Diet pills?

[UndertheCedartree]

Has anyone sucessfully lost weight using diet pills? What ones did you use and what doseage?

Yeah. MyFitnessPal pal is really great. But you have to be honest. And don’t guess. Weigh everything!

@aroundtheworldyet - about 4 stone to get to normal BMI but another stone to get to my normal weight. I am not counting calories atall. I wasn't sure what the best approach was. I was on a special diet but got sick of eating the same food every week. I think snacking does contribute as my meds seem to make me crave snacks but I try to be careful.

porridge (sachet type) and glass of smoothie, hot cross bun, apple, filled pasta (ricotta and spinach) (half pack) with tomato sauce and mozarella with asparagus, several coffees and a couple of chocolate coins.

That seems to be quite a lot of sugar.
Was the porridge sachet flavoured or plain? Skimmed milk? How big was the glass of smoothie? Did you have butter etc on the hot cross bun? Was the tomato sauce shop bought or homemade? What kind of coffee? With sugar in?

I’d estimate that to be between 1600-2000 depending on portion sizes etc.

Are you vegetarian? You’re lacking in protein.

If you say your height, sex, weight & age I can work out your BMR for you if you like?

@puds11 - thank you

@MGC31 - apple and blueberry porridge (although I do normally make my own with oats), semi-skim milk, small glass of smoothie, I had butter on the bun, shop-bought tomato sauce, instant coffee with semi-skim milk but no sugar. I think my meds make me crave sugar so I think that could definitely be an issue.

Yes, I'm vegetarian. I'm 5.3, female, 14st2, 39. Thank you so much.

Your diet sounds very carb and sugar heavy. I would be looking at reducing carbs (carbs from sugar especially) and increasing protein, so you are full for longer. When I was younger and foolish I bought some diet pills. They had very high levels of caffeine in them and some other ingredients. They were off the high street but banned now. I shook all over and couldn't eat at all because I felt so sick. I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack. And I say that as somebody who has high tolerance for caffeine and can drink 4 red bulls and a double shot coffee from Costa without getting jittery. I had another bad experience using weight loss shakes. I got really constipated so took laxatives. About 4 days later I was heading out the house in the morning and about 2 weeks worth of poo started running down my legs. Never again. I'm fat now but not going to go near a tablet. I've never used fat binders, but imagine they would make you feel pretty crap too. Fat is actually good for you, in small amounts it makes your food more satisfying and makes you feel full. It also is good for your brain health and skin, especially omega 3. One thing I was told before which helped, was to never consume anything with more than 4 ingredients. If you get a cake from the supermarket it will have twenty or so ingredients, but if you bake one at home it will only have a few.

@AmazingGreats - the diet pills don't make me feel unwell atall - just don't seem to help much which was why I was wondering about doseage and experience of using them. The fat binders is only meant to reduce your fat by 1/3 so you still get plenty of fat.

Thank you for your advice - I will look at reducing carbs and upping protein.

Does anyone know the best way to increase protein in a vegetarian diet as I know a lot of things like beans have a lot of carbs too.

@Undertgecedartree I drink a protein shake for breakfast every day. You can have more than 1 a day. If you google it, it explains how to calculate how much protein you need daily.

BMR 1630 calories. This is what your body at rest currently needs to function. This is not an exact calculation as other factors do come into play but should still help.

To lose a pound a week you need to reduce by 3500 calories/week (-500 per day) so your target calories per day should be 1130.

I would aim to increase protein, increase veg, reduce sugar / refined carbs, increase water intake over other drinks and avoid processed stuff as much as possible.

Not sure if you eat eggs? If you do, poached egg on toast for breakfast is always good.

Lunch - try some salad options. I’m really into beetroot, goats cheese, rocket and walnut salads at the moment as an example. Or try a sweet potato jacket with baked beans and a little cheese?

Dinner - look for options that are more protein based than carb based - pasta is a tricky one if you’re trying to lose weight.

For sugar cravings - yoghurt with berries might be an option?

Keep up with the exercise too. 👍🏼

@puds11 - thank you
@MGC31 - thank you for the calculation. Yes, I eat eggs. Thank you for all the ideas - very helpful.

@MGC31 - and your guess of my calorie input sounds about right too as although I am not gaining weight I am only losing very little. It does make me wonder, though if the diet pills are doing anything atall?!

@UndertgeCedartree have a look at joining one of the weight loss threads on here for some added support. Good luck!

I’m guessing that you’re at risk of (or already have) type 2 diabetes if you’ve been prescribed both orlistat and metformin. I believe weight loss can be at quite a slow rate in this case. I wouldn’t stop taking it unless your GP agrees. Make a few changes as suggested in this thread and see what happens. You can always go back to GP and ask for a review.

Your prescribed combination of medications is safe, OP, providing you are taking them as directed by your doctor.

The ‘diet pills’ other posters are talking about are not the ones you are on, they are the dodgy stuff available on the ‘net (which kills people or leaves them with serious organ damage), over the counter slimming remedies with iffy ingredients like laxatives and caffeine (again, damaging to health in the long term), or things that used to be prescribed by doctors before they realised how harmful to health it was (amphetamine based appetite suppressants).

How long have you been on this combination?
Did your GP give you any idea how long it would take to start to see results and how much you could expect to lose per week?
Did s/he give you healthy eating guidelines to go with your new medication (or a dietician referral)?

@puds11 - good idea!
@MGC31 - I'm not officially at risk of T2D according to my blood glucose - although as I'm so overweight I must be heading that way, I guess. I feel like I have some good ideas to make some changes now.

@TwinsTrollsAndHunz - I started the orlistat about a year ago and the metformin was added about 6 months ago. I was told to aim to lose 1lb per week. I was put on a special diet by the dietician but after 9 months I couldn't stand eating the same food every week. I think it must have helped but I only lost 7lbs in that period. I've not lost anything since but not gained either which the dietician said was the first step - to stop me gaining anymore weight.

Can someone tell me what they thing the best strategy for snacking is - no.snacking atall, snack but only healthy foods, snack on unhealthy things but only occasionally. I have some quite lonely evenings where I do enjoy having some snacks.

I don’t like depriving myself, so ill still have chocolate, just less and less frequently. I’ve also been hunting out low calorie treated like caramel snack a jacks, aero yoghurts and the coconut collaborative chocolate pots- these are delicious and I think 90 kcal!

Water.

Every time you want to snack, have a glass of water. A full glass.

Weigh every snack. And portion it up, set aside 2/3 each day. That's all you're allowed.

Ultimately, all calories burn the same way. So you need to reduce calories and increase exercise.

@puds11 - I forgot about those coconut collaborative pots - they are really nice!
@kelsoooo - that sounds a good idea. I do wonder more and more what the diet pills are actually doing!

Bulimics are sometimes prescribed modafinil. It stops the obsessive thinking about food.

There are a few things you can do about those evening snack-a-thons. You can do something different, so for example if you normally watch television then trying reading a book or having a bath instead, do something that keeps your hands busy like knitting, playing games on your phone or painting your nails, or you plan your snacks, I find a homemade low calorie dip and lots of veggie sticks works well. I love having a big plate of cheese and crackers in the evening, so when I'm trying to lose weight I still have a plate but just some smaller pieces of cheese, and really small amounts of the meat I like, butter, pate, etc. As well as lots of veggies (celery works well for crunch) and fruit (red grapes and green apples work the best for me). But I do miss crackers, so sometimes I have 2 or 3 (instead of the whole packet or box). I also like having things like olives, pickled onions etc. Cornichons (mini gherkins) have a really good crunch. It's really about the portion sizes though, so I just have little bits of lots of tasty things not a big mountain. And if I feel like eating a big mountain of something, I just get a whole bag of pre cut carrot sticks or cut up a whole cucumber, and sit munching away like it's popcorn. Another alternative is to have some really tasty drinks and avoid food altogether. I'm not a big fan of those infusion drinks, but do make my own equivalent by just adding fruit and veggies to water. Cucumber, mint, lemon, orange, berries, all work well.

@BorneoBabe - that's interesting. I can obsess about food a lot but it comes from anorexia.

If it's chocolate, then get a really small but really luxurious bar or single serve dessert. Or cover some berries and yoghurt in choc shot.

@UndertheCedartree I looked up the two medicines you're taking. The first one may aid you in losing weight, because "Dietary fats need to be broken down into smaller pieces before the body can absorb them. Orlistat works by blocking the enzyme that breaks down fats in your diet. This undigested fat then passes out of your body in your bowel movement. Orlistat does not block the absorption of calories from sugar and other non-fat foods, so you still need to restrict your total intake of calories." The second one is for managing type 2 diabetes, which can be reversed by losing weight /eating healthier.

I would definitely stick with the medication you've been prescribed. How long have you been on them?