Help for my nutty husband!

[Dani53]

If this offends anyone, I apologise right up front, but I think he has gone off his rocker. He was sucked in to an infomercial on the radio about some "fat blocker" pills that he thinks he needs. I have never been one to believe in a magic pill, but that diet and exercise play the major roles. He does a lot of driving with his job, sedentary, and put on some belly pounds. Also he has hit some 40-ish crisis. I will admit that he is a bit overweight, but like most men }( he snaps back very fast. Just a bit of working out and he is radically different. He just doesn't have time, honestly. I think the biggest culprit is his diet. He drinks beer, and loves carbs. No carb/fat pill is going to be all that healthy, yet this informercial says it is.....evidentally.

There was someone on the boards recently that posted about Cathe workouts helping fix her metabolism, and that would be my primary concern with this. I told him there is no way I would support it because he shouldn't be messing around with his body like that.

He said I should post it on my "exercise website" and "ask the girls" what they think. So I am! Help me ladies, and if I am the one who is wrong here I am willing to hear that as well. I just don't see how I could be

 

[DebbieH]

Okay Dani, here's a vote for YOUR side. (Sorry hubby!) I agree 100% with all you said. Not sure if the fat blockers even work, but if they do, is it something he plans to stay with for a lifetime??? There has to be three hours a week he can find SOMEWHERE to workout??? I know it's hard as my hubby was working out with me faithfully for about a year doing Cathe tapes (LOVED them!) and his job hours changed. Now, it is hard to fit in two days but he tries. He saw incredible results while doing the tapes too. (No change in his diet either) He has back-slid and has gained weight and lost a lot of muscle since and really wants to get back at it knowing what he achieved last year. No pill is a miracle pill. Otherwise we all would be taking them! Not sure of side effects from using something like this over a long haul either. Good Luck and tell him to try a tape with you. We'll get him hooked yet!
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!

 

[run4fun]

I don't believe in any diet pills or fat/carb blockers. If they work, it will be temporary. It needs to be a lifestyle change. I hope he decides to exercise instead!

Beverly

 

[kathryn]

I agree. Fat blockers don't teach people to change their relationship with food, which is what is needed for permanent, healthy weight loss. And I'm very wary of anything that "blocks" the absorption of any kind of nutrient, and yes, fat is a nutrient. You need fat to absorb certain vitamins (A, D, E, K) as well.

Instead, buy him a copy of "Picture Perfect Weight Loss" or the "Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30-day solution" (title may be off a bit). It helps teach people how to look at food differently (figuratively as well as literally: there are a lot of photo comparisons of foods with equal amounts of calories, but different densities. It's a way of eating with awareness that lets you be satisfied).

If he's not weight training, he should be. (You already know this, I'm sure, but it sometimes helps to have someone else say it too!).

 

[Aquajock]

I'm on your side as well on this issue; in fact, I'm pretty much of a harpy when it comes to even the most seemingly innocuous supplements.

Supplements in general have precisely zero oversight by any regulatory agency, and the dangerous side effects of these usually only come out en masse after a few people have died from them. And any supplement that claims to be a "fat blocker" is fraudulent on its face. The person who takes something of this kind not only loses money because they are overpriced at any price, he also loses precious time that could be taken making small, incremental but meaningful and effective changes to his lifestyle. He also runs fairly high risks of long term or permanent damage to a vital organ or two.

Of even greater concern in your husband's case is ingesting "fat blockers" while also drinking alcoholic beverages on a regular basis. I would bet the interaction of alcohol with any supplement is contraindicated.

The way to upkick the metabolism is to bring in consistent, doable cardiovascular AND strength / muscle mass building exercise. Cardio workouts are superior calorie-burners, burning combinations of stored fat and stored glycogen, and muscle-strength / mass-building exercise increases the amount of lean, metabolically active "hungry" (as well as functional) tissue.

If he has the time to drink beer, he has the time to exercise. And if he has the money to buy "fat blockers" (I can't bring myself to type that expression without quotation marks) then he has the money to invest in exercise equipment.

Just my Point-Oh-Two -

A-Jock

 

[JMFRANE]

A-Jock,
Very well said. Couldn't agree with you more.

Joanne

 

[jillybean]

I have nothing to add, I just wanted to see three Bees posting in a row. Where are Jules and MB???

My husband ordred Focus Factor and forgot to pay the bill. I guess they didn't work.

 

[Jane P]

Just wanted to add my name to the chorus. Tell him that if these things worked, we'd all be using them and there would be no overweight people.

Almost no one who's heading towards middle age and is sedentary, is going to escape gaining weight. That's just a fact of life. Underneath it all, he knows that.

You may just have to let him buy the pills so he can find this out for himself. What are they charging for them? Men often think of dieting as a female thing so he may have trouble with the idea.