# CLA?



## HopefulDreamer (Feb 26, 2012)

Anyone know if it's true that CLA works for stubborn belly fat? I don't take diet pills, never have. I've always believed that they are just money makers for people who want to take advantage of people who need to lose weight. And also for lazy people who don't want to diet and exercise. I work out every single day, and eat healthy. I've always believed in the old fashion way of losing weight since I started dieting, and it has worked. I lost 30 pounds, and have nice muscle toned arms and legs. However, I still have a lot of stomach fat, even if a lot of it has gone down a lot since I started dieting and exercising. I plan to keep dieting and exercising, and a girl I work with has given me a new diet plan to follow. She is the same weight and height as me, but has more muscle and a flat stomach. She said with my active life style, I need to follow a different plan then one I previously was. It's the reason why I still have stomach fat. The problem is, she recommended CLA pills as well. I am not too sure about taking pills though. The reason why I am not asking her, and coming on here is because I am wondering if I will still get the same results if I just follow her diet plan and exercises without the pills. Perhaps she only thought the CLA was working, but she didn't actually have to take them at all. I just want to see if anyone has experience with them or not. I plan to do the plan no matter what, with or without the pills but if anyone knows that she is right, and it does help speed up the process, then why not? However, if it's just a money maker for diet pill companies who are taking advantage then I'd rather just keep my money to myself.


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## slushie87 (Jul 28, 2011)

You cant spot reduce fat. Some people just carry more fat it their midsection and others carry more fat in their legs or arms..its genetics. CLAs will help fat loss along with a healthy diet and effective fitness plan I take CLAs during my competition prep because I can't handle any of the other fat burners and pre workout supplements out there because I'm sensitive to stimulants.


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## Nibbler (Nov 5, 2010)

yeah cla is pretty effective on the right diet and regular cardio well for me it was anyways i combined it with green tea and l cartine amongst other things because like slushie87 above not in to all these fat burners as sensitive to all the stims in them. Thou cla needs to be taken for a good few months I know people who take it daily so not sure if it will speed things up so to speak but it will defiantly help


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## Petrovsk Mizinski (Nov 29, 2011)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18402234

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18667017

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20847896

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21990002

^Armed with that knowledge, come to your own conclusion as to whether you feel it's worthwhile or not.



slushie87 said:


> You cant spot reduce fat. Some people just carry more fat it their midsection and others carry more fat in their legs or arms..its genetics. CLAs will help fat loss along with a healthy diet and effective fitness plan I take CLAs during my competition prep because I can't handle any of the other fat burners and pre workout supplements out there because I'm sensitive to stimulants.


In the case of preparing for a bodybuilding/physique class/figure model show, cortisol control would be far more effective than using CLA.
Cortisol tends to be what kills most people when trying to diet down to really low bodyfat levels, because it increase in a hypocaloric state at lower bodyfat, like a guy trying to diet below 9% to get to 7% bodyfat (not sure what the equivalent for a female is, like 15% or something).
The result is a loss of muscle mass and as I'm sure you know, it's painfully hard to drop that last few percent to make the cut for a show. 
Cortisol control circumvents that issue by maintaining more optimal thyroid output and great retention of lean mass.


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## alwayslost (Apr 9, 2012)

I'm taking CLA with carnitine. Not sure if it's working because I don't keep consistent with diet or excerise but the combination seems to give me more energy.


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## HopefulDreamer (Feb 26, 2012)

Hmm, by the looks of those links no one is sure but they're leaning more towards no then yes, so I'm willing to bet that she would have lost the same amount of weight without the CLA. It's expensive, which is why I still stand by my belief that diet pills take advantage of people. I see diet pills for green tea extract that are for at least $20. I can easily just buy green tea and it will do the same thing for $4. I just bought peppermint green tea and it's delicious.


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## Petrovsk Mizinski (Nov 29, 2011)

^I wouldn't expect any really noticeable change in body composition from green tea alone.
However it of course has positive health effects, so there's a good reason right there to use it anyway.
I agree on the CLA too. While it seems likely to cause fat loss, you'd need to run it in high doses for extended periods of time which just isn't cost effective at all.

A small caloric deficit (200-300 calories below your maintenance calories) combined with a good protein intake over an extended period of time should be effective enough for your goals I would think.


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## Zerix (Jan 21, 2012)

Everything you need to know has been said, I guess.

Just make sure you take enough of it, and obviously do a lot of cardio on top, it will definitely result in FASTER fat loss.


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## slushie87 (Jul 28, 2011)

Petrovsk Mizinski said:


> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18402234
> 
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18667017
> 
> ...


I did pretty well with my last prep..and I seem to be making some great improvement this go around as well I have a coach that I work with..and so far everything has been effective. I'm not doing figure until next right. Right now I'm in the bikini division.


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## HopefulDreamer (Feb 26, 2012)

Petrovsk Mizinski said:


> ^I wouldn't expect any really noticeable change in body composition from green tea alone.
> However it of course has positive health effects, so there's a good reason right there to use it anyway.
> I agree on the CLA too. While it seems likely to cause fat loss, you'd need to run it in high doses for extended periods of time which just isn't cost effective at all.
> 
> A small caloric deficit (200-300 calories below your maintenance calories) combined with a good protein intake over an extended period of time should be effective enough for your goals I would think.


I drink green tea just because I love it. I was just pointing out that there are overpriced green tea diet pills out there for people to take. I don't think I wrote myfirst post properly or something because that's not what I meant. I've been drinking green tea long before I heard about it being beneficial for weight loss, a friend of my moms got me drinking it when I was about 14 or so. When I said this:


> I see diet pills for green tea extract that are for at least $20. I can easily just buy green tea and it will do the same thing for $4


 I was just stating that diet pills are a way to make people spend more money then they need to. All they need to do is put 'green tea' or 'metabolism booster' or 'therma' or something like that and people buy into it. They slap a $20 price on it, and really it does nothing. All I meant was I'd get the same benefits from drinking a $4 green tea which comes with 100 packs as I would with the green tea pills, if I _*wanted*_ to use it for weight loss. The key word is *wanted.* However, even when I wasn't trying to lose weight I was drinking green tea three times a day, and now I've found peppermint green tea. That's all I meant.

But anyway, I have just lost 30 pounds, like I said in my first post. It's just that I lost fat _everywhere_ on my body _except_ my stomach. My legs and arms are all muscular, and for some reason you can see my rib bones but I have a huge gut.


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