Warning, GlaxoSmithKline and the FDA are reporting that counterfeit Alli is being sold via eBay and other online sources. Apparently the counterfeit drugs contain a controlled substance known as Sibutramine. There are several easy ways to tell if the Alli you have purchased is counterfeit:
Archive for the ‘Weight Loss’ Category
Counterfeit Alli being sold via eBay
Monday, January 18th, 2010Creators of Alli making documentary about eating
Thursday, January 14th, 2010GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) the makers of weight loss drug Alli are working on a documentary about the unhealthy relationship people sometime have with food. In an article published on CNBC.COM the parties involved assure CNBC that it will not be a marketing ploy, and that the film will be a real documentary in the vein of “An Inconvienient Truth”. Personally, I hope they consult with Dr. David Kessler when making the movie because his book “The End of Overeating” (which I am currently reading) has tremendous insight into why people do what they do.
I will be following this story closely.
-Drew
Atkins Advantage Shake Review
Thursday, January 14th, 2010My girlfriend is seeking bariatric surgery from The OSU medical center and one of the requirements of their program is that she undergo a ‘living well’ class (which is basically a class that teaches you eat properly now and after your bariatric surgery). One of the ideas they gave her was to drink low-carbohydrate shakes like Slim Fast for two lunch and breakfast.
Why you fail to lose weight
Friday, September 4th, 2009Being overweight myself I have spent a great deal of time examining why I succeed and fail to lose weight at different times in my life. Two things immediately come to mind that help and they are having a strong motivator and having people who genuinely seem to have a vested interest in my success. The first one is easy but usually temporary, the second one is much much more difficult to achieve, mostly because of my own perception of the world and the other people I encounter in it.
Contrave – an old new way to lose weight.
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Recently, the media has been all aflutter (here, here, and in many other places) about Contrave, the next great hope in weight loss drugs. Currently in FDA testing, Contrave is not a new drug at all, rather it is the combination of two drugs (Welbutrin and Naltrexone) which have been on the market for years. According to Orexigen Therapeutics Inc (the producer of Contrave) Contrave takes the metabolism boosting power of Welbutrin and combines it with the craving killing power of Naltrexone to help you lose weight.
Welbutrin has been used for years as an anti-depressant and Naltrexone is used to treat various addictions. With an almost combined 20 years of every day use by patients, I began to wonder if Contrave was anything to get excited about, at all. It occurred to me that if someone was so inclined that they could go to their doctor and get a prescription for both Welbutrin and Naltrexone bypassing that whole messy FDA phase three study thing we’ve all been hearing about.
So then why bother re-branding two drugs that have been available for a combined two decades? First, the FDA approves drugs for a specific purpose, and anything else is considered off label. Even if Topamax does help a lot of people lose weight, it is still a migraine/anti-seizure medication according to the FDA. If doctors prescribe you a drug for an off-label use, and it kills you your doctor could be in serious trouble. Second, a new weight-loss drug (especially one that won’t make your heart beat so fast that it kills you, or cause ‘leakage’) is sure to be a “blockbuster drug” just like Viagra or Cialis is which means an incredible amount of money for the Orexigen (and their investors).
It seems odd to me that research money was spent trying different combinations of drugs rather than trying to come up with a new and more effective way to treat obesity. Weight loss is a potential side effect of many drugs, but there are very few drugs (according to the FDA) which actually help people lose weight, and keep it off. If Contrave is approved for the treatment of obesity, then shouldn’t the treatment of obesity then be applied as label usages of both Welbutrin and Naltrexone? Make no doubt about it, Orexigen will be going to great lengths to make sure this doesn’t happen, and that is the problem with this entire situation.
I am all for anything that will make people lead healthier lives, at the same time Contrave seems like taking half of a Ford Mustang, and Half of a Dodge Challenger, combining them and calling it a Chalstang. You’re still taking two things that have exited for a really long time and blending them together. Could Contrave help a great number of people, lose weight? YES! Will it do a better job than just taking the sum of its parts (and at much much cheaper prices)?
I don’t see how it could.
Andrew
Alli Tip: Don’t forget to take your vitamins!
Friday, January 16th, 2009As the bottle indicates in highlighted print, anyone who is taking Alli should take a multi-vitamin. The reason is simple, many vitamins in food are delivered via fat. Because Alli prevents your body from digesting some of the fat you eat, you miss out on the vitamins and their associated benefits. I recently did some research to find the “best multi-vitamin” and I wanted to share the results for you.
Experts say that the $40 bottle of vitamins offer no greater benefits over the $10 bottle of vitamins and the highest rated vitamins I could find were (surprise) One-a-day multi-vitamins.
A 250 count bottle of One-A-Day Men’s Multivitamin
So for eight cents a day you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your body is getting all it needs.
-Drew
Alli ‘More forgiving’ than most think
Thursday, January 15th, 2009I have been taking All/Xenical for over three years, in that time I have learned the ins and outs of the drug. I’ve gone through my ‘heavy compliance’ phases, my ‘eat a whole bunch and then let the drug handle it phases (not recommended)’ and many more. One thing I think about Alli that I don’t think people understand is how much you can eat before you “set it off”.
Recently, I began following the “big breakfast diet” because it just makes sense to me. The diet consists of eating a big breakfast rich in protein and then (hopefully) that breakfast will keep you full until Lunch to prevent snacking. It is a ‘eat three times a day diet’ and it seems to be working pretty well for me so far. Although the breakfast I eat I don’t exactly consider “healthy” it is full of protein and everything my body needs to provide me with Energy.
The Breakfast Sandwich consists of:
- Two eggs
- 1 strip of pre-cooked bacon
- A slice of colby jack cheese
- and two pieces of toast
Then I usually add a glass of juice or whatever to it. Even with that amount of fat (from the eggs, bacon, and cheese), Alli still doesn’t make me have ‘leakage’ related side effects, and believe me I know what that’s all about. When I was in a less healthy mental state I used to eat candy and then take a Xenical, pure horror would ensue.
The point I am trying to make here is that you have to work pretty hard (or at least I do) to get the ‘revenge of Alli’ and that the benefits surely outweigh the negatives.
Don’t forget, Alli is currently on sale at Amazon.com all through the month of January.
-Drew
The Biggest Loser on Larry King
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009Larry King Live (CNN) (Watch it) was focused on The Biggest Loser and the obesity problem in America in general. The trainers (Jillian and Bob) and contestants from various seasons were guests and offered insight into their struggle to lose weight. The most interesting guest was the winner of season four whom seemed to re-gain most of the weight he had lost which only proves that being healthy is not a destination it is a life long process which you can constantly shift in and out of.
I think most people would like to believe that when people leave The Biggest Loser ranch they are ‘fixed’. What ever be it emotions, learned behavior, or addiction that caused them to become obese is simply gone forever but that is just not true. Contestants (like everyone else) go back to their lives without the constant nurturing and support and are bombarded with all of the old temptations, emotions and environments which prompted them to gain weight in the first place.
But wait! People go home from the ranch and continue to lose weight right? Yes, but as Bob and Jillian pointed out, they are still in constant contact with them even after they leave the ranch. This poses the question then, can obesity ever really be “cured”? If the most popular trainers in the world still have to prod people after they leave the ranch, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Perhaps instead of treating the physical state of obesity which is caused by eating too much and exercising too little, Perhaps we should treat the reason people are eating too much and exercising too little in the first place. I would venture to say that at the core of 90% of most obese individuals there lies emotional problems which can be traced directly to their eating behaviors.
Telling someone who could already have emotional problems that they eat too much and are lazy doesn’t sound like a good plan to me. Maybe more research needs to be done in the psychology of obesity rather than the pharmacology. I am glad that Larry King decided to have the Biggest Loser winner who gained his weight back on. It shows both obese people and non-obese people alike that there is no quick route to becoming healthy and like with any virus one must be mindful that they still have the disease even if they aren’t showing symptoms at that moment.
Personally, I think The Biggest Loser does a lot to show people what is possible, but it gives people an unrealistic idea of what it is like once the cameras are off and Jillian and Bob aren’t there to scream at you anymore.
-Drew
The skinny on skinny drinks from Starbucks
Monday, January 12th, 2009Calories, fat, and cost aside I have been drinking Starbucks for years. One of my favorite things about Starbucks has been the ability to customize your creation to (try) to make something which is both delicious and not completely disastrous to your health. My drink of choice has always been a non-fat vanilla latte. I find I really don’t miss the fat in the milk at all, and it ‘gets the job done’ on a cold Ohio morning. Recently I went to my local Starbucks and noticed new menu items called Skinny drinks. Here is the skinny on skinny.
A skinny drink, which comes in Skinny Latte, Skinny Caramel Latte, Skinny Hazelnut Latte, Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte, and Skinny Vanilla Latte are the same as the original flavors except for two major differences. First, the skinny lattes incorporate non-fat milk into the beverage, and second the skinny lattes use sugar-free flavored syrup instead of the regular sugared kind. So basically a skinny vanilla latte is the same as ordering a non-fat, sugar-free, vanilla latte (But with fewer words).
At 130 calories and 0g of fat for a 16oz skinny latte, this seems like a no-brainer compared to 250 calories and 6g of fat for the ‘non-skinny version’. Still, keep in mind that 130 calories is quite a bit for a beverage so moderation (like with anything) is king here. All in all I honestly can’t tell the difference in taste between the skinny vanilla latte, and the regular vanilla latte and to me that is the sweetest part of all.
-Drew
Alli On Sale At Amazon
Monday, January 12th, 2009Amazon (my favorite site to spend money on) just sent me a notice that Alli is on sale all this month!
Click Here to take advantage of this offer.
-Drew