So my two best friends and I are doing a friendly weight loss competition that is 20 weeks long and ends on Memorial Day. We are on week 12 and so far I have lost almost twice what my friends have lost but I also think i've been working twice as hard.

My problem is that one of these girls decided this week she is going to pay a weight loss clinic $250 to give her some appetite suppressants and put her on a 500 cal/day diet. On this plan she is supposed to lose a pound a day which would obviously blow my 1-2lb/week losses out of the water and if she sticks to it, she'll surely win.

She has been a yo-yo dieter all her life, trying every new diet and losing weight only to stop and gain it all back plus some. She is my best friend and I want what's best for her but I don't understand why she can't just lose weight the old fashioned way- that is, watching what she eats and exercising. It just bums me out that I have worked so hard for more than half this competition only to be potentially beaten in the end by someone who basically didn't do anything but take some pills. It's almost like she's cheating but I would never say that to her because I know how important it is to her to lose weight. I'm not mad, just kind of bummed out and I'm just wondering what y'all think about this and how you would feel and/or handle it? Thanks in advance!

That sucks! Just stay focused and remember you're losing weight for you. Let her waste her money and even if she's wins her weight loss, as you said, will be temporary. As you know, it's a lifestyle change and you're in it for the long haul! So chin up! Next stop,slim and sexy!

It sounds like the competition is pretty serious between you and your friends! It can be disappointing when a friend makes what looks to be a bad choice, but I know for myself, I made a lot of bad choices in my dieting history.

My advice, for what it's worth, is to be supportive of your friend. That doesn't mean you have to support her choices or methods.

Plus, in my experience, appetite suppressants? Not gonna keep you on 500 calories a day. It's more likely than not that your friend is going to be disappointed with her plan, not lose as much weight as they promise, and may even gain more than she loses in the end and she'll need you to be there when that happens.

If the magic pills work, and she drops the weight, try to be happy for her and do what you can to help her keep it off this time.

Even if she wins, she's doing it the wrong way and will certainly gain it back. Keep doing it the healthy way and even if you lose, being healthy will feel better than winning a silly contest.

That doesnt sound healthy. Take comfort in the fact that you are giving yourself time to develop healthy habits, so while she continues to yoyo diet you have skills to fail back on during your loss and maintenance

Thanks ladies. I'm not only bummed about the competition but also about the fact that she doesn't see how this is unhealthy because they monitor her and such during it. She's done this before and gained all the weight back, but she says it's different this time, more "convenient" whatever that means. Oh, and she started today and the first two days she's supposed to eat anything and everything- as much as she wants, whatever she wants and the 500 cal/ day starts Wednesday. Wth?

I'm just going to support her and keep up with our competition because it's a great accountability tool and I love to see my friends make progress. I just hope she really is able to keep it off this time.

Thanks for all your feedback!

well, just know that when she gains all that weight back because being on a 500 calorie a day diet wont last forever, you'll still be skinny and she'll be back in square one.

and she'll be out of a lot of money!

It sounds like an HCG plan...not safe and sort of scary.

Well, we all know how it is, some people just aren't ready to go at it for the long haul and want the quick and easy way out. Those VLCDs (very-low-calorie diets) are so scary. People think it's okay because a doctor "supervises" the VLCD. We all here know that really those diets send the body into starvation mode and therefore will never work for long term weight loss. You, on the other hand, are doing it correctly, safely, and will manage to continue to lose weight a couple weeks from now (assuming she won't be able to stick to her "diet plan") and will be able to keep it off as well. I'm sorry you friend isn't ready for the real world. The other ladies are right, you can only support her despite her poor decision.

I thought it was supposed to be a friendly weight-loss competition?

Anyways, remember that you're losing naturally, and you'll keep it off. Once your friend starts eating a regular and normal diet and a regular and normal calorie amount, she'll gain weight. That's how it works for most people. Sure, she'll probably win the competition, but she might not win in the long run, because she'll gain.

You can't tell someone that what they're doing is unhealthy, unfortunately. She won't listen... maybe she'll listen when she gains the weight back and is out $250.

I would just support her and keep going about my own business. You know that what your doing is healthy no matter who the "winner" is at the end of the competition. I can kind of see where your friend is coming from too, I have taken those diet pills that knocked 30-40 lbs right off of me. They did work but the whole time I was barely eating and was always in a cranky mood. I didn't gain the weight back until I got pregnant and then I could never lose it own my own after pregnancy. So while she's taking the quicker/easier route you are making big changes in your life that will stick. And you know what? She may not even stick with the pills and then envy you for your smart planning and dedication. She may even start cloning your routine when she realizes it's the healthier way to go and it really works.

Yikes its so hard when someone youre that close to is making mad decisions! Like everyone said, as hard as it is just try to be supportive, and when she gains it back you can hopefully be even more supportive and help her learn the right way to go!

To be honest I don't think I would be able to support my friend in this, not because I would feel she is cheating (because it might work for her, though I doubt it), but because from personal experience pills can be so damaging to ones health.

When I was a teenager (I was 13 at the time) I went to this supposed all new-age nutritionist to lose weight and she gave me some pills that were supposed to be food supplements and appetite repressants to boost the weight loss. Long story short, the pills did some serious damage on my kidneys and had to spent a whole year in the hospital getting checked every day for fear I might lose both my kidneys. The nutritionist was eventually arrested by the police because it was discovered her degree was fake.

So I get really mad when people I know use pills (that means without health issues added of course) to lose weight. It just made me so aware on how somethings might be harmful in the long run. So if I were in your positiong, I would have probably went through a long rant on how pills like them can be bad for you(I am actually guilty of doing that when my best friend wanted to lose weight through pill intake).

I've posted on this site a few times about my friend who did this same diet. I had been losing weight for quite some time when she started and was just reaching the point where people were starting to notice. Then she started this plan and caught up to me in no time. She lost 55 lbs in 5 months. Not only did she lose MUCH faster than me, but she's 6 inches shorter than me too. It was definitely kind of a bummer from the selfish standpoint. I suddenly felt so huge and like I was doing nothing. No one could stop talking about how she looked so completely different every time we saw her!

But, jealous as I was of her results, I also know that there is NO WAY I could do that program. She said it would work for her because the results would keep her motivated to keep it off. But to me, that program looked like torture. Most of her meals were protein shakes and occassionally a piece of broiled chicken. ugh!

She quit the program in December. She hasn't reached her goal weight but she definitely looks great. She, fortunately, did not suffer any medical issues in association with this diet. Right after quitting she gained back about 3 lbs (probably from going from a mostly liquid diet back to solid foods). Other than that, she has been diligent and maintained her loss. Now she's trying to build up her fitness, as she didn't exercise at all on that program. She's about 80 lbs smaller than me and has about half my endurance! She plans to lose the rest of her weight through calorie counting. Right now she's just maintaining, but she has a lot going on in her personal life so I'd say she's doing quite well just to manage that. So right now it looks like, extreme as that weight loss plan is, it has worked out for my friend. I hope it works for your friend as well. Personally, I'm satisfied with knowing that it's just SOOOO not for me!