Diet Pills or If you want to throw your money away send it to me!

In all my years of dieting and trying this plan or that plan, I think of myself as somewhat of an expert.  I'm not medically trained, so if you are using me as your medical advice you are a LOT misguided.  Always check with your doctor before taking any advice offered from a blog.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way....

Diet Pills are a joke.  You are not going to get any magic from a diet pill.  You are wasting your money, and if you really have that big of a burning desire to throw your money around, just send it to me.  Really, I'll start working on a PayPal link today!  Read the labels.  They all say the same thing.  They all say they will help you lose 1-2 pounds a week.  Well guess what sweeties, you can lose 1-2 pounds a week on your own.  The diet pills really aren't helping that much.  Back in the day, I took my fair share of Xenedrine.  This was before some hammer head decided Ephedrine and Drano could be used to make Meth so they didn't regulate it that much.  Yes, Xenedrine did help me lose the weight, but it was because I was hopped up on the speed in the stuff.  I would pop two Xenedrine and maybe not sleep for two days, but my house would be SPOTLESS!  I would also get really bad road rage, and who knows what damage I was doing to my body.  But that was another time.

It especially troubles me when otherwise respected celebrity doctors and fitness professionals advocate and push their brand of diet pills.  I just saw an advertisement for Dr. Oz Diet Pills.  I don't know how much money a person needs but I think it's pretty irresponsible of him.  He is a doctor, I wonder if he takes them himself.  NOT!  The funny thing is, a very well known fitness professional has been hawking her wares all over the Internet as well, and it wasn't that long ago I heard her bitching out some big losers about how there wasn't any magic pills to lose weight.  Hmmmmmm.

Now, I do throw this caveat in: Vitamins are a different story.  But you don't have to buy specialty vitamins, you can get the mid priced variety and they work just as well.  I wouldn't recommend the cheapos, but that is  my preference.  What I'm about to tell you may sound like the wackiest thing you are going to read all day, but bear with me.  Overweight people are actually malnourished.  Yeah, I told you it would sound wacky.  You may be thinking malnourishment looks like those starving children in the 3rd world with pouchy bellies and flies all over their faces, but those are the extreme cases.  The malnourishment of the 1st world, looks a lot like me.  FAT!  Let's face it, if I were getting adequate, balanced nutrition, I wouldn't be over 100 pounds overweight.  I may still be overweight, but not by this much.  Because I've been eating fast food, over processed food, and snacking on entire bags of chips and cookies, my vegetable intake is not as great as it could be.  For that reason, I really advocate a multi-vitamin as part of a healthier lifestyle.

Some vitamins I recommend when starting out are:
B complex - Good for any woman, even if she isn't overweight.  Folic Acid is important for preventing neural tube defects in pregnancy.  B vitamins help iron work more efficiently to prevent iron deficiency anemia, and give you an energy boost.  What do you think is in those 5-hour energy shots?  Take a look at the label...it's a hella lot of B vitamins!

Iron - again, women tend to have iron deficiency anemia, particularly around that time of the month, and iron helps you from getting sluggish.  Check with your doctor as Iron is very easy to OD on.

C - immune boost to keep you from falling off the exercise wagon because you are nursing another bout of the sniffles.  C is also good for the skin.

D - because we live indoors and it helps calcium work harder

Calcium - for bone health

E - for your skin and hair.

I'm sure there are others, but those are my suggestions.  And I can't stress this enough, because I'm not about to pay anyone in a lawsuit...CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR to prevent any nasty side effects from any meds you are currently taking.  Also, don't take Iron and Calcium at the same time, they negate one another.  Take one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

So, my advice, is save your money, eat better, get some vitamins and write a check to help end hunger.   There are no magic pills to help you lose weight.  You will have to do a little work!