Supplements when losing weight: which products can you use when cutting?
- Reading time: 9 min.
Are you improving your lifestyle and looking to lose weight? Or are you trying to shed that last bit of fat before summer? Whatever the reason, losing weight can be a significant challenge for many athletes. Adjusting your diet and maintaining consistency is not easy. If you're aiming to lose weight, supplements can be a helpful solution. Which supplements are best to use for weight loss or cutting? In this article from XXL Nutrition, we guide you on your way!
What is Cutting?
Strength athletes often talk about cutting or getting lean, rather than just losing weight. The goal is to reduce body fat percentage rather than simply losing weight as quickly as possible. But what exactly is cutting, and how do you start?
Cutting means creating a calorie deficit, which leads to losing fat mass while aiming to preserve muscle mass. Since you don't want to lose muscle, it's important to keep the calorie deficit moderate (about 300-500 kcal), consume enough protein, and stimulate your muscles through strength training.
Which Supplements Can You Use for Weight Loss?
Losing weight with supplements isn’t necessary. In principle, you can get all the important nutrients from regular food. If your diet is well-tailored, using supplements for weight loss isn’t strictly required. However, the right supplements can make cutting easier, for instance, by providing an easy way to increase your protein intake. You can also choose light products with fewer calories or use a fat burner to curb your appetite.
We recommend the following dietary supplements:
- Protein powder
- Diet shakes
- Fat burners
- L-Carnitine
- Light products
- Multivitamins
Curious about which of these weight loss supplements you need? Try our weight loss guide!
Protein Powder
Proteins are very important when losing weight. You want to prevent your body from breaking down muscles during cutting. Proteins also help you feel fuller for longer, making it easier to stay under your calorie limit. As a strength athlete or bodybuilder, you can aim for about 2 - 2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight during cutting.
You can, of course, get these proteins from regular foods like beef, chicken, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese, nuts, legumes, and fish. Since you're eating fewer calories while losing weight, it can sometimes be challenging to meet your protein needs with regular food without exceeding your calorie goal.
In this case, protein powder can be a useful supplement to your daily healthy diet. Protein shakes provide a lot of protein and contain little sugar and fat, making them low in calories. During weight loss, pure protein powder, such as Whey Isolate, is preferred.
Diet Shakes or Meal Replacements
Eating healthy is central to any fat-loss diet. However, it can sometimes be a challenge to repeatedly prepare a healthy meal that's rich in protein but not too high in carbohydrates and fats.
Especially when you have little time to cook, you might be tempted to reach for something easy and unhealthy. This, of course, undermines your fat loss efforts. A healthy diet shake or meal replacement can help. These supplements contain a balanced mix of proteins, carbs, and fats and are often enriched with vitamins and minerals. This way, you can quickly and easily give your body the nutrients it needs.
Diet shakes are used as meal replacements, but we advise against basing your entire diet on shakes. Make sure the foundation of your diet is made up of normal foods. Use a meal-replacement shake only when absolutely necessary.
Fat Burners
Fat burners are perhaps the most popular supplements for weight loss. With a range of effects, fat burners can provide general support for your diet.
A fat burner contains a high dose of caffeine to give you more energy and stimulate your metabolism. They can also include various vitamins, minerals, and herbal extracts to help your body burn fat. Another effect of fat burners is that they can suppress your appetite, making you less likely to snack.
Fat burners can support your weight loss, but remember that they are not magic pills that will melt your fat away. You still need to maintain a calorie deficit. If you're overeating and still consuming too many calories daily, you won't lose weight, even with fat burners.
L-Carnitine
L-Carnitine has been one of the most popular supplements for weight loss for years. It comes in many forms, including capsules, powder, and liquid.
Acetyl L-Carnitine can stimulate fat burning and supports the body in converting fatty acids into energy, which you can then use during your training sessions. Carnitine is found in red meat, but to experience its benefits, a higher dosage is required. That's why athletes often choose an L-Carnitine supplement.
Want to learn more about how Carnitine works? In this article, we explain everything about L-Carnitine.
Light Products
Creating a calorie deficit is essential when losing weight. To lose fat, you must burn more calories each day than you consume through food and drink. Many tasty foods, like sauces, pudding, and chocolate spread, contain a lot of calories, as they are high in sugar and fat (which gives them their delicious, addictive flavor).
If you continue using these products, you’re likely to exceed your calorie limit, often without realizing it. This means you won't lose weight, which would be a shame! Luckily, there are plenty of light products and low-calorie foods to choose from. These products are specifically designed for weight loss and contain less sugar and fat, which means fewer calories than their regular supermarket counterparts.
The great thing about light products is that they allow you to reduce calorie intake without sacrificing flavor. They help you achieve your goal of weight loss. According to the Dutch Nutrition Centre, light products are a good and healthy alternative to the regular versions, and they are always safe due to strict regulations in the Netherlands.
Multivitamins
During weight loss, you reduce your calorie intake by eating less. This can lead to a shortage of certain vitamins and minerals. Even if you eat healthily, the likelihood of a deficiency increases if you're in a prolonged cut. Taking a multivitamin can help ensure you get enough vitamins and minerals daily.
Your body needs these vitamins and minerals for various physiological processes, including protein synthesis, energy release from fatty acids, and muscle recovery after training. Especially if you’re training intensely and trying to lose weight, it's useful to take a vitamin supplement.
A good multivitamin contains all the micronutrients in the right dosages, meaning no extremely high doses.
The Best Weight Loss Supplements at XXL Nutrition
Looking to lose weight with supplements? At XXL Nutrition, you'll always find the highest quality. We offer a wide range of supplements that can be used for weight loss, cutting, and getting lean. You’ll find the best quality protein shakes, safe fat burners, and diet shakes with a thoughtful composition. You can also support your body with multivitamins, L-Carnitine, and delicious light products. Achieve the best results with our weight loss supplements!