Hydroxycut works using a combination thermogenic herbs (herbs that in traditional medicine bring heat in the body), appetite suppressant herbs, adaptogenic (herbs that basically make you better at sports) metabolic stimulant herbs, and glucose moderating herbs (like gynema sylvestre, wich lowers blood sugar, which insulin, the hormone, that among other things tells your body to let lay down fat), dietary fibers in addition to plain old caffein. These herbs are thought to work synegistically, and several of the ingredients have more than one of the above mentioned properties.
When you are taking hydroxy cut, you will feel less tired, have a sense of greater energy, and be able to work out definitely. You will likely also have less apetite if you take the product before meals as directed.
When you eat, the product will help you feel the energy of the food.
You actually do have to eat healthful foods though, moderate calorie intake, and excercise - not necesarily hard core, but consistently, for anything much to happen. To help with a feeling of fullness, you may also want to consider fiber supplements, like pysillium husk, and grape fruit fiber (look for these online or in a good health food store) Flax seeds, or pine nuts and apple cider vinegar splashed in water like lemon are also said to work wonders. (Ask if you'd like more info) Why I mention these strategies however is, do not take fiber at the very same time as the hydroxycut - it will slow and lessen its effect.
If you want to take both before a meal, take the hydroxycut say an hour and a half before meal time, and then the pysillium 15 minutes before meal time. Another word of caution - do not drink mik with hydroxycut. Casein, a component in milk is known to counter act EGCG, and the effects of green tea, a major ingredient in Hydroxycut.
There is a downside however. Hydroxycut will make you strung out on caffein all the time. You may be like that anyway. But it is not a good state to be in, and not good for your long term health. It can keep you up at night, give you a false sense of alertness while driving, elevate your heart rate, and when you want to stop, it will be 3 of 4 days of tough love for your body. Remember, Hydroxycut has a large dose of raw cafein in addition to what is naturally found in the green tea extract and guarana This is why the caffein free version sells in eqaul proportion to the original formulation. But would you guess what? The cafein free version does not work exactly as well. Cafein is a dangerous, but powerful drug, and it does work. All in all though my recomendation would be to start with the cafein free version and a sensible regimin of healthful natural foods and moderate excercise and positive thinking. You may gain all the benefits you need and are looking for. If on the other hand you feel you would like a stronger supplement, you can use both. Start with 1 pill regular, and the rest caffein free each day, see how you are doing for a few weeks, and more up to half and half if necesary.
Wishing you a lot of success!