Well, none of the fat burners have ephedra in them anymore, so it's pretty much up to you. Ephedra got a bad rap in my opinion, but that's just me. If you do take one, make sure you can handle stimulants well and don't have any heart conditions...also, take a quality product with the ingredients listed on the back. DO NOT take anything with a 'proprietary blend' of stuff because they don't have to list what is in them is specific amounts, meaning in a 500mg capsule you could be getting 499mg of dust as long as there's 1mg of active product. They're rip offs. Also, remember that they are to be used in conjunction with diet and exercise...there's no magic pill.
The morning thing might be tough, but if you go to bed a few minutes earlier 3 days per week(or however many days per week you want to do it), then that's all you need. Even just 20 minutes of cardio on an empty stomach will give you great results. You can also hold off on eating for another 30-60 minutes immediately after and you'll be in a state of lipolysis where your body will be torching fat. Don't wait any longer, or you'll cannibalize muscle. Plus, the recruiting district (at least ours) is required to give you 1 hour three times per week for PT. To be honest and risk sounding rude (not my intentions), if you want to lose the gut you are going to have to have some discipline and make sacrifices because it's not easy. If you could not change any habits and magically have abs by taking a pill, or whatever, then everyone would be ripped and no one would be overweight. Maybe getting up 30 minutes earlier is the sacrifice you'll have to make.
Anyway, here are a few ideas:
1) Shorten and intensify your weight training (45 minutes with little rest in between sets gives a cardio-like effect and will help you burn fat).
2) Instead of long and slow runs everyday, work in some interval training to rev up your metabolism...think of it like this, you see distance runners with tubby bellies, but how many fat sprinters do you see?
3) If your calories are okay, then think about altering your macronutrient ratios (fat, carbs and protein). If you eat a lot of carbs, which I'm assuming you do as much as you run, then maybe cut those back 10% and add it to proteins and/or healthy fats like flax see oil. Protien spikes your metabolism and you may be a bit insulin resistance due to the high carb diet.
4) Shorten the duration of your cardio, but increase the intensity. If you are always going long and slow, your body adapts to burning carbs as your primary means for energy (unless it's 90+ minutes then it trains your body to burn fat).
5) Martial Arts and Yoga/Pilates might be good alternatives, but in my opinion (I'm no expert) you'll just have a more flexible beer belly. Don't get me wrong, they're both good and challenging, but if you're already exercising like you say, then they aren't going to have a huge effect on you like they will someone from the infomercials who hasn't been off the couch for 15 years and then does pilates and loses half their bodyweight.
6) Eat 5-6 small and nutritionally sound meals per day. This keeps your metabolism up and protects you from binge eating and being hungry.
7) If you have to have alcohol, limit yourself to one per day through the week (then moderation on the weekends) and try to have it a few hours before bed so it doesn't screw with your sleep and growth hormone production.
8) Just do it. You can know how to do something, but unless you do it you'll never get to where you want to be! Good luck.
JR
-Sorry for the long post =)
The morning thing might be tough, but if you go to bed a few minutes earlier 3 days per week(or however many days per week you want to do it), then that's all you need. Even just 20 minutes of cardio on an empty stomach will give you great results. You can also hold off on eating for another 30-60 minutes immediately after and you'll be in a state of lipolysis where your body will be torching fat. Don't wait any longer, or you'll cannibalize muscle. Plus, the recruiting district (at least ours) is required to give you 1 hour three times per week for PT. To be honest and risk sounding rude (not my intentions), if you want to lose the gut you are going to have to have some discipline and make sacrifices because it's not easy. If you could not change any habits and magically have abs by taking a pill, or whatever, then everyone would be ripped and no one would be overweight. Maybe getting up 30 minutes earlier is the sacrifice you'll have to make.
Anyway, here are a few ideas:
1) Shorten and intensify your weight training (45 minutes with little rest in between sets gives a cardio-like effect and will help you burn fat).
2) Instead of long and slow runs everyday, work in some interval training to rev up your metabolism...think of it like this, you see distance runners with tubby bellies, but how many fat sprinters do you see?
3) If your calories are okay, then think about altering your macronutrient ratios (fat, carbs and protein). If you eat a lot of carbs, which I'm assuming you do as much as you run, then maybe cut those back 10% and add it to proteins and/or healthy fats like flax see oil. Protien spikes your metabolism and you may be a bit insulin resistance due to the high carb diet.
4) Shorten the duration of your cardio, but increase the intensity. If you are always going long and slow, your body adapts to burning carbs as your primary means for energy (unless it's 90+ minutes then it trains your body to burn fat).
5) Martial Arts and Yoga/Pilates might be good alternatives, but in my opinion (I'm no expert) you'll just have a more flexible beer belly. Don't get me wrong, they're both good and challenging, but if you're already exercising like you say, then they aren't going to have a huge effect on you like they will someone from the infomercials who hasn't been off the couch for 15 years and then does pilates and loses half their bodyweight.
6) Eat 5-6 small and nutritionally sound meals per day. This keeps your metabolism up and protects you from binge eating and being hungry.
7) If you have to have alcohol, limit yourself to one per day through the week (then moderation on the weekends) and try to have it a few hours before bed so it doesn't screw with your sleep and growth hormone production.
8) Just do it. You can know how to do something, but unless you do it you'll never get to where you want to be! Good luck.
JR
-Sorry for the long post =)
