Does it Work? Unsure if the latest product or service lives up to it's claims? From popular products to the latest scams, discuss it here before you buy!

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Old 12-29-2005, 10:06 PM   #1  
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Has anyone tried ********* ?
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Old 12-29-2005, 10:46 PM   #2  
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Although we have the product name blocked (due to incessant spamming of our site by the marketers of this product), I know which 'diet pill' you are referring to (not that it makes a difference as they are all pretty much the same - basically crap!). We've had several threads on this particular one in the past.

like this one from way back in Feb 2004: *********... does anyone know anything about this product

From that thread, I'd like to quote one of Suzanne's EXCELLENT posts:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzanne 3FC
Our website is based around weight loss with a healthy diet and exercise, without the use of diet products such as weight-loss supplements. It didn't start out that way. Well it did, sort of, but the purpose was to encourage weight loss in a healthy and cost efficient way, which meant spending your money on enough healthy foods to support your diet, or a treadmill, etc, and not on unproven or gimmicky products.

Over the years, though, we've received thousands of email from people that shared their experiences with these products, and that's when we started to research them. The email we've received have been shocking, scary, sad, and disturbing. This is probably the number one topic of email we receive.

We are upset with the government for basically turning their backs on the public. I know that legally, their hands are tied, and they can't just stop these products from being produced, unless they fit a certain criteria. Uselessness isn't on that list. Proving the claims on their labels also is not required, unless it claims to actually cure a disease, such as cancer. Therefore, they can claim weight loss success all they want, and don't have to prove it. They can sell sugar pills and tell you it will cause weight loss, and it's legal. Even when they do have grounds for taking action, it takes ages due to all the red tape! How many people lose their money in the meantime?

Providing the listed amount of ingredients also isn't required. No one is monitoring them. They can tell you one pill contains xx units of xxxx but it can contain ZERO, or even dangerously high levels! No one ever knows, and they usually are not accurate. Plus, they frequently contain contaminants such as lead.

Something else they do that is a method of tricking the consumer is to make claims that their product is so "revolutionary" that it is patented. Yet if you actually take the time to look up the patent, you'll find otherwise. Yes, a patent exists, but it's patented for doing something else. PLUS, a patent on a weight loss product does not mean that it works, or is safe. Consider the man that patented e-coli as a weight loss method! I've read the patent. He claims that you can take a certain amount of e-coli and crap your weight away. You'll be dehydrated and you'll lose your appetite. He does go further to explain that if you take too much, that it could mutate or have dangerous effects.

Many OTC diet supplements, however, don't bother to warn you of any side effects. Many of these pills, marketed as "all natural", can have serious side effects if you take too much, or if you use them while taking prescription medications, or even if you have health problems such as heart disease or kidney problems. No one is giving you a physical exam before suggesting you take their product.

We've heard from women that became very sick from these products, some of which were hospitalized. They had no recourse, no one to turn to. Why does it take something serious for people to realize that all they need are a healthy diet plan and exercise?

Another thing to consider is that some people have a psychological dependence on them, even when the product has been proven not to work. They still believe they work, so subconsciously, they eat less. This can be argued as a good or bad thing. On the one hand, we want to think that anything that gets a person to eat less is good. On the other hand, what is the true price of this behavior? Money is just part of it. It doesn't help in the long term, as we must be able to naturally control our behavior and eating habits, if we want to be successful in keeping the weight off.

Regarding deecanadiana's comment about taking trimspa while pigging out, I don't see where you get that. True, you can take trimspa and pig out and it won't help you lose weight. But, you can take trimspa while eating healthy and it still won't help you lose weight. It isn't the trimspa that is doing it, it's the healthy eating. If you eat right, you don't need the pills.

Perhaps you are taking something that works as a stimulant and makes you a nervous wreck, and you get that lack of appetite and nausea that comes with stimulants. Of course at the same time, the rest of your body is suffering the effects, such as your heart. This leads me to another false claim - no stimulants. Just because a product does not contain ephedra, doesn't mean it doesn't contain stimulants. The marjority of the labels we've read with that claim DO contain them. Caffeine is a stimulant. Guarana is a stimulant. There are a lot of "natural" ingredients on their lists that are actually stimulants.

Bitter Orange, or Citrus aurantium, is another stimulant and this one appears to be very dangerous. Consumer reports has it on their Dirty Dozen list of most dangerous supplements, but you see it in so many weight loss mixtures, with claims that it's safe and natural. I fully expect this to be the next item banned by the FDA. Of course that kind of action takes forever. In the meantime, they do warn people not to take it. We are working on a very detailed report on this item, which will appear in our diet guide to supplements in the near future. I'll also post it here, in Buyer Beware, when it's done.

The above is just an example of why we take a strong stand against weight loss products. Some might even say our website as a whole is anti-weight loss supplement. I don't dispute that. We know that healthy diet and exercise really works. Why take unnecessary risks with products that have never been proven to be safe or effective? Is it really worth it?

Eat less, move more
We here at 3FC realize that with the holidays winding down and the New Year - with its traditional resolutions made to "lose weight" - EVERYONE is being bombarded through the media by the diet marketing machine that wants your money and makes seductive, often-empty promises of 'fast, easy weight loss with no effort' in return (with the almost invisible small print "RESULTS NOT TYPICAL" as required by the FTC, that the marketers KNOW most people will ignore in the hopes that THEIR diet plan or pill or gadget or book or video or prepackaged food will be *the solution* to their problem. Most of those hopeful people (known in the diet marketing industry, no doubt, as 'suckers') will be calling them again the next year for the "new" diet pill or what have you...although it's just the same old stuff, spit-shined and in a new package.

(A much wiser investment would be to purchase something like a gym membership, a pair of good walking shoes, an MP3 player/Ipod, a few sessions with a personal trainer - whatever is in your price range...you don't have to spend money to lose weight, but if you WANT to, you would be better served to spend it on something VALID rather than most of the crap being shoveled out by the bucketsful on those silly infomercials...)

As I said in My Big Weight Loss Secret - there IS no secret. It all comes down to what Suzanne said in her last sentence quoted above:

EAT LESS
MOVE MORE
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Old 12-31-2005, 01:23 PM   #3  
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E-coli as a weight loss approach... very interesting. I have IBS-D and if it was only as easy as "crapping" your weight away I would have long ago wasted away to nothing.

I've tried so many "diets" over the years that I refuse to try another one. I'm starting over and eating right and exercising. So far so good!
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Old 01-22-2006, 09:19 PM   #4  
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Mrs Jim- I applaud you! As well as the others here at 3FC who are against diet pills and supplements as a weight loss approach. Here's why I feel so strongly about this subject:
When I was in 7th greade I stopped eating. I became very ill (obviously) as a result of not eating. I hid it for years from friends and family until one day a friend found my calorie intake sheet that I kept with me and read how little I ate each day.
I went back to normal eating until high school, maybe Junior year, when I got into diet pills. I was jittery, had terrible mood swings and was unable to concentrate. Ah, but I was losing weight and that was all that mattered. After my parents caught me with the pills, I stopped for about 2 years. But when I was living on my own, I started right up again. Metabolife with ephedra was my pill. I craved it. I needed it. I wasted $30-40 per month on a bottle of pills and was taking 8-10 per day. I drank water, water water because they made me so thirsty. I wasn't able to sleep, shook like I had parkinsin's disease, and my heart rate went crazy. My bloodpressure sky rocketed and I was dizzy. Unfortunate was the shaking as I was a ear piercer at the time. I had a lot of very unsatisfied customers b/c theire holes were quite uneven!
After 4 years, when everyone knew I was taking the pills and I was very very thin, research began to show how dangerous ephedra was. I had a very difficult battle, within myself. I thought I NEEDED the pills. I really thought that if I stopped taking them I was going to get fat.
With the support of my family, I weened myself off of them. It was the hardest thing I could've even done. I was so tired that I just wanted to stay in bed all day. I had seering headaches and was crabby for days.
After coming off my withdrawl, I realized what I'd been oing to my body. Over the next year, I gained bakc the 30 lbs I'd lost, and I looked great.
Now, after marrying a wonderful man, and giving birth a beautiful baby baby boy, I understand that I looked good when I thought I was "fat". And I wasted a lot of money to hurt my body in a way that could've killed me, amoungst other things. The damage I did to my bady can't be undone. But I continue to excercise and eat healthy, and spread the word about the pills and how dangerous they are.
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Old 01-22-2006, 10:23 PM   #5  
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Mel, thanks for sharing your story.

As I've posted before, I also took epehdra in the past (with a heart condition, a dangerous combination) and stand by my previous statement that if one prefers death to a few extra pounds, by all means go and find some epehdra.

I noticed something in Suzanne's old post that I think is important: "Just because a product does not contain ephedra, doesn't mean it doesn't contain stimulants."

Stimulants can be dangerous, depending on a lot of factors. Why play Russian roulette by swallowing pills from the drugstore that may or may not have dangerous ingredients in a vain hope that somehow this will help us get to some ideal weight?

It makes no sense when it's really relatively easy to lose weight the good ol' fashioned way, given time and consistent effort. It does take time. It takes work. So what? What else is more important to do with our time than take care of our bodies so we can live a happy and healthy life for the people we love and for ourselves?
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Old 01-23-2006, 06:52 PM   #6  
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Amarantha- I agree with you. They all contain stimulants or other dangerous substances. You really need to be careful about what you put into your body.
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