Americans are obsessed with thinness — even at the risk of dying. In the 1930s, people took dinitrophenol, an industrial poison, to lose weight. It boosted metabolism but caused blindness and some deaths. Since then dieters have used hormone injections, amphetamines, liquid protein diets, and, more recently, the controversial fen-phen. What most dieters need to realize is that there is no magic way to lose weight — no pill, no crash diet plan. The only way to permanent weight loss is through sensible eating and exercise.
—Marcie Turple