Today I was scrolling through my Instagram, and spotted one of my fitness idols sitting on the beach, looking lean, shredded, tanned and beautiful in her tiny bikini. Next to her was a protein shaker containing a fat burner. Her post was about how she was staying lean thanks to this fat burner…. is she serious? How misleading???!!! Fair enough they are probably paying her for the post, but she’s giving women a distorted reality of what it actually takes to get that lean.
This chick recently competed in a body building competition so was still at a very low body fat percentage. Her diet would have been immaculate for months leading up to her compettion, and her body 1 week post competition would still be almost just as lean as she was stepping on stage (for those who don’t know how lean, 10-15% Body Fat). I am saddened that she is basically discrediting her 6 months of hard work, sweat and determination by saying she’s lean thanks to a fat burner.
Statistically, supplementation accounts for a mere 1 or 2 % (if that) of performance or body composition (think, if you are on a 2000cal diet, thats only 20 calories!!). Most fat burners (if legal by the FDA) in the majority of studies come up short when it comes to containing an evidence based amount of substance to elicit a therapeutic benefit.
She’s lean because she probably has great eating habits, high metabolism, plenty of lean muscle and has just competed in a body building competition. She’s lean because she’s conditioned to be lean.
At the end of the day, remember:
- Instagram posts can be misleading. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Don’t waste your money on fat burners or supps unless you are also investing your money in a good gym program and good nutrition.
- There are no magic bullets .. nothing can be found in a pill that a shit ton of hard training and long calorie restriction can’t do when it comes to lean body composition… I would love to be proven wrong on this.
On another note – https://thebutterflyfoundation.org.au September 3-9 is the Butterfly Foundations promotion of “love you body week for schools” – the impressionable age where students can promote positive body image and build body confidence … unfortunately all IG images like this don’t promote health, let’s learn to love our bodies and appreciate what they can do for us without thinking we need pills to get lean and feel good about ourselves.
Coach – Soni