Im trying desperately to get rid of my gut. Ive been told that CLA could help me lose the fat in that area. Any one knows if it works or wast of money . If so when would be a good time to take it?
Posted by: OceanDude
Scarab, the single best thing you can do is to get a balanced nutrition plan and exercise program. In my opinion the suppliments give you a little bit more - 10% max.
That said, I started doing CLA at the 10-11% BF level and it seems to help me get more definition all over. No major scale weight changes - just more of a cut look. The studies definately show that CLA will help the body to lean out over a long period of time. But again, it's not some magic pill. I will be absolutely thrilled if I can get an extra 2lbs of fat loss over a 6 month period but do not count on it as part of my core fat loss program.
Frankly, if you ate grass fed beef or regular cottage cheese you would not even need CLA since all the low fat foods have it processed out.
The best tip I can offer in the 15+% BF range is to make absolutely certain that you are ingesting your essential fatty acids daily (flax, oil, omega 3 etc). This seems to have the closest thing to what I would call "magical" effect on fat loss. I had my biggest fat losses when I made very deliberate attempts to get at least 20% EFA daily.
I used it and didn't notice much difference either
Posted by: OceanDude
Thanks for the re-link to the article Jodi. I guess I may be seeing some of what the study is indicating:
"...it reduces body fat, it increases lean tissue. This action indirectly boosts a human's metabolism as lean tissue burns more calories than fatty tissue."
It's just very hard to quantitify what CLA is contributing verses the other things I am doing. But I appear to be swapping out fat for muscle but scale weight is not making major changes any more. But this is consistent with what they are saying and it means I am pesonally putting on more lean tissue - which is terrific.
What I find interesting is that "...without a change in exercise or eating habits , an average reduction of six pounds of body fat occurred in subjects taking CLA, compared to a placebo group (over a 12 week period)." This stuff is not that expensive so I am hedging my bets. So bottom line, I am continuing to take it.
Posted by: P-funk
I am trying it right now and I don't see any changes whatsoever.
