weight loss pills

Hello everybody! My name is Jenn and I am new to this forum. Unfortunately I am overweight - I weigh 265lbs....definitely too much! Unfortunately don't have much time to do any kind of sports and that is why I decided to try the weight loss pill kioslim. Does anybody have any experience with that pill?

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/Organizations/DDI L/ephedrine.html

This article is a few years old, but explains many problems with Ephedrine use, and better explains my annoyance with 'diet' pills, and how they can get away with putting stuff in them they don't list, or don't list the correct amounts of.  150 mg is the suggested limit per day of Ephedrine, and used long term can have many adverse effects.  This was the the stuff used it OTC asthma inhalors, and those very specifically say not to use for more than 2 weeks in a row - I used to use those periodically before I got a perscription, and I can tell you the effect it had on my heart rate made it almost not worth it - it made me miserable, and didn't relieve my asthma for all that long.

I think if you use a diet pill, you have to set limits, as to how long you intend to take it, how many you will take and so on.  I know that it is not a thing to play around with. I am using it to curb my appetite and nothing more.  By doing this I hope to get my body use to different eating habits. I realize that weight loss is not easy, but I am realy trying.

And a BIG KUDOS to you hillbillyrock for going the weight loss track. Keep one thing in mind thou if you insist on taking diet pills. They don't teach you how to eat properly. What they do is artificially fool your body into thinking that you are not hungry. The reason this is not good for you is, if you actually intend to teach yourself how to eat, you are not eating foods that satisfy your body. In other words, learn how to eat a good breakfast and decide what snacks you want between breakfast and lunch so that when lunch time rolls around you are not starving just ready to eat, then again for dinner, decide what snacks to eat between lunch and dinner. For me I like to have oatmeal for breakfast then a yogurt for a snack mid-morning, then lunch which is usually one of the SmartOnes then I have another snack -- I like yogurt so I eat that mostly as a snack sometimes butter free or light butter popcorn. I have successfully been losing about 1 pound a week. You gained weight slowly over the years and it will take some time for it to come off. As long as you are losing then you are on the right road. You have to learn what foods your body reacts well to and what foods you need to stay away from. I love pasta and potatoes but I know they cannot be foods I eat except in moderation. All our bodies are different and you need to learn what your body type is. Losing weight fast does not mean long term or being healthy. Also, when you take diet pills you will raise your blood pressure and if you exercise with any intensity you could cause yourself some issues. I guess what I am saying is I agree to disagree with you here, but you have to be the one to decide what you want to do and if taking diet pills are your road just be careful and seek the advice of your doctor. Lots of people think not eating is ok, but that throws your body into a starvation mode also that will happen if you do not get enough calories a day.  You will need to learn how many calories your body needs to successfully lose weight.  You also will need to know what are the right type of calories - simple carbs are always your enemy.  This is one of the reasons why I say losing weight is a science.  People have cause serious health issues by not being fully aware of how to properly lose weight.  Losing weight is a life time commitment. 

Actually 10 multivitamins is def in the toxic range for certain compounds... iron, zinc, chromium, selenium... and probably a few others... Maybe not instant death, but def some very undesirable side effects...

Original Post by hillbillyrock:

I think if you use a diet pill, you have to set limits, as to how long you intend to take it, how many you will take and so on.  I know that it is not a thing to play around with. I am using it to curb my appetite and nothing more.  By doing this I hope to get my body use to different eating habits. I realize that weight loss is not easy, but I am realy trying.

The path to hell is lined with good intentions. (or any intentions, for that matter). 

The problem is you get used to a certain thing, and when the diet pills go away. you'll be hungry again.  What you eat when on diet pills won't be the same when you go off them.  You go straight from what you ate that got you overweight to eating 'better' with pills.  As soon as you go off them - the hunger will rear it's ugly head.

Have you set yourself up a calorie limit, diet restrictions, an exercise plan? there are plenty of people here who can make suggestions and help you find filling food that stays within your calorie restrictions.

Yes, I have set up a plan for myself, and I realize that when I quit taking the diet pill, it will be hard, I have been riding my bike often and I am checking into water sports, I know that I need to get more active to keep the weight off, and that is why I want to find some good exercises that I will stick too, and not give up after a few months. I am looking at this as a lifetime change. I would be thrilled for any tips that you could give me.

Well, the biggest tip I can give is to stop taking a diet pill.  It's artifical and does not help you learn anything about what foods you should eat.  But barring that you will do that, I would suggest using the tools this site has to offer.  Start tracking your calories, and learn what the proper portion sizes are for the different foods you enjoy.  Incorporate exercise into your daily routine but be very careful with over exercising while using a diet pill.  Diet pills can pump up your blood pressure and make your heart race so be careful with that.  I hope you are talking with a doctor and monitoring your BP.  It's wise.  To many people have forgone going to their doctors to be checked regularly when dieting especially with diet pills or other artificial stuff and have caused themselves serious health issues.  Learning how to eat properly is really not a mystery.  You know our bodies need whole grains, fruits, veggies, and protein.  You can eat whatever you like, as long as you balance it with the other important food groups.  I'd stay away from white bread, pasta, and potatoes - the simple carbs.  Only have them in moderation.  Include a good amount of salad with your meals.  Use only a tablespoon of oil and I like black vinegar (made from brown rice - you can buy it in a health food store - EDEN is the manufacture). The black vinegar only has 2 calories per 2 tablespoons and it's very tasty.   I eat the black rice and black beans as my staple food, if you like brown rice that's good too.  Oatmeal is always a good way to start your day.  Your bodies metabolism has to wake up so it is important to have a good breakfast.  Skipping breakfast will make your body sluggish, and will not be as efficient.  Determine how many calories a day you need and try to stay within that goal, eating to few calories can make your body go into a starvation mode.   When you track your foods be sure to include all the ingredients - oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, anything you add to your dish - you will be surprised to discover how many additional calories there are in receipts.  Then you can re-invent some of your receipts to make them a little more calorie friendly by substituting not so good ingredients with good ones.  You will also need to have your snacks planned out.  I know I like yogurt, so I buy a Krogers yogurt and have that mostly when I want to snack, or I will have popcorn no butter or sometimes a little butter.  There are some really good 100 calorie snacks on the market - just look in your diet section of your food store.  Be sure to read the labels well, some items can be high in sodium so you will want to be careful with those.  If you follow some of these tips you will not need a diet pill.  Your body will be satisfied and you will have done the best thing for yourself.  Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.  It's  not hard to do, if you normally drink soda just have water instead.  If you need a little carbonation, have a seltzer - just be care of the sodium.  I like the Vintage Seltzer - no sodium content.  If you go into other forums you will get lots of good advice on different foods.  I know I feel very satisfied with the foods I eat and I have been losing weight nicely and when I haven't dropped in pounds I have lost in inches so it's all good. 

Here's wishing you the best...  I applaud your efforts, losing weight is a struggle and that's what makes this site so good.  There are lots of folks here who know exactly what you are going through and can be very supportive.  It's an excellent site, you will probably not find very many people who would agree with using a diet pill. 

Take care...

hey hillbillyrock tell us a little more about you.  What are some of your favorite foods, and what exercises do you like?  About what region do you live.  You'd be surprised how many people can offer advice on foods you don't realize are available where you live.  I know I am in Southwest Virginia and it's hard to find some of the foods I enjoy - like Rabbi Broccoli, and Swiss Char.  Both good green veggies.   I'm over 50 so dieting is that much harder,  I have to really kick up the exercise.  Please feel free to join us at: http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/435 12.html, and http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/723 65.html, and http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/815 31.html.  There are some really wonderful supportive people there. 

Hope to see you around the forums..

Karen

Thank you for all the tips, I am from Boston, and I have to say ALL food is my fav.  I think that is the problem, after i had my kids I just bloated up.  I tried diets but never really stuck to them. This time I am going to do this, it is now or never, and I am really dead set to lose. I will check out all the links.

Your very welcome, I just wish I could convince you not to use diet pills.  They are so bad on so many levels.  I know how hard it is to lose weight, been there done many diets - Atkins, Cambridge, and herbal life, to name just a couple.  They did help me to lose weight but the weight all came back on and then some.  I lost my gallbladder because of the herbal life diet.  Artificial diets are bad.  You have to learn how to eat properly with real foods.

First to lose weight and get healthy you need to eat foods.  This site has some wonderful tools - please use them.  They will help you determine the number of calories a day you will need in order to lose weight safely.  You need to eat, and eat good foods.  You can eat whatever you want just in proper portion sizes.  And if you start to feel like you need help you can always reach out to one of us.  We are all in this together and here to support as well as get support ourselves.   I don't mean to preach, but I really do not like you using diet pills. 

I was just surfing the net and ran across this and thought I'd share it with you:

"Appetite Suppressants:
TrimSpa X32, diet teas, and weight loss patches contain Hoodia Gordonni, an herbal supplement of unproven safety and questionable weight loss benefit. Many of these products don't actually contain the ingredients listed on the label but when they do, beware. Side effects include chest pain, migraines and interaction with prescription drugs."

"Ironically, habitual pill poppers are three times more likely to be overweight, probably because of other unhealthy weight loss behaviors like binging, vomiting and skipping meals. "

"Fat and Carb Blockers:
Fat blockers like Chitosol and Fat Absorber TDSL typically contain chitosan, a shellfish extract that can unleash a whole host of nasty reactions including diarrhea, oily discharge and allergic reactions -- plus there's zero scientific proof it works. Carb blockers like EZ-Trim, TrimSpa and CarbSpa list chromium picolinate and/or vanadium as active ingredients; both have demonstrated minor weight loss effects in the lab but the dosage your teen would have to take to see any results puts her at risk for kidney or liver damage."

" Metabolism Boosters:
Claim to boost body temperature, burn fat, cook through calories. That's what Hydroxycut, Xenadrine EFX, and other products containing ephedra, bitter orange, green tea extract, caffeine and a long list of other stimulants purport to do. Most are worthless attempts. However, in some studies, ephedra users lost an extra pound or so a month -- hardly worth the gamble of developing high blood pressure, having a heart attack or dropping dead before the age of 20. These dire consequences are why the FDA banned high doses of the herbal supplement in 2004 and why your teenage girl shouldn't use any product that contains it.

Cortisol Managers:
Supplements in this category claim to cut the production of the cortisol, a hormone associated with stress-related eating and excess belly fat. High cortisol levels aren't an issue for most teens and besides, no studies back up the claims made by brands like CortiDiet, CortiSlim, CortiSol, and Relacore that they actually lower cortisol levels or help battle weight gain at any age. Even more of a concern, tests of some products reveal high levels of metal, lead and chromium contamination and large amounts of stimulating agents like caffeine and ephedra not listed on the label."

Here were some good suggestions:

1. Add just one fruit or veggie serving daily. Get comfortable with that, then add an extra serving until you reach 8 to 10 a day.

2. Eat at least two servings of a fruit or veggie at every meal.

3. Resolve never to supersize your food portions -- unless you want to supersize your clothes.

4. Make eating purposeful, not mindless. Whenever you put food in your mouth, peel it, unwrap it, plate it and sit. Engage all of the senses in the pleasure of nourishing your body.

5. Start eating a big breakfast. It helps you eat fewer total calories throughout the day.

6. Make sure your plate is half veggies and/or fruit at both lunch and dinner.

7. Eating out? Halve it, and bag the rest. A typical restaurant entree has 1,000 to 2,000 calories, not even counting the bread, appetizer, beverage and dessert.

8. When dining out, make it automatic: Order one dessert to share.

9. Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate.

10. See what you eat. Plate your food instead of eating out of the jar or bag.

11. Eat the low-cal items on your plate first, then graduate. Start with salads, veggies, and broth soups, and eat meats and starches last. By the time you get to them, you'll be full enough to be content with smaller portions of the high-calorie choices.

12. Instead of whole milk, switch to 1 percent. If you drink one 8-oz glass a day, you'll lose 5 lbs in a year.

13. Juice has as many calories, ounce for ounce, as soda. Set a limit of one 8-oz glass of fruit juice a day.

14. Get calories from foods you chew, not beverages. Have fresh fruit instead of fruit juice.

15. Keep a food journal. It really works wonders.

16. Follow the Chinese saying: "Eat until you are eight-tenths full."

17. Use mustard instead of mayo.

18. Eat more soup. The noncreamy ones are filling but low-cal.

19. Cut back on or cut out caloric drinks such as soda, sweet tea, lemonade, etc. People have lost weight by making just this one change. If you have a 20-oz bottle of Coca-Cola every day, switch to Diet Coke. You should lose 25 lbs in a year.

20. Take your lunch to work.

21. Sit when you eat.

22. Dilute juice with water.

23. Have mostly veggies for lunch.

24. Eat at home.

25. Limit alcohol to weekends

 

Hi hillbillyrock,

sorry I didn't have any time to go online during the past days. So how do you like the diet pill so far?

Hi, well I have been taking it now for 2 days, and I feel great, I am eating as much as I use to, this is really amazing for me.  I am biking now, at least 1 hour a day, OK not fast but I am moving along.  I decided to weigh myself every 3 to 4 days.  will let you know how I am doing.

I think the key in real weight loss is to forget about "quick". Once i focused more on doing it right instead of doing it quick, my results have sky rocketed over time. I dont diet, i eat whatever I want, but I keep it within my allowed calories based on the tools this site provides.

Ive been through a few diet pills in the past, including ones using ephedrine. Once i stopped taking the pills i gained back much more weight than i had lost. Now im using CC to help me lose weight the right way.

Add exercise along with counting calories and the tools this site provides you and youll be amazed.

I've lost 16 lbs in over a month and its almost hard to believe. After the weight loss of just one month i have the energy now to exercise 30 min a day , 7 days a week. I feel better , sleep better and my outlook now on losing weight is tremendous. I'm making myself so much healthier with out the side effects that all diet pills have.

mgj33 your information is very sound, if you go back to read my posts I provided a lot of information about why diet pills are bad and can be dangerous.  People do feel good while taking these pills and then one day it hits them - bang - all of a sudden they don't know what is going on and others just may see that the pills had no effect one way or the other.

I don't believe it's a wise choice, but it's not my choice.  I work hard at eating healthy, and exercising and I have lost 19 pounds so far and I know it's because of how I am losing, the pounds will stay off.  Dieting and getting healthy is hard work and there is no quick fix -- I look at them like all the quick get rich schemes.  Quick never works.  Unless you are selling them, then you have a lot to gain. 

I have now been taking my diet pill for 5 days now and have lost 4 lbs, of course I know that most of it is water now, but I have now started to exercise now and I really like it.  I know that most of you are against diet pills, but for me it is the best choice, otherwise I wil remain fat and I don't want to be fat anymore.

I joined this site on Feb 6, 08.  My goal is to lose 46.5 lbs.  I started out eating 1500 calories a day of healthy foods.  Fruits, vegtables, whole grains and some lean meats...you get the point.  After the first few weeks I went to 1250 calories and I am now at 1200 calories a day.  Those calorie intake numbers are averages I go over rather than under my daily calorie goals. (small amounts over)  I am happy to say that I have yet to have a day that I was "starving" or needed help with supressing my appetite.  IF you are eating healthy foods, especially your vegi's you should not need to supress your appetite.  You will be plenty full I promise.  I have exercised some but by no means alot.  As of today I am down 15 pounds and cannot fathom why anyone would think they need any diet type pills.  You just have to learn to eat properly and learn portion control.

*Edited to add -- Don't forget to drink your water.  I drink 1/2 my weight (in ounces) at least every day.  My goal for daily water is 92 ounces during my work day and I can usually do it no problem unless I am just too busy...

 

jospe, you are doing so good, I wish I had the will power that you have. I am sure that later I can do this on my own.  I have already changed alot, and I am proud of that.  I really think this is working for me very well. This is the boost that I needed badly.  Now I am working on finding some kind of exercises that I can always do, which kind do you do?