I am gonna add something here cause it's on my mind, but i will not go on long so i'm not covering all it's ends or all the beliefs on certain instances. I don't think any of us can trust any pills but neither are they all dangerous nor they all untrustworthy. Prescription or OTC at some heatlhy food store. Vitamin or weight loss supplement. If one can pollute a weight loss pill, one can pollute a multivitamin. So if u gotta get one, vitamin or other, try the ones that have been around for a longer while and find info on them. I don't want to hear too much about the FDA's great research, but i will hear what they say. why? Because they have obviously been bought and in some cases where they have not been bought they are ignorant. I have read of documented instances where the FDA has kept testing information suppressed for various reasons, more than once over the years. I have seen the FDA allow some companies to manipulate them directly and indirectly, money or other involved in these instances. I have seen the FDA deny that they have done so when there own documents state that they have done it. I hate to say u can't trust these guys in everything but u can't trust them cause they have turned into a money maker seraching for companies to send lobbyiest to them. It is really making me angry cause we all trust them with so much and they used to be better at serving our needs around the safety of so many sectors. Now, I gotta find out from a news or newspaper report about the truth on prescription medications and how some drug companies and in other cases the fda itself suppressed studies about harmful side effects. It really PMO or angers me. I don't care what u take or if ur doctor prescribed it too u. Do research and hope that all the research is out there for u to get the truth around the medicines and supplements. That's all we got. By the way don't tell me this is not a reality cause it was always the next step after doctors and hospitals started getting money from drug companies to use there drugs over other's drugs. The fda was the obvious next step. Go to the source first and if u can't aim for it eventually. That's what has happened. Sorry, I did take longer than I had intended but I had to say it for those of us who know and those of us who still trust our OTc and prescirption meds way too much. Lastly, how many of u check ur pills to make sure ur pharmacist gave u the right ones, before just popping them in ur mouth. I bet most of us do, see what I mean. Legit mistakes or Intentional mistakes are capable or hurting us but the intentional ones are inexcusable, esp. at the top where we are putting out trust.

I went the diet pill route, and yes I lost weight but they took the pill off the market so I had to quit taking it and gained most of it back. When I started taking the diet pill I weighed 298 pounds and I am 5'9". When they took it off the market and I gained most of my weight back, I got to 283 pounds then started Weight Watchers. I knew I had to do something, my brother was diabetec and I had blurry vision so was tested for diabetes but they found I was not diabetic, instead I had low blood sugar which can develop into diabetes. I started Weight Watchers, since I dont exercise but walk at work, I knew I had to change my way of eating alot. So now I have most of my food and drinks, sugarfree and fatfree or low fat. Its been a long slow process of losing but I feel it has been worth it. I reached my goal weight in October 2005 of 155 pounds. Saturday when I weighed in at Weight Watchers they told me I had lost 131 pounds. My ideal range is 135-169 but I feel 150-155 is good for me. People at work tell me I am too skinny but as long as I am in the ideal range for me and my BMI is healthy, I just ignore them. All I can say is diet pills are a quick fix. Dont count on them, is my philosophy. But good luck with what ever you decide. Whatever you decide to do, remember Portion control is the key to any weight loss plan or just day-to-day eating.
Have a Good Day,
Lisa

that 3FC is at best 'skeptical' about diet pills - particularly the countless OTC ones out there.

What is it about them anyway? The endless marketing hype? The fact that they are UNREGULATED and you are taking a huge crap shoot in relying on the 'nutrition information' on the side of the bottle being correct? Look...the companies (mostly fly-by-nighters) who peddle these products don't give a crap, for the most part, about how accurate their labeling is. It's not like buying Sudafed, Advil or any OTC medicine out there - because the companies that put those products out are REGULATED by the Government and spend a lot of $$$ in research and quality control. The companies who put out those diet pills AREN'T.

Check out this sticky thread about ConsumerLab's test on some of those products - I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg - mislabeling, 'surprise' ingredients such as lead - you really want to take that chance? Basically the 'active ingredients' in these pills are some form of caffiene or other 'speedy' type of thing, mixed with some cheapass vitamins and (often) a bunch of laxatives/diuretics, but they're lauded (by the marketers) as "all natural".

It's just like all those Hoodia pills that have flooded the market. Even if the pills HAVE ANY hoodia in them...which I doubt...first off, there are a LOT of types of hoodia plants out there (Hoodia definition: the milkweed family of the flowering-plant order Gentianales, including more than 280 genera and about 2,000 species of tropical herbs or shrubby climbers, rarely shrubs or trees) so my guess is that a lot of these marketers might be just taking any kind of hoodia plant, grinding it up and sticking it in these pills - personally I suspect they don't even bother to do that, just put the name "hoodia" on it. Anyways, we have an entire sticky on the topic if you want to check it out.

In case you weren't aware of this, because of the 1994 Supplement Act, the FDA's hands are TIED for the most part. You can read about this here -
How the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 Weakened the FDA

The FDA ain't perfect - but I'd rather trust THEM than a bunch of shysters.

As far as 'doing research' - unless you have a testing lab at your disposal, all one can do is rely on the labeling of these products. And as stated above, one can't even rely on that! Kind of scary if you think about it. Comparing these unregulated 'supplements' with what you get at a licensed pharmacy or the regulated OTC medications is comparing apples and oranges.

IMO, the diet pill/supplement industry is a throwback to the 'patent medicines' of the 1800s/early 1900s - that snakeoil that was said to cure all ills but turned out to be God knows what...usually a bunch of crap mixed with cheap wine or whiskey.

There is, however, one prescription diet pill that is under study right now, the results look promising - we have a sticky here in DIW on Acomplia - and Reuters has a story on this out today actually:

Drug firms eye fat profits from new obesity pills

IMO if this is the 'real deal' or at least something that works in conjunction with diet and exercise - one of the BEST things about Acomplia in my mind is that it will hopefully make most of these overmarketed, overhyped, underregulated diet nostrums GO AWAY - kind of like when Minoxidil came out - before there were COUNTLESS 'miracle hair restore' products being peddled in magazines, TV etc - after Minoxidil was released (and especially after it went to OTC status) the ads seemed to vanish for the most part so I'm hoping the same happens if this stuff actually works. However I think the caveat in the article is also true:

heheh, I was just waiting for Mrs. Jim to show up

Here's the thing--most OTC diet pills will do (or claim to do) one of (or a combination of) 3 things: get rid of water retention, make you feel less hungry, and/or give you more energy. Now, if you're already eating well, drinking plenty of water, and exercising, then what more do you hope to get from a pill? I understand much more those who are just starting out and turn to pills to help them control their appetite or get energized to exercise, but once you're already doing all the right things, what makes you think a pill will help?

Honestly, to bust a plateau, the best advice I've seen (and given) is to adjust your calories and/or exercise. You don't necessarily ned to ADD exercise--just change up your routine. Do more cardio if you're mostly lifting weights, or lift more eights if you're mostly doing cardio I was bumbling around with the same 5 or so pounds for about 3 months while eating only 1200-1300 calories a day, but when I increased my calories to about 1800, I lost 10 pounds in a month. The body is crazy, but it knows what it needs, and sometimes all it needs is change

Ummmm...Mr. Jim tends to hog the computer on the weekends.

We gotta chip in and get you one of your own -- can't be MrsJim-less!

What we *really* need is a wireless internet connection (my sis and BIL have it at their house - so nice to use the Internet unfettered...! but $$$)

Interesting thread. Robot, I keep circling back to your comment about your energy level. Probably other people in this thread know you and what "plan" you're using to lose weight, so I'm offering a couple thoughts in a bit of a vacuum (not know if you're WW, or SB, or calorie counter or what). I agree with the suggestion to maybe shake up your calories a bit day to day, but I think if *I* was dragging that much every day (sounds like you're talking about both a "standing-on-your-feet" tiredness of a work day PLUS some day-to-day carry over fatigue), personally, I would take a week and bump up the amount of food I eat to see how I feel and whether that would affect the scale.

Maybe this is only worth 1 cent, instead of 2 cents

The only thing I have used so far is the One a Day Weight Smart vitamin supplement; as for the other types of pills, I had a violent reaction to Xenical and since I am already on Prozac, Meridian is totally out for me, and I am leery about using other things since I have a cardiac condition.

An insulated lunch carrier with a freezer pack would keep you lunch cold. Thermos containers will keep food hot. There is no reason not to pack a decent lunch. Pills are not the way to go.

Interesting thread ...

I have a great big giant cooler because I cover so much rural and city territory on some days and work in different environments. So I've been making sure I have decent food and don't have to stop at convenience stores.

I kinda skimmed what some people have written but we all know that these supplements are regulated, period. We know about the act that was passed givning supplements a free pass to do what ever they want. They still are allowed to make insane claims, and this can be enforced. While still a weak enforcement it would be a good avenue to enforce some control. Anyway, I think people are still kinda foolish to believe that prescription meds are safe cause a doctor is the one prescibing them. The FDA has there hands tied when it comes to prescription meds too, not only with supplements. While the degree of what can be done to control them seems huge on paper, it's just that people, paper. Only cause a company gives u a paper giving u a warranty doesn't mean ur safe. It's ur body ur the one who has to take care of it. They don't care if u compain to some consumer complaints area cause they know the law is gonna be on there side in the end, cause they got the money and they got the power, and that's why believing ur safe cause the FDA says it's safe doesn't make it so. Seriously, why do u think they are trying to form an independent board of some kind. They are just another party in the system waiting for a payday. Tylenol is safe when taken properly, yes I do agree and believe it, and it's been proven through independent studies that back up the info provided by the FDa. Yet, new independent studies on meds that the FDA found not to be safe were let out to hurt people. Where's the protection. I guess the warranty will give those people there health back or maybe even some money to handle the new health problems caused by the FDA approved meds. Oh wait, they won't. This article is only one example http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in674302.shtml

Remember when reading this article that all the info this guy gave on the drugs he said were dangerous ended up being supported by other research. He was the one who even got us to ask if he was lying for personal gain or if he was telling the truth. He was in the end telling the truth. He may gain but as long as we benefit so be it, that's my stance.

I like the robot avatar, is that your tattoo? I see that you work at Hot Topic, so I'll bet it is. *LOL*

The only pill that ever worked for me was Metabolife when it still had ephdra in it. Worked great . . . but I became addicted to it. Dangerously so. You really need to be very very careful b/c it is so easy to become dependant on the idea they impose on you.