Well, your simplistic stupidity is certainly showing! If you have never battled weight issues your whole life or ever experienced or even understood the physiology of addiction, you should keep your mouth shut.

The physiology of addiction (no matter what kind) is extremely complex. Intense dieting with rapid weight loss can actually throw the body into a "shut down" phase - it responds as if to prevent starvation and makes further weight loss extremely difficult. That is one reason, eating reasonably, healthy and getting weight off slowly is the most successful way in the long run. But it is a LIFETIME commitment.

In some cases of addiction, like tobacco, temporary medications actually help people make that change and increase their success of quitting, six-fold. These ease their physical withdrawal from nicotine - which is as addictive as cocaine or heroine. They all stimulate the same area of the brain creating pleasure.

Behavior changes must also be addressed - behaviors that have been learned since infancy and are hard-wired into our brains. It is true, that eating healthy foods and reasonable portions must be made in order to lose weight AND keep it off. But in our society, that means learning new things, changing behavior and sticking with it for a lifetime in the context of being bombarded by everything that is unhealthy! And yes, that does include physical activity. It can be done - but it is NOT easy.

Long term medications for any addiction are not a permanent answer - but short term, they help alleviate short term symptoms of withdrawal and curb urges. They DO help some people get some success that motivates them to keep going eventually without them.

Support and compassion from others helps keep people motivated to reach their healthy goals rather than simplistic ideas and blaming rhetoric from those who haven't a clue what it is all about. Try getting some accurate information and getting rid of your simplistic and bigoted idea than everyone who is overweight is lazy before you jump to ignorant conclusions.

Oh....and by the way....I CAN lose weight and get healthier. But you, apparently, arent capable getting educated and losing your blaming attitudes and stupidity.

Lynne,

2/3 of american are consider overweight. You over complicate this problem. I say there are small percentage of people that is addict to food or whatever. But majority are just like what he said: over eat and lazy.

It is simply calories in vs calories burned for the vast majority of the obese. I wouldn't necessarily use the term lazy, that is simplistic. It is not easy. It is probably much easier for JGB to get educated than for Lynne to lose weight.

Not to mention the chemicals you are eating that have not been tested on humans long term, but show horrible results in animals prior to human consumption.

Can anyone say 'aspertame'? This poison is directly attributed to obesity and diabetes, yet we find it in childrens vitamins, pop and just about everything else and it's still on the market.

This company must not have paid off enough of the feds....

Too bad there isn't a pill for your fat head.

I would not consider myself lazy, however I battled obesity my entire life. I worked 18 hours a day, physical work, however they way I ate and the amount I ate were the problem.

Ignorant people like you on here, do not help the problem, and think your high metabolism is the way EVERYONE is.

At age 41, after a triple bypass I had a gastric bypass. Now 43 I am down 140 pounds, and I exercise EVERYDAY for at least an hour. I ride my bike, when I can, 35-40 miles at a whack.

It is easy to say eat less and get off your fat @$$, but life is not that simple. It is obnoxious people like those on here that keep obese people with low self esteem, and have them eat a lot.

And do not get me started on the establishments that encourage over eating. Can someone explain to me WHY a restaurant has a FULL MENU, that you order a complete meal off of, AND an all you can eat buffet??

This country needs an enema!

I guess they just didnt buy off enough people to get it approved. The billions spent on weight loss products every year must have paid off. You know, they took Redux off the market because it came out the same time as phen phen but it is not even the same class of drug! My friend lost a lot of weight with that and said she never felt better in her entire life. She never had any side effects from it as those with the phen phen.

really patrick? I use TONS of aspartame! My coffee addiction...its also in my crystal light!

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

Once again...most people are looking for an easy way out when it comes to the weight issue. The simple fact is....if you want to lose weight...CUT YOUR CALORIE INTACT AND EAT HEALTHY FOODS and EXERCISE. This is the solution for 99% ( if not all ) of obesity issues. Don't use the crutch about your "genes" or some arcane disease that makes you always hungry. Most people who diet underestimate the amount of calories they ingest....or overestimate the amount of exercise they do, and then get depressed when they don't lose 10lbs a week. And even when you diet correctly....don't expect to lose more than 2 or 3 pounds a week...at the max. Yes...it's a long hard process....but if you stick with it....take responsibility over what you put in your mouth....YOU WILL SEE RESULTS. I Know...i've had weight issues all my life...and have finally reached a weight i'm comfortable with and maintained it for 3 years. If your not prepared to change your eating habits... you won't lose weight. And as to the "Support and Compassion" J lynne mentioned...well...you just might not get it. But you know what....THAT"S LIFE.

Don't approve a diet pill that might help with obesity and reduce type 2 diabetes, but keep a

diabetes drug ( Avandia) on the market that does give people heart attacks.

The logic is astounding. The FDA would rather kill you than help make you slim. The A-holes who

are making these life altering changes are becoming scarier by the minute.

i agree, with 2 words, biggest loser. that shows that people can lose weight if the work at it instead of losing their willpower

Whether or not you agree with someone's weight loss method isn't the point. If someone chooses to use a diet pill to lose weight they should be able to, but with the proper warnings. Unfortunately, we have a system that allows one agency to dictate what drugs make it into the market, even at the expense of those who may really need it.

so I lose weight and look thin, but I want to kill myself or I have messed up children. hmm....I think I would take a jog around the park instead thanks!

#1.10

It's just not laziness, some people do have medical reasons for gaining weight.

Like Hypothyroidism, severe Asthma that requires you to take Prednisone which definitely puts

weight on as well as some birth control pills. Stress and depression also helps some people

gain weight.

It never hurts to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you pre-judge them.

There are drugs to combat hypothyroid. Stress and depression don't lead to weight gain...the tactics people take to combat stress and depression (i.e. excess food intake, lack of exercise) lead to weight gain.

Those that criticize this decision would also be the first in line to criticize the FDA if it approved the drug, then saw that the drug caused more harm than good. Remember, thalidomide was good too, but birth defects, etc. made it not look so good in retrospect. Better safe than sorry.

There are things that you can do to lose weight, including medication already on the market (like Alli, etc.), in addition to exercise and limited caloric intake. No need to approve a "me too" drug that has potentially deadly side effects. You criticize them for keeping Avandia, with a SLIGHTLY higher risk of cardiac events, yet you want them to approve this drug with all of the potential side effects listed in the article? WTF? Very confusing logic there.

Yes, it never hurts to walk a mile in someone's shoes. I'm sure there are overweight/obese people on the panel that voted too. But to say that every drug should be approved because it might help someone is bogus logic. There are many that would be HURT by the drug as well. Thankfully this panel thought of THOSE people, and not just those that could stand to lose a few pounds. We'd all like to be 10% lighter, as this drug might do. BUT, there are those who would do anything to lose weight (look at those who starve themselves or wear sauna suits, etc), but to approve a potentially deadly drug to do so is irresponsible. I applaud the panel for their decision today. Some risks are just not worth it.

R.E.D you are truly on point.

good grief lightweights..not another grand conspiracy!

The FDA panel says it needs more evidence before being convinced and right away you assume bribery (I'm betting if they'd approved it, you'd be on here insisting the greedy pharma had paid off the corrupt bureaucrats.)

AP, the FDA needs more evidence?

They have a crapton of evidence that Monsanto's GMO (Genetically Modified Organism - soybeans, corn ect) are killing us. Europe knows this an won't import or plant this crap but the FDA DOESN'T require any kind of research. Why? Go check out the backgrounds of the FDA head cheeses and you have your answer. (Former Monsanto Employees/Officers)

Please don't preach to me about how the FDA is on our side. Go read and be educated.

Here, I will help you....http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/campaign-healthier-eating.php

See movies: FOOD INC. - The World According to Monsanto

Here is a snipet:

This means that long after we stop eating GMO corn chips, our intestinal flora might continue to manufacture the 'Bt' pesticide that the GMO corn plants are engineered to produce. And Americans were not told about the estimated 10,000 sheep that died within 5-7 days of grazing on GMO cotton plants — also designed to produce this Bt-toxin.

Many consumers in the US mistakenly believe that the FDA approves GMO foods through rigorous, in-depth, long-term studies. In reality, the agency has absolutely no safety testing requirements. (The tests that biotech companies voluntarily perform on their own crops are often meticulously designed to avoid finding problems).

Yea, the FDA knows what it's doing... keep drinking the kool-aid!!

You're seriously deluded. To think that everything out of a biased movie is true and undoctored is to not have a clue. You tell us to be educated? How about you research the opposing viewpoint?

Don't give us your excuses. Perhaps you should read up on what people with disabilities really CAN do before you cry about NOT doing anything. Here is a perfect example of a disabled man doing a LOT. - http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/TheBeastWCBB/

You know James, tomorrow I may go on a dietr and I may lose weight every day for years to come but tomorrow you will wake up just as dumb as you are today and you'll be stupid the entire rest of your life.

Based upon? Don't be a tool. I suppose you're a fat ass that doesn't want to work towards better health either. Just another helpless soul that would rather have the magic pill. Get over it, it does not exist. Nothing worth having in life comes easy.

James what do you care how another loses weight, it's none of your business.

Johnny, it became his business when some other idiot attacked him for his comments, helpful comments I might add, so chill out and go back to watching TV and eating your Big Mac.

Geesh...

Hey patrick, he attacked vigilante, did you see the above. I guess it's okay when someone on your side of the issue goes on the attack but heaven forbid it happens the other way around. Maybe you should chill and have a big mac, you guys with your advice might not be so cranky.

Go screw yourself. You have no idea the lengths many of us with slow metabolism go through to try to maintain what is our carrying weight. How about this: have you ever taken a drug for headache? Or any other item maybe your genetic defect to get worse alergic reactions? Same thing.

How about this if a person is genetically inclined to get cancer should they not be allowed to take cancer drugs? Exact same philosophy....i'm predisposed to be overweight because my genes say it is so. I exercise daily more than 1 hour. I eat less than 1500 calories a day. I'm still considered obese. Don't judge based on looks you shallow hypocrite.

If you work out over an hour a day, daily, and eat less than 1500 calories and are still obese, you're either doing it wrong, or a liar.

sorry basedrum...James is correct. And even if you do have a "slow matabolism" you can still lose weight. It might be harder...or you may be eating the wrong 1500 calories...but it is possible.

James and Open do either of you have any actual science to back up what you are saying? The reality is that the simple idea that burning more calories than you take does not take into effect people's metabolisms and genetic makeups.

Diets don't work. Exercising excessively doesn't work. Look at the data. Even the diet industry, pharmaceutical industry will tell you that successful weight loss only occurs in aprox. 5% of these people. That means that they keep off a significant portion of the weight for 5 years. How much weight loss are we talking---not a lot.

I won't even go into the fact that the gov't changed the BMI index putting a whole bunch of people into the overweight, obese category overnight with absolutely no science to back it up.

I for one believe fit and healthy mom is probably telling the truth.

Exactly!

They will approve it when the price is right!

Where are you getting your "facts"? Maybe those depressed people committed suicide because they didn't feel "un"depressed after taking the anti-psych meds...they thought they weren't getting better, so suicide was the only answer. So in this case, the people killed themselves IN SPITE OF, NOT BECAUSE OF the medication. As for Avandia, Aleve, etc....seriously, do your research. Slight risks vs. major elevated risks. ALL drugs have risks...that's why DOCTORS prescribe them, not you. Too much of ANYTHING is bad for you (that's why Celebrex and Vioxx are still available...only after 18 months of the highest dose did anything consequential occur).

So the panel voted against a potentially dangerous drug...isn't that what you want? You say that Aleve, Lipitor, etc. are bad because they have risks, and yet you complain when a risky drug is not funneled toward approval? WTF?

cigs are even MORE dangerous now with the FSC in them...its CARPET GLUE! Wonder what THAT does to your lungs when you inhale it???

"Wake up dead"???? Uh, if you're dead, you don't wake up.... just sayin.......

Like they don't tell people that Viagra causes blindness and hearing problems, yet it's still on the market.

The food you eat is the most beneficial thing you can do for your health. Exercise only increases the Bio availibility of what you eat, more bang for your buck by exercising. As previously explained praying, it informs the body as to what it should perfrom., it's task.

I suggest you learn about Natural Typing.

Tawnie, Keep in mine that unfortunately today we live in a world of enormous stress !!

Food soothes, walking doesn't, it hurts our feet !!

Seriously, If you really want to overindulge in food then "must" is the word, you "must" include foods high in soluble fiber.

Soluble fiber attaches to fat molecules thus those nasty fat calories do not count !!

Are you Serious, or are you kidding me, and yourself.... Walking hurts your feet!!!! I am not trying to sound sarcastic either.... Seriously you can find an excuse for anything and everything.

Fat people can't work out cause their feet hurt, or they're embarrassed to be seen at the gym, or they're blood pressure is too high, or they might miss their snickers break...

STOP MAKING EXCUSES, STOP LOOKING FOR AN EASY WAY OUT, AND CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE!!!

Your feet hurt cause you ate too much, didn't exercise and use them, and got fat (Their fault).

Your embarrassed to be seen at the gym (your fault).

Your blood pressure is gets too high to do high intensity work outs (your fault).

Your stressed (so is everyone else).

You don't have time (make it).

What else can you come up with to enable fat people for being lazy.... Was it not your choice to lose the weight that you did?

Stop empathizing and start being real. They're fat for a reason. Its not anybodies fault but their own, stop looking for medical help, and do it on yourself. You put the fat on, its your responsibility to take it off.

Seriously Fat people annoy everyone, even other fat people.... Do something about it, and have some self respect!

WTF is wrong with you is the better question. Just because you work a job that requires only 10 hours of your life a week and were born with fast metabolism doesn't give you the right to tell anyone else what they should or shouldn't be doing with their time. to answer your question, your type of attitude is what's wrong with most people. Man i certainly hope your aging process hits you like a ton of bricks right in the mouth...

Where does that person lead on to anything about a job or metabolism for himself? Your attitude is the one that needs adjusting here. Sorry to burst you bubble, but he's right about doing something for yourself. Go workout, eat smarter, not just healthier, SMARTER, and @!$%# what other people may think. I have a ton of more respect for obese people I see in my gym than most anyone else in there. I would probably bet a lot of other gym goers think the same too. When I see you helping yourself, I root for you.

Stop expecting a damn magic pill people.

No actually I have been their. I was 70 lbs overweight, and it has taken me over 2 years to acheive my goals. Patience and persistance are what it takes. I chose to change the way I live. I work hard 40 hrs a week, I'm a home owner, have 2, sacrifice going to lunch with co-workers, and even my boss everyday, get up early to walk my dogs, and go to bed on time so I can function. I don't have help from anyone. I don't take any supplements or diet pills, and I am 31 years old, and my metabolism is slower than normal because my blood to oxygen ratio is lower than average because I have difficulty breathing, so maybe you shouldn't judge.

You're right the aging process will play a toll on me, and its MY responsibility to stay ahead of the curve.

Anybody can make time. Its the persistence that FAT people lack.

What other advantages would you like to artifically give me? You're person who probably says that African Americans have an advantage in sports because they have a longer muscle in their legs aren't you?

Be honest, give me one good excuse (and don't say genetics) that somebody has, who doesn't practice a balanced diet, and doesn't do some form exercise REGULARLY has that gives them the need for a weight loss pill? PLEASE I BEG YOU!

P.S. If you read about the pill that the FDA just voted on. It says that all test subjects were required to A) diet, and B) exercise.

Basedrum...and your type of attitude is why you're FAT. Stop blaming the world...and take control over what goes into your mouth.

YOU ARE THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR OWN FATE....THE MASTER OF YOUR OWN DESTINY