Clenbuterol For Weight Loss

With all the pressure being put on women today to be thin and sexy, many are taking drastic measures to attain that wafer-like image, even turning, in some cases, to dangerous weight loss drugs such as Clenbuterol to help them lose weight .

We have all seen the amazing celebrity weight loss transformations of the Hollywood starlets who seemingly – almost magically – lost several dress sizes ‘overnight’..

And didn’t most of us just assume that with all that money, they had probably hired the best trainers and dieticians money could buy to get them into that tiptop shape so quickly?

In fact, it is suspected that many of the stories you hear about this ‘magical’ weight loss are most likely clenbuterol weight loss stories rather than sticking to a ‘healthy diet plan’ or burning off the excess pounds through ’strenuous workouts’ as most of these starlets would have us believe.

Weight loss drugs such as Clenbuterol, which by the way was never intended to be a weight loss aid in humans in the first place, seem to have become the diet aid of choice for young women in Hollywood and elsewhere who feel like they must keep up this stick-thin appearance for whatever unhealthy reason.

According to the clenbuterol fat loss stories reported all over the internet landscape from people who have taken Clenbuterol, the fat just ‘melts away’ without long, grueling stints at the gym, and minus the impossible diet consisting of little more than carrot sticks and lettuce. And where to get the drug? On the internet of course.

Clenbuterol, also called “clen”, is a smooth muscle relaxant that was developed initially to alleviate asthma symptoms in horses. It works as a bronchodilator, meaning that it relieves the bronchospasms associated with asthma and other lower respiratory illnesses. It is also used, sometimes illegally, in animals to reduce fat deposits and increase their lean muscle mass.

Clenbuterol, which commonly comes in a salt form called Clenbuterol Hydrochloride, has been mistaken for a steroid because of its illegal use by athletes. It has properties that are similar to ephedrine, but the effects are usually stronger and last longer. Clenbuterol use causes an increased aerobic capacity, increases blood pressure, and it is also a central nervous system stimulant.

Because of the reported increase in lean muscle mass and its significant health risks, Clenbuterol has been banned for all athletes that are tested by the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

After Clenbuterol became popular in the farming community because it increases the lean muscle tissue in animals, it also became popular with athletes and others who were interested in a quick way to increase lean tissue and decrease fat stores. Body builders seek out clenbuterol for weight loss, and to increase their “cut” look before competitions.

Clenbuterol has a mild anabolic effect on the body, and a fat burning capacity that can result in losing weight, but also can increase lean mass that results in a more muscled body. However, neither weight loss nor a lean chiseled body come naturally from a pill. There are consequences.

Clenbuterol Side Effects

Taking Clenbuterol comes with significant health risks and side effects. Because it is a sympathetic nervous system stimulant, side effects when taken in high doses can include heart problems, insomnia, muscle spasms, hand tremors, moderate to severe headaches, and elevated blood pressure. Some of these side effects can be temporary, but with increased use of the drug, others lead to further health risks, including stroke from the increased blood pressure.

In such industries as modeling and acting, the obsession with weight loss is painfully evident.

In fact, it appears that in these industries (and others as well), you can never be too thin, and as a result, these women are always looking for a quick fix to get – and stay – slim. But a Clenbuterol quick fix? Sadly, many are even willing to trade their health for their appearance.

Clenbuterol And Teens

An unfortunate by-product of all of this is that young teens also come to believe that in order to be happy, they must also be thin, at any cost. These young, impressionable girls see those paper-thin models and starlets and think that in order to be popular and ‘in’, they must look that way as well.

And because teens also believe that they are invincible, and have no fears of health risks or the dangers of Clenbuterol, it is often their choice for that quick weight loss fix, even though the extent of damage that can be done to still developing bodies is unknown.

Clenbuterol is not approved for use by humans because of the side affects and health risks, and it has been withdrawn for use as a bronchodilator. Currently it is only approved for use in respiratory illnesses in horses and is in fact described by some doctors as an ‘animal vaccine’.

Because of foods that are high in fat, calories and sugar, and the fact that people are so busy they often have little more than 10 minutes per day, if that, to exercise – weight gain has become a very common problem with many people. In fact, more people are affected by obesity and the health problems associated with carrying around extra weight, than ever before.

There have been conflicting reports about whether calcium has any effect on weight loss, but the dairy industry has produced an entire advertising campaign about calcium and weight loss because of new research that suggests that including calcium in the diet, in the form of dairy products, has a positive effect on weight loss.

A link between the amount of calcium in our diets, and weight loss, has been found in many of the studies that the American Dairy Association (ADA) rely on in their advertising.

The link appears to be in the amount of calcium stores in the body, and the subject’s current weight.

The ADA states in their advertising that this research showed a connection between eating 3-4 servings of low fat dairy products each day, and a decrease in the amount of fat stores in the body. A serving of dairy would be one glass of milk, one cup of yogurt, two ounces of cheese, etc.

The research has pointed to a suggestion that calcium will increase the amount of fat the body converts to energy by increasing the body’s core temperature causing it to burn calories at a faster rate. It was also suggested in the studies that people with the highest amount of calcium stores in their body also have the lowest amount of stored fat.

On the other hand, according to an article by Salynn Boyles of WebMD Health News, “In a rigorously designed study (by Switzerland’s University of Lausanne and the Nestle Research Center) to examine the issue (of Calcium and weight loss), investigators found no evidence that calcium supplementation influenced energy expenditure or fat burning in overweight people who had a calcium deficiency .”

In an accompanying editorial, Arne Astrup, MD, concludes that “there is still good evidence indicating a role for dietary calcium in weight ‘regulation’.

Greg Miller, PhD, a spokesman for the National Dairy Council, weighed in on the study telling WebMD that “the study addressed just one of several theories about calcium and weight control” and that “there is a good body of evidence that supports a relationship between calcium intake, dairy intake, and weight and body fat regulation.”

Dr. Miller also pointed out that “the study did not address the role of calcium and protein-rich foods in controlling appetite.” According to the article, new research also suggests that calcium may bind fat and decrease its absorption from the intestinal tract.

In other studies, according to the National Dairy Council, “researchers at the University of Tennessee conducted a clinical trial to further investigate the role that dairy foods (calcium rich foods) specifically milk, cheese and yogurt, play in weight loss. At the end of the 24 week trial, those on the high dairy diet lost the greatest percentage of body weight and body fat.”

According to one doctor, “A diet low in calcium stimulates the production of fat-producing enzymes that break down fat. So the moral of the calcium story is to not dump dairy when you’re dieting.

A diet rich in low-fat dairy foods like yogurt can help make your weight loss efforts easier.”

Unfortunately, popular diets that promise quick weight loss are often low in dairy products – the very foods that contain the highest amounts of calcium, and this also affects the potential for bone loss and osteoporosis. Women who control the amount of eating they do each day can be at risk for a number of deficiencies because they miss vital vitamins and minerals.

The list of foods that are high in calcium include – but are not limited to – milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, baked beans, dried figs, broccoli, cauliflower, wild salmon, nuts (especially soybeans and almonds) and most dark green leafy vegetables.

When asked about meeting calcium needs on a plant-based diet, the American Institute for Cancer Research had this, in part, to say: “A plant-based diet means eating mostly, not only, plant foods. So you can get most of your calcium from dairy products, which provide calcium in concentrated amounts in a well-absorbed form.

Current federal recommendations for adults of 1000 to 1200 mg of calcium per day can be met by a variety of healthy foods that includes 2.5 to 3 servings of milk, yogurt or cheese. You can also choose plant-based options for some or all of those servings.”

“To get an amount of absorbed calcium from vegetables equivalent to one serving of dairy products requires: 1/2 cup of Chinese cabbage, 1 to 1 1/2 cups kale or bok choy, more than 2 cups of broccoli, and 8 cups of cooked spinach. For individuals who can’t or don’t want to develop a combination of these options to meet their calcium needs, calcium supplements would be advised.”

Dr. Reed Mangels, from the Vegetarian Resource Group, also comments on the influence high amounts of animal protein have on our bodies’ loss of calcium . Quoting a study published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2003 he states “Some studies show that diets that are high in protein, especially animal protein, do cause increased losses of calcium in the urine…” This means that the recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of calcium may fluctuate for individuals based on the amount of animal protein they consume regularly.

The current RDA for calcium is 1000-1200 mg per day, but most Americans normally consume between 500-700 mg. A supplement such as coral calcium may be necessary, unless the diet is high in foods that contain calcium, to avoid the increased risk of bone loss and osteoporosis, and also to take advantage of the potential benefit for calcium and weight loss.

The conclusion is that you should always consult your doctor before starting any weight loss diet plan, especially if you are under 18 years of age, pregnant, nursing or have any health problems.

Your normal calcium intake, and also the intake of other vital vitamins and minerals should be determined so that a specific diet that meets your body’s caloric and nutritional needs can be established. A trained registered dietician can assist you in accomplishing this.

Obviously, the results of current studies linking calcium and weight loss are not conclusive and a judgment cannot be drawn until more research is done, but there’s no doubt that calcium is a necessary component of any healthy weight loss diet plan.

Weight loss , which is a billion dollar a year business, is a problem that has a tremendous impact on many people’s lives. Every pharmacy you go into has shelves lined with weight loss pills, supplements, energy bars, meal replacement bars, and every other kind of diet additives that reportedly helps you to shed those unwanted pounds.

And the weight loss vitamin is one category of supplement that hasn’t gone unnoticed in all the confusion.

All of our bodily functions work better with an optimum intake of vitamins and water, and they all play an important part in running an efficient body.

Some vitamins and minerals actually work synergistically, meaning they depend upon each other to work. Without one the other doesn’t work as well.

Best Weight Loss Vitamins?

There really isn’t one weight loss vitamin that is “best” but there are some that are worthy of special mention for the role they play in weight loss.

• B complex, for instance, are some of the most important vitamins for weight loss. However, B Complex vitamins are also the ones that you lose quickly from your body when you are under stress.

• B2 or Riboflavin, is needed for thyroid function and metabolism to function properly. Good sources of Vitamin B2 are milk, liver, kidney, almonds, hard cheeses, eggs, and green leafy vegetables.

• Vitamin B3, Niacin, is required for thyroid function and is part of the glucose tolerance factor released each time your blood sugar rises. Vitamin B3 is found in wheat bran, liver, tuna, turkey, chicken, meat, eggs, salmon, barley, dried fruit and brown rice.

• Vitamin B5, Pantothenic Acid, is another of the weight loss vitamins, and research has found that a deficiency in this vitamin will interfere with the body’s ability to burn fat. It is also important in the role of energy production. Good sources of Vitamin B5 are liver, kidney, eggs, molasses, beans, vegetables, poultry and nuts.

• The last of the B vitamins is B6, Pyridoxine, which regulates the production of thyroid hormone and the body’s metabolism. Good sources include wheat germ, eggs, sardines, poultry, avocado, bananas, brown rice and dried fruit.

• Calcium – Though technically considered a mineral rather than a vitamin, calcium at least deserves mention here. The jury is still out on whether it will actually help you to lose weight, but most will agree that it is an important part of a healthy weight loss.
  
  Some studies conclude that there is no link between calcium and weight loss, but other research suggests that calcium may bind fat and decrease its absorption from the intestinal tract. Still others say that a calcium deficiency could slow down your efforts to lose weight.

• Some other vitamins that play a part in weight loss are Vitamin C, Chromium, Zinc and Co-enzyme Q10.

All this boils down to the fact that you need a well balanced diet; the same diet your mother insisted you eat all those years ago. However if you don’t have a well balanced diet, you should consider a vitamin and mineral supplement to make up for the deficit.

While there is no magic weight loss vitamin, there are vitamins that will have a negative impact on your ability to lose weight if you have a deficiency in them.

Weight loss happens with a negative calorie balance, and your ability to burn more than you take in is impacted by your metabolic rate which is slowed down even more by a vitamin deficiency in the B complex vitamins.

If you can manage to watch your food intake, increase your exercise, and of course be sure to take your vitamins, you’ll probably come to realize that you really don’t need to take any kind of weight loss pills in order to become slimmer and trimmer, and to maintain that weight for life.

Increased weight gain, which is associated with the increased amount of fat, sugar, and processed foods in many of our diets, has also been linked with health issues such as cardiac disease, stroke, and mobility problems. Weight gain and health problems associated with obesity are on the rise, and healthy low calorie foods do not seem to be a priority for the average person.

Weight gain and loss are really a matter of math – calorie weight loss happens when you expend more calories than you take in.

In other words, the number of calories that you eat per day must be less than the amount you “spend” in exercise, energy, and living in general. This is the objective in any weight loss program – to have a negative calorie weight loss balance.

A pound of body weight is equivalent to 3500 calories, meaning you would have to have a deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound. For instance, if you normally eat 1800 calories per day and decrease your intake to 1500 while increasing the amount of exercise you get each day it will take approximately 7 days to lose one pound.

This is assuming that you are burning approximately 350 calories a day during your workout routine for four days. (300 calories per day times 7 days equals 2100 calories saved. Remaining 1400 calories divided by 4 days of exercise burning 350 calories per day equals one pound of weight lost).

Weight loss is a mathematical equation that works when you apply it to your calorie weight loss program. And whether you decide you’re going to lose weight by consuming more low calorie foods, or you’d rather burn more calories through exercise, keep in mind that a negative calorie weight loss deficit doesn’t happen in the course of one day.

On the other hand, gaining two or three pounds in one day doesn’t happen either unless it is water retention. When the scales show that you have put on weight this quickly, it is the result of the body conserving water at the cellular level, or water weight gain – it is not a body fat gain. This can happen to the body during times of stress, or to a woman during her period.

And by the way, you can naturally, and easily, lose the water by actually increasing the amount of water you are drinking.  By drinking additional water, the body is given the ideal amount, and no longer retains anything extra.

Unfortunately, all of this is easier said than done for most people. Negative calorie weight loss might be a sound method of weight loss, but factors such as eating disorders, health problems, emotional eating, pregnancy, nursing, and age (under 18) are all factors that will impact the ability to maintain a negative calorie weight loss program.

Whether you try fad diets, a specific diet such as some of the more popular ones you see advertised, a diet that is undertaken at home without specific commercial guidelines, or even weight loss drugs (do your homework on these), all of these factors can cause a calorie weight loss journey to be unsuccessful.

Foods With Negative Calories

Because of the difficulties associated with weight loss, many know the agony of searching for “magic” weight loss pills, food, or even weight loss surgeries to help improve the success rate of calorie weight loss.

A common theory that has been tossed about for years is the notion that there are certain foods that have a negative impact on calories because these foods supposedly take more calories to convert them to energy than they have stored in them.

Fruits and vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, carrot, garlic, papaya, spinach, turnip, zucchini, apples, oranges, lettuce, grapefruit, pineapples, strawberries and raspberries are all supposed foods with negative calories.

This is not to imply that the foods have no calories at all. All foods have calories. But the theory behind ‘negative calorie foods’ is that, because they supply lots of nutrients and because of the extra calories your body has to burn just to digest them and to absorb the nutrients from them (more calories than is stored in the foods themselves), you can eat as much of them as you like without gaining weight. If this is in fact true, your body would actually be dipping into its fat stores for the extra energy.

However, with a quick glance around the animal kingdom you might notice that most herbivores aren’t exactly wasting away from eating nothing but foods with ‘negative calories’. Do these supposed negative calorie weight loss foods consumed by animals have calories? Of course they do! And do you think those foods have more or less calories than other foods? They naturally have fewer calories, and yet the animals who consume them do not appear to be losing weight as a result.

So Does The Negative Calorie Diet Work?

More research definitely needs to be done before we can say with absolute certainty that negative calorie foods do in fact do what they are reported to do. However, there are those who swear by this diet, claiming that you can in fact lose weight more effectively, and keep it off more successfully if you follow the general negative calorie weight loss program along with a regular exercise routine. The added benefits of exercise will be more toned muscles and increased energy!

But will it work for you? If the foods promoted in the negative calorie diet are lower in calories, and at the same time more healthy and nutritious than the diet you are accustomed to, there is no way you can go wrong by trying it for a few weeks and see if it works for you.

Have you ever ordered multiple items from a fast-food restaurant, pretending to order for several people but knowing that you were going to eat all of the food by yourself?

Do you eat food and hide the ‘evidence’ in the trash so no one will see what you ate?

If so, you may want to read Kristin’s story. Click Here.

What Is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating is what most of us do in response to an emotional trigger – whether happy, sad, celebrating, frustrated, angry, depressed, or scared – and this is how many us come to have eating disorders and the weight gain that typically goes along with such disorders.

Sound familiar?  If not, you may be in the majority of people who don’t recognize the emotional aspects that go into eating habits.

It’s quite common to not be aware of the factors that impact emotional eating. In fact, most of the decisions we make each and every day, including eating, involve an emotional component well before we have the chance to make a rational decision.

We are subconsciously conditioned through years of exposure to family, friends and advertising, that food just makes us feel good. Food fills a real biological need in us so that the body has energy to burn. But, as we move into emotional eating, the food is being used to fill another void, one which should be filled elsewhere and in other ways.

There is a fine line when it comes to emotional eating and a full-blown eating disorder. People who have either a binge eating disorder or a problem with compulsive eating go beyond the basic behaviors of emotional eaters, and there are ways to tell which category you fall into.

There are specific characteristics that are evident in people who have full-blown eating disorders. They regularly binge – eat large amounts of food very rapidly – and they will typically ‘feel’ out of control about food, often feeling they are actually obsessed with food.

Other behaviors that distinguish emotional eating from a person with an eating disorder is that people with eating disorders regularly hide foods around the house, or they may eat in hiding. For instance, the primary shopper may purchase foods that they hide from the rest of the family, and then eat after everyone else goes to bed or leaves the house.

Eating Disorder Treatment

Many times people who are emotional eaters and who also have other eating disorders as well have experienced one or more traumatic events in their lives – physical or sexual abuse for example. The number of people with eating disorders who have experienced this abuse is much higher than those with simple emotional eating.

People suffering from binge eating have several challenges, not the least of which is the fact that the condition isn’t as well known as anorexia or bulimia. Anyone with eating disorders may not know if they stem from a medical disorder and therefore should never attempt to ‘go on a diet’ or try to stop binge eating on their own. Instead, they should seek the advice of a trained licensed therapist.

While people who have significant emotional or binge eating habits aren’t at the medical and psychological risk that people with full-blown eating disorders are, they may nonetheless suffer just as much because their condition is not as well known and so is not as noticeable. If you feel like your condition is severe enough, there are eating disorder clinics that are designed specifically with these disorders in mind, where eating disorder therapy and help losing weight, if necessary, is readily available to you.

Breaking Free From Emotional Eating

Control of emotional eating starts with self-awareness of the problem and then self-management. Self-awareness is the most difficult part since you have to accept the fact that you have a weakness that has led to the problem with obesity or being overweight, and that you weren’t just ‘born’ that way.

You can begin to evaluate your emotional eating habits by keeping a short 4-5 day diary. Write down each time you eat. Concentrate on the time of day you eat, and how you are feeling each time you reach for another morsel of food, rather than what you actually eat. If you acknowledge that there WILL be a feeling associated with your actions, you will find that identifying that emotion becomes easier each day.

Look through your diary at the end of the 5th day, and note how many times you ate because you were, or thought your were, hungry. Evaluate that number, the times of the day and other emotions that seemed to be involved in the automatic reach for food.

Be honest… you won’t help or hurt anyone but yourself. Self-management will be the next step. Like all things in life, the longer you do something the easier it gets. Practice really does make something, if not perfect, at least a little easier.

Even though you can do this part on your own, you’ll probably be much more successful if you enlist the help of a partner, or at least a calendar.

Continue to write down the times you eat, and the emotions involved at the time. As you are committed to write before you eat, and read your reasons why in each instance, you will find it easier to put that food down when it is emotionally triggered.

Eventually, the emotional eating will decrease and you’ll be surprised to feel the feelings of actual hunger again! As debilitating as eating disorders can be, they can also be recognized as such and the healing process can begin. You don’t have to continue to suffer with this problem. There is help available and there are things you can do yourself to help.