Weight Loss Pills VS. On Your Own.

Years ago I took ephedra and went from a size 18 to a size 4.. then they banned ephedra and the weight came back. AND I was lucky not to have damaged my heart.

I admit I've been tempted to try pills under a doctor's supervision again but I've resisted the temptation. This time I'm going to do this on my own without pills, because I really believe it's the only way to keep the weight off. Pills didn't teach me portion control or other healthy habits, they just made my heart pound, made me nauseous when I ate anything and turned me into a nasty little imp that no one wanted to be around.

My two cents.

Accountability doesn't come in a pill.

I would avoid the pills at all costs, especially if they are over-the-counter pills which are completely unregulated and often are withdrawn from the market after several lawsuits when they kill people.

And yes, if you're taking stimulants to lose weight, you'll likely gain it back when you stop. You may also have developed new health issues from the pills as well.

It's better to learn a healthier, sustainable way of eating so that you can manage your weight for the rest of your life.

Good luck and hope it works out.

Try not to compare yourself with others - this is your journey and it will be different. Even if you went on pills, there is no guarantee you will lose at the same rate.

I used pills about 15 years ago. A doctor prescribed Adderral even though I don't have ADD or ADHD. I didn't eat or sleep but I lost a ton of weight before I realized that it's speed and I was hyped up on a medication that was hurting my brain and my body.

With the generic label of "weight loss pills" comes the assumption that it's unhealthy and even dangerous. While we're likely talking about some over the counter pill or pills that are the new "fad pill", there is a big difference between that type of pill, and one a doctor would offer to start on and monitor your weight loss.

I have always struggled with change of behavior and habits because I literally always crave, think about, and literally hunger for food. I didn't know this isn't how others feel, or that there was another way. I also was never able to define it as clearly as this, because it didn't seem out of place. In April, I finally got a primary care physician, and met with her about what I thought was a rash on my legs. Turns out it was blood pooling in my calves causing what looks like red dots, circles of varying sizes, that may occasionally become a sort of bloody lesion, gross sounding, yeah. She explained that this is a symptom of my weight, suggested compression leggings to help the blood flow. I weighed in at this appointment at 290, which was great since I was 297 at my last weigh-in mid February. I told her this previous weight, and that I'd cut out soda completely about a week before this appointment, and was still having some pretty bad caffeine withdrawal symptoms. She then had the most straightforward and tender lecture I'd ever had with a doctor about cravings, eating habits, societal pressure and norms, and actually took the weight of blame for my weight off my shoulders.

She asked if i'd ever been on diet pills, I hadn't so I said no. She explained about this one drug that reduces cravings and has been prescribed for over 50 years. She also brought up another prescription was a combo of this and something else, that was unhealthy and later found to be dangerous, and went over the history of that one to ease my mind about it, since I'm a research, i looked it all up. She wanted me to do a blood panel and ekg before putting me on this diet pill and told me where to go to do this. She also wanted me to start tracking my food intake. I felt raw on the way home, exposed, and a bit outraged she would have the gall to call me out for being what my bmi says is Obese. I cried on the way home, and talked it out with my boyfriend.

I went that week for an ekg and blood panel, and reschedule an appointment with her for 2 weeks from then. At this next appointment I weighed in at 283 lbs, having lost 7 lbs. I had cut out all processed sugars in my diet, and reverted to fruit with honey or honey as a substitute for sugar when cooking or in tea. She was so surprised I did the tests and decided to go for it! I think she expected me to be like many others who ignore doctors advice about weight, lifestyle, and health.

She gave me a 30 day prescription of the mildest dose available of Phentermine and had me schedule an follow up within a month. I take it first thing in the morning, since it can give you insomnia. The first few days I was shaky and a bit nauseous within an hour of taking the pill. I felt distracted and lighted headed after that for about a week. I was tracking my diet on myfitnesspal daily, and hitting 1500-1700 calories a day. that was a struggle. Looking at food, knowing I need to eat, but not feeling hungry at all. The first month was like that. I literally never felt hungry. This was the biggest eye opener. I have never not felt hungry I realized. I started researching diets, and knew I wasn't going to go on a fad diet or anything like that. I researched cravings, what they mean, and what to eat when you crave something. I completely removed processed foods and processed sugars from my diet, and ate out a lot less, and cooked most of our meals. I had also started going to the gym 3 days a week, doing 30 min cardio a day, and 45 min or so resistance training and plyometrics.

I came back 3 weeks later, having lost 8 more lbs. We discussed my calorie intake, my progress, habit changes, and cutting out of certain types of foods. She prescribed me a 3 month supply, which ends at the end of August. I've been on my own since. The hunger came back as i continued to work out and eat a more balanced diet, solve my cravings with the right stuff, not the wrong stuff.

I'm about 1 1/2 months into that 3 month prescription, and have lost a total of 42 lbs since February, 35 while on this medication since April. So thats 14 weeks at about 2.5 lbs a week. It's not consistent, 1 week its 4 lbs, the next it's 1 lb. I hit a plateau at the end of June that lasted 2 weeks. I changed up my diet and work out routines, and hurtled past it. I've had many weekend vacations in the last 3 months, lost of social events at my place or out and about, and have made good choices. My habits and tastes for food have changed completely. I've probably spent over 200 hours researching food, recipes, exercises and just a ton of things about health and weight loss. The pill is much less effective than it was the first month, which i'm glad for. I've had hunger, and cravings, and have new habits and ways to deal with them that i learned the first month or so on them. I'm not sure if I'll continue them after August, since i've changed so much and feel I can do it without them now. They provided this little bit of daily support, that I so needed to hurtle past the bad days.

So, while diet pills are bad, bad for you, and even dangerous, don't generalize them in such a way that you look at me, or other people on real prescriptions with doctors help and overview, like we're less than you, or that it's cheating. I've been waging a war with my body since I was 10 years old, and this finally gave me the advantage to take back my control and empower me to make the changes needed to keep it off and stay healthy. It's a tool to be used, and correctly done so will yield good results.

With the generic label of "weight loss pills" comes the assumption that it's unhealthy and even dangerous. While we're likely talking about some over the counter pill or pills that are the new "fad pill", there is a big difference between that type of pill, and one a doctor would offer to start on and monitor your weight loss.

I have always struggled with change of behavior and habits because I literally always crave, think about, and literally hunger for food. I didn't know this isn't how others feel, or that there was another way. I also was never able to define it as clearly as this, because it didn't seem out of place. In April, I finally got a primary care physician, and met with her about what I thought was a rash on my legs. Turns out it was blood pooling in my calves causing what looks like red dots, circles of varying sizes, that may occasionally become a sort of bloody lesion, gross sounding, yeah. She explained that this is a symptom of my weight, suggested compression leggings to help the blood flow. I weighed in at this appointment at 290, which was great since I was 297 at my last weigh-in mid February. I told her this previous weight, and that I'd cut out soda completely about a week before this appointment, and was still having some pretty bad caffeine withdrawal symptoms. She then had the most straightforward and tender lecture I'd ever had with a doctor about cravings, eating habits, societal pressure and norms, and actually took the weight of blame for my weight off my shoulders.

She asked if i'd ever been on diet pills, I hadn't so I said no. She explained about this one drug that reduces cravings and has been prescribed for over 50 years. She also brought up another prescription was a combo of this and something else, that was unhealthy and later found to be dangerous, and went over the history of that one to ease my mind about it, since I'm a research, i looked it all up. She wanted me to do a blood panel and ekg before putting me on this diet pill and told me where to go to do this. She also wanted me to start tracking my food intake. I felt raw on the way home, exposed, and a bit outraged she would have the gall to call me out for being what my bmi says is Obese. I cried on the way home, and talked it out with my boyfriend.

I went that week for an ekg and blood panel, and reschedule an appointment with her for 2 weeks from then. At this next appointment I weighed in at 283 lbs, having lost 7 lbs. I had cut out all processed sugars in my diet, and reverted to fruit with honey or honey as a substitute for sugar when cooking or in tea. She was so surprised I did the tests and decided to go for it! I think she expected me to be like many others who ignore doctors advice about weight, lifestyle, and health.

She gave me a 30 day prescription of the mildest dose available of Phentermine and had me schedule an follow up within a month. I take it first thing in the morning, since it can give you insomnia. The first few days I was shaky and a bit nauseous within an hour of taking the pill. I felt distracted and lighted headed after that for about a week. I was tracking my diet on myfitnesspal daily, and hitting 1500-1700 calories a day. that was a struggle. Looking at food, knowing I need to eat, but not feeling hungry at all. The first month was like that. I literally never felt hungry. This was the biggest eye opener. I have never not felt hungry I realized. I started researching diets, and knew I wasn't going to go on a fad diet or anything like that. I researched cravings, what they mean, and what to eat when you crave something. I completely removed processed foods and processed sugars from my diet, and ate out a lot less, and cooked most of our meals. I had also started going to the gym 3 days a week, doing 30 min cardio a day, and 45 min or so resistance training and plyometrics.

I came back 3 weeks later, having lost 8 more lbs. We discussed my calorie intake, my progress, habit changes, and cutting out of certain types of foods. She prescribed me a 3 month supply, which ends at the end of August. I've been on my own since. The hunger came back as i continued to work out and eat a more balanced diet, solve my cravings with the right stuff, not the wrong stuff.

I'm about 1 1/2 months into that 3 month prescription, and have lost a total of 42 lbs since February, 35 while on this medication since April. So thats 14 weeks at about 2.5 lbs a week. It's not consistent, 1 week its 4 lbs, the next it's 1 lb. I hit a plateau at the end of June that lasted 2 weeks. I changed up my diet and work out routines, and hurtled past it. I've had many weekend vacations in the last 3 months, lost of social events at my place or out and about, and have made good choices. My habits and tastes for food have changed completely. I've probably spent over 200 hours researching food, recipes, exercises and just a ton of things about health and weight loss. The pill is much less effective than it was the first month, which i'm glad for. I've had hunger, and cravings, and have new habits and ways to deal with them that i learned the first month or so on them. I'm not sure if I'll continue them after August, since i've changed so much and feel I can do it without them now. They provided this little bit of daily support, that I so needed to hurtle past the bad days.

So, while diet pills are bad, bad for you, and even dangerous, don't generalize them in such a way that you look at me, or other people on real prescriptions with doctors help and overview, like we're less than you, or that it's cheating. I've been waging a war with my body since I was 10 years old, and this finally gave me the advantage to take back my control and empower me to make the changes needed to keep it off and stay healthy. It's a tool to be used, and correctly done so will yield good results.

In a situation like yours, yes, they probably did help, and you were under a doctor's supervision. I think that they are a good option for someone whose health is in danger because of weight and has tried everything else.

But I think they are a "if all else fails" option.

When I was 18 years old and desperate to lose weight I did turn to an all natural pill. It's been so damn long I can't even recall it. But I did lose about 40 lbs that summer and attributed it to the success of the pills.

Looking back it wasn't the pills that caused the weight loss, neither the main pill nor the "accelerator" pill. It was that they were so heavy on my stomach, they somehow sat like bricks, that I lost my appetite and just didn't eat much.