Diet Supplements (Hydroxycut, Alli, Xenadrine, etc)

Being a plus size girl for the majority of my life I've had my fair share of run ins with dietary supplements, weight loss pills and systems. I have tried a few I remember a long time ago taking Green Tea I was a lot younger and didn't really understand the concept. I did try Hydroxycut when they put it back on the market and it does work, but as stated before I sometimes lose focus. I also never wanted to be one who takes it for long periods of time. A while ago I was watching Dr. Oz with my mother and he was talking about raspberry ketones and I was interested in taking those but they where saying it was a lot of phoneys out on the market. How do you guys feel about supplements, how you used any, are you currently using and what were/are you experiences with them.

Replies

  • SameMe_JustLess
    SameMe_JustLess Posts: 245 Member
    I don't take any. I did try some in my younger days, but nothing ever worked. I notice they all say "along with diet and exercise"! So, I just diet and exercise and save my cash!
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Forget all the supplements and put all your focus on your diet, that is how you will lose weight!
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,272 Member
    You are right. There are a lot of phonies out there on the market. Dr. Oz is one of them.
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    You are right. There are a lot of phonies out there on the market. Dr. Oz is one of them.

    ^^ this
  • JuiceyJeena
    JuiceyJeena Posts: 25 Member
    Forget all the supplements and put all your focus on your diet, that is how you will lose weight!

    Your right
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    No weight loss supplement has been proven to provide you any improved weight loss over a calorie deficit.


    My best advice, have a small deficit (1 lb per week) and start weight training and adding in a bit of cardio. That will get you the success.
  • BigRedgw2010
    BigRedgw2010 Posts: 127 Member
    There are some that I take, but I focus on my diet to make sure that I'm not going over my carbs and sugar for the day.
  • Heyyleigh
    Heyyleigh Posts: 268 Member
    DIET & EXERCISE, The end.
  • miztae
    miztae Posts: 16 Member
    like you i've tried them all, but once you stop taking them all the weight comes back 10x faster..tried the raspberry ketones but got them from a natural health food store..didn't see any change..
    I recommend people stay away from them because the side effects from most of the supplements arent good
  • DIET & EXERCISE, The end.

    Cosigning
  • im on my 3rd week of hd and havent noticed anything. i got this far with no sups and diet 80% and working out the other 20%
  • goldengirlamiee
    goldengirlamiee Posts: 13 Member
    I have tried them all...and look at me now, still struggling with weight. Bottom line, it's lifestyle modification that becomes habit. calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight. no magic pill. I am not saying that there aren't some that aren't beneficial for some particular ppl ( body builders ) but for your average joe, I believe it's money wasted. Buy a new pair of tennis shoes and get that *kitten* a moving. And as far as Dr. Oz..... to be so "healthy" he looks like ****.
  • kmuree
    kmuree Posts: 283 Member
    You are right. There are a lot of phonies out there on the market. Dr. Oz is one of them.

    ^ This.
  • mynameiscarrie
    mynameiscarrie Posts: 963 Member
    Supplements are a waste of money. Not to mention horrible for your body. All those green coffee bean ketones, or whatever the eff they are, are just a way for people to put the blame of failure on a supplement (not you, personally).

    Adjust your diet and exercise. Simple as that.
  • conradhughes
    conradhughes Posts: 10 Member
    Caffeine and ephedrine is useful to get to really lean levels. I got stuck at about 10-11% body fat and used eph + caff and a small deficit of around 2000 cals a week to drop down to about 7-8%. Then put on weight when I started working out (in a good way) and now trying to get to 6-7% bf. But it's a slow process; half a pound of fat/week max really.

    Moral of the story is: don't use stimulants unless you have less than 5lb to lose.
  • shovav91
    shovav91 Posts: 2,335 Member
    Your body is a self-regulating supermachine. Putting crap like "diet pills" into it is like putting gas into an electric car; it doesn't belong, and you're probably just going to end up doing more harm than good.
  • Dragonldy69
    Dragonldy69 Posts: 368 Member
    I use to take Starker with Effedrine in it.. I lost wieght with it.. When they took Effedrine off the market and out of Staker I had to quit using it.. Effedrine seems like it did help me loose. Since then is when I started to try to find something else to help me. But reall nothing has doine as wekk as Staker with Effedrine in it ever did..
  • I used to consult and write for a couple of diet companies. 99% of diet supplements do not work and are mainly filled with useless ingredients. Any effect a person experiences is usually a placebo effect. The 1% that are effective have serious side effects and are illegal ;)
  • nanainkent
    nanainkent Posts: 350 Member
    You are right. There are a lot of phonies out there on the market. Dr. Oz is one of them.

    How can people not see that Dr Oz is nothing but a infomercial in disguise. And he backs whatever product will get him financial backing for his show. If you pay attention he will say ----blank product is what you need for this issue but a couple of months later he will say oh it's this product that you need for the same issue.
  • nickgarner6
    nickgarner6 Posts: 106 Member
    like you i've tried them all, but once you stop taking them all the weight comes back 10x faster..tried the raspberry ketones but got them from a natural health food store..didn't see any change..
    I recommend people stay away from them because the side effects from most of the supplements arent good
    I used to consult and write for a couple of diet companies. 99% of diet supplements do not work and are mainly filled with useless ingredients. Any effect a person experiences is usually a placebo effect. The 1% that are effective have serious side effects and are illegal ;)
    Your body is a self-regulating supermachine. Putting crap like "diet pills" into it is like putting gas into an electric car; it doesn't belong, and you're probably just going to end up doing more harm than good.

    These^^

    There is only one supplement or substance known to man to burn fat, build muscle, improve skin, and increase sex drive without fail and with absolutely no side effects and that is Chuck Norris' tears.......problem is that Chuck Norris has never cried.

    Seriously the supplement industry is largely unregulated, based on questionable science and company funded psuedo-studies. Exercise and health eating at a sensible caloric deficit are the best tools to use for weight loss, ask your doctor. Look at all the success stories on this board and check out how they got there.
  • CressidaJL
    CressidaJL Posts: 53 Member
    I use to take Starker with Effedrine in it.. I lost wieght with it.. When they took Effedrine off the market and out of Staker I had to quit using it.. Effedrine seems like it did help me loose. Since then is when I started to try to find something else to help me. But reall nothing has doine as wekk as Staker with Effedrine in it ever did..

    There's a really good reason that the FDA made ephedrine a controlled substance (ie: took it off the market): It's really bloody dangerous. Yeah, I lost 3 stone pretty easily, but I also developed severe anxiety bordering on the agoraphobic (I couldn't leave the house to get milk!), suffered regular panic attacks, and still don't know the long-term damage I did by putting my heart under that much strain on a daily basis.

    So little is known about the long-term effects of 'diet supplements', it just isn't worth gambling with your health like that. If there existed a symptom-free, completely safe diet aid that yielded fantastic results, do you not think GPs around the world would be handing them out to their obese patients?

    Hard work: it's the way forward.
  • SweetCheekszx0
    SweetCheekszx0 Posts: 478 Member
    Caffeine and ephedrine is useful to get to really lean levels. I got stuck at about 10-11% body fat and used eph + caff and a small deficit of around 2000 cals a week to drop down to about 7-8%. Then put on weight when I started working out (in a good way) and now trying to get to 6-7% bf. But it's a slow process; half a pound of fat/week max really.

    Moral of the story is: don't use stimulants unless you have less than 5lb to lose.


    I've actually seen massive research on this lol it's all over the web not to mention the gnc reps usually suggest it after failed attempts At there products
  • SweetCheekszx0
    SweetCheekszx0 Posts: 478 Member
    And I'm prob gonna get so much *kitten* for saying this but my mom and aunt are both on alli and yes it does work and my aunts lost 60 lbs on it and its been a year and has kept it off!!