So, even though we know that we should avoid the infomercial weightloss products that usually come as a stir in powder or an easy tablet, how many of us still kind of get sucked into thinking it will work in helping to lose weight?

Better yet, what type of weight loss products, such as Sensa or Quicktrim (no, I don't support them, just the ones I can think of) can help us to get a jump start on our weightloss...something to use as a mini-motivator as sometimes losing those first 5lbs helps to give us the lift we need to stay on track with eating healthier, etc.

I ask because I am in a bit of a rut, and losing a bit of weight would really help me to stick with my healthier eating plan.

I thought Alli worked okay for a month or so. My body adjusts to medication quickly, so it stopped working entirely before I finished the first bottle. And of course, my results didn't stick because I wasn't really commited to a healthy lifestyle at that time. But if you really want to take something as a booster, I didn't have any ill effects (except for the intended ones- eating too much fat has some nasty results) from Alli.

I am too afraid of the side effects of alli. I do wonder if that sensa stuff works...just something to help curb my hunger and increase my metabolism.

I used to take this really good green tea pill (mega, I think), but I also took it with all of my other vitamins. It may sound to much like a health nut, but I really do think that talking all of the vitamins, plus the green tea pill really helped me in terms of losing weight, because, I think, they helped to out the level of nutrients I needed at a proper level, which made me not have certain cravings, allowed me to have more energy, etc.

I am going to get some more. Thank you for inspiring me!

I've never really bought into the miracles in a bottle.

What I do swear by is replacing a meal with a smoothie. 8 oz milk, two scoops of protein powder, flax seeds, and frozen fruit--blend and enjoy. I lost over 40 lbs doing that in conjunction with exercise and eating healthy foods for my other meals. I regained over the holidays, but I know what works and I'm back to it.

Do you do the shakes in the evening? Or during the day? Or any time of the day?

to get out of a rut i concentrate on something non-scale related. for me, that's being consistent with my exercise. it could be any healthy habit you're working on though- walking each day, drinking water, trying new veggies...whatever you need to improve on. just pick 1 to work on at a time. HTH.

I don't buy into any of the commercial stuff at all. Zilch, zero, zip. Those are companies that want your money, not your health. They don't give a hoot about you or your longevity. I don't know a single person that has ever successfully used a product and kept off any weight they lost.

The only plan that I have any faith in (other than what has worked for me - honest calorie counting and clean eating) is Weight Watchers, and that is because they give you the tools to learn to eat healthy, and give you a way to do easy calorie counting without for reals counting.

When I am in a rut, I change it up. I was in a rut last month so I switched up my meals and started eating way more protein and dropped most of the grains out of my diet. I also took up some more exercise which definitely helped me.

I know a lot of this weight gain is because I have been eating more carbs than protein, on most days. I need to eat more lean protein, cut back severely on the sugar, and eat more fruits and veggies.

Actually I rather doubt that's true. I think "jump start" plans only make things harder. If you try one and it doesn't result in a substantial loss, you're going to be even more disappointed and frustrated than before. And if you do experience a quick loss, you're not going to want to go back to a healthier eating plan, you're going to want to stick with the quick method. Even if you know it's dangerous, it will be too tempting to stick with the quickest method. And when you stop taking it, or it stops working (and it will stop working, they all do) it's going to be that much harder to go back to a plan that's even slower. Essentially a person gets addicted to the rapid loss, and it becomes difficult to lose weight any other way. "Normal" weight loss feels slow, tedious and frustrating in comparison. You're always trying to recapture the "high" of your peak weight loss.

I put my body through **** in order to lose weight rapidly. If I had chosen the tedious, boring way instead, I would have been thin 25 years ago. Instead I chased the high of rapid weight loss. It's a destructive addiction.

Excellent post and I have to agree!

I like the Hydroxycut drink mixes. I feel like they speed up my metabolism. Not too cheap, but they taste fantastic. I know they made a change to the Hydroxycut formula in the last few years because it was dangerous, so I guess now it probably doesn't work as well, but I think it gives me a little boost. Could be a placebo effect, but if a placebo is helping, so be it!

For me, seeing some type of a reduction is a good boost to keep me motivated and energized to stick with the plan, ya know? If I don't see a change for a long while, then I get unmotivated.

If you don't change that about you, you'll never lose all of the weight you want to, because weight loss by healthy means always slows down. Even rapid weight loss by incredibly unhealthy means like crash dieting, eventually slows down. There is no way to prevent long periods of slow weight loss - not even with the unhealthy gimmicks.

I was on strong, prescription amphetemines as a teenager (when my metabolism was at it's absolute peak), and I lost 70 of the 75 lbs my doctor said I needed to lose - and the weight still slowed down to a snails pace (even on the pills).

When I got to within 5 lbs of my goal, my doctor decided to tell me I needed to lose another 15 lbs. I think he thought my weight loss had slowed down because I got lazy - but I was trying as hard as I could (still taking the amphetamines even though they weren't working very well for appetitie control, I was afraid to stop taking them). I blew a gasket when I was told I needed 15 more pounds to lose instead of 5. I told myself there was absolutely no way I could handle such a long, slow process. I "needed" instant gratification of faster weight loss - and since that wasn't possible - the only remaining option is giving up (after all, what I "needed" wasn't available to me).

My whole life I've been chasing the crash diet "high." It doesn't work in the long run. If you "need" the motivation of rapid weight loss, you're doomed to temporary weight loss, because weight loss always slows down.

And of course, you always tell yourself "this time will be different," "I only need a jump start, after a few pounds my motivation will be strong enough to go back to a healthy (slow) diet." But it never works out that way - you ALWAYS need the "quick fix" and you'll always give up when the weight loss becomes "demotivating."

You have to find a way to be motivated, even when the weight loss is slow, because it's going to get slow.

If you somehow miraculously make it to goal weight - it's going to be just as hard to stay motivated, if you need the constant reinforcement of losing - because with maintenance there never is any change on the scale to pat yourself on the back with.

I know you don't want to believe me, and I'm not sure why I'm wasting my breath, but I would so love to prevent at least one person from having to learn the "hardway," the way I did. Maybe it won't be you, but maybe it will be someone reading this thread. I sure hope so.