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Are weight loss pills effective or do they have undesirable side effects?
- Thread starter Deleted member 32804
- Start date
As someone who lost (and later gained back half of) 50 pounds in college, exercise is a big deal. Just limiting myself to one meal a day wasn't enough. Yeah I lost weight but at a snail's pace and was still out of shape. Walking 20-30 thousand steps a day (thanks pokewalker) and riding my bike in addition to eating 1500 calories a day made the weight fall off in comparison. Would love to get back to that state eventually.
From my personal experience dropping 100+ pounds over the last year, your diet is the key to a consistent weight loss. Exercise shouldn't however be forgotten since it helps you keep or build a little muscle mass while dropping the excess fat.
Since you have circumstances making exercise hard or impossible to do, I would advice you to consult with a professional regarding your diet if you are unable to make the changes your diet needs and how your medication might impact your goals.
Best of luck.
Since you have circumstances making exercise hard or impossible to do, I would advice you to consult with a professional regarding your diet if you are unable to make the changes your diet needs and how your medication might impact your goals.
Best of luck.
Walking an hour and a half minium a day (6 miles) and hitting on or close to 1000 cal's per day made me loose 1 stone a month over about 6 months.
I went from 30+ stone to 15 and then at a gym and diet plan I hit 13, I am not back to 14 no gym and little excersise after a move and I have put inches on more than anything.
I went from 30+ stone to 15 and then at a gym and diet plan I hit 13, I am not back to 14 no gym and little excersise after a move and I have put inches on more than anything.
I lost 20lbs between January and end of February this year and it was just from maintaining a strict calorie deficit. Some days I'd eat as little as 500 calories. Too strict in hindsight.
I'm no expert but it was obvious to me diet would be way more effective than exercise. My wife runs marathons and I think you lose like 3000-4000 calories. That's nothing. After eating for the day I think that's not even 1lb lost.
Now that I've reached my target weight I'm lifting 4-5 days a week (built a home gym with squat rack, lat pull down and row). I do squats, deadlifts, press, some iso, but really not more complicated than that. Now I'm really starting to see the benefits of that. Muscles are growing all over the place. Abs coming in. Plus the mental health benefits are huge.
Lose weight = diet
Muscle growth = work out
Mental health = work out
I'm no expert but it was obvious to me diet would be way more effective than exercise. My wife runs marathons and I think you lose like 3000-4000 calories. That's nothing. After eating for the day I think that's not even 1lb lost.
Now that I've reached my target weight I'm lifting 4-5 days a week (built a home gym with squat rack, lat pull down and row). I do squats, deadlifts, press, some iso, but really not more complicated than that. Now I'm really starting to see the benefits of that. Muscles are growing all over the place. Abs coming in. Plus the mental health benefits are huge.
Lose weight = diet
Muscle growth = work out
Mental health = work out
People saying "exercise is irrelevant", if you are losing 300 calories in exercise a day, that's going to add up to losing an additional 2.5 lbs a month, or 30 lbs a year. Just because you're not going to drop 10 lbs instantly doesn't mean it's irrelevant.
It's obviously not irrelevant, but I think most people here are looking at it from the perspective of exercising to burn calories vs. simply not eating those calories in the first place. 300 calories might represent a half hour (or more) of reasonably strenuous exercise, every single day, even when you don't feel like it, *or* just finding an easy 300 calories to cut out of your regular diet (which, depending on what you're eating, might be barely even noticeable). And the greater the calorie deficit you aim for, the more it's going to need to come from your diet anyway. Do you really want to be exercising away 500 calories a day, every day? 1000? Knowing that you can't eat any more than usual after that exercise because that'll defeat the purpose? Yeah, it's possible, but it's going to be damn miserable.
I mean, you should definitely exercise, but I think the popular misconception is something like "Man, I've gotta lose some weight, I'd better start jogging everyday". Like, it's not going to hurt, but step one of losing weight should always be looking at your diet and finding the easy changes to make.
Exercise + being more active alone without any change in diet will absolutely help you get in a healthy/normal range. It's when you want to get sick abs like Jotaro that you need to pay attention to diet and exercise together. Exercise is amazing for mental health too.
Depending on your situation though you may not be able to get enough exercise in a day realistically, that's when you want to focus on diet instead since it's always easier to switch to eating like yogurt and carrots and shit.
Depending on your situation though you may not be able to get enough exercise in a day realistically, that's when you want to focus on diet instead since it's always easier to switch to eating like yogurt and carrots and shit.
If you read the small print on those pills they say they only work if you diet and exercise while taking them, but dieting and exercise makes you lose weight anyway.
If you're sick and trying to recover, you shouldn't be trying to lose weight. Get well first, then lose weight. Don't make your body fight on two different fronts at the same time.
If you're sick and trying to recover, you shouldn't be trying to lose weight. Get well first, then lose weight. Don't make your body fight on two different fronts at the same time.
You'll just have to deal with the situation after you leave the hospital. It's not worth risking your health over a few pounds.
HIIT is great for fat loss. The pills and such are more for losing the last stubborn bits of fat when you're already lean. Anything that works has uncomfortable side effects and health risks. It's usually a combination of caffeine and another thermogenic.
HIIT is great for fat loss. The pills and such are more for losing the last stubborn bits of fat when you're already lean. Anything that works has uncomfortable side effects and health risks. It's usually a combination of caffeine and another thermogenic.
Don't know about 'diet pills' but fat burners certainly work. Things like Clenbuterol and T3 taken together make people drop fat like nobodies business. They can be horrible though. I took them once and would shake like a shitting dog 12 hours a day, I was really warm, and I would get woken up in the middle of the night with cramps in my muscles. Not worth it so stopped after 2 weeks.
That was years ago anyway. I just monitor calories and go to the gym now.
That was years ago anyway. I just monitor calories and go to the gym now.
how are people saying stuff in here like "Exercise only helps you with mental and physical health, it's not going help you lose weight!"
How is feeling better physically and mentally not completely entwined with losing weight? IT'S A HOLISTIC THING. It all matters. It's all tied together.
How is feeling better physically and mentally not completely entwined with losing weight? IT'S A HOLISTIC THING. It all matters. It's all tied together.
I'd say the difference between only dieting at a deficit of 300 calories per day, and dieting and exercising at a deficit of 600 calories per day is significant.
The 3-400 extra calories burned from exercise combined with keeping an eye on your diet is not insignificant at all. Feel like folks are undervaluing that way too much. Yes, you're not going to burn 2,000 calories in one day of intense exercise generally, but you're not really supposed to. It's something that adds up to a significant change over time, months/years, not days/weeks.
Looking at 3-400 extra calories burned in a vacuum is fairly insignificant, but someone burning 3-400 extra calories 3-5 times a week adds up overtime, especially if you combine it with reduced caloric intake.
Looking at 3-400 extra calories burned in a vacuum is fairly insignificant, but someone burning 3-400 extra calories 3-5 times a week adds up overtime, especially if you combine it with reduced caloric intake.
Please don't peddle nonsense. Exercise and nutrition both affect weight loss. To suggest the former does nothing toward that goal is wrong, wrong, wrong.
You can argue to your wit's end how much more each one assists in weight loss versus the other, but exercise absolutely does help toward losing weight. For one, an increase in muscle mass means your body requires more energy, meaning you burn more calories.
Burning 3-400 extra calories means doing very strenuous exercise. Don't forget that the numbers that machines spit out at you include what you would have burned had you not exercised.
Looking up some estimates, I should burn around 450 calories on the 3 mile runs I do (I'm 185 lbs). That's around 1/4 or 1/5 of my daily food intake. I would say that's very significant, especially if I run 4-5 times per week. And exercising generally improves mental health which puts you on the right track for weight loss. Running 4-5 times per week keeps my constantly thinking about my health and diet and how I feel.
Running 3 miles at a good pace is hard but I don't really find it to be "very strenuous." I guess everyone's definition of strenuous would be different.
I just don't get the dismissive attitude towards exercise in here.
Neither do I and it's extremely frustrating. I think the attitude stems from people thinking the bare minimum is enough. It might be in some cases, but eating healthier and fewer calories while also exercising is the best way to lose weight and be fit.
I've lost weight in three different ways over the course of my life: Changing my diet with no exercise incorporated; exercising while still eating in excess; and exercising while eating better. I lost weight doing each one but the most successful one was eating better and exercising together. Unsurprisingly I mentally felt my worst when I only changed my diet and never exercised.
I feel like it's a scam. If all we needed to do was take pills to lose weight, there wouldn't be an epidemic of obesity in the country that loves prescribing pills for everything.
Right! Lol. I burn 800 calories in a 45 minute kickboxing session. People don't need to go to the gym for 3 hrs a day to burn off a substantial amount.
Diet pills marketed as diet pills don't really do anything. They're packed full of unscientific crap and marked up to ridiculous premiums.
If you're sick and cannot exercise, you really shouldn't be taking anything right now,.
Once you're healthy, if you want to take a supplement to supplement a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and a proper diet, the most effective thing you can take is pure caffeine.
If you want to kick it up a notch, run a ECA (ephedrine, caffeine, aspirin) stack--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECA_stack.
Caffeine and aspirin are OTC. Ephedrine must be requested from the pharmacist, as it's semi-controlled due to being a precursor to methamphetamine.
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This isn't supporting your point. It shows huge weight loss and a big proportion of the change it contributes to
You can see why most of America is obese when you read some of the posts in this thread
When I was at university I stopped taking the bus and walked 45 minutes a day. I lost so much weight in just a couple of weeks . Of course, you need to cut down on your food too to make it worthwhile
1. Supplements that are basically thermogenics will raise your resting calorie rate but have effects like increased heart rate and such.
2. Appetite curbers might help if you overeat
3. If you want to do either of the above without exercise you'll need to change your diet so that you don't pass out because your body isn't getting enough nutrients.
I've done an EC(ephedrine and caffeine) stack which is basically 1+2 together and they are effective but if you have heart problems, anxiety problems, it could be dangerous. But I usually combine it with exercise which helps with the weight loss.
The short of it is that weight loss pills won't be very effective if you don't also introduce exercise and or diet changes
2. Appetite curbers might help if you overeat
3. If you want to do either of the above without exercise you'll need to change your diet so that you don't pass out because your body isn't getting enough nutrients.
I've done an EC(ephedrine and caffeine) stack which is basically 1+2 together and they are effective but if you have heart problems, anxiety problems, it could be dangerous. But I usually combine it with exercise which helps with the weight loss.
The short of it is that weight loss pills won't be very effective if you don't also introduce exercise and or diet changes
In 2012 I was weighting nearly 250lbs. I started doing regular exercices like spinning, running, regular road bike as well as hitting the gym and went from 240+ to 180lbs. I lost more than 60lbs in less than a year doing nothing but regular exercices. I barely changed my food habit too. I would try to avoid those "one cookie too much" situation but other than that, my portions were the same.
I've stopped training regularly in 2016 when my mother died and never really managed to get back into it like I was before, and since then, I've gained weight (now at 230lb). Again, my food habit didn't change. I'm still eating the same portions as I was before and during training.
Basically, Exercising really helped me losing weight, big time. I'm certainly not going to say that a diet alone doesn't do wonder because it certainly does. But for me, I feel confident saying that exercising alone made a big, big difference. This year, I feel like I can jump back into my old training routine. I just wish the climate will finally warm over where I live, damnit. We still have plenty of snow :(
A diet is good, but it won't give the same benefits that you gain when exercising. Being stronger, being faster, having more endurance, etc. It's fantastic to feel the improvement you get when training. For example, going from half a push-up to 5-10 push-ups after 2 weeks, that feeling of improvement is fantastic and feels like a drug.
I've stopped training regularly in 2016 when my mother died and never really managed to get back into it like I was before, and since then, I've gained weight (now at 230lb). Again, my food habit didn't change. I'm still eating the same portions as I was before and during training.
Basically, Exercising really helped me losing weight, big time. I'm certainly not going to say that a diet alone doesn't do wonder because it certainly does. But for me, I feel confident saying that exercising alone made a big, big difference. This year, I feel like I can jump back into my old training routine. I just wish the climate will finally warm over where I live, damnit. We still have plenty of snow :(
A diet is good, but it won't give the same benefits that you gain when exercising. Being stronger, being faster, having more endurance, etc. It's fantastic to feel the improvement you get when training. For example, going from half a push-up to 5-10 push-ups after 2 weeks, that feeling of improvement is fantastic and feels like a drug.
Hydroxycut always works for me. Just recently Ive been running a 5K 4-5 times a week, eating around 1200-1500 calories and couldn't get below 190lbs. I would go up and down between 190-193 depending on when I weighed myself. I took Hydroxycut for 2 weeks while doing the same routine and hit 183.
I stopped taking the pills and started back lifting recently. Now I'm at a steady 187 while increasing my calorie intake to help aid in muscle growth. I've taken hydroxycut many times through the years and it always helps me get past the weight loss plateaus
I stopped taking the pills and started back lifting recently. Now I'm at a steady 187 while increasing my calorie intake to help aid in muscle growth. I've taken hydroxycut many times through the years and it always helps me get past the weight loss plateaus
Going from a sedentary life to even just walking a good amount each day can have an affect on weight. Obviously shouldn't rely solely on it but if a drastic change exercise can definitely make a difference.
It could be... Anyone know how much people get paid for those testimonials?
A cousin of mine suddenly dropped a lot of weight and it turns out she was taking diet pills of some kind. Frankly, I don't know how something could be that drastic unless it was eliminating your appetite completely or were simply amphetamines.
She stopped taking them and gained the weight back.
She stopped taking them and gained the weight back.
I tried ECA once and it just reminded me of when I got put on Adderall.
Well if the purpose is specifically to lose weight then diet is going to be easier to maintain than specific exercise especially depending on how drastic a change someone expects, not that a drastic change is necessarily a good thing. If the purpose is the more abstract notion of "being healthy" then I agree and also don't necessarily think that the issue of specifically losing weight is the most important one. For similar reasons I think the popular notion of fitness is kind of a non-issue right now for a person who is open about being in bed due to illness (and also one reason I tend to roll my eyes at personal-responsibility narratives regarding physical activity).
Theres pills out there that are drastic and that work.... they just tend to have horrible side effects. 2,4-DNP (dinitrophenol) was a really popular dieting supplement back in the 30s that really worked. It short circuited the energy generation in your bodys cells and made it less efficient, so a significant amount of the energy you consumed got wasted as heat instead of stored as fast.
The problem is theres no cap to this effect and if you overdose you end up with a fever that can go as high as 40C before painfully dying. Theres bodybuilders who use it today to cut fat ASAP
You burn more calories sleeping than you do with a two hour long cardio session.
Weight loss is 95% diet. Exercise plays a part but is not significant.
I started doing this about three weeks ago and I've dropped ~13lbs. It may have been one of your posts that gave me the idea!
It's really simple. I also find that I'm excited to eat, rather than just eating because it's breakfast time, or lunch time, or whatever. Having that fasting period also gives me time to think about what I want to eat, so it's not just a fast grab for the easiest thing. And, to be fair, I'm still consuming unhealthy food, while trying to keep a general calorie goal. I'm definitely not counting calories, but I'll check the nutrition facts and just decide whether or not that amount is going to be worth it at any given time I'm choosing something.
It's working for me. It also seems to be at the very least as effective as keto was for me too, which is nice because I'm not limiting myself on what I can consume, now.
Can't you just eat better while you're sick (depending on what dietary restrictions your sickness allows, of course)? That will probably do way more for you than anything else.
I never got how people gained significant weight when bedridden, unless they previously had very active lives and eat the same. Like if I'm not working out going to work (a desk job) and back home for weeks won't make me suddenly gain weight
I never got how people gained significant weight when bedridden, unless they previously had very active lives and eat the same. Like if I'm not working out going to work (a desk job) and back home for weeks won't make me suddenly gain weight
I read a case of someone taking fat burner pills from some spam ad and overdosing by taking two pills, the result overclocked their metabolism so much that their body could no longer expel the heat fast enough and they died from overheating despite medical care.
Didn't you post before that you suffered from suicidal ideation and poor mental health? Most weight loss pills contain stimulants which can make those problems much, much worse.
I doubt those were from a spam ad, that sounds like the effects of taking DNP which is illegal
As others have said, stimulants work decently to reduce hunger. Downside is that you don't want to do cardio while they're affecting you.
I agree with you. Lets not pretend that running 2 miles is your only option for cardio. Do an hour of hard biking and you can burn ~800 calories. Do that 4 times a week and you've burned almost 1 pound of fat. I would much rather cut fat in 2 months while exercising than 4 months while eating a ~500 deficit every single day. Fuck that.
But it should be emphasized, people who only exercise and dont restructure their diet / learn calorie counting are destined to rebound when their lives get busy. I like to do cardio for the health benefits but I would rather adjust my diet for losing weight (if I had to choose between one or the other). That way, even if work gets busy and my only exercise is lifting twice a week, I can be confident that I'll lose or gain weight depending on my goals.