Looking for weight loss miracles — still looking …
I have to confess that I’ve spent much of my life looking for two types of miracles, 1) quick and easy ways to make money, and, 2) quick and easy ways to lose weight.
The bad news is, I’m still looking for both.
Ah, well, nobody said life was supposed to be easy, did they? In fact, the only weight loss success I’ve had has always been when I’ve just “bit the bullet” (instead of the sandwich?) and started eating in moderation. I’ve tried diet pills, I’ve tried using every sort of appetite suppressant I’ve heard of. But in the long run, I’ve only lost weight by limiting my caloric intake, one hard-fought food battle at a time.
Likewise, the only ways I’ve found to make money, either online or off, is to work. The get rich quick miracle stuff NEVER works. Okay, maybe one in 100,000,000 chances are out there that I’ll win a major sweepstakes or lottery or something, and then I will have gotten rich quickly. But I don’t bank on that for my “golden years” of retirement. (Those years start next month for me, actually.)
So, as I just asked awhile ago on one of my other blogs — what’s worked for you if you’ve been battling the old body bulge? And how about making money online, specifically — anything working for you there? Just curious about all that, and would appreciate your comments.
Key to U.S. health care needs: Attacking obesity
Over the last few weeks, with health care reform such a crucial message in America, I’ve seen suggestions for dealing with a very important health care need: attacking obesity in America. And if you’re like me (by the way, I am in that obese category myself), you’ve probably seen, heard, or read about everything from weight loss supplements (latest I’ve seen is for something called Avesil) to an eggs-and-tomatoes diet (which my grandmother actually put me on waaaayyy back in the mid-1950s).
Tell me, honestly, what works or has worked for you? This is directed at all of you out there who share the obesity “load” (couldn’t resist that pun, sorry) with me. All you skinny people out there needn’t comment (though you’re always welcome to comment). If, like me, you’ve tried a wide range of weight loss supplements and diet plans, I’d love to hear 1) what you’ve tried, and, 2) what’s worked. No getting around it, the only thing that’s ever worked for me has been 1) taking in less calories every day, and, 2) getting off my seat and onto my feet every day.
How about it, America, what can we do about the obesity attack to help ourselves with the health care crisis?
Maybe lowly fruit holds some keys to U.S. obesity epidemic
It’s always been a very lucrative market in America (probably worldwide?) to sell weight loss products. Over the years, there’s impressive evidence that there are weight loss supplements that work — some probably better than others, some probably cheaper than others.
But now there’s a lowly fruit which, according to some reports, may hold some keys to solving the U.S. obesity epidemic. And my wife’s going to have mixed feelings about this one: it’s a grapefruit derivative. First, let me explain about my wife. She absolutely loves grapefruit. The bad news is — she’s on a prescription drug which specifically disallows grapefruit or grapefruit products. Bummer for her.
But there could be good news here for many of us doing the old weight loss dance. I happen to like grapefruit myself, though I can’t see myself using a weight loss product which I would need to keep a secret from my wife. Nah, seriously, she’s really good about it. I occasionally enjoy a grapefruit-based soft drink in her presence and she doesn’t even glare at me. So maybe I’ll give grapefruit a chance.
Great deal of confusion surrounding ephedra diet products
I was doing some research today on the Internet and found that there’s a great deal of confusion surrounding “ephedra” and dietary supplements that contain this herbal ingredient. (Ephedra is also commonly known by an English translation of its Chinese herbal name, “ma huang.”) The substance was banned by the FDA in 2004 for dietary/weight loss usage. It was associated with negative effects in humans, ranging from strokes to heart problems, and has been implicated in some deaths. But here’s where the confusion over ephedra products began. The ban was challenged in the state of Utah and a federal district court said the FDA overstepped its powers by banning the substance across the board for weight loss purposes.
That ruling, however, was overturned in 2006 by a federal appellate court. So the ban stands, and companies now making and selling ephedra products have reformulated, or are reformulating, their products to use only allowably small amounts of the herb, or using other herbal stimulates instead of ephedra.
Is that clear? No? Yes?
Bottom line for us dieters: Any weight loss products associated with the name “ephedra” or “ephedra-like” stimulants can only be sold legally in the U.S. if they contain other stimulants instead of genuine “ephedra.”
Fair question — how much do we waste on ‘health’ products despite recession?
I posted just awhile ago about people who continue to pamper their pets in recessionary times, which leads to another very fair question: Do we “pamper” or needlessly spoil ourselves in recessionary times with all the “health” products we eat, swallow, rub on, etc.?
I saw part of an interview with the new Wal-Mart’s CEO, Rick Duke, in which he was being questioned about consumer spending habits in recessionary times. He was fascinated to discover that one of the retail industries that was doing very well in all the Wal-Mart stores was — vitamins, minerals, and other “health” products. (I use quote marks around health because I’m not qualified in any way to give health-related or medical advice, so I’m not going to call such products healthy. Consult a medical professional for that, please.)
Yet if we simply exercised regularly and ate healthy, balanced diets consumed carefully and in moderate quantities — would we really need diet pills or phenphedrine reviews to tell us how to be healthy??
I’m sure there are some wonderful “health” products, diet pills, vitamin supplements, and all the rest out there. (My wife and I both take multivitamins daily; I’ve used diet pill products in the past myself.) But perhaps these economic “hard times” have cut the budget in ways that mean we’ve got to cut back on such purchases.
Don’t be alarmed. You PROBABLY won’t die if you have to give up your favorite supplement, or at least cut back on it. How about, go eat half a cantaloupe and some crunchy raw broccoli instead? (Well, okay, not necessarily together.)