EVENING EVERYBUDDY

I just wanted to give everyone a PAT ON THE BACK!! It's been SEVEN WHOLE DAYS since anyone posted anything here. Maybe...just Maybe we're finally learning the IF IT LOOKS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE....IT PROBABLY IS!
The sooner we all realize THERE IS NO MAGIC BULLET, the better off we'll all be.
CONGRATS TO ALL

I had also noticed the lack of postings on the Scams board... I've always had the impression that the posters on 3FC are much more aware than those on other boards I've been on!

MrsJim
265/156/145

I totally agree. Actually there was a funny joke I heard about that. The joke was titled, "News Headlines In 2050". One of the headlines was, "Scientific Evidence That Healthy Eating And Exercise Sure Way To Lose Weight". *LOL*

I was surfing last night and came across a site called weightlosscontrol.com I clicked on and was amazed at what it was the had about 9 or 10 different "diet pill formulas" I don't know why you would need that many, or what the difference in them could be, but they were there.
They also had a message board and I spent quite a while reading it. Every message talked about how GREAT the particular pill they were taking was. What I found extremely interesting was that all the post were from people who had just started taking the pills. There were no posts form anyone who had taken any of them for any length of time, or from anyone who had lost more that 5 or 6 pounds. I guess everyone who had taken them longer than a couple of weeks had already found out they didn't work an no longer felt like posting on the site.

I am always amazed at how defensive people get when they feel you're 'putting down' the latest weight-loss gimmick -- be it Slim Fast, Atkins, whatever -- just as you stated so eloquently in your post, for the most part the poster(s) is in the 'honeymoon phase' of using the product.

Products promising 'fast weight loss' are at best, a waste of your money, and at worst, downright dangerous...I myself spent hundreds - maybe thousands - of dollars for years until I figured out that the only way to true permanent weight loss is to 'educate thyself!' on proper nutrition and exercise (easily done through your local library or on the Net - but watch it - if the site in question is selling a product, I would take their info with a HUGE grain of salt!) and making PERMANENT, LIVEABLE lifestyle changes...That's how I've kept off over 100 pounds for over 10 years...

Mrs.Jim why do you always refer to slimfast when talking about fast weightloss and gimmicks? It is ANYTHING BUT FAST! If .5-2 lbs a week is fast then call me speedy! Slimfast has been around for over 15 years and much success! You only put it down because YOU don't like it. I don't like salads, but I don't put them down! Or say the people who enjoy them are using weightloss gimmicks like lowfat?

I have tried the little meals through out the day stuff but I was ALWAYS hungry!! I only started slimfast one day to try it since I had some and found "my god Im not hungry like usual" at lunch time.I also had no donut cravings as usual! When I ate cereal or something or even a fruit shake at 9am I was starving by 11am!

Why is it so damn hard to accept that we are all different and like different things be it shakes or small meals??? It is not a gimmick and yes I get defensive because it really worked for me quite well after trying everything there was out there! I had on average over 30 grams of fat a day and 1400 calories on it some days.It all went on my appetite.I had no more cravings and no more binges.I also saved $250 a month on food I was eating ie: salads,lowfat everything! 1 $20 dollar can lasted all month!

I am just getting so sick of seeing this lack of support for peoples choices. Isn't this a support forum? You know the slimfast drinkers will read this. Of course we get defensive. Its what we really like! Leave it at that without critisizing us!

Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinions. You are entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to my opinion.

You say "Slim-Fast is anything but fast!" By its very name, Slim-Fast purports that if you are on their product, you will get slim, fast. I remember well when Slim-Fast was first introduced - it didn't sell really well until Oprah Winfrey went on Optifast and lost 67 pounds -- Thompson Medical (the manufacturers of Slim-Fast and Dexatrim) then jumped on the liquid diet bandwagon with a multi-million dollar ad campaign to take advantage of that.

I'll quote Michael Fumento from "Fat of the Land":

"At one time, diet drinks (such as Slim-Fast, Ultra-Slim-Fast, Dyna Trim, and Nestle's Sweet Success) were all the rage. By 1990, they were a $1.3-billion business, and hawked by numerous former fatties, ranging from LA Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda to former New York Mayor Ed Koch to TV personality Williard Scott. But Scott and Lasorda became fat again (I haven't seen Koch lately to judge) and diet drink sales have plummeted - 44% just between 1991 and 1992. Why? Probably because everyone else was having Willard Scott's and Tommy Lasorda's experience..."

Now, I have used Slim-Fast, as have members of my family and friends. I was also on Optifast in 1990 and dropped from 265 to 207 pounds during the 12 week fast and have kept that off (as well as lost more) for over ten years. However, I do not necessarily recommend Optifast or other VLCDs, mainly because of the extremely low maintenance rate for most of the women in the 18-month Stanford study which I was participating in at the time - and we all want PERMANENT weight loss, don't we? The real problem I have with many of these products is the slick marketing technique many of the commercial diet products and programs use. The title of one book put it so well - many of those companies are truly "Feeding On Dreams" - the dreams that many of us have of being thin, normal, like everyone else.

My feeling is, if someone asks a question about their experiences on a certain diet plan, whether good or bad, everyone has the right to post their opinions and/or experience with that plan or product. I assume that if someone is wondering about a certain product or plan, they want a truthful, heartfelt, educated answer and that is what I strive to give.

One more thing -- I am not being critical of you or anyone using Slim-Fast - again, if you'll read my posts, I'm actually critical of the diet industry. Don't take it personally!!!

WHY MUST ONE PERSON ALWAYS COME ALONG AND RUIN A GOOD THREAD???

KENNEDY: Yes, this is a support forum, but this is not a support thread! The KEY WORD here is SCAMS....
Yes, some people lose weight on "liquid" diets, but the majority DON'T...If you have and have successfully kept it off, then CONGRATS TO YOU...

I don't recall seeing your name addressed in the above mentioned post, so I agree with MRS JIM...DON'T TAKE IT PERSONAL!!

Just wanted to say thanks so much...

...and I LOVE the smilie on your post!!! How come I never noticed it before - ROTFL!!!

Take care all!

MRS. JIM,

Thanks, I just get SO TIRED of the negativity I see on this board at times. I'm a member of the SUGAR BUSTER
board, and WE JUST DON'T HAVE THIS AT ALL!! I find it hard to cope when I visit other boards and see it "raring" up in my face. People JUST DON'T GET IT
I appreciate all the trouble you go to in your posts, and enjoy EVERY ONE OF THEM~

Of course all of these things are scams - IF THEY DIDN'T WORK FOR YOU!!! Things that work for someone are considered to be wonderful and the best things ever. Some perspective is necessary here. Get a grip. Carleen... (Yes, I'm a little grumpy today.)

Why would you say I am ruining the thread. Thats just not neccesary. The reason I take it personal may be that I have raging hormones and a bit of grumpiness from 24 hour bedrest and pregnancy but I have done slimfast ALOT and it worked great for me. It just seems whenever someone posted about it all they got was negativity from people who tried it for a week and it didn't work or people who tried it and regained the weight saying there choice is a fad diet and won't keep the weight off. How would you feel if everyone always put it down? I have tried it and kept the weight off when I was done so I get defensive because it is a liquid diet but if it is a fad diet then are protein shakes and what not. I don't have time to make my own fruit or protein shake in the AM so I drink slimfast. My OB also recomended it for vitamins this pregnancy I need when I can't swallow the big prenatal vitamin. I just don't like to hear that I "ruined" a good thread by telling how I felt. I wasn't being negative I was being honest. How was I negative for defending a choice? If anything I was trying to stop the negativity !!Maybe if I said something like I have seen in other threads recently from simply mean ladies trying to hurt people(Ive seen 2 or 3) but I didn't. I wouldn't. So I was just saying try putting something like Herbalife in place of slimfast...then you have your scam and fad diet. Slimfast costs less than food except for dinners and snacks and herbalife was over 350 a month for me didn't work and tasted like dirt to top it all off. I just think slimfast is good for people who have no time in the day and whon love chocolate. Like me. If you want to keep the weight off its easy so I don't consider it a fad diet since it takes a while to lose the weight and isn't going anywhere. I hope that explains what I meant. Im a little upset from bedrest and not being able to go out so maybe I let it come out in my earlier post.

I am a member of Weight Watchers and I did the Slim-Fast diet before rejoining WW for the LAST time. For me, Slim-Fast is convenient, so when I run errands at lunchtime and don't have time for a meal, I grab a Slim-Fast from the fridge here at work. A can of Slim-Fast for a quick lunch, which I can drink at my desk after my lunch break ends, is only 4 points on my WW plan. It prevents me from becoming hungry which would cause me to overeat when I get home. Just my 2 cents....

Let's try and blow this one over nicely before it gets out of hand. This is probably the most controversial section of the whole forum. We have a lot of opinions that mix together here to state opinions on scam/not scam. On WW we mostly have people happy on their plan, on low carbs the people there are mostly satidfied on their plan, etc etc.

On this page we have potluck and there is bound to be some differences in opinions. Lets take them as individual opinions and let it go. We ALL will never agree on things, but we CAN agree to blow off steam before reacting with our emotional side on the forum. Thanks!

Congrats on your great weight loss! May I ask what
kind of program you've been following? Thanks!

Girlie