Weight loss supplements

[Elizabeth]

I know this is totally "cheating"... but I'd like to hear experiences (good & bad) that y'all have had with weight loss supplements: Metabolife, Trim Spa, etc. I realize that they're mostly based on stimulants and not any magical speeding up of one's metabolism. But after I started antidepressants a year ago, I've put on weight and have had a hard time taking it off. I had been at the same weight for years before that. I feel like I need to give my metabolism a jump start. Thank you!

[TracieB]

You said you wanted good or bad stories, so here goes.

I took Exenadrine religiously for about 4 years (eek!)until one day, I felt like I was having a combination of a heart attack and stroke and quit cold turkey.

The thing with diet pills that I have come to learn is, they do squat. If you start taking them, you have to take them forever because once you quit, you'll gain back anything you lost. The best way to lose weight is to eat sensibly and exercise. There's no magic pill or formula, it's pretty cut and dry. Take in less calories and exert more energy, you'll lose weight.

I guarantee that starting to exercise will "jump start" your metabolism more than any diet pill ever could.

Please be safe and please be healthy. Diet pills are just not the way to go.

[Elizabeth]

Thank you for sharing your experience, Tracie. That's pretty scary.

I bought Hoodia last night at the health food store. I stumbled upon it doing internet research. Supposedly it cuts your appetite w/out being too stimulating or harmful. But I don't put too much faith in it. We'll see.

I know that exercise would help jump-start my metabolism. But I have a fracture in my right foot. I'm going to get an MRI today, actually. I hope to get surgery on this puppy soon so I can get back to Tae Bo.

I'm on WW, too... just started. But I'm having major problems with hunger.

[quest]

If you do take the Hoodia, I'd be interested to hear if it works for you. I've actually read some really good things about it from (supposedly) credible sources.

The only reason I haven't purchased it yet is because I keep reading that you have to make sure you get the 'certified' version of "hoodia gordonii" (since there are a lot of fakes out there), and that's at least $40-$50 for a one-month supply...a lot of $$ for something that might not work.

Good luck! :)

[miel]

Elizabeth

I was just curious about this...I think the weight you gain from ADs has something to do with insulin and can be gotten rid of by things like the South Beach diet. But don't quote me on that.

I will experiment with hoodia maybe after we see if anyone dies from it...the mao huang and ephedrine genuinely causes weight loss but also causes strokes! Too scary.

I will say that there are credible studies that calcium causes weight loss. I take 1200 mgs of calcium (carbonate, not citrate. Citrate doesn't seem to work for me) and that seems to cause a very, very slow but steady weight loss. Combined with eating slightly less and no sugar.

Another thing I was curious about--Is that guy bleeding in that picture? What movie is that from?

[Elizabeth]

Quest - So far I haven't noticed a lick of difference. But I did more research and supposedly you need to shell out more $ for the pure Hoodia - I unknowingly bought a "proprietary blend" with other crap in it. :mad: I'm going to double up on it so I don't waste my $20... I'd be afraid of OD'ing, but it doesn't make my jittery at all... I haven't noticed any physiological changes. I'll be careful, though...

I'm thinking about buying the pure stuff (about $40 a bottle)... but what makes me curious... if it's so good, why isn't it more popular? Oh well, I'll try one bottle, I'll know right away whether or not it helps my hunger, and if it doesn't I'll just be out $40.

Miel ... interesting what you said about South Beach... I'll look into that. My stepmom's on that and it has worked for her... she just gains it back as soon as she goes off it... (what else is new?) :) I'll look into the calcium, too. There's calcium in my multi, but not as much as I'd need for weight loss, probably. It's something your body needs anyway, that's nice. I know I don't drink enough milk.

The guy is the character Sawyer from the show Lost on ABC. He's hot. I don't think he's bleeding (in this scene anyway)... I think it's just the photo.

[Elizabeth]

I've been taking Hoodia now for a week and it has done *nothing* for my appetite. If anything I feel hungrier. I think it might have lowered my craving for alcohol (not that I'm an alchy, I just like to have a glass of wine in the evening and on Hoodia I haven't felt like it) which makes sense b/c it's supposed to act like sugar on your brain, and alcohol is sugar. And I think it might be improving my mood.

But neither of those two things are what I spent $60 for. I'm going to keep taking it, hoping against hope, b/c some websites say that you have to take it for a few weeks to feel the effects. But most of the "testimonials" say that people felt the effect almost immediately. No such luck for me. I'm beginning to lose trust in the "testimonials."

[Rico'sAlice]

Not that this is an option anymore, and certainly not a recommendation, but you did ask for experiences. Anyway my friends and I (three of us) used to take Stacker2. This would have been around 1999-2001 or so. Not that any of us ever took it throughout that whole period. Mostly when we'd come home from school in the summers.
I personally loved it. it gave me energy, made it almost impossible to overeat, and also make me think faster, my grades were the best the times I did take it during the year. I would lose 3-5 lbs a week. If I stopped it and continued to eat sensibly and excersize I would continue to lose wait about 1 lb per week. If I just stopped and ate normally (meaning junk food, pizza) then it came back on pretty quickly. But I've found that to be true with any sort of diet/plan I've been on.
It did make me a little crazy though, and made it very difficult to go to sleep at night. But that was fine at the time b/c 3am was considered bedtime anyway. I can't imagine taking that stuff and trying to live a normal lifestyle.
Never felt any sort of heart palpitations, etc other than the normal weird feeling you get when you stay awake for 36 hours at a time.

Obviously, there were health risks there, and has since been banned, so I'm not endorsing it or anything. Although I still have several bottles and wonder if I could get anything for them on the black market. j/k. They do sell an ephedra free version of stacker 3 right now, not sure how it would work. Mostly seems to be caffiene. But the ingradient they tout is the chitosan. (Kola Nut (seeds)(4mg caffeine group alkaloids), Cactus Extract 12:1 (whole plant), White Willow Bark, Grapefruit Extract (Fruit), Chitosan (Shellfish)
Caffeine (anhydrous) 250mg*
Tri-Guarcinia3 Complex™ )

[dollface]

I will tell you my husband's experience with Xenadryne - he had to have his heart shocked back into normal rythym. Even after he quit - he had to have it done 2 more times. It's been 4 years since his initial attack and 1 year since his last one. Now he has such a high sensitivity to stimulants, he rarely even drinks coffee.

[Brandles]

I'm just bumping this up. If the OP isn't wondering about good and bad experiences anymore...I now am. I would especially like any experiences with Trim Spa. Thanks! :)

[Misty911]

I too would like to know what is the best if any supplement? My husband is gone until december and I would really like to lose this weight.

[cosmic]

bump!

[Charlotte81]

You cannot make diet pills a lifestyle. In order to take the weight off and keep it off, you must make healthy living your lifestyle. Diet pills are not your answer.

I was on Phentermine for a year a couple of years ago. I lost an incredible amount of weight, I was energized, and I felt good. When I came off of them, I slept for weeks. I would only get up for an hour and then go right back to bed. I also ended up in the hospital for a few days.

[miel]

Charlotte That's a great warning. I do think people should be very careful. Sometimes though, supplements can be useful in losing weight. I notice that calcium carbonate helps me lose weight more easily. So I'm glad I learned that since it is not harmful and helps me.

But I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It's a good thing those aren't on the market anymore!

[Brandles]

Has anyone tried NV? I've just seen a lot of commercials for it lately and Carmen Electra is the spokes-person for it.

If you don't want to post here, please feel free to PM me. Thanks! :)

[Heidi9771]

I have been taking Citrimax for the last few weeks and have noticed reasonable appetite control with NO side effects. Trim Spa, Dexatrim, etc have all made me feel jittery.

[cosmic]

Has anyone tried NV?

I was wondering about that one, too.

[cosmic]

First, this is not an endorsement...lol. But did anyone hear about Dustin Diamond cheating on Celebrity Fit Club. Supposedly he lost his 30 pounds by taking Zantrex. Why didn't he just follow the program???

[Weddings by]

Elizabeth--What happened with you and Hoodia?


I just bought some at Costco last week after hearing the demonstrator say that she had lost 24 pounds in 4 weeks. :eek: She said that she hadn't changed anything else in her life, so I'm trying it. Apparently, it has a money-back guarantee.

I have taken it since Saturday, so this is the fifth day, and I think that it is helping, but I'm not sure. I have been on Atkins, and I started exercising on Monday--a little, just enough to say that I did it, but it's probably so little that it would make others laugh and think that I'm joking about considering it exercise :rolleyes: --so I'm not sure how much of it to attribute to which factor.

This morning, I weighed 2.5 pounds less than I did on Sunday (or maybe it was Saturday). That is a more rapid weight loss than I had been experiencing. I'm going to wait several days before I decide that it's the Hoodia, but right now, I'm really hopeful.

Also, I measured my stomach last night and it's almost an inch smaller than it was last week. This might be a mistake though; I might have accidentally sucked in my stomach even though I was trying to not. :D

[tealynn]

I was on the phen-fen diet in '99 before it was proven to create heart defects and it worked wonders. However as soon as I stopped taking it, back to the same weight pretty quickly.

I have several friends who's doctors recently prescribed them phentermine now by itself and it seems to work pretty well. None of them had any of the dramatic withdrawl symptoms that Charlotte experienced once they stopped taking it.

My friend just bought a bottle of Allie? but is afraid to start taking it. The side affects are a little concerning (greasy a$$ leakage). However, it affects the intestinal tract and not your brain so you don't feel dizzy, weird or like you're having a heart attack.

[miel]

I'd think twice--more than twice--before taking phentermine. The things you read are scary. I do understand why people are drawn to drugs like that, though.

[cosmic]

I just bought some at Costco last week after hearing the demonstrator say that she had lost 24 pounds in 4 weeks. :eek: She said that she hadn't changed anything else in her life, so I'm trying it. Apparently, it has a money-back guarantee.


Hi, there!
May I ask which brand you're using?

[MsPeachy]

I saw this thread and wanted to ask if anyone has tried or known anyone who has tried SlimQuick. I considered it but then heard wierd stories about it hyperaccelerating your sex drive because it does something to your hormones.

For me, I used to take Xenadrine but only before working out and I loved it. I felt that it helped me get a better workout. I was sad that ephedrine got such a bad rap because people/products abused it because it works wonders when you have bad congestion and breathing problems.

[APCullip22]

Well, I've taken slimquick on a few different occasions...during which I was dieting and exercising too. I personally didn't notice any changes in my sex drive while taking it. I know that it did help with my appetite, a bit. I just started taking it again yesterday, so I'll keep an eye on it and repost if i do notice any changes.