A Chinese woman recently decided to have a stomach reduction operation after seven years of taking weight loss pills and actually putting on 100 pounds more than when she started taking them.
25-year-old Xiaoli (pseudonim) started taking weight loss pills seven years ago, after watching a convincing commercial on TV. She weighed around 100 pounds at the time, but felt like she needed to lose a bit of weight, and if some pills could help her do that, than why not? The young woman recalls that the results were encouraging at first, but as soon as she stopped taking the pills, she not only put on all the pounds she had lost but added a few extra as well. Little did she know that this was the beginning of a vicious cycle that would see her spend around 200,000 yuan ($30,000) on various weight loss pills and custom diet plans over the next 7 years, only to have her weight double during that time.