Happy - Actually I wasn't even responding to the original post - I realize that she was voicing her opinion. Most of us are familiar with ephedra/ma huang's use as a diet pill, rather than its original use by Asian herbalists as (I believe) an antihistamine (correct me if I'm wrong here). I'm not going to put down ancient forms of medicine since many are still used today - several of my co-workers, for example, go to acupuncturists (licensed acupuncturists) regularly and swear by it.
IMO whether ephedra should be banned or not is a moot point anyway; it's done. Besides, as I've reported previously, many, many supplement manufacturers had voluntarily stopped the production of ephedra-based products anyway - not because of any government ban, but because of rising liability insurance premiums due to the high potential for lawsuits (as many of you no doubt know, if a company is sued for product liability, the insurance company has to pay for their legal defense - so even if no award is made to the plaintiff, the insurer is still faced with MASSIVE legal fees and expenses). For example, Biotest (a supplement manufacturer) was one of the first companies to stop production of ephedra products due to a sharp increase in their liability premium - over $1,000,000 a year. And the other companies soon followed. Several states (including California) had already banned the sale of ephedra products due to public outcry. Once California had made the decision to ban the sale of ephedra, that, combined with the insurance premium hike, pretty much put the nail in the coffin for ephdera (IMO).
Anyway - word to Heidi - like Meg, Dip and I have stated, losing weight is not the easiest thing in the world to do - but rest assured it CAN be done. It IS hard work - but I remember something I read in (of all books!) Laura Ingalls Wilder's
Little Town on the Prairie (I'm a big LIW fan BTW) - when her Pa was tilling the field (it could have been
The Long Winter but I don't have the books in front of me to check!
) "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is anything else worth having". (or words to that effect). I think that's what makes losing weight especially hard in this society - so many of us are used to INSTANT GRATIFICATION. Tasting and eating foods is so pleasurable and it is so easy in this society to obtain (vs. 100 or so years ago - back when the average American couldn't just go to the store and buy ice cream - if they wanted it they had to MAKE it - read
Farmer Boy by LIW and you'll get an idea of the work involved in that project!) that it is really no wonder that obesity is the number one health concern in the US and rapidly spreading around the world. There are no real secrets in losing weight - Dr. Phil's book sums them up pretty well (you might want to try reading it again - he MAKES SENSE). Again, it takes hard work, planning, setting goals and working towards achieving those goals. For me, journaling also has been effective. If you're using food as an 'emotional painkiller' I would suggest getting a journalbook and a pen and start writing...that has helped me IMMEASURABLY in the past. There's something about putting those thoughts down on paper that is a catharsis for me. At any rate, we're all here to help ya
OMG...Ayds Candies! I remember those...
and eating an entire box in like two days...