With all that said, you're probably more interested in how I did with Flash Point. I used an Accumeasure fat caliper that I've had for many years. It's not perfectly accurate, but it gets the job done at getting a relatively accurate measurement without spending a whole lotta money. The one issue I do have with this fat caliper is the reading on the chart it provides. It does tend to have large incremental jumps relative to thickness of skin fold measurements.
What I mean is that let's say your skin fold thickness was 20-21mm in the men's 36-40 age group, that would give you a body fat reading of 23.2%, and 18-19mm would be 21.8%. So between 18mm to 21mm the jump is 1.4% and between 19 to 20mm the jump in body fat reading is still 1.4% - making the increase between 1mm to 3mm give the same reading.
Isatori Flash Point Results
Anyways, I started off with a skin fold thickness (one inch above hip bone) of slightly under 10mm (rounded up) and in the 31 - 35 age group, which gives a reading of 13.7% (10-11mm). Now, had my skin fold thickness been say a little under 9.5mm, rounding down, that would put it in the 8-9mm range with a reading of 11.7% - so a tiny difference of about 0.5mm can give a 2% difference in body fat reading! Now you see what I mean by the reading of the chart?
Anyways, here's my skin fold measurements taken in the morning of the measurement days to keep things consistent. 2 measurements were taken on both left and right sides.
Day 1
right 10mm (slightly rounded up, if approximated, it would be about 9.9mm)
left 10mm (slightly rounded up)
body fat reading 13.7% (10-11mm, 31-35age)
Day 8
right 9.6mm (approximated, no rounding up or down)
left 9.6mm
body fat reading 13.7% (10-11mm, rounded up, 31-35age)
Day 16
right 9.3mm (approximated, no rounding up or down)
left 9.3mm
body fat reading 11.7% (8-9mm, rounded down, 31-35age)
Day 25
Right 9mm (exact)
Left 9mm
body fat reading 11.7% (8-9mm, 31-35age)
Had I measured an exact 11mm I'd have a starting body fat of 13.7%, and had I had an exact 8mm ending measurement, I'd have a ending body fat of 11.7%. But obviously, my measurements are in between those numbers going from 10mm to 9mm, so my body fat measurement would be somewhere between those numbers.
At the start of this almost 4 week test, my goal was not to lose weight, but to lose fat. I maintained my normal, clean diet, with no effort made to restrict or reduce calories. I maintained my weight training routine throughout with high intensity, and I also maintained my morning cardio sessions at 3 to 4 times a week on my Concept 2 rower (I did increase each session by an extra 3 to 5 minutes compared to normal). The one other thing I did change was I actually increased my protein intake by 1 scoop of whey each day, giving me an extra 24g of protein each day - not sure if that made any difference. In the end my weight did drop just under 2 lbs, and body fat also dropped. So my assumption is that most of the 2lbs lost came from fat, and not muscle.
From my results, it would appear that Isatori Flash Point does work; however, keep in mind that this is just one anecdote. As far as the melt tabs go, they taste quite good. Stick the tabs under your tongue, and you'll feel them starting to dissolve right away. I highly recommend following the bottle instructions on dosage. it starts you up with just 1 tab twice daily, and slowly working up to the full dose of 3 tabs twice daily. TEST YOUR TOLERANCE first, and follow the bottle instructions.
Isatori Flash Point Side Effects
I can't say if the tabs melts in 33 seconds and starts working right then, but it does dissolve quite fast, and on my first few tests, I started feeling the effects very fast - usually within 1 to 2 minutes. The first 2 to 3 days I had some minor jitters from Isatori Flash Point, but after that, I can't say I felt any more jitters. The only other side effect I should mention is that Flashpoint seemed to give me some bloating, gas issues, and a bit of an upset stomach quite often. But this is just based on my experience, and I can't say if others will experience these side effects. Other than that, I can't say that I had any other side effects.
The tabs taste alright as well - better than I had anticipated. The bottle suggests drinking a full glass of water right after, and I also recommend this as well. I also suggest keeping your water intake high throughout the day. I noticed that I was more thirsty than normal. I should mention that I got a bit of a minor energy boost from this as well. On my off days when I took Flash Point, I'd end up feeling a bit fidgety and anxious, wanting to do some physical activity to let off a bit of the excess energy. There were some days were I noticed heavier breathing, and while I didn't take heart rate readings, my heart rate was probably up as well.
See part 1 our our Isatori Flash Point review here, if you missed it.