I only had carbs pre and post WO for the first 2 weeks and the the third it was just meats and greens , seemed to keep the water retention at bay. Stayed on meats and greens for almost a week after I was off and slowly reintroduced carbs . Elvia was a big help to me throughout the month . Caps were dosed at 250 , and yes no stim just heat , and the heat fires up with carbs like they say . I took mine at bedtime , was pretty bearable . At 44 I would say it's better than clen and t3 , just my 2 cents