Magic pills promising to help overweight people slim down are nothing new. When I was a teenager on Staten Island, back when ephedra was still legal, I bought a bottle of Stacker 3 diet pills. Lured by the promise of burning fat quickly with minimal diet or exercise, I was naive about the health risks. I was beyond excited about this “shortcut” to skinny. I share this story because recently, over 20 years later, I’m on a new weight loss journey, taking another magic pill, hoping for similar