Hey all...I've been looking at this website for the past couple days now and I find it to be very helpful and interesting. You all have some good advice that I've starting using in my daily life. I'm 18 years old and about to enter college in a couple weeks. I'm at my heaviest right now and I'm really unhappy. So, starting on July 8th, i started watching what I was eating and exercising at least 4 times a week and I have lost 7 pounds so far. Now, I know that I should be patient with my weight loss, that I need to change my eating habits to really see any results and keep them and that's what I plan on doing, but tonight on TV I saw an ad for a "weight loss pill" (or something of that nature) that GNC is selling and I'm wondering if anyone has used this product? Does anyone have any information on it? Will it cause health problems? Does it even work? I would appreciate any help. Thank you all.

Chelsea

First off, all those pills pretty much have the same active ingredients...ephedrine/ephedra; caffeine; asperin; chitosan; citrimax...


I'd love to hear from people who have successfully lost and KEPT OFF weight using these pills (by 'keeping off' weight, I mean for at least a year). Personally I don't think they burn fat at all. I mean, a lot of truck drivers take the same pills to stay awake. Go to any truck stop and try and count the thin ones...

Ephedrine/ephedra might perk you up in the morning to get you out the door and to the gym (actually it's the main ingredient in crystal meth BTW) but whether they 'burn fat' is open to speculation.

To lose bodyfat AND KEEP IT OFF, you need to change your eating and exercise habits - and that's for LIFE, not just for the short-term. No pill is going to do that for you.

My two cents...

Chelsa, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably doesn't work. If all the pills that promised to help us lose weight worked, do you think American would have more than 60% of the population overweight? They are all a good way to lose money but not much for the long haul. Be patient, you've gotten a good start. A healthy weight loss is an average of 1-2 pounds per week. Learn good eating habits because they will stay with you and help to keep you healthy all your life.

I have to agree with Mrs. Jim. Although I have used Xenadrine, I recently quit taking it, because of the side effects (not being able to sleep at night, for one...) I *did* lose weight while taking it, but I attribute that to Weight Watchers, not Xenadrine. I was losing a steady 1.5 - 2 pounds per week, which you could probably do very easily watching your diet and getting a moderate amount of exercise. If you're losing more than that per week, it's probably not fat- just muscle and water- and who wants to lose those??

I understand your desire to drop the weight quickly, but I can't tell you how many times during my teen and college years (I'm 23 now) I did NOT follow a certain diet plan (ok, lifestyle makeover plan) because I did not think it would bring results fast enough. So instead, I did NOTHING! (and gained at least 60 pounds over the course of my college years alone!) Think about it: If you lost 1 pound a week, that's 52 pounds in one year- a pretty big difference!

Be patient- the weight will come off if you are truly ready to work at taking it off.

And look at it this way- most girls (and guys, for that matter) gain a good bit when they first go off to college, without even realizing it. YOU, on the other hand, are addressing the problem now, and will likely tackle it better than you would have otherwise.

Good Luck

This article at ESPN.com came to my attention regarding the untimely death of college athlete Rashidi Wheeler, and what part ephedrine/caffeine may have played in his all too early demise...

http://espn.go.com/columns/kreidler/1242205.html

Now, the coroner's office says that ephedrine was not to blame but personally, I feel that the fact that it was in his system at the time of his death is just too much of a coincidence....better safe than sorry, I say. And again, ephedrine IS a banned substance in most organized sports...

I urge anyone who has taken (or thought of taking) ephedra/ephedrine supplements to click on the above link and read it VERY CAREFULLY...

Take care, y'all...

Will they hurt in the long run??

Well, that depends on how you use them. If you are depending on them to do the work for you, than yes. You will gain it back in no time once you stop taking them.

HOWEVER, if you are using them as a temporary stepping stone while you change your eating habits, I think they can be a help. I used them in the beginning to help control my appetite and get me up and exercising. Once that became routine, I stopped taking them and haven't felt the need to take them and am still doing fine. It was like a "jump-start".

No pill is going to make you lose weight, only you can make you lose weight. Nothing is a permanant solution except changing your lifestyle. Wish you luck..
Jen

I would never take those diet pills... Not only they are useless for long-term weight loss, they can also have dangerous side effects and put your health at risk.

The ONLY way to really lose weight is by eating a healthy diet and excersising.

These pills are considered to have dangerous side effects, however, less then 20 deaths have ever been attributed to them. So they are not extremely or even modeartly dangerous in that context. But THERE ARE DANGERS. And you should never, ever take more then what the bottles reccomend and you should probably take much less and quit immedatiely if you notice anything like not being able to sleep start to happen. I will not dispute what others are saying about them being dangerous.

I happen to take cayenne daily. There are many varieties of cayenne and the 'cool cayenne' type doesn't burn in your stomach. It is a natural appetite surpresent and studies have found it actually does increase metabolism. It is 100% natural. I have read articles where herablists have said if they could have only one herb with them, only one, they would choose cayenne (it has a number of other positive effects). That is very high praise.

Patience and doing the things you are doing will make all the difference, though. I found having 5 and 10lb goals really help and time is much less important then doing the right things and moving in the right direction. If you do that, the weight will take care of itself. But you might want to try cayenne. Even if it doesn't increase your metabolism it does work as a natural appetite surpresent for me, so that may be of benefit to you.