Qnexa

Seemingly a random combination of letters, Qnexa is a weight loss pill, spawned in mad scientist fashion by combining Adipex (an appetite suppressant) and Topamax (an anti-seizure pill.) I first heard about this miracle drug at work, over the heads of my clients as they watched an interview on CNN and remarked about the pill's method of altering the taste of normally delicious foods. What better way to not want to eat chocolate than make it taste like metal?

For a few moments I sat pondering the response I knew I should make to this startling acceleration down the spiral of modern drug solutions. I thought back to my senior year of high school when I drastically reduced my eating, exercised for near an hour almost every day and, over the course of five months lost around 40 pounds. My humble nature was tested in the face of infinite congratulations from friends and family over my weight loss. As much as I publicly shrugged the praise, I felt it inside for myself. I had always known that turning to artificial means for cutting pounds would feel unnatural and wrong. This was something different. This was something I had earned. This was gratification that someone taking a pill would never get to experience.

Nowadays, my relationship with food has drastically changed. Everything I consume is addressed with an awareness that I'm proud to make part of my personality. I've faced the potential of eating nothing but the most nutritious, weight-loss-promoting foods and realized my penchants every now and then for some french fries or a half-pint of ice cream. While my adherence to healthy eating wavers now and again, I never lose the lesson I learned from knowing that my weight loss was mine alone.

For those who've succumbed to (or are thinking of) diet pills, liposuction or any of the other various, trendy "solutions" for reduced-weight body modification: there is much more accomplishment to be found in facing the problem on your own. This way of thinking applies to a lot more than weight loss. There's nothing wrong with a little pride now and again. There is something wrong with depending on science, technology and the modernization of 'health' to be a better person. Achievements aren't something you pick up at the drug store.