She made it, but she's dead.

I have a friend who has managed to drop weight fast. I mean fast. She has admitted to using weight loss supplements between her strict eating and running regime. She calls the supplements thermogencis which is really just a fancy word for diet pills.  I’ll be honest, I’m jealous she has dropped nearly thirty pounds in nearly three months. Oh I am. Her diet is stricter than I probably ever could achieve…no…I can match her, but I would not press for it. And I admire her dedication to running.  My problem lies in her use of “thermogenics”.

Losing weight sucks, so I wouldn’t recommend getting fat in the first place. Lesson learned. Some people lose weight fast and some lose it slow, naturally. The safe way to lose fat is one to two pounds a week, anymore and you’re risking the health of your metabolism and/or gaining the weight back. You see this a lot in chronic dieters; they go on strict diets, lose weight, and then gain the weight back and then some.  People use “thermogenics” in hopes to speed up weight loss. Some use them hoping to lose fat on the pills alone without changes in diet or activity. I guess no one told them that good things don’t come on silver platters. You actually have to put effort into losing fat.

The major problem with “thermogenics” is the damage it does to the body, particularly with the heart and liver. Nowadays ephedra is absent from the drugs, but it doesn’t make the pills any safer. So what could happen if you took diet pills? A few things; you could gain weight back once you stop, you could not lose any weight at all, your heart and/or liver could fail, or you might be okay. Why would anyone want to take the risk when the odds are stacked up against them? To even see any benefit from the pills you would have to be extremely strict with your diet and exercise, but even then you are putting your body through the stress mill and the pills most likely won't work. 

Bottom line is, your health is more important than getting into the weight and height standard quickly. You are of no use to yourself if you are thin and dead. So ladies and gents, knock that shit off. 

Some resources:

Three Fat Chicks

LiveStrong (pretty much the same from Three Fat Chicks, but with a little more info)

Med Health Insurance

There's more out there, it's up to you to be the smart consumer.