Diet pills work by curbing your desire to eat. One problem with taking pills to lose weight is that many people eat out of boredom and not to satiate hunger, according to Dr. Wayne Andersen, author of "Habits of Health". Many over-the-counter diet pills, reports Dr. Andersen, contain a drug that's similar to amphetamines--called phenteramine. Side effects of phenteramine are increased heart rate and blood pressure. Another drug, topiramate, can cloud thinking and focus. You can lose 25 pounds in about three months--without pills--by controlling your calorie intake and exercising.
Step 1
Tabulate your resting calorie intake, known as your basal metabolic rate. This number indicates how many calories you need to consume just to maintain your current weight. Go to the Mayo Clinic's Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator. Select your gender and height--and type in your weight and age. On the next page, select your level of activity.
Step 2
Calculate how many calories you should consume to lose weight. A 35-year-old, 5 foot 4 inch female who weighs 185 pounds, for example, has a basal metabolic rate of 1,600. To lose at least one pound a week, her daily calorie goal is 1,200.
Step 3
Exercise every day. You can remove an additional pound by burning 500 calories a day. Use CalorieLab's Calorie Burned search form to calculate the number of calories your exercise regimen eliminates. One hour of yoga can burn 126 calories. Moderate effort on a stationary bike for 30 minutes can burn more than 250 calories. You can burn another 100 calories by vacuuming your house for a half hour.
Step 4
Avoid eating and drinking high calorie condiments and beverages, suggests dietician, Keri Glassman--a can of cola might contain 100 calories. Eliminate two cans of soda from your diet each day and you will slash 1,400 calories each week. Mayonnaise has 90 calories in one teaspoon. Use olive oil or butter spray instead, which only has 25 calories.
Tips and Warnings
- The National Institutes of Health reports that to lose one to two pounds a week you need to eat or burn off through exercise up to 1,000 calories. On a calorie calculator, only check "Inactive" if you have a job that requires you to sit for more than 35 hours a week and you rarely, if ever, do any rigorous physical activity.
- Be sure to check your weight against the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's body mass index (BMI) table. If your BMI is below 18.5, you already weigh less than your should.
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