Diet Pills......The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Well hello there! Happy Friday! How was your week? You look great today by the way. Are you doing something different with your hair?

I did, I recently chopped al of mine off. How liberating. I love cutting my hair. But as soon as I do I miss my long hair. I’m weird.

This past weekend we purged the house. We went through the guest bedroom closet, my office and the garage. I could not believe the amount of stuff we threw out. Who knew we had that much stuff?! It was crazy. I’m not a person who likes clutter so our place in general is minimal but I am VERY sentimental so I had a lot of items I was storing in containers. I went through it all and got rid of garbage bags full. I mean…..I’m 33 and married I don’t think I need to keep the box I had of keepsakes from my last relationship or my high school……yes..HIGH SCHOOL… relationship anymore. Sheesh. So, I dumped those boxes, I also got rid of some stuffed animals I was holding on to, some out dated curriculum I had from when I taught, holiday decorations we haven’t taken out in years. The list could go on. We spent 7 hours just purging, cleaning, reorganizing. It was great. We were exhausted by the end but it felt so good to get rid of so much.

I mean seriously! Look at all the junk behind my hunk!

Then Sunday was grocery shopping and football. We did go look at a new housing community but that was uneventful. I went to bed early for the 4^th evening in a row. I’ve got to drop this cough I have. The extra sleep, Nyquil, Listerine and Green juice have really helped. My body is just telling me to rest so I’m TRYING to do that.

Ok so as promised let’s talk diet pills.

Oh, the diet pill. Isn’t technology great! Practically everything we want is at our finger tips. You want directions? Your phone will tell you how to get there quicker than you can find a map. You want food? There’s an app for that. Just text your order and it will be delivered to your door step. You want clothes or household goods? Amazon will deliver most things same day now! So why put in the weeks, months, years of work to lose weight and keep it off? That’s absurd! We want it now! Well guess what?! There’s a pill for that! Just pop a pill a couple times per day and you can lose several pounds in one week! Need to slim down quick for a special event? Just pop that pill! Sounds great, right?

Yes, it sounds awesome. Anyone who has ever had to or wanted to lose some weight can attest to the fact that it would be great to wish the pounds away. And guess what? The answer is yes, diet pills work. They help you lose weight. It’s amazing. So why not take diet pills? With quotes out there like “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels,” it’s easy to find a reason to give into the hype.

I’ll start with the positives. I feel its beneficial to provide all perspectives so you can come to your own educated conclusion. Diet pills can help shed the pounds quickly. That is the best part! Do you even need to hear the rest? Maybe not but I’ll go on. Many diet pills offer an appetite suppressant. As weight loss requires a calorie deficit in order to be successful and appetite suppressants can make it a lot easier to restrict calories. If you don’t feel hungry it’s a lot easier to resist snacking especially on unhealthy snacks. Diet pills act as a diuretic. They can reduce water weight your body is holding. This can make an impact of a few pounds on the scale for sure! Another great thing about diet pills is they help increase resting energy which allows for more calorie burn throughout the day.  Many diet pills contain caffeine or an ingredient with the same affect to boost the metabolism and keep calories burning throughout the day. Hey! With all that extra energy, you may be able to kick that coffee habit! But that’s silly……..who wants to give up coffee?! It’s a delicious little oasis to start the busy work day.

But with the good comes the bad. Diet pills can help shed pounds quickly. Hmmmm sound familiar. Right now, are you like, “Well she messed up the post, she already said this.” “Is this a bad copy/paste job?” The answer is nope!  As good as it is to shed 10 pounds in 1 week it’s just as bad. It is difficult for the body to burn large amounts of fat calories in a short amount of time which means you may also be burning lean muscle tissue. Rapid weight loss can also cause malnutrition, gallstones, constipation, dizziness, as well as hair loss and for women irregular menstruation. Its recommend to lose 1-2 pounds per week. Steady weight loss is more sustainable and allows the body to gradually adapt to the lifestyle change. Keep in mind, easy weight loss also means it is easier to gain back.

Many diet pills offer an appetite suppressant. UGH! I hate this one…..maybe the most! I have been asked a few to many times by friends and acquaintances what I would suggest as a good appetite suppressant. My answer is always the same, water and exercise.  I mean, seriously, lets break this down. You take a pill to suppress your appetite. What do you think is going to happen once the pill wears off? You’ll be famished! This is what leads to binge eating. It just creates poor eating habits. And binge eating will not help with weight loss that’s for sure. Binge eating can make your body hold on to the fat. This is because your body thinks “well crap! Who knows when I’ll get food again.” So, you binge and your body stores it to hold onto energy for your body to function. Then, let’s say you lose the weight you want and stop taking the appetite suppressants. All you’re left with is a disordered eating habit of suppressing your appetite then bingeing. I just can’t. If you consistently drink plenty of water and regularly exercise your cravings to just eat to eat will subside. You’ll eat because your body needs the fuel. Try this, next time you feel hungry, drink a glass of water first. If you are no longer hungry then that means you were just dehydrated! Save the food for your next true meal.

Diet pills act as a diuretic. EHHHHHH! NEXT! Drink your water people! It’s good for you! It helps the body function properly and flushes out the bad. Diuretics just dehydrate your body. If you abuse diuretics, you can cause some significant damage to your organs. Also, they will age you. Dry skin causes wrinkles and makes you look older. If you’re a lifter and you’re all dried out get ready for your skin to tear on your next deadlift. EWWWWW!

Diet pills help increase resting energy which allows for more calorie burn throughout the day. You know what else does this? Weight lifting! Now that doesn’t mean you must go all body builder, The Rock style to reap the benefits and burn those calories. Even adding some weight training to your exercise regimen can make an impact. If you are just starting a weight training routine start small. Maybe only do 2-3 days a week and work your weight up. Try circuit training. With circuit training you can combine weights and cardio for a calorie scorcher! Besides, the added caffeine that is found in diet pills to artificially increase your resting energy can do bad things to your heart and no one wants that.

So there ya have it. DO NOT TAKE DIET PILLS! Even “natural” ones. Supplements are not regulated by the FDA like prescriptions. They can contain harmful ingredients without your knowledge. Anytime you take a supplement do your research. Google those MoFo’s. I had a friend end up in the ER for some wonky supplement she ordered online. No Bueno.  

Trust me when I say you want to lose weight the right way. I know it can be enticing to drop the weight fast. I’ve been there. I regret it. When I started my weight loss journey I lost my first 50lbs in 3 months. I still have extra skin on my lower stomach because I did not give my body enough time to adapt. I have also experienced depriving myself then binge eating. My metabolism is super slow now and I really have to watch what I eat and really push myself in the gym to keep the weight off.  But it’s part of my journey so I own it.

Hey go check out the blogs Instagram. I posted about meal prepping, which also helps ward off the overeating. If you need help with meal prep or food shopping for the right foods let me know! I’ll be happy to help! You can comment below or e-mail the blog at barbellsandboyshorts@gmail.com

Fun Fact: Every day you are breathing in about ¼ of other people’s farts!

If you didn’t know. Now you know.

You’ll want to check out the blog next week! I’ll be serving up two paleo recipes for your super bowl festivities!

Hey, have a great day!