Thursday, January 13, 2011

Something to Think About

I don't know about any of you who have or have had weight/dieting problems now or in the past, or even just thought you had issues with this stuff but maybe really didn't -just wanted to lose a couple of pounds maybe, but how many of you have ever taken diet pills?

I'll be honest here and confess that way back, in the late 60s, I wanted to lose some of the extra weight I had put on when my older daughter was born and so, I asked my doctor then for a prescription for diet pills, which he gave me. And I lost a lot of weight then -went down to an all-time low for me of 115 pounds.

Considering my normal weight in my 20s hovered usually around the 130-140 pound mark, that was a huge loss for me. Yes, I was slim, really slim! Actually wore a size 7-9 for almost a year before the pounds started to slowly creep back up.

But back then, after my prescription ran out and I couldn't get it refilled, I found a way to keep getting those pills -along with various other pills that were "diet pills" but also fulfilled a whole lot of other, shall we say, "needs" at that time. The need I had was to keep me awake and moving!

I took one pill a day, each day I had to work -and I was working, at that time, a lot of hours -overtime -in order to support my daughter, my Mom and myself! That it kept my weight from really ballooning was then the side benefit as the keeping myself awake was the main thing to me by that time.

I know too that I also, by using those pills like that, ended up getting myself addicted to them too, which is definitely not a good thing, certainly not a healthy thing for sure.

But once I was forced -by an economic issue I won't go into here -to stop using those things, I vowed not to get into that terrible habit again.

However, knowing what I know from my past and from history, etc., that doesn't stop me from reading stuff about the various pills on the market today and all the claims each one has that they are the absolute best thing since sliced bread, ya know.

But what I'd really like for people to be able to have, to read, to see, is honest, down-to-earth information about these substances. Articles that answer that big question - are diet pills safe?

I believe I was very lucky in that when I stopped taking those pills back then, I hadn't been abusing those pills because I was only taking one a day, in the morning, before I went to work and not popping them right and left in order to get high. Not that one of those pills back in those days couldn't give you a definite "lift" because they could and did, but I just mean I wasn't taking them by the handfull.

Even so, coming off using them was not a nice thing but I know now too it still could have been much worse, much harder to give up using them so I was indeed very fortunate in that respect.

I have no desire to lose near as much weight as I did back then. If I were to drop down to a low weight today of 115 pounds, I would certainly look like a saggy walking skeleton!

So, I'm glad I have my own method in play today to try to lose a few more pounds if possible and if I plateau out now or in the near future, I'll be satisfied then to have come this far today.

6 comments:

terri said...

We know so much more these days than we did about various drugs back in the day. It's scary, the stuff people took, feeling perfectly safe because it was doctor approved.

I like the shift we're seeing in the past few decades, toward healthier lifestyles made healthy by good choices rather than by popping a pill.

So glad you never had to deal with a devastating addiction.

Lori said...

I have not taken diet pills in years...I did take them way way back when I was already thin...I took them because I had a warped sense of myself and couldn't see how really thin I already was...I was never addicted to them as I already had plenty of other things I was addicted to. Hope you continue to have good health, healing and are able to continue losing the weight you want or need to lose. XX

Debbie said...

I also worry about the safety of those pills. Far too much is available for people to self-medicate.

Maggie May said...

I can remember being given these pills in the 60s and I did lose quite a bit. However, I think they are addictive and I wouldn't take them now because we don't always know what these drugs do to the body (side effects and all.)
I am struggling to lose weight but I have all year!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Linda said...

If only there really was such a thing as a diet pill that worked without creating other problems along the way being that doctors say that obesity causes so many other health problems. God knows I could do to lose some weight and I bet my back problems would be a lot less of an issue but I just can't seem to get started on doing anything about it. My intentions are good but that's all they are at this point - intentions.

What I need is a major does of motivation but alas, that doesn't come in pill form either! Darn the luck!

Jocelyn said...

What an amazing life you've had!

There just is no magic pill, is there? I've struggled my whole life with weight, and the only thing I know for sure from the struggle is that real weight loss comes from eating unprocessed foods that are lower in fat and calories--coupled with moving your body. Other than that, it's all a bandaid approach.


Types this woman who's gained 10-15 lbs (guessing) in the last five months...heh-heh