7 Over-the-Counter Diet Pills that Work Without Exercise

Before we get to the list of 7 over-the-counter diet pills that work without exercise, we should ask ourselves if there exists such a thing. The short answer is no. So, if you stumbled upon this article while trying to find some “magical” pills that will allow you to eat McDonald’s at lunch and have pizza every evening and still be in a shape that will make you feel good while looking at yourself in the mirror, you are in the wrong place.

Here’s the harsh reality: you won’t be able to lose weight without a change in your regimen. Here’s another thing that you probably didn’t know: exercise won’t make you lose weight. You’ll think it’s bulls**t, like our editor Tim did (Tim and I are both on weight loss regimens and sharing our experiences). However, according to an article in Scientific American, people tend to burn roughly the same amount of calories, disregarding their physical effort (editor’s note: I’ve lost 37 pounds this year through a ketogenic diet and regular exercise, so I’ll chalk that up as a win for exercise). So, if you are a couch potato or a hunter that runs all day around the Savanna tracking animals, you’ll reportedly burn around the same 2,600 calories a day (around 1,900 calories for women), as your body adjusts and saves energy from other processes (in the event of working out).

However, before you call your gym and angrily demand that they cancel your membership, you should know that exercising is still good for you, as it helps to shape your muscles and make you look leaner, as well as having lots of other health benefits. But if you want to lose weight and get rid of some body fat, the key is diet; you have to consume less then you burn so the body starts using its fat reserves to fuel itself throughout the day.

Here’s where diet pills come in handy. Among many supplements, diet pills help you with your diet (not to be confused with replacing dieting). They generally work in three ways: they help you feel less hungry, so you eat less, they can help reduce the absorption of nutrients like fat, and they help you burn more calories (though not enough to justify inhaling that extra-large pizza). So, diet pills can help you lose weight only in combination with other methods of weight loss, and actual dieting represents the largest part of that process (with exercise representing something like 10%-20%).

Developing effective diet pills has certainly been a priority among major healthcare providers, with AstraZeneca PLC (ADR) (NYSE:AZN)‘s BYETTA, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA)‘s Belviq, Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OREX)‘s Contrave, and VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS)‘s Qsymia among the drugs on the market.

In a meta study analyzing the effectiveness of each weight loss pill, VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS)’s Qsymia came out on top, with an impressive 75% of study participants losing at least 5% of their body weight. Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OREX)’s Contrave checked in at 55%, while Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA)’s Belviq came in at 49%. AstraZeneca PLC (ADR) (NYSE:AZN)’s BYETTA was not analyzed in that study. GlaxoSmithKline PLC (ADR) (NYSE:GSK)‘s OTC treatment Alli (more on that later) came in at 44%. However, while the results are surely impressive, all of those offerings (save for Alli) are prescription-only, which may pose an impediment (or at the very least, an annoyance) for some people.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at some over-the-counter diet pills that work without exercise, at least according to the internet’s claims (which are completely trustworthy, right?), and bearing in mind that you do need to change your eating habits. So, don’t forget to search for some healthy nutritious foods, add more protein to your daily food intake (protein itself is good for weight loss as it suppresses appetite and requires more energy to digest), cut carbohydrates and stay away from trans-fats. Also, keep in mind that most OTC diet pills are labeled as dietary supplements, so the manufacturer has no responsibility to regulators (or to you) to prove that they actually work. If you feel like diet pills are something that you absolutely must take to lose weight, it may be a good idea to actually consult a doctor and ask him or her to prescribe something more effective, like some of the aforementioned prescription drugs that we covered in Tim’s earlier article on the 7 most popular diet pills that work fast without exercise.

Phen375

Back in the 1950s, doctors sometimes prescribed methamphetamine for weight loss (see what other crazy substances were once legal). Nowadays, we have the prescription weight loss drug phentermine, which is also a controlled substance with a pharmacology similar to amphetamine. Phen375 is a pill that is an over-the-counter alternative to Phentermine and apparently is all natural. Since its an alternative to Phentermine, it should probably work in a similar way, so its main effect should be appetite suppression.

Hydroxycut

Hydroxycut ranks  6th in our list of over-the-counter diet pills that work without exercise. It is one of the oldest diet pills on the market, having been introduced back in 2002. This and its popularity among athletes makes it one of the most popular diet pills out there. It’s main ingredient is caffeine, which is nothing special really, cause most diet and fat burning pills contain a lot of caffeine. It also contains green coffee extract, l-theanine, cocoa extract and other stuff that is “all natural”, so it can help one lose weight without resorting to chemicals. The pills help to boost their user’s metabolism, reduce appetite, and can also increase stamina in order to help with exercising.

Phentramin-D

The makers of Phentramin-D seem to be very confident in their product, as they offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you are unsatisfied with it and want to send it back to them. From the name, it’s clear that it is another alternative to Phentramine, but it’s also all-chemical, so it may come with some side-effects.

FenFast 375

FenFast 375 is another product on our list of 7 over-the-counter diet pills that work without exercise. It is also an alternative to Phentermine, which we covered earlier. Apparently it also has fewer side effects than Phentermine or some of the other alternatives, and aside from reducing appetite, it also can boost metabolism.

Alli – GlaxoSmithKline PLC (ADR) (NYSE:GSK)

Up next in our list of over-the-counter diet pills that work without exercise is Alli, that is GlaxoSmithKline PLC (ADR) (NYSE:GSK)’s OTC version of the drug Orlistat, which is also sold as a prescription medication under the name “Xenical” (no idea how GlaxoSmithKline PLC (ADR) (NYSE:GSK) pulled that off, as it’s still the only FDA-approved OTC weight loss drug, but the $100 million they paid Roche to take it OTC has paid off big time in the years since). The drug inhibits the breakdown of fat, so your body absorbs less of it. However, it has some nasty side-effects. The pill should be taken in combination with a low-fat diet, because the fat that is not absorbed is usually eliminated from the bottom side of the body and if regular poop is gross enough, oily poop is a whole new level of gross.

African Mango Plus

African Mango Plus ranks second in our list of over-the-counter diet pills that work without exercise. It is an all-natural pill that contains African mango and raspberry ketones (a substance found in raspberries that is responsible for their smell). It’s not as good as some of the alternatives presented in this article, but it’s all-natural and is a good supplement in combination with dieting and exercising.

Green Tea Extract

Green Tea Extract is an ingredient widely used in many weight loss supplements, so why not take it plain? Green Tea is a proven way to aid weight loss, as it not only contains caffeine, but also has many antioxidants, including EGCG, which has been shown to help burn fat. It has an especially good effect on burning fat in the belly area. You can also get the same benefits from drinking green tea, but if you like your tea like you like your drugs (in pill form), this may be the supplement for you. Again, it may be not as effective as some other supplements with complex and specifically engineered formulas, but it is all-natural and has lots of benefits.

This concludes our list of 7 over-the-counter diet pills that work without exercise. Keep in mind that there is no definitive proof that these pills actually work, aside from a few studies whose results may be questionable. Also, while these pills may work without exercise, they definitely won’t work without some changes in eating habits.

Disclosure: None