# Protein shakes vs fat burners



## Fieryfilly (Nov 12, 2012)

sorry to keep asking questions, but....

I'm currently taking fat burners to try and shed some of the flab round the middle area, only been taking them a couple of days, but I am training hard, and keep being told if I'm training as hard as I am, I should be taking protein shakes.

the question is, are the fat burners and protein shakes going to work against each other, as I have heard that protein shakes can make you put on weight, especially if you don't train hard enough (although I'm told I am training hard enough), although not sure if this is muscle weight or fat weight.

may sound like a stupid question, but it's been worrying me 

any help or advice gratefully received :blush:


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## Biffa_Bacon (Aug 7, 2011)

?? WTF!

Food or protein shakes or whatever are calories.

Consuming more calories than your body is using = weight gain

Consuming less calories than your body is using = weight loss

yes its a good idea to keep protein levels high whilst training hard, but you need to evaluate your daily intake of calories, your daily usage and then decide how much fo whatever to consume.

All the fat burners will do is slightly increase the amount of calories your body uses.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2012)

if you eat enough of anything and dont train hard enough you will gain fat rather than muscle, your body needs protein to make muscle , when training most ppl aim for 1/1.5g per pound of bodyweight (not as easy as it sounds when 1 can of tuna is about 40g protein).

i.e someone who is 13 stone would aim for roughly 273g of protein per day(this is of course to gain muscle , i dont know what your goals are)

theres ppl in here alot better than me to help you with your diet, post your full diet and routine.

its very hard to both gain muscle and lose fat and most do one or the other at a time, the only way to spot reduce fat from a certain area (i.e belly) is to pay and get it sucked out with the surgical equivalent of a hoover.


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## jason7474utd (Oct 12, 2010)

It can get all a bit too much at the beggining if you look into the science too much the easiest way to look at it if your trying to lose body fat is calories in vs calories out sit down and look at these keep a note some were and if you can fit them in to your daily macros mabey add two shakes a day one in the morning one after workouts as this helps retain any muscle if you are calorie deficient and doing a lot of cardio. And muscle also burns more calories than fat.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2012)

i wouldnt just look at it as calories in vs calories out , you can get your daily calories by just eating lard  , its not hard to put together a sensible diet with the emphasis on protein rather than carbs/fat.


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

http://tracker.dailyburn.com/ is a free site that will help with your macro requirements

Protein can be used with fat burners (what fat burner are you using? )


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## Greenspin (Dec 27, 2010)

Fieryfilly said:


> sorry to keep asking questions, but....
> 
> I'm currently taking fat burners to try and shed some of the flab round the middle area, only been taking them a couple of days, but I am training hard, and keep being told if I'm training as hard as I am, I should be taking protein shakes.
> 
> ...


It's not a stupid question if you don't know the answer. I'm guessing you're taking an over the counter "fat burner". Protein shakes are not a necessity, they are just a convenient way of getting protein in your system, as there's no doubt that you need to consume enough (enough doesn't mean vast excess to the detriment to other macros like carbohydrates and fats), when training.

If you can get all your protein from whole foods then that's great, if you can get it al from whole foods but like a protein shake then that fine to. But protein shakes are nothing special.

Regards to it countering the affects of the "fat burner" you're taking, I doubt that very much unless perhaps you're currently taking the "fat burner" on an empty stomach in the morning. If you are not, and have already eaten, then a protein shake won't add to the blunting effect of whatever that "fat burner" claims it is doing. However, in my opinion, for over the counter fat burners, on people who aren't at a very low body fat percentage, the best effect they have is appetite suppressing effects, so in that case, having a protein shake with it, or any other unnecessary calories (from any food or calorie containing drink) is counter intuitive.


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## Fieryfilly (Nov 12, 2012)

xpower said:


> http://tracker.dailyburn.com/ is a free site that will help with your macro requirements
> 
> Protein can be used with fat burners (what fat burner are you using? )


T5, looked about the best, I did a lot of research on them.


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## Fieryfilly (Nov 12, 2012)

Greenspin said:


> It's not a stupid question if you don't know the answer. I'm guessing you're taking an over the counter "fat burner". Protein shakes are not a necessity, they are just a convenient way of getting protein in your system, as there's no doubt that you need to consume enough (enough doesn't mean vast excess to the detriment to other macros like carbohydrates and fats), when training.
> 
> If you can get all your protein from whole foods then that's great, if you can get it al from whole foods but like a protein shake then that fine to. But protein shakes are nothing special.
> 
> Regards to it countering the affects of the "fat burner" you're taking, I doubt that very much unless perhaps you're currently taking the "fat burner" on an empty stomach in the morning. If you are not, and have already eaten, then a protein shake won't add to the blunting effect of whatever that "fat burner" claims it is doing. However, in my opinion, for over the counter fat burners, on people who aren't at a very low body fat percentage, the best effect they have is appetite suppressing effects, so in that case, having a protein shake with it, or any other unnecessary calories (from any food or calorie containing drink) is counter intuitive.


thanks for that, its not an over the counter fat burner (T5), and I am taking it on an empty stomach first thing in the morning as directions on the bottle.

I do eat alot of chicken, fish etc so there is a possibility I'm getting enough protein. Bearing in mind, I'm just under 8 stone, and only 5'4" tall, and quite a slight build, I do struggle with food sometimes, I can't eat an awful lot, and have been getting by on 2 meals a day, due to work commitments. I have my "lunch" at 4pm, which isn't ideal.


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## Greenspin (Dec 27, 2010)

Fieryfilly said:


> thanks for that, its not an over the counter fat burner (T5), and I am taking it on an empty stomach first thing in the morning as directions on the bottle.
> 
> I do eat alot of chicken, fish etc so there is a possibility I'm getting enough protein. Bearing in mind, I'm just under 8 stone, and only 5'4" tall, and quite a slight build, I do struggle with food sometimes, I can't eat an awful lot, and have been getting by on 2 meals a day, due to work commitments. I have my "lunch" at 4pm, which isn't ideal.


For the last 1.5-2ish years (I think), I've not eaten until 2p.m, I'm not in the camp that says you need to eat every waking second. Anyway, you can weight your food, and calculate the amount of protein you're getting if you're not sure and want to know. A site like fitday.com takes out some of the work. As far as T5 is concerned, it's not really something I know much about, so one of the other members will be better off advising you on that, as I'm not sureif it's one of the ones that increase protein turnover etc.

I'll @ a few members that might be kind enough to give you some advice on T5:

@ausbuilt @Pscarb @dtlv


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

T5 is an ECA (Eph/Caffeine/Aspirin) mix the original T5 had to much Eph for the synergy to work as well for fat burning and was used more as a stim to be fair although people lost weight as Eph is a huge appetite suppression....

for me to rely on any supplement to lose weight before knowing exactly what you eat is the wrong approach, detail your food by this i mean weigh it all and work out what your eating and when then add the appropriate cardio after that and only after you have hit a wall with your fat loss then add a supplement like T5....


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

As Pscarb says above, before looking at fat burners the approach should be to organise diet. There are a million and one different "best diets" that different people will try to persuade you are the things to do, but in truth diet is quite a personal thing with a lot of individual variability.

The basic rules however should be appropriate energy intake (you need to be eating less calories than you are burning and be aware of the calories you need and are eating), provision of essential nutrients (a high enough and balanced intake of essential fatty acids, protein, minerals, vitamins and fiber for your bodyweight), and a balance of carbs, protein and fats that your body deals with well (there is a lot of individual variability on this at a genetic level, and you will probably have to experiment and be a little patient to find your balance). A final rule also would be to eat mostly unprocessed foods and avoid low nutrient value processed foods that are artificial to a natural diet (high sugar foods, hydrogenated fats, foods with a lot of added preservatives, acidity stabilisers etc - all these things can potentially mess up the way the body responds to food in little ways).

As for protein shakes, such things are unlikely to cause a problem when combined with a fat burner and are a good convenient way to get extra high quality protein into your diet, but as Greenspin suggests they should ideally be added to normal diet only if you cannot eat enough protein through diet alone. Protein shakes are also useful as supplements to take around your workouts as they are designed to get amino acids to the muscles very quickly at this time which is when you will benefit from it most - this is the best use of protein shakes when someone first starts taking protein supplements and is probably what was meant when you were advised to take a protein shake because you are training hard.

In respect of T5 it's not a bad choice, but I wouldn't even think of using it personally until already lean and the fat loss process is starting to stall (which it usually does at the final stages of a cutting diet that takes you below normal body fat ranges. Things shouldn't stall if your goal is simply to achieve a normal body fat level however)... get your diet sorted out as above, train properly, be consistent and patient and you should be fine without the need for a fatburner IMO.


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