I don’t generally care for weight loss products. I feel like they prey on our desperation and never work as advertised. Perhaps you laid down a nice chunk of change on a super-duper mega fat blaster guaranteed to burn the fat while you sleep – only to find out you are expected to follow the “enclosed diet plan” – which was never mentioned in the advertising that sucked you in.
So I was borderline impressed with the presentation for the Slim Shots Appetite Controller (on QVC, natch). The very first thing they said was that it was only to be used in conjunction with a diet and exercise plan. They did not claim you could eat whatever you wanted and still lose weight. They made it very clear that this was a tool and not a miracle.
Well. I had to order it, didn’t I? Looking at those 15 flabby pounds I had to get rid of made this sound very appealing. And, like the Sensa debacle, I figured when it didn’t work, I would send it right back for a full refund.
The first claim they made was that it's an all-natural product. Well, I guess it is if you consider aspartame to be all-natural. Otherwise, it’s just a vanilla-flavored “proprietary blend” of oat and palm oils contained in pre-measured “shots” that look like coffee creamers. There are no stimulants, it's dairy-free and vegan-friendly, and each shot is about 20 calories.
The QVC package ($26.57 + shipping and handling) includes 37 shots, which I guess is 7 more than the usual. The idea is to do two shots a day for the first week (one with breakfast, one with lunch) and then one a day, as needed, thereafter.
Also included is a 14-Day Meal Planner which, I must admit, was based on a pretty reasonable and doable 1500-calorie a day diet (for women – it is suggested men add an additional 500 calories). Also included in the plan is a list of free foods and a (very short) 100-calorie snack list. Helpful.
Many of the reviewers on QVC had a problem with the taste of the shots – sending the product back because it was “so bad”. Poppycock! It wasn’t THAT awful. Is it delightful? No, but I didn’t expect it to be a taste treat. It does have a bit of a plastic flavor, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. Drink some water after you do the shot – you’ll get over it. Lord knows, I've put worse things in my mouth. :)
So I’ll bet you want to know if it really controlled my monster appetite, right? Well, surprisingly, yes it did! I took one with breakfast and one with lunch (noon) and would not be hungry again until 8:00 or 9:00 at night – so it did exactly what it said it would do and controlled my appetite for 8 hours.
Here’s the problem with that: I sometimes don’t like to be “bothered” with eating at night. I only have a few hours after work so I was thinking “cool…I don’t have to waste my time eating.” Bad plan. Because by the time 8:00 or 9:00 rolled around, I would be STARVING. Well, yeah, because I hadn’t eaten for 8 hours. Dumb.
When I got the idea that I should eat my dinner even if I wasn’t particularly hungry, things went much better. I was not famished when I got home from work, so I was able to eat a more reasonable dinner. And then I was fine for the rest of the night.
My overall feeling on these is that it’s a great way to get yourself started on a diet program. Many diets fail because it’s just too hard in the beginning dealing with the hunger as you drastically cut your food intake. Having this product to suppress your appetite while your body gets used to a new way of eating is a great idea. I don’t even think anyone who was actively and seriously dieting would need these beyond the first month. You should be “in the groove” by then, with your cravings under control. And I will admit that it worked a lot better in the first week than it did in the second – but it still worked. Maybe I just need two every day.
I’ve mentioned before that my biggest struggle is the afternoon. This really helped me get through that and be satisfied with one small snack. So I don’t think I’ll be getting anymore – but if that afternoon monster rears its ugly head again, I will.
So I think that’s everything. Oh, I believe you can also pick these up at Wal-Mart. Probably even on sale and with a coupon.
Well, my finger is bleeding all over my keyboard (food processor blade), so I guess I’d better go take care of that.
See you Friday with some skincare stuff (hold on to your wallet…this one is going to cost you)!
Review: Slim Shots
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Supplement Review: Balancing Estrogen
Sunday, May 31, 2009
PMS, bloating, cramping, water retention, mood swings, painful breasts, endometriosis, PCOS, perimenopause, menopause, hot flashes, weight gain, breast cancer, uterine cancer, fibroids, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer – the joys of being the owner of a female reproductive system. Fortunately, there is a natural supplement available claiming to address a lot of these issues.
Today we are going to talk about a specific phytonutrient, diindolylmethane, or DIM for purposes of saving my typing fingers.
Phytonutrition is basically the dietary use of micronutrients which naturally occur in plants. DIM is a phytochemical found in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale and cabbage.
Now that we’ve got all the big words out of the way, let’s talk about what DIM does. It has been shown to increase the regulation of hormone metabolism (i.e., balancing good and bad estrogens) and could be instrumental in preventing breast and prostate cancer. So, clearly, beneficial to both women AND men.
There is a lot of science behind all of this and I don’t want this to be a long post. I also want to remind anyone that may have forgotten that I am not a doctor so I will just share my personal experience with this supplement and encourage you to research it further if it is something you feel might be of benefit to you.
I came across this supplement, Nature’s Way DIM-Plus Estrogen Metabolism Formula when I was looking for something, ANYTHING, to alleviate hot flashes. Hot flashes sound like something that can’t possibly be all that bad but, trust me, until you experience them for yourself, you will have no idea of how awful they truly are. Unless you enjoy the feeling of burning up from the inside.
Four or five times a day, minimum, I would get hit with these monsters – turning red and dripping sweat off my face, the back of my neck and my chest. Looked like I had just worked out Really Hard. Even worse, the neck sweating was always making the underside of my flat-ironed hair curl up. Ruined my look. And they always seemed to happen when I was talking to someone. Usually someone too young to understand the Law of Diminishing Hormones. Embarrassing. And exhausting, actually.
Anyway, back to my story. So I found this supplement on iHerb and, since it had really good reviews, I decided to try it. The suggested dose is 2 pills per day for women, or 4 for men, taken with food. Oh, and the good news? Small pills, easily swallowed. Doubling the dose is suggested if you are hard core.
The very first day I took them, I had only two hot flashes. And those two were more of just a general warming up and I didn’t break a sweat. By the fourth day, I didn’t have any. And I really think it did something to even out my mood and pull me out of that self-pitying funk I was in. I just don’t think it is just coincidence that my mood elevated within two days of taking this supplement. Of course, I may just feel better because I’m not constantly sweating…
This is the first supplement I’ve ever taken where I can say I actually felt a difference from taking them. These little happy pills will never be far from my room-temperature side.
Apparently there is a lot of undiagnosed estrogen dominance out there. We are subjected to a lot of estrogens from outside sources (xenoestrogens) that are absorbed into our bodies and we may not even be aware of. Yet, I have never had a doctor check my hormone levels. Ever. You would think it would be one of the standards in blood testing, but it’s not. Especially since elevated estrogen levels are what lead to breast cancer, fibroids, endometriosis and bunches of other things that I already forgot. Interestingly, I had a hysterectomy due to fibroids but, still, my hormone levels were never checked.
Okay, so what are the symptoms of estrogen dominance in women? It’s a long list – and you’ll see that a lot of them are the very same symptoms almost guaranteed to get you put on anti-depressants:
• Allergy symptoms
Happy hormones, everyone!
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