Meridia -- does it work?

Jackie Patti a écrit :

Quoted message said:

Hueyduck wrote:

<snip a lot of stuff about how quitting smoking>

I think this has been more useful for me to read than this useless
prescription of Chantix.

Thank you.

This is such a nice thing to write; thanks for reading Jackie.

Huey

teena said:

Wait a minute -- isn't low-carbing supposed to make you not have an
appetite? I read that. That's true, right?

That's a common side-effect, but it's not a given, and it's not really
the point. That's often the mainstream's take on low-carb, because it
allows them to explain its success while hanging onto their
calories-uber-alles beliefs -- low-carb is just a gimmick that reduces
appetite so you'll eat less, so they were right all along. (Of
course, even if that were true, what's wrong with a gimmick that
*works*?)

Low-carbing (or any diet or drug, for that matter) works to the extent
that it switches your blood chemistry from fat-storage mode to
fat-burning mode. It's really that simple.

I continue to have a healthy appetite on low-carb. The difference is
that when I get hungry, it's a controllable sensation, not an
all-consuming need that must be satisfied before I can function
properly. On the USDA-recommended diet, hunger has me wandering the
kitchen in a daze looking for quick food, like a wino looking for a
bottle.

Quoted message said:

So, if that is true, then how can you say a person has a
psychological addiction if the cure is not psychological but
biochemical?

I don't see how you could ever separate the two. Our bodies are
electro-chemical machines, including the brain. Every thought or
desire you have is made up of biochemical impulses, so it stands to
reason that any psychological problem has a chemical solution, if you
can figure out what it is. If an alcoholic wants a drink because
certain messages are being passed between certain neurons, a chemical
that blocks that messages should stop the addiction.

By the same token, every chemical problem may have a psychological
solution. A positive attitude can do wonders for your health. As a
practical matter, though, it's probably easier to kick-start
improvement on the physical side. It's easier for most people to
start taking a pill or change their diet than to suddenly start being
cheery and positive all day long.

--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

teena said:

It had "diet" in the name and that is how I did my search. I did
notice the low carb thing, but I figured I would find people who had
experience with Meridia in a diet newsgroup.

Basic Usenet etiquette is to lurk in a newsgroup for at least two
weeks before posting (or read the last two weeks through Google
Groups, I suppose) and read the group's FAQ if there is one. That
would have told you that folks don't really cotton to diet drugs in
these here parts.

Quoted message said:

I am not looking for points. I was looking for advice, for help.
Isn't this supposed to be a "support" newsgroup?

Sure, but there are many different ways to support people, and you'll
get the full range here, from touchy-feely to tough-love. When it
appears that you picked the group almost randomly without regard for
its charter, you may also get a subset of tough-love, called
screw-you.

Quoted message said:

Tell me, how well has the advice "eat less and exercise more" worked
for you? Was it an epiphany when you heard it that changed your
life? Or, was it just the same old advice you had heard all your
life from judgmental people that didn't help you one bit?

Quoted message said:

We all KNOW that is what we are supposed to do. EVERYONE knows that.

Not me; I consider that a recipe for failure in most cases.

--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

I have no problem sticking to low carb, just with eating even less than low
carbing makes easy.

Jackie Patti wrote:
| FOB wrote:
|| My only problem is that I love to eat and hate to exercise. And I'm
|| old enough that I don't care about having a sexy body anymore.
|
| I'm in a similar position, except I also don't want another heart
| attack, so low-carb it is.

It does seem that to get opinions on Meridia the quickest way to get results
would be to search for Meridia in Google Groups.

Aaron Baugher wrote:
|
| Basic Usenet etiquette is to lurk in a newsgroup for at least two
| weeks before posting (or read the last two weeks through Google
| Groups, I suppose) and read the group's FAQ if there is one. That
| would have told you that folks don't really cotton to diet drugs in
| these here parts.
|
..

teena said:

My doctor suggested I try Meridia.

Many doctors think that drugs are the way to approach all problems,
with surgery as the next option. It's what they are taught in medical
school. Our job is to know when our doctor is making sense or not.

Quoted message said:

I am a 42 year old female, nearly 100 pounds overweight.

Nearly 100 to go means you don't have "a lot to lose" compared to
plenty of others. No matter, time to start low carbing or some other
plan.

Quoted message said:

Does anyone know anything about this drug?

The only way to keep off lost weight is to make a permanent change
is what we eat. No medication has the slightest effect on that. So
no medication has any long term usefulness whatsoever. Worse,
focus on quick loss always interferes with the long term view in any
dieter I've ever encountered. So more often than not medication is
actually worse than doing nothing.

Aaron Baugher said:

teena said:

It had "diet" in the name and that is how I did my search. I did
notice the low carb thing, but I figured I would find people who had
experience with Meridia in a diet newsgroup.

Basic Usenet etiquette is to lurk in a newsgroup for at least two
weeks before posting (or read the last two weeks through Google
Groups, I suppose) and read the group's FAQ if there is one. That
would have told you that folks don't really cotton to diet drugs in
these here parts.

They might not. However, they still might have information to share and
indeed, Hueyduck did. I am grateful for the info Hueyduck posted.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am not looking for points. I was looking for advice, for help.
Isn't this supposed to be a "support" newsgroup?

Sure, but there are many different ways to support people, and you'll
get the full range here, from touchy-feely to tough-love. When it
appears that you picked the group almost randomly without regard for
its charter, you may also get a subset of tough-love, called
screw-you.

No, I picked a group that had "diet" in its title. It makes sense to think
that people involved in any diet might have experience with diet drugs. If
you disagree, so be it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Tell me, how well has the advice "eat less and exercise more" worked
for you? Was it an epiphany when you heard it that changed your
life? Or, was it just the same old advice you had heard all your
life from judgmental people that didn't help you one bit?

Quoted message said:

We all KNOW that is what we are supposed to do. EVERYONE knows that.

Not me; I consider that a recipe for failure in most cases.

Really? Interesting. Why?

FOB said:

It does seem that to get opinions on Meridia the quickest way to get
results would be to search for Meridia in Google Groups.

Oh, I did that. There was a little. I was hoping for some more info and I
got some more info.

Quoted message said:

Aaron Baugher said:

Basic Usenet etiquette is to lurk in a newsgroup for at least two
weeks before posting (or read the last two weeks through Google
Groups, I suppose) and read the group's FAQ if there is one. That
would have told you that folks don't really cotton to diet drugs in
these here parts.

.

Meridia first came out as an antidepressant and yes, i tried it and
liked it.

i was on the 10 mg and would suggest getting the 15 mg. It helped with
my appetite until late evening and also helped with "my mood".

Best to you.

cal aka carol

† cal a écrit :

Quoted message said:

Meridia first came out as an antidepressant and yes, i tried it and
liked it.

I didn't know it actually went on the market for this purpose.
I thought I had read that it was intended for this, but never worked
well enough.

Doesn't really matter, anyway :-)

Huey

teena said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

We all KNOW that is what we are supposed to do. EVERYONE knows
that.

Not me; I consider that a recipe for failure in most cases.

Really? Interesting. Why?

Why do I consider it a recipe for failure? Because I have eyes and
ears. I can look at and talk to people who have tried to "eat less
and exercise more" and failed to lose weight, some numerous times.

Why does it fail? Lots of reasons, depending on the individual.

Calories from food are hard to measure accurately; the USDA allows 10%
error on labeling, and with fresh foods you're on your own. Calories
from exercise are also hard to measure. First of all, you burn
hundreds of calories just being alive and maintaining a 98.6
temperature. If you go for a 30-minute jog today, how many calories
is that? Will that affect the calories that you would have burned the
rest of the day if you hadn't jogged? Might you walk a little
slower around the office that day because you're worn out? Might your
metabolism slow down a bit?

There are so many factors, and as Dr. Bernstein points out when he
talks about the law of large numbers, if you're measuring any of those
factors wrong, there goes your supposed calorie-based diet in a hurry.

Then for those of us with blood sugar problems, which I'd guess
includes most obese people to some extent, cutting back on calories
while continuing to eat a typical diet of 300g/day of carbs is like
pushing a really *big* rock uphill. While rabid dogs bite at your
heels. All that'll do is kick your cravings into overdrive, so you'll
need enormous amounts of will power around the clock to stay on your
diet. It's amazing that anyone's able to pull it off even
temporarily.

--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

Aaron Baugher said:

teena said:

Quoted message said:

> We all KNOW that is what we are supposed to do. EVERYONE knows
> that.

Not me; I consider that a recipe for failure in most cases.

Really? Interesting. Why?

Why do I consider it a recipe for failure? Because I have eyes and
ears. I can look at and talk to people who have tried to "eat less
and exercise more" and failed to lose weight, some numerous times.

Why does it fail? Lots of reasons, depending on the individual.

Calories from food are hard to measure accurately; the USDA allows 10%
error on labeling, and with fresh foods you're on your own. Calories
from exercise are also hard to measure. First of all, you burn
hundreds of calories just being alive and maintaining a 98.6
temperature. If you go for a 30-minute jog today, how many calories
is that? Will that affect the calories that you would have burned the
rest of the day if you hadn't jogged? Might you walk a little
slower around the office that day because you're worn out? Might your
metabolism slow down a bit?

There are so many factors, and as Dr. Bernstein points out when he
talks about the law of large numbers, if you're measuring any of those
factors wrong, there goes your supposed calorie-based diet in a hurry.

Then for those of us with blood sugar problems, which I'd guess
includes most obese people to some extent, cutting back on calories
while continuing to eat a typical diet of 300g/day of carbs is like
pushing a really *big* rock uphill. While rabid dogs bite at your
heels. All that'll do is kick your cravings into overdrive, so you'll
need enormous amounts of will power around the clock to stay on your
diet. It's amazing that anyone's able to pull it off even
temporarily.

Nice mail Aaron

Ophelia said:

Aaron Baugher said:

teena said:

>> We all KNOW that is what we are supposed to do. EVERYONE knows
>> that.
>
> Not me; I consider that a recipe for failure in most cases.

Really? Interesting. Why?

Why do I consider it a recipe for failure? Because I have eyes and
ears. I can look at and talk to people who have tried to "eat less
and exercise more" and failed to lose weight, some numerous times.

Why does it fail? Lots of reasons, depending on the individual.

Calories from food are hard to measure accurately; the USDA allows
10% error on labeling, and with fresh foods you're on your own.
Calories from exercise are also hard to measure. First of all, you
burn hundreds of calories just being alive and maintaining a 98.6
temperature. If you go for a 30-minute jog today, how many calories
is that? Will that affect the calories that you would have burned
the rest of the day if you hadn't jogged? Might you walk a little
slower around the office that day because you're worn out? Might
your metabolism slow down a bit?

There are so many factors, and as Dr. Bernstein points out when he
talks about the law of large numbers, if you're measuring any of
those factors wrong, there goes your supposed calorie-based diet in
a hurry.

Then for those of us with blood sugar problems, which I'd guess
includes most obese people to some extent, cutting back on calories
while continuing to eat a typical diet of 300g/day of carbs is like
pushing a really *big* rock uphill. While rabid dogs bite at your
heels. All that'll do is kick your cravings into overdrive, so
you'll need enormous amounts of will power around the clock to stay
on your diet. It's amazing that anyone's able to pull it off even
temporarily.

Nice mail Aaron

So, I guess that means you agree with the idea that telling someone to <<eat
less and exercise more>> is useless and rude, right, Ophelia?

Aaron Baugher said:

teena said:

Quoted message said:

> We all KNOW that is what we are supposed to do. EVERYONE knows
> that.

Not me; I consider that a recipe for failure in most cases.

Really? Interesting. Why?

Why do I consider it a recipe for failure? Because I have eyes and
ears. I can look at and talk to people who have tried to "eat less
and exercise more" and failed to lose weight, some numerous times.

Why does it fail? Lots of reasons, depending on the individual.

Calories from food are hard to measure accurately; the USDA allows 10%
error on labeling, and with fresh foods you're on your own. Calories
from exercise are also hard to measure. First of all, you burn
hundreds of calories just being alive and maintaining a 98.6
temperature. If you go for a 30-minute jog today, how many calories
is that? Will that affect the calories that you would have burned the
rest of the day if you hadn't jogged? Might you walk a little
slower around the office that day because you're worn out? Might your
metabolism slow down a bit?

There are so many factors, and as Dr. Bernstein points out when he
talks about the law of large numbers, if you're measuring any of those
factors wrong, there goes your supposed calorie-based diet in a hurry.

Then for those of us with blood sugar problems, which I'd guess
includes most obese people to some extent, cutting back on calories
while continuing to eat a typical diet of 300g/day of carbs is like
pushing a really *big* rock uphill. While rabid dogs bite at your
heels. All that'll do is kick your cravings into overdrive, so you'll
need enormous amounts of will power around the clock to stay on your
diet. It's amazing that anyone's able to pull it off even
temporarily.

I think so, too. Thanks for the explanation.

:: Aaron Baugher wrote:
::: "teena" <[email hidden]> writes:
:::
:::::: We all KNOW that is what we are supposed to do. EVERYONE knows
:::::: that.
:::::
::::: Not me; I consider that a recipe for failure in most cases.
::::
:::: Really? Interesting. Why?
:::
::: Why do I consider it a recipe for failure? Because I have eyes and
::: ears. I can look at and talk to people who have tried to "eat less
::: and exercise more" and failed to lose weight, some numerous times.
:::
::: Why does it fail? Lots of reasons, depending on the individual.
:::

The main one being that they failed to actually do it.

::: Calories from food are hard to measure accurately; the USDA allows
::: 10% error on labeling, and with fresh foods you're on your own.
::: Calories from exercise are also hard to measure. First of all, you
::: burn hundreds of calories just being alive and maintaining a 98.6
::: temperature. If you go for a 30-minute jog today, how many calories
::: is that? Will that affect the calories that you would have burned
::: the rest of the day if you hadn't jogged? Might you walk a little
::: slower around the office that day because you're worn out? Might
::: your metabolism slow down a bit?
:::

So? None of this means that "eat less, exercise more" doesn't work. It
means that people fail to continue to "eat less, exercise more" until it
produces weight loss. Many of us have managed to find a balance of counting
calories and expenditure with exercise to produce weight loss. It's not such
a big deal if you can't count it accurately 100% of the time, but it is
about leaving sufficicent margins in the balance to allow for a deficit even
in the face of error in counting.

::: There are so many factors, and as Dr. Bernstein points out when he
::: talks about the law of large numbers, if you're measuring any of
::: those factors wrong, there goes your supposed calorie-based diet in
::: a hurry.
:::

Large numbers? The problems occur when the difference is small compared to
the size of the numbers themselves, no matter the size of numbers. What's
needed is a sufficiently large difference.

Teena,
The unfortunate thing about all of these diet drugs on the shelves these
days is that everyone thinks it will be a quick fix. Physicians included...
they are not. You still have to get on the ball and diet and exercise. Even
with the new Alli drug you have to eat a very lowfat diet and there are some
pretty nasty side effects with that. There is tons of research ongoing at
any time for a new pill that will cure obesity... it may happen sometime but
I am not holding my breathe.

The best thing you can do for yourself is if you are interested in low
carbbing to find a plan. I follow Atkins myself the food is good and you
don't ever feel hungry. I know every one says it is unhealthy but if you
read the book or even go to atkins.com and do their online class there you
will see that it is not.
You will find lots of information online about studies that have been done
showing that eating fat is not what makes you fat and not what makes your
arteries clog. Eating lots of carbs with fat is what causes these problems.

I actually eat more veggies now then I did on a low fat diet. There are tons
of great recipes out on the web for free and you can find a lot of great
food to eat.

Here is a days food for me.... and while you are reading this keep in mind I
lost 4 pounds in the last ten days.

Breakfast:
Bacon and Eggs or leftovers from dinner

Lunch:
I take my lunch to work so I either take leftovers from dinner or a salad of
some kind and some meat, today it is roast beef

Snacks:
cut up veggies (Cucumbers, green pepper, radishes) and ranch dressing for a
dip. (regular dressing not lowfat)

In the afternoon I might have a handfull of nuts, or an ounce of cheddar
cheese (once again not lowfat)

For dinner tonight;
Grilled Ribeye with salad and sauted brocolli, The ribeye will have some
nice blue cheese butter on top of it.

My appeptite is small now so I will have at least half of the steak left
over to take to lunch tomorrow.

Other places to find information:
do a google search on low carb blogs you will bring up several including
those my Dr Dan and Mary Eades who are responsible for the protein power
plan. There are also lots of forums that are low carb in nature where you
can ask questions and talk with others.

PB said:

Teena,
The unfortunate thing about all of these diet drugs on the shelves
these days is that everyone thinks it will be a quick fix. Physicians
included... they are not. You still have to get on the ball and diet
and exercise. Even with the new Alli drug you have to eat a very
lowfat diet and there are some pretty nasty side effects with that.
There is tons of research ongoing at any time for a new pill that
will cure obesity... it may happen sometime but I am not holding my
breathe.

The best thing you can do for yourself is if you are interested in low
carbbing to find a plan. I follow Atkins myself the food is good and
you don't ever feel hungry. I know every one says it is unhealthy but
if you read the book or even go to atkins.com and do their online
class there you will see that it is not.
You will find lots of information online about studies that have been
done showing that eating fat is not what makes you fat and not what
makes your arteries clog. Eating lots of carbs with fat is what
causes these problems.

I actually eat more veggies now then I did on a low fat diet. There
are tons of great recipes out on the web for free and you can find a
lot of great food to eat.

Here is a days food for me.... and while you are reading this keep in
mind I lost 4 pounds in the last ten days.

Breakfast:
Bacon and Eggs or leftovers from dinner

Lunch:
I take my lunch to work so I either take leftovers from dinner or a
salad of some kind and some meat, today it is roast beef

Snacks:
cut up veggies (Cucumbers, green pepper, radishes) and ranch dressing
for a dip. (regular dressing not lowfat)

In the afternoon I might have a handfull of nuts, or an ounce of
cheddar cheese (once again not lowfat)

For dinner tonight;
Grilled Ribeye with salad and sauted brocolli, The ribeye will have
some nice blue cheese butter on top of it.

My appeptite is small now so I will have at least half of the steak
left over to take to lunch tomorrow.

Other places to find information:
do a google search on low carb blogs you will bring up several
including those my Dr Dan and Mary Eades who are responsible for the
protein power plan. There are also lots of forums that are low carb
in nature where you can ask questions and talk with others.

Thank you so much for this post. It was so helpful and informative. I
appreciate it.