I'm testing out The Pink Patch!!
 

I have seen messages on various forums and sites asking if The Pink Patch actually works and lots of people ridiculing it and saying all you need to do is eat less and exercise more which, as we all know, is easier said than done.

Well, I am putting myself forward as a guinea pig. I have ordered the free 6-day trial sample and will be reporting on my findings here.

A bit about me: I have struggled with my weight all my life. I like to eat. I like the feel of nice things in my mouth (no jokes please) and I like to feel full. I like eating things that are bad for me because they taste good. I'm a bad person evidently.

I have lost weight before - I dropped almost 5 stone a couple of years ago to hit 10st 4 which I was pleased with. Then I got pregnant. I had my baby last December and I put quite a lot on during my pregnancy which I have been steadily losing since then at a very satisfying rate of about 2 lbs a week. But about 4 weeks ago I hit a plateau and despite doing the same things I have been doing since December, I have been struggling to lose. The Pink Patch claims to suppress appetite and I have a tendency to get the munchies, so if it will suppress my appetite then that's a good thing.

I am HUGELY sceptical - I really don't think it will work. But I am willing to gamble £1.95 on the offchance that it will make enough of a difference to kick start my weight loss again and let me go back to losing my 2 lbs a week.

When they arrive I will be writing a little bloggy type thing every day including my weight which as of this morning was 162.5 lbs on my digital scales - that's 11 stone 8.5 lbs in English.

Good for you..I wanna know if it works for you, because I wanna try it out too.

Where do you find these patches for food control. I'd be very interested.

Do an internet search with these words: the pink patch and it will come up.

It has these ingredients:

Proprietary Formula:
Fucus Vesiculosus
Extract
5-HTP
Guarana
Zinc Pyruvate
Yerba Mate
Flaxseed Oil
Lecithin
L-Carnitine

I can't imagine that it would have a high enough concentration of any of these things in a small patch to make a real difference.

I don't know anything about it, however, when I dropped it into a search engine (along with the word reviews) I saw a couple of people complaining that the free trial put them onto an automatic payment plan that was hard to cancel. If you've already ordered it, check the fine print and find out what you have to do to stop the next shipment. If it works for you that's fine, then order more, but watch you don't spend months trying to cancel it.

To be fair, I suspect they were reviews shipped in North America, but just thought I'd mention it.

I did see that you had to cancel the agreement within 14 days of receiving the free trial, but it shouldn't be hard to cancel. It says to check the instructions that come with the free trial to find out how to cancel.

I wonder if you can just keep ordering the free trial over and over - there's probably something in place to prevent that - card number recognition or something.

They sent an email overnight saying it was 'in transit' so maybe it'll come today!!

Yay - it's here! So the test period starts today.

Day 1 - weight 161.6 lbs.

I have just put it on so no noticeable effects as such so far, apart from a slight apprehension/excitement feeling! I will report back in a few hours. My danger times tend to be evenings when I get the munchies so if I can get through tonight without feeling hungry that will be good.

Day 1

Weight 161.6 (11 st 7.6 lbs)

9.30am - put patch on

10.00am - got sudden burst of energy - did some cleaning and washing up.

10.30am - noticed touch of headache.

10.40am - took painkillers

11.00am - stomach just rumbled rather alarmingly so am having a banana.

12.45pm - I was starving for my lunch at 12.15pm but had the piano tuner in so had to wait. Was definitely ready for it - stomach growling and everything.

6.30pm - had my tea about an hour ago and, again I was very ready for it. I was so hungry while it was cooking I had a bowl of dry cheerios to keep me going. This appetite suppressor doesn't seem to have kicked in yet and I've had a headache all day. I have been reading reports that it kicks in after about a day so hopefully tomorrow should be a little better. Don't like the headache though.

9.30pm - well, I did have some snacks this evening but one big difference I noticed is that I didn't want any coffee this evening at all. I felt like I did when I was pregnant and just the thought of coffee was nauseating! I am also extremely tired, which could just be five months of broken nights catching up with me. I will probably go to bed in half an hour or so. Will post my weight tomorrow morning and see if it has gone down any.

Day 2

Weight 161.6 (exactly the same)

I sent them an email cancelling the autopay yesterday and received confirmation this morning. it was actually sent last night but I went to bed early so only got it this morning.

Weight has not gone down, but at least it hasn't gone up.

I don't have a headache today so that's good - it's not worth it if you have to put up with a constant headache.

I slept very well though - from about 10.00 till 4.30 when bebe woke up and shouted at me till I came to get her.

this is definetly interesting, all in the name of science and other dieters ay hehe... hope it does somthing good soon :-)

Day 2

Weight - 161.6 (lost - 0)

9.00 - put second patch on.

12.00 - no noticeable effects so far. Had grapes for morning snack. I weighed out more than I usually have as, once I threw away the ones that had gone manky there was 150g left so I had them instead of my usual 100g. But I didn't finish them, when normally I would have gobbled them up. I only had about half, went out to Morrison's and had the rest when I came home. Had lunch - soup and bread.

I also didn't have a mid-morning coffee. If there is caffeine in this patch as someone said there was, that would explain the lack of caffeine cravings. Which is good as I like my coffee milky and that adds calories. Although I did have one at lunch time. But 3 per day (one with each meal) is better than 6 per day (one with each meal, plus mid-morning, mid-afternoon and evening).

I confess yesterday I did feel odder than I let on - a bit dizzy and sick. I didn't want the patch to be making me feel ill. But today I feel fine - just normal.

4pm - felt peckish so had 1 oz dry cheerios for reasonably healthy snack. Whole grain, you know!

5pm - had tea and cup of coffee. Still no sign of headache!!

8.45pm - not really noticing any signs of wanting to snack at the moment although it could be psychological. But the tummy isn't rumbling like it was yesterday.

11pm - and so to bed. I feel like I've done pretty well today.

Day 3

Weight 161.1 (loss of 0.5 lbs)

Looks good, but my weight has been bouncing between 160.9 and 162.5 for the last four weeks, so this is nothing unusual. If I can get it below 160.9 this week, that will be a result.

I have also come to the conclusion that the amount I have been eating recently is now my maintenance diet so I am going to have to actually reduce my calories a bit!! If I understand the way it works, the Pink Patch doesn't help you to lose weight and still eat the same stuff, it helps you to eat less by stopping the cravings - you do still actually have to eat fewer calories.

Yesterday I logged 1397 cals. Today I'm going to try to log under 1300, which should be a weight loss diet for anyone!

Day 3

Weight - 161.1

10.00am - put on Pink Patch

11.00am - tummy started to rumble on cue, so had 100g grapes for snack.

12.30pm - had nice healthy hi-protein lunch - 4 crackerbreads with scrape of of marg and nice big tub of virtually fat free cottage cheese. And cup of coffee (OK, perhaps that wasn't quite so healthy, but think of the calcium!).

2.00pm - got peckish again so had my 1 oz of dry cheerios. Didn't have any coffee though.

5pm - had tea.

6pm - had to put up with a ranting visit from my idiot next door neighbour about the noise we were making (my small daughter was practising the piano). Apparently since we moved the piano into the back room (several months ago) it has become 'unbearable'. We play the piano at all times of the day and night (usually about 3pm for me for about 30-45 minutes, and tea time for my daughter for about 15 minutes) and the other day there was someone playing scales for hours on end (that would be the piano tuner who was here for an hour and comes once a year). I ask you!

I asked what she suggested we do and apparently we should move it back into the front room. Um, no - it cost me £50 to get some nice men to come and move all the furniture round for me. I prefer it the way it is thanks.

So she stomped off in a huff when I didn't agree to instantly stop and never play the piano ever again. Hello - I'm a music teacher!!

Today's calories logged - 1304.

Here's hoping for a loss tomorrow.

Day 4

Weight 160.5 (Total loss - 1.1 lbs)

Result! I haven't managed to get below 160.9 in four weeks!

Would you recommend this to anyone?

Day 4

Weight - 160.5 (total loss so far 1.1 lb)

9.30am - put new patch on. Interesting point - the first two days i put them on my buttocks (sorry!), but yesterday I put it on my upper abdomen. When I took the third one off this morning there was a red mark and a slight sprinkling of a rash when with the previous two there had been no mark. So if anyone was considering using this, it is better to put it somewhere where the skin is less sensitive, or experiment with different places. It didn't hurt and it wasn't itchy. I've put today's on my lower back.

10.45am - tummy rumbling again - had 1 oz of dry cheerios. About to go out for a walk in this nice sunshine. Am half way through my cheerios and I feel like I'm forcing myself to finish them! Interesting.

1.15pm - we had a lovely walk in the sunshine for an hour and a half. Best way of getting exercise! Who wants to jig about in front of the TV doing workouts when you can just go out and walk in the sunshine? And I got some summer dresses for Bebe. Had lunch - ham sandwiches and sugar free jelly. That little rash is still there on my tummy but it is fading.

Going to do my piano practice now and annoy the neighbours!

7pm - I had tea at 6pm. I didn't have an afternoon snack this afternoon so I was hungry. But I am quite full now. Because I had no snack, I had half an oz more rice than I had planned - 1.5 oz instead of 1 oz so I am nice and full.

9pm - this is interesting. I've just been rooting around in the kitchen for something to eat. not because I'm hungry, because I'm not, but because i need to eat something to make my calories up to 1300. But I'm not actually hungry. At all. Hmmm! I had some grapes.

ETA: Cals logged today 1307

I don't know yet.

When I've finished the 6 day trial, limiting myself to 1300 calories day, I'm going to log another 6 days, again limiting myself to the same calories seeing a) if I lose the same amount of weight and b) if I start to get cravings again.

I think it works (if it works) not by letting you eat what you like and lose weight, but by making it easier for you to eat less. So in theory someone using this patch eating 1300 cals a day would lose the same whether they wore the patch or not, but it makes it easier to eat that amount by supposedly eliminating the cravings. So you still have to eat less.

Whether or not it has any actual effect or whether it's just a placebo I don;t know.

To find that out we'd have to have a proper study with a group wearing the genuine article and a group wearing fake ones, but none knowing what they were wearing. Then have them all keep a diary and compare the results. As far as I know no such study has been done.

Day 5

Weight 160 (lost so far 1.6 lbs)

Well, it's still coming off! My pre-Easter chocolate lowest weight was 159.6 so I'd love to be below that tomorrow. Then I'd be my lowest weight since Bebe arrived. Then I can finally change my ticker too!

Day 5

Weight - 160 (lost 1.6 lb)

9.00am - put patch on. There was a slight mark with this one I took off too, but not as bad as the day before. I put the new one on my bum today - it seems to be the safest place.

9pm - well I haven't been keeping notes today as it's been a busy day but I have been good. Unlike yesterday when I was rooting around for calories, today I ate more in the day and didn't have any left.

I have been hungry though this evening so I've had to make myself not snack. Well, I say hungry, but the tummy hasnt rumbled - it's the kind of hunger that's in the mind!! The kind that this patch is supposed to stop.

So I've had to find my iron willpower. I have just enough calories left for a cup of coffee, which I am now enjoying.

Cals logged today - 1306

Day 6

Weight 159.2!! (total loss 2.4 lb)

YES! I finally beat my previous low. I can change my ticker now!

Today will be tricky as we always have Sunday lunch at my mum's which involves roast chicken, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding and gravy. And I LOVE chicken skin, even though (or probably because( it's the fattiest part of the bird.

So if I have one potato and one yorkshire, and not too much gravy, and be good for the rest of the day, I should be OK. But I do like my Sunday dinners.

well done, this is great to see it working for you. are u exercising aswell as the ridgid plan and patch??

When the weather allows I go out for nice long walks. I've just got myself a cool new jogger stroller, so I might invest in a good sports bra and start jogging a bit.

Day 6

Weight - 159.2 (lost 2.4 lbs)

1.45pm - whoops I took my old patch off this morning before my shower and I only just remembered to put the new one on just now!!

Anyway, nothing to report. Had breakfast at about 9-ish, lunch at 12.30-ish. Was hungry for it, but didn't have a morning snack. We are going to mum and dad's for Sunday dinner, so I won't be able to have an afternoon snack. The danger there is that I get very hungry for my tea and want to eat more. Also she is forever pushing sausages on me. She KNOWS I'm trying to lose weight but each week she asks me if I want a sausage and I have to refuse, which hurts beause I loved sausages roasted with the chicken. I wish she just didn't ask me then I wouldn't have to say no.

And sometimes she produces ice cream for afters! So I don't know if I'll have lost weight tomorrow. It's easy to not eat fattening food when you don't have it in the house, but when people put things in front of your nose, it's harder to refuse.

10.00pm - well it was OK, I didn't have a sausage and I only had one potato. Yay me! And no ice cream. And I had enough calories left over when we got home for a big mug of coffee and an oz of cheerios for a snack.

Total cals logged today: 1334

So today is the last patch, so tomorrow I'll sum up the 6 days and start a new 6 day period without the patch where I match my average cals for the last six days then compare the weight loss and note any change in snacky cravings along the way.

End of 6 day trial period.

Start weight: 161.6
End weight: 158.9

Weight lost 2.7 lb

Average cals per day: 1367

-------------------------------

So now this is Day 1 of the control period, where I try to match my calories, but don't wear the Pink Patch and see if the weight loss is comparable.

Day 1

Starting weight - 158.9 lb (11 stone 4.9)

I'm really glad you're doing this! I keep seeing the ads for the pink patch and wondering if it is worth getting the free trial or not. I am very interested to see what your results are over the next 6 days! :)

Day 1 of not wearing Pink Patch

Weight 158.9

5.45pm - Well, I'd been Ok up till now. Had breakfast, morning snack, lunch and we've been out most of the afternoon. Was hungry when we came home so had tea at 5.00pm. I've just been making my daughter's tea as she's been playing at a friend's and I'm still ravenous! I feel like I could have eaten all her tea up too!

I only have 200 calories left and 5 hours till bedtime.

8.30pm - well that ravenousness went away. I just had my oz of cheerios snack and I have enough cals for a nice big mug of coffee to have while I do my ironing in a while.

Cals logged today - 1354

Day 2 of not wearing Pink Patch

Weight: 159.2

Well, it's actually gone up a touch! That doesn't necessarily mean anything as weight can fluctuate, and I have been weighing myself a bit later in the morning over the weekend, which does make a difference. You can weigh half a pound less if you get up an hour later!

yes i have noticed the whole weighing less thing later in the morning if u get up laster, weird that... i wonder why?

Day 2 of no pink patch

Weight - 159.2

2.45pm Doing OK so far. Had breakfast, yogurt for snack, lunch, yogurt for snack and am keeping the cravings at bay so far. We went out for a nice long walk in the glorious sunshine today. They've recently given the prom a facelift so we walked right to the end of it and back, adding at least a mile onto our normal walk - I reckon we did about 4 miles today. Eventually I want to go to my parents' and back, which is 7 miles. But I was only wearing flip flops today so didn't attempt it.

And I mowed the lawn when we got back. So have got in lots of nice exercise today.

8.30pm - I am definitely noticing the munchies in the evenings again. I find that I eat my tea and am still hungry afterwards. I am managing to stick within my calories but it's hard.

Well, munchies notwithstanding, today's calorie total was 1291

For some reason, I put yesterday's weight at 159.8 - it wasn't - it was 159.2, and today it's gone UP again - 159.6!

So, Day 3 of no pink patch

Weight 159.6

Not happy about this.

I'll give it the full 6 days as weight can fluctuate and I want to finish the experiment, but I am seriously thinking about getting some more.

Or maybe looking into the ingredients and seeing if I can get this seaweed stuff in tablet form in a health shop or something.

All I wonder is, if you get more, use it for say a month or two, and then stop, will you begin gaining again even if you keep everything else consistent? Your calories and whatnot? Can't wait to see how it is at the end of the week, as I know my weight goes up and down day to day.

its a shame the trial they give is only 6 days, because like free my weight is all over the place if i weigh daily. Its very off putting.

Day 3 of no pink patch

11.40am - hungry hungry hungry!! Have had a mini milk for a snack. I am trying to just have three decent-sized meals today rather than three little meals and lots of snacks. I doubt it'll make any difference, but it doesn't hurt to try something different. I made it till 11.30 then had a mini milk lolly - they are only 30 cals.

I sometimes wonder when I'm snacking if I'm actually eating more than I think. So I'm going to try to not snack at all today and see what happens.

But my tumbly is rumbly.

9pm - well I more or less managed it, I had lunch and then no snack at all until tea. And then no snack again until about half an hour ago. I had an oz of cheerios and a large mug of coffee and I thought I had enough cals left for a breakfast bar too. When I checked I hadn't quite, but my brain was already in snack mode and my mouth was watering for it, so I got one. I had a few to play with from yesterday anyway.

So total for today - 1407.

I managed to get for another nice long walk again - this is probably all the summer we'll get!

I wondered the same thing.

hmm...wish I could try this in Sweden. I can't seem to find it for my region.

Day 4 of no pink patch

Weight - 159.6 - meh!

Same as yesterday. I should be grateful it hasn't gone up again though!