[ringmaster]

Are there any over the counter appetite suppressants that have worked for you?

How about hoodia? I thought the hoodia was just a fiber but I just read it works similar to phentermine- tricking your brain to think you are full. Anyone have good success with it? If so, what brand did you take?

[Suzanne 3FC]

Hi there We have a lot of threads in here about those two topics. Very few people have had success with OTC appetite suppressants, but some have had success with prescription medications. You also less likely to have side effects or get ripped off since most OTC products have no effect at all.

Hoodia is a big scam. The only way hoodia works, and this is based on millions of dollars in research, is by eating about a 4 inch chunk of fresh hoodia plant. It also helps if you are in Africa and preparing for a long hunt and don't have enough food for the trip. That's really all it's ever been used for and should probably remain that way.

Keep in mind as well that all of the hoodia products available in America are not even genuine hoodia gordonii, because it is illegal to export the real deal from Africa as it is a rare plant protected by CITES. Experts say there's more hoodia on the market than there is actual hoodia growing on the planet. That says something, lol.

The so-called hoodia products you buy actually do contain cheap fibers, as you thought, which help you feel full so the are tricking you into thinking it's hoodia. But the effect is nothing like the real thing, which you can't buy.

Two major pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Unilever, have both spent millions of dollars trying to convert real hoodia gordonii into a hoodia product they could sell here that was both safe and effective. Pfizer tried first and pulled out of the project after spending millions. Then Unilever jumped in, they are the makers of Slimfast and other products. They also pulled out after spending more than 20 million dollars.

Unilever found two things in their studies - First any effect at all was very minimal. Second, they found that it wasn't safe. Many subjects became ill and it was serious enough to abort the study.

It's a crazy market out there, ringmaster. So many people are willing to take advantage of us, and over 50 billion dollars are spent annually on weight loss products that don't work. Check out our goal forums and you won't find any success stories that used those types of products. It's just about calories in and calories out.

Good luck

[ringmaster]

Thanks for the info Suzanne. Yeah, I read some hoodia is fake, but was hoping maybe some brand had the real stuff and someone had success with it (or anything to help feel fuller).

I'm doing calorie counting, it's not easy at first while my body gets used to eating less.

[meowee]

To fill yourself up on as few calories as possible, try eating lots of salad type vegetables (light on the fatty dressings of course) and make yourself some broth based vegetable filled soups (stay away from most canned soup because it is so salty.

[ringmaster]

meowee, I've been eating vegetable based meals the last few weeks. I'll have a big salad with some chicken or bean mix and some other vegetables on it for lunch. Dinner some tofu, veggie burger or chicken with more vegetables, sometimes fresh broccoli or asparagus or a half bag of frozen stir fry vegetables and sometimes I'll have brown rice or some protein pasta that's out now. breakfasts have been steel cut oats with some cottage cheese or whey protein powder. snacks are fruits, nuts or protein shake.

really, after anything I eat about an hour later I'm so hungry again. even with the junk food, I'm hungry again about an hour later. I guess I've been pigging out so much these last few years it's hard to get control and be hungry for awhile.

remember when the old Dexatrim was out... I remember that worked well for me.