice, and peas. I can't have whey so I use a veggie protein supp when I want to have a light meal.

If you eat clean I'm not sure you need a fat burner. My trainer told me to abstain from carbs, not even fruit, six hours before bed time. She said it was important not to follow the trend of eating low carbs but to just not have them six hours before bedtime cause you don't need carbs then. She told me if I ate them so close to bedtime they would stick to my gut or butt and be stored as fat.

Now that I am a healthy weight I do eat carbs at night sometimes but maybe a tiny sweet potato or a few almonds with a tiny amount of raisins.

For the most part, I have chicken or fish with cruciferous vegetables or a salad for dinner.

Also, strength training/lifting weights IS A HUGE NATURAL FAT BURNER. If you lift weights your metabolism is increased even while you sleep and up to 48-72 hours later. If you do cardio it's only increased for 12 hours later. So I always lift weights from 30 to 50 minutes then I do 30 minutes cardio. After forty minutes of strength training is when your body goes into fat burning mode.

If you are on FBOOK add Fitness Training RX Women and Muscle & Fitness Hers, Muscle Fitness, and Oxygen. They post articles every day and you learn SO MUCH!

Sorry to go on so long. I love to talk about nutrition and fitness. I'm a wanna be personal trainer. lol

Karen

[MsGymRat]

Holidays

This is a great time of year to bring up this topic. Many people will gain five to ten pounds from Thanksgiving to New Years. Then another couple of pounds here and there for their birthday and the birthday of their spouse and/or children and another couple on vacation. It's a vicious toxic cycle.

[sewhappy]

Maple25,

Good for you!! What an accomplishment, you should be very proud!

Personally, I am very leery of those types of products. I would advocate a more "clean" diet as msgymrat suggested.

I am on the OMS plan and dropped some weight. That was not a goal of mine for going on the plan but a nice perk!

[URL="http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/Recovery-Program/Program-Overview/"]

Also, strength training/lifting weights IS A HUGE NATURAL FAT BURNER. If you lift weights your metabolism is increased even while you sleep and up to 48-72 hours later. If you do cardio it's only increased for 12 hours later. So I always lift weights from 30 to 50 minutes then I do 30 minutes cardio. After forty minutes of strength training is when your body goes into fat burning mode.

Great info Msgymrat! Think I'm gonna head to the gym tomorrow and do some lifting! Thanks for the inspiration.

[sewhappy]

here is the link again, sorry! http://www.overcomingmultiplescleros...gram-Overview/

[MsGymRat]

sewhappy

You're welcome, sewhappy.

I like that OMS diet but I am afraid of the limited animal fat portion of it. I think it's a very good diet though.

I love chicken and fish but can't afford to eat more fish than I am already eating. I eat fish about three times a week. I don't know if it's safe to eat it more than that.

I don't really want to give up chicken. I'm afraid I will lose weight and lose muscle considering my workout routine.

I love veggies but to reduce or eliminate my chicken intake-hmmmmm I don't know if that's doable for me.

I started taking l carnitine and alpha lapoic acid to deal with crushing fatigue and I've lost five pounds since I've been taking it. I didn't need to lose any weight so I am a little concerned.

-Karen

[Maple25]

Ideas pretty please...

Looks like I am taking a step forward and two steps back. The other day I went to my morning run and walked and ran about 7.5k, I ran about 4 out of that. However I am so fatigued now and my limbs are so heavy that it is beyond me how I will participate in my 5k race next week. I need to do something with myself, I need to get over this c....y cycle and snap out of it. I am on Copaxone and the shot sites on my thighs hurt all the way to my bones when I exercise. I was looking into joining a cross fit class but I am not sure I would be capable of doing it...

Would it be possible for any of you guys to give me some advice maybe a diet plan that I can follow that will help me with my goals? Unfortunately if I don't have it written down as the bible then I will just eat whatever and wherever I will find. My silly brain thinks that if I eat certain things it will help my fatigue so I tend to overindulge on nuts. I have taken L carnitine and ALA, on and off but didn't help much. One of the L carnitines was so bad that it burnt my stomach and had to take an antacid. I usually do not eat artificial or processed things, I avoid them like the plague and would rather get my nutrients from fresh fruit and veggies.
Thank you,
Imola

[MsGymRat]

Ideas

Imola,
I was just diagnosed with MS Aug 28, 2012. I usually run a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I WILL NOT be doing that this year. I love running 5Ks so I understand your disappointment. What if you just walk it? Or run the first five minutes to warm up, then walk two minutes, run five, walk two run five until you are done. Just a thought.

And we all know that relapses are nothing you can just snap out of. Boy I wish it was so! I used to poo poo people with fibromyalgia, thinking they were weak or somatic or depressed or exaggerating or whatever. God IS TEACHING ME A LESSON IN BEING JUDGMENTAL AND IGNORANT!

I love the cross fit community too and am interested in it but I'm not going to get involved. I don't think it would be good for me. I'm not telling you what to do though.

You sound like you are very regimented. I am like that. You say you like things written down like the bible. Well, when I wanted to clean up my eating three years ago I used the LOSE IT! app which is free on Smart Phones. I typed in everything I ate and I learned by heart how many nutrients were in everything I ate. Lose it is a great app and you can use it on the pc if you don't have a smart phone. It takes all the guesswork out of what you are putting into your body. Sometimes we think we are eating so well until we see it in print. You type in your weight and height and how much weight you want to lose and it keeps tallying up how many calories you have left for the day.

And I followed my former personal trainer's advice to eat 25-30 grams of protein at every meal. I abstained from carbs six hours before bedtime. I steered away from foods with more than 8-10 grams of sugar in them. To keep my metabolism high I eat every three hours.

Here is a sample of what I follow for the day. Usually I eat three meals a day but sometimes I eat four, especially if I work that night. I work two 12 hour graveyard shifts a week.

Meal 1: four egg white omelet with veggies (coconut oil to oil pan/no cooking spray (too many chemicals) ; steel cut oats with a medium pear/no added sugar

snack: banana or 1/2 grapefruit

Meal 2: 6 oz. protein; medium sweet potato or brown rice with fresh parsley and garlic; veggies

Snack: raw natural almost from 15-20 only and about 25 raisins

Meal 3: 4-6 oz. protein and a large salad with fresh grapes if I'm craving sweets, organic lettuce, unsalted sunflower seeds, 1/4 avocado, carrots, belpeppers, red onions and homemade simple dressingil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, fresh ground peppercorns.

Meal 4: Lifeplant veggie protein shake which only has 8 grams of carbs and has 22 grams protein, no sugar or 3 oz salmon or 3 oz chicken breast

You aren't feeling well so maybe you should just try to make one small change at a time. You can't do it all at once. And you don't have much to lose at all.

One last thing: Stay away from sodium as much as possible. I rarely use salt. It will make your body hold onto water. I don't know if you live in the USA but the American diet is salt saturated and it makes us crave sugar and crave more salt and crave more sugar. It's a killer.

[MsGymRat]

Water?

Are you drinking at least eight glasses of water a day? Too little water will make you retain weight too.

[sewhappy]

Maple25, don't be so hard on yourself. It sounds like you are doing great and msgymrat again, has given you some great advice.

Msgymrat, I think I want to hire you as my personal trainer! BTW, I have been on the OMS plan just over 3 mo and still eat a bit of chicken. Really it is just out of conveniece as I am the cook for my family of 4-5. My college girls is home this week so back to 5 of us! Your diet sounds very healthy and sound. I hope you are feeling better.

[JerryD]

Maple25,
I don't presume to be a nutrition expert and i am not a doctor, so take this advice for what it is. You have been told in a post, earlier, that someone's meal plan contains more than 20 grams of protein daily. That runs contrary to Drs. Weil, Swank, etc. advice. It may lead to bladder problems. I found that since I cut back on protein and substituted fruits and veggies, I have had less urinary and bowel problems. My experience is --eat too much protein, get bladder infections.
Do you know that spinach contains a lot pf protein. Look it up. I guess the point is -- there are many well meaning posters, here. You need to discover what works for you. I don't think the answer is more protein. It may be more green vegetables ! Good luck

[techie]

I just scanned the other posts

Just keep in mind you are building muscle with your fitness program and muscle weighs more than fat.
Are you losing size? That would indicate more muscle.
Everyones metabolism goes down as they get older. Don't expect to weigh what you did in your 20s and 30s. Just keep as active as you can.
Our body shapes change as we get older too I've noticed.
I am 62 so that part I know about. Just stay in contact with your Dr, he/she can guide you on that.
techie

[BigA]

You're welcome, sewhappy.

I like that OMS diet but I am afraid of the limited animal fat portion of it. I think it's a very good diet though.

I love chicken and fish but can't afford to eat more fish than I am already eating. I eat fish about three times a week. I don't know if it's safe to eat it more than that.

I don't really want to give up chicken. I'm afraid I will lose weight and lose muscle considering my workout routine.

I love veggies but to reduce or eliminate my chicken intake-hmmmmm I don't know if that's doable for me.

I started taking l carnitine and alpha lapoic acid to deal with crushing fatigue and I've lost five pounds since I've been taking it. I didn't need to lose any weight so I am a little concerned.

-Karen

Please consider the diet. Read the book and then see what you think. You don't substitute fish for meat - you just eat less meat. It's healthier and you will have more energy. It's a different way of eating and you will feel great. Read the book!

[MsGymRat]

Less meat

Thanks Big A. I'm slowly reading the book OMS. I must not have understood the diet recommendations. I will read that section over again. Hmmmm.

Karen