We have a lot of people who come in to GNC looking for “fat burners”. These products are pretty good if they are used properly. There are natural ways that you can increase your metabolism, like using fat burners, once you understand how they work.

Most fat burners, which increase your metabolism with caffeine and other metabolic shifting ingredients, are ok to use short term, but your body will adapt to these ingredients quickly and your results will peter off.

The reason for taking fat burners multiple times a day is to increase your metabolism multiple times per day. The concept is like pouring gas on a fire. The fire does not stay ignited at an elevated level for a long time, it only stays elevated until the gas has been burned - this is the same with fat burners.

Some alternatives to increase “the fire”, your metabolism, are :

Deep breathing increases blood flow and stimulates oxygen within your body

Deep breathing will increase blood flow, like a fat burner, which will help you to get your system moving better as well. Taking deep breaths will help you to eliminate toxins within your body and increase oxygen being taken in by your cells (something a fat burner will not help you achieve! ).

If you add oxygen to a fire what happens? The fire will burn hotter and brighter, won’t it?! This can help you to increase your metabolism as well!

The best way to do deep breathing exercises is to inhale and “fill your belly with air” until you can’t fit any more in your lungs, then hold the air for a minimum of 5 seconds, and exhale for a minimum of 5 seconds. Repeat this 3-10 times.

Doing short bursts of intense exercise multiple times a day

If you do very intense exercise (8-10 level of intensity) for 1 minute, 3 or more times a day, you would have similar effects to a fat burner.

Your intensity is measured by your own level of fitness. You would ultimately be aware of how hard your body is working and measure it from a level “10″, which is your most intense level of exercise. This could be doing jumping jacks, running on the spot, going for a run, pushing/pulling a resistance intensely, speed walking, cycling, etc… The key is to do something multiple times during the day, consistently.

A huge benefit will be that you will tighten your body and tone your muscles - something a fat burner will not do for you

You should, like a fat burner, do your intense interval of exercise before eating (and on an empty stomach) to get the best results. Then eat a proper portion (we’ll discuss this later in this post) to nourish your body.

Eat consistently, in small amounts

To keep a fire going what’s required? That’s right, fuel. We also need to fuel our metabolism the same way.

Keeping your fire going to burn body fat with food, isn’t as hard as you may think, you just need to understand the concept.

Your metabolism, like a fire, will only burn a certain amount of wood at one time. If you put too much wood on the fire, the fire will not be able to burn it all (and it will leave a lot of ash behind - body fat), and it could smother out the fire and keep it from burning bright and intense.

You also do not want to forget to put wood in the fire, for the fire will have no fuel to keep going to burn off body fat. This is why you do not want to starve your body!

Keep the fire stoked every couple of hours, it depends on your metabolism (hint: you should never feel hungry), and you need to put the right amount of wood in the fire (not too much or you’ll kill your fat burning fire! ).

Ultimately, you want to do deep breathing exercises first (1 minute), then your intense “short burst” of exercise (1 minute) and then feed the fire (8 minutes). The whole process will take about 10 minutes - if you are dedicated to losing body fat, this is a healthier, more long-term strategy to use instead of fat burners.