thespian86

I know literally nothing about this subject but I've always wondered. Seemed like such a simply solution to a very complex problem.

Are there any legal and proven weight loss drugs? How about illegal? I ask, because I take wellbutrin and I know that it causes weight loss for some people. I pretty much stayed level (223 pounds, 6'4).

Just curious.

(no... I do no plan on taking illegal drugs to lose weight )

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The_Jazz

There are legal drugs that do work. If you do some research, you'll find them. Look at herbal supplements specifically.

I am sure there will be plenty of folks that post after me with brand names, but the ones that I know that work are companies that I place product liability insurance coverage for, and I am erring on the side of caution with disclosure.

That said, I think that you should know that ephedra does work very well. You can no longer buy it because it was proven to cause heart damage as well as weight loss. That's a problem, obviously.

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Bear Cub

Unfortunately, most of the good ones have rather unpleasant side effects. The most common of which is constant sprinting to the bathroom to relieve yourself via pondscum-textured shits.

They work by basically encapsulating what you eat so that it isn't absorbed during digestion. Unfortunately, it makes a quick departure out the back door. My sister knew a few people who tried it as a last resort before gastric bypass surgery, and a few actually crapped themselves in public.

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ItWasMe

Yea, I would not recommend trying that slimming herbal tea. That stuff works like ex-lax, but you can never tell exactly how much you are taking because it all depends on how long you let the teabag steep. Almost the worst cramps I had in my life.

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CinnamonGirl

I'd been considering buying some...not so much anymore. Thanks for the heads-up


I heard some good things about "myAlli" or whatever it's called. It's actually FDA approved & all that. Does exactly what Bear said, though... and I don't have time to sprint to the bathroom at the drop of a hat

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Willravel

I came into the whole "miracle pill" thing around 8th grade, I believe. I took something which had "termogenic" properties (theoretically burns fat by elevating your temperature)... it turns out the most popular of these, ephedra, wasn't tested properly and wasn't safe at all. The "gastrointestinal, psychiatric, and autonomic side effects" were too hard to ignore so the FDA banned them like an underage poster on a forum.

It's not the first diet pill that's found to be unsafe and it won't be the last. I'm not saying all diet pills are dangerous, or even that none of them work, but the best way to lose weight is the oldest: proper diet and consistent exercise. I'd put dietary supplements up there with the broccoli diet and ab shocking belts.

snowy

After I lost 45 lbs., my SO's aunts were all over me trying to find out my secret, thinking it must be something besides the same ol' same ol' that they keep hearing from their doctors. I think they were hoping that whatever it was, it would be easy, that I'd taken a pill or something to help me lose all that weight. In fact, they asked me if I'd tried Alli.

Nope. I just ate a lot of fiber (read: whole grains, fruits, veggies), cut out sugar, and exercised. Yes, I pooped a lot. That's what happens when you eat as much fiber as you're supposed to. It wasn't easy and it didn't happen overnight.

Would I take a magic pill to lose the weight if I had to do it all over again? Probably not. It's much more rewarding to know I did it myself.

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Ayashe

I come from the mindset that if you are going to lose weight you need to make a change that you can live with for the rest of your life. If you take a pill, lose all the weight you want and then go off of it, likely it will all return.

We often recommend Weight Watchers to people at the clinic that I work. We do not receive anything from Weight Watchers for doing so. We recommend it because it teaches you how to diet for life. Even people of healthy size have gone there during pregnancies to ensure they were eating a proper diet.

Tully Mars

In a three and half year period I spent 12 and then 9 months flat on my back. During much of this time my doc also me on a steroid, pretty sure it was prednisone (sp?) Between months on being immobile and the steroids, not to mention my ex's cooking skills begin and end at KFC and Mickey D's. That's not totally true, there was some Taco Bell in there before they went out of business locally- wish I were making that up, she recently asked me on the phone how to bake a potato. If the box or can do not have instructions, she's completely lost in a kitchen. Anyway needless to say I gained a lot of weight. How much? Beats me- never got on a scale, kind of wish I had now. I do know when I got back on my feet I didn't fit in any of my clothes. I talked to the doc, rather he talked to me, his answer was more medication. Screw that! By then I'd been medicated half to death. Literally, my second term of being horizontal was completely related to a rare reaction to a medication. I didn't take too much or too little, just a rare reaction. Ever read all that crap that comes with your Rx? Most of the time it'll say something like "may, in rare cases, cause liver or kidney failure." Well Meet Mr. Rare case. One moment I was on my cell phone with a friend the next thing I knew I was waking up in a hospital room. I decided to forgo the additional medication.

At first I started walking. In the beginning I measured my walks in yards. Eventually those yards became miles. Currently I walk around five miles a day and at least four days a week I'm in the gym (weights) about 45mins. to an hour. The two things I've found about keeping a regular workout schedule are- it's easy, almost addictive, once you get started and stretching is important. I can not over stress stretching out prior to working out.

When it comes to food I'm to the point the smell of fast food makes me gag. Home Depot here is next door to Mickey D's. I kid you not, I park on the opposite side of the parking lot so I don't have to smell that shit. I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. I'll usually have an apple before heading to the gym and walking. After walking I usually have a can of V8, another apple and either yogurt w/granola or a hard boiled egg. Lunch is usually a chicken breast or a piece of fish and a salad. Anytime I feel hungry during the day i eat a piece of fruit. Dinner at home is usually basically what evers left over from lunch. But lately dinner has been "out" a lot. Seems people are coming and going a lot lately. "leaving town? Let's have dinner." "Coming into town? Let's grab a meal." But even at a restaurant wise choices can be made. Salads etc...

I still don't fit in my old clothes, but now that's because they're too big.

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Lubeboy

The only way to lose weight is to eat less carbs/sugars and do cardio.

Tully Mars

I think you could lose weight by doing weight lifting and no carido.

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Baraka_Guru

I know you can. I think you can lose more weight by doing this, actually.

As for drugs? Meh, there are lots of options, both legal and illegal. Their use and effectiveness are questionable. Their side effects, undesirable. Their sustained use, unfathomable.

The problems that nag us the most usually take time to overcome and they are complex. There is no simple solution usually. Unless you like solutions that create more problems.

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Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
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Tully Mars

I read an article several months back that explained that by lifting and adding muscle your body ends up burning more calories all day long. I don't remember exactly why. Personally I do both. At the gym I lift, when I walk I walk fast enough to raise my heart rate. I've passed joggers while walking.

We're our own worst enemy at times. Until you change your life style your physical condition is unlikely to change. I've known people who've tried to loose weight and get in shape. Many want changes in a week. When that doesn't happen, screw it- right back to double bacon cheeseburgers. You can't expect changes in a week. You'll probably start feeling better in about two weeks, more energy, better mood etc.. but as far as seeing changes- I think several weeks min. are needed.

On another note- I think there's something to be said about individual body systems. Genetics? Learned eating habits? Personally I think it's a combination of both. I used to work the swing shift at a close custody facility (read jail) one of my co-workers would eat from the time he showed up until the time he left. A couple greasy cheese burgers at dinner, an hour or so later a big fat laden microwave burrito then the rest of the night he would constantly be eating potato chips or some other junk food fat filled snack. And i don't mean by the handful. He'd go get a large family sized bag of chips and eat the whole thing by himself. I have no doubt during the evening he ate at least 3500-4000 Cal. every night. I asked him one day if he only ate at work, no he had the buffet at Pizza Hut that day for lunch. He was in his 50's about 5'10" and I'd guess about 145lbs.

On the flip side I knew a guy in the Navy who constantly struggled with his weight. I swear if that guy looked a cheese burger he gained weight. He was always on the line when it came to PT requirements. He and I worked out together for several months. We were running, lifting and he was eating what I was eating. I lost about five pounds in two weeks easily. He didn't lose any body fat until he started eating nothing but salads without dressing and a plain non-breaded chicken breast. He even had to cut out diet soda, nothing but water.

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Baraka_Guru

The studies done on muscle mass and caloric expenditure have revealed that the "boost" to your metabolism based on increased muscle mass is actually fairly minuscule. Beware the Internet, where you'll read the opposite. I forget the figure that's floating around, but the per-pound boost in calories burned isn't enough to suggest you'll burn fat just by *having* muscle. Where you burn the most fat is in the *act* of building muscle. Your fat burning and metabolism boosts come when you lift heavy weights for 30 to 60 minutes at a time, and especially why you recover from that. Your metabolism is cranked for as long as 24 to 48 hours after a resistance workout. This is because your body is trying desperately to replace nutrients, repair damage, and fight off sickness from a compromised immune system...all of this cause by weight training. Cardio has a similar effect, but it isn't as effective. If you do low-intensity "fat burning" sessions vs. high-intensity VO2-max-blasting sessions (fat-burning vs. aerobic/anaerobic). The difference? Fat-burning sessions burn glucose and then fat as it fuels the body. Aerobic exercise depends on ramped-up oxygen intake to transport fuel from all over your body. Endurance athletes (i.e. marathoners, triathletes) exercise this way and burn through their fat stores during their training and often require daily caloric intakes of as much as 10,000, which is ridiculous, I know. But especially with anaerobic exercise, it is too intense to depend on oxygen to carry fuel, so it instead dips into your skeletal muscle using your ATP system. (Sprinters and the like use this system to perform.) The recovery period of the latter tends to keep you metabolism high as it replenishes this "emergency" store of fuel. Not many people (especially the sedentary) tap into this system in any large capacity. Aerobic/anaerobic exercise, when a part of a regular system of exercise, is a good way to get into shape in regards to heart health and cardiovascular performance, but it will only burn fat if you do a lot of it. For the sedentary, they'd be better to mix it up with weight training to get the fastest results. You could reasonably spend only 2 hours per week weight training to burn as much fat as you would doing twice as much cardio. (But, of course, it varies depending on what you do and who you are.)

This is our biggest problem when it comes to health. We are habitual creatures, and we live in a consumption-based society of instant gratification and free and varied choices.

Yes, genetics plays a huge role, but it isn't the be all and end all. There are many people who overcome what their parents gave them through hard work and dedication. Some people just have to work harder than others, as your illustration pointed out. I think there are a lot of people who don't realize their genetic potential and this has a lot to do with our lifestyle. Many of us live in an information-based society, so we are geared towards thinking more than physical labour. Those who are the fittest and most energetic are those who see through this and realize that they require balance.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot