When I'm using fitday, I'm always amused by the banner adds that crop up. Most of them are diet related, as is to be expected. Jenny Craig, LA weight loss, protein supplements. I was a little more surprised to see an insulin delivery system. Milky Way was pretty surprising.

This morning one caught my eye: the size zero patch. I clicked on it (something I almost never do). The site was chock full of before and after pics, blathering copy, and of course a place to buy these patches. No actually information, like what was in the patches, how it works, studies on efficacy or safety. Nothing! You should have seen the claims! 112 lbs in 6 weeks? Yeah, right. How can they get away with that!

Sad thing is, I understand the appeal. I know there's no quick fix, but wouldn't it be nice if there were? I know I'd still have to struggle, figuring out a way I can sustainably eat only what I need. But wouldn't it be nice to go through that struggle now, thin, than the couple years down the road it'll take me to get there.

In a few years/decades there WILL be a quick fix I suppose, but not like these crappy scams. Science has offered already so much to medicine, this will be just another step.

Diet products aren't regulated by the FDA so that's my understanding of how they get away with it. That and people buy it.

I'm going to make a diet product. I'm going to get regular bottles of water, charge $5 a bottle, and tell people to drink 2 a day in place of meals and then a sensible dinner and they will LOSE weight. Oh and I'll tell them no exercise needed. And for proprietary reasons I won't say what's in them but that it's completely safe

And then I'll be a millionaire

There is a sucker born every minute <--- has always been a fact of life. Truth is, humans in general want to do the least amount of effort possible to achieve their goals. Few people like the challenge of hard work.

Yes to what Sacha said. It's amazing what people are willing to believe for a lack of effort. A magic bullet with no side effects (or even minimal side effects) is a huge cash cow, and promising the same without delivering can still net a good amount of suckers.

Can I join you in this venture?

lol sure

It only recently occurred to me how long that sort of thing has been around- I'm quite a fan of old music and an online radio broadcast I was listening to included a vintage ad from either the 1920's or the 1930's for Marmola "anti-fat" tablets. Out of curiosity, I did a little research on those tablets and they apparently contained dried thyroid glands of various animals and laxatives- which was, of course, dangerous, but advertised as an effective and safe way to lose weight for several decades. I'm pretty sure the company began before the 1910's and even by that time there were doctors who knew that it wasn't safe. People still bought it up, though.

It's amazing to me that in year 2011 that sort of thing still goes on and there are still people who fall for it.

my weight loss buddy is on the same plan as I am - she has less to lose than me and her weightloss has been wonderful an on par with mine. Last week someone suggested these chinese diet pills to her an she started them with the hope of even faster fat loss. She asked if I wanted to try them, but I'm quite paranoid about that sort of thing. It's sad to see her suffering from side-effects (sleeplessness, afternoon fatigue, upset stomch) and though she's losing weight, she is still dieting and was losing weight prior to taking the pills.

It makes me mad that ppl can get away with making outrageous claims, I just hope that she's only wasting her money and is not risking her health.

I wish there was a magic patch. I'd be willing to where it on my big ole fourhead