Diet pills

[Dietpill]

I have always struggled with my weight but put it down to secret eating/too big portions etc.

Since lockdown, I have gone from eating 3 meals a day to 1.
I did extreme keto for a couple of months but didn't lose any weight and got really bad headaches so now I do low carb. I wasn't losing weight so I now have high carb/cheat days which seems to actually help! And since April I have lost about 3lbs in total.

For the amount I eat and the fact I am on my feet all day I would hope/want to be losing a lot more than this!

So I was wondering if anyone takes any diet pills to help with weight loss?
I am worried about side effects so I haven't trusted the reviews online incase they are fake.

I use cronometer instead of MFP, it links up to Fitbit and other diet/health tracking apps

I will look into this thank you.

Cronometer let me do 800 calories when I did Fast800. It was good, I lost weight quickly with it, id try it again

I take Contrave which is a diet pill. I’m in Australia and it isnt covered by our health services it’s pricey. It works on craving centres and hunger. Its nasty. It has bad side effects but it is helping me.
However i have just come off the back of a 12 month dietian run course that helped me unpack all of the weird bullshit food rules and help me properly understand food. Its been really helpful.

I think you probably need to have a good look at portion control and then the makeup of your food. For example half a plate of veggies a quarter plate of whole grains and a quarter plate of protein. This helps reduce calorie load an keeps you full and healthy.

For example a cheese sandwich at pret is 515 calories and 53 grams of carbs and 20g of fat. If you are aiming for a low calorie, low carb diet a cheese sandwhich is isnt going to work for you.

Just saying that there is no way on earth you're over 14st and eating 1,000 cals a day and not losing weight.

Even your cheat days are probably fewer calories than you burn in a day for goodness sake.

You might perhaps be underestimating how much you're eating, which is easily done. Do you weigh and measure portions? I am always shocked at how small a 'portion' of cereal is, for example. I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing weight when I first tried, and I worked out I was literally eating 4 portions of cereal for my breakfast. I used to just assume it was a bowl, whereas in fact it's about 4 cornflakes (exaggeration but you get my point).

Think about the way your body works.

You need food to fuel your daily activities. If you don't eat enough food to fuel them, you start burning fat (that's a simplistic explanation but good enough). Your TDEE (which you can calculate - Google it!) will be at least 1,600 cals a day even if you're sedentary, leaving you with a deficit of 3,600 cals a week assuming you have one cheat day with no deficit. You have to have a deficit of around 3,500 cals to lose a pound, so you should be losing a pound a week by doing what you're doing, and more if you're exercising on top of this.

So there's clearly something not right with what you're eating or what you think you're eating.

I think as the op says she’s guesstimating her calories it’s clear this is where the issue is, it’s portion size, hence my suggestion to buy ready meals for a period as these are calculated out and gives a good understanding of portion sizes, you can much easier track your calories this way.

Unless you’re weighing everything including what you cook stuff in, and sauces etc, it’s hugely easy to under estimate.

Unless you’re weighing everything including what you cook stuff in, and sauces etc, it’s hugely easy to under estimate.

Agreed. I have 100kcal a day taken off my allowance for negligibles. No way in hell I am weighting garlic or logging cinnamon in😂
But with everything else you must be strict.

You might perhaps be underestimating how much you're eating, which is easily done

This is why I always over-estimate. The sandwich was just a 'homemade' one from the canteen at work so literally two pieces of bread, butter and some grated cheese so I doubt it would be as high as pret but even if it was it wouldn't take me over 1000kcals a day including my cup of tea and coffee.

hence my suggestion to buy ready meals for a period as these are calculated out and gives a good understanding of portion sizes, you can much easier track your calories this way.

I do often have tinned soup instead of homemade etc just so it is easier to track portion size and calories (and quicker) but I was wondering if this is where I was going wrong because I was opting for quick and easy instead of proper food?
I try not to eat too high carby meals as I know that is when I mess up portion sizes!

@Dietpill

You might perhaps be underestimating how much you're eating, which is easily done

This is why I always over-estimate. The sandwich was just a 'homemade' one from the canteen at work so literally two pieces of bread, butter and some grated cheese so I doubt it would be as high as pret but even if it was it wouldn't take me over 1000kcals a day including my cup of tea and coffee.

But you can't be over estimating if you say you've had 1200 calories a day and lost 3 pounds in a few months. Sorry i know it probably feels like people are just saying the same thing over and over but that just isn't possible, so either the estimations are wrong, there is an underlying medical issue or the scales are wrong. Definitely think that pre prepared meals (as in ready to eat so you have all the calorific / nutritional info without any room for error or interpretation at all) for a month would be life changing as you would then know 100% what your body is taking in and how it is responding.

However i have just come off the back of a 12 month dietian run course that helped me unpack all of the weird bullshit food rules and help me properly understand food. Its been really helpful.

I think going on a dietician course will be so handy for me. I actually think I have been on so many fad diets over the years that I have messed up my body which is why I'm having to eat so few calories just to maintain my weight.

Sorry i know it probably feels like people are just saying the same thing over and over but that just isn't possible

No I honestly appreciate everyones advice I just don't understand how I could have underestimated my cheese sandwich when I've almost doubled what it says on myfitnessplan.
I'm not saying I am a medical marvel or blaming an illness as I know I am doing something wrong but I am not sure what as I have already tried what people are suggesting but I still appreciate everyones input.

@Dietpill

However i have just come off the back of a 12 month dietian run course that helped me unpack all of the weird bullshit food rules and help me properly understand food. Its been really helpful.

I think going on a dietician course will be so handy for me. I actually think I have been on so many fad diets over the years that I have messed up my body which is why I'm having to eat so few calories just to maintain my weight.

Sorry i know it probably feels like people are just saying the same thing over and over but that just isn't possible

No I honestly appreciate everyones advice I just don't understand how I could have underestimated my cheese sandwich when I've almost doubled what it says on myfitnessplan.
I'm not saying I am a medical marvel or blaming an illness as I know I am doing something wrong but I am not sure what as I have already tried what people are suggesting but I still appreciate everyones input.

I really don't understand why you are overestimating so much in MFP?

Why not just put in what your eating? Why don't you weight out your meal and bit by bit and put it in.

I wonder if subconsciously your over compensating ie. Thinking well that sandwich was only really half what I put in so I can eat x,y,z.

Why not just put in what your eating? Why don't you weight out your meal and bit by bit and put it in.

Because I didn't make it so I couldn't weigh it so I put it is as it is but there is massive variation so I could be off by a couple hundred kcals so I just over estimate and then surely I can't go wrong?

I wonder if subconsciously your over compensating ie. Thinking well that sandwich was only really half what I put in so I can eat x,y,z.

If I ate double the amount then I would agree but I don't think I think like that and I had 2 x coffees and a cheese sandwich so I think if I was overcompensating then I would have had 2 sandwiches or ate something else that day.

I do think that my subconscious goal is to eat as fewer kcals as possible so I may over-estimate as I know I can't go over 1200kcal which is probably not ok in itself but I think my weight is a bigger issue.

But OP you can't have started overnight, be eating 1200 calories and have lost only three pounds in a few months. So either calorie counting or scales are wrong. It isn't possible to eat that number of calories and have plateaued if you started out overweight. Over estimation cannot be the reality here.

Started overweight not overnight - typo

I have been on so many fad diets over the years
I think this is pretty key OP. Ignoring the "medical marvel" stuff, what you're describing is not a healthy attitude towards food to be honest.
I really think you'd benefit from something like WW or SW, with some structure and support. Half the battle when losing weight is actually deciding what to eat/how to eat. So doing a programme with support takes that thinking burden off you, you just need to execute. I think it would really help you.

Do you think you could be under esitmating on cheat days? I know im always a bit shocked at how high calories things out are.

This is one of these threads you keep coming back to as it’s so frustrating. It’s like you’ve got your fingers in your ears and are signing lalalala I can’t hear you.

Op. It’s not about the cheese sandwich in isolation . What people are telling you is it is humanly impossible to be eating what you’re saying you’re eating and maintaining your weight. There is no way round this. You are eating approx double the calories you think you are. This is due to either portion sizes, cheats, or both.

Yes people have different calorie requirements, and yes some need less than others, but not to this extreme. What you’re suggesting is humanly impossible.

So you can either continue to stick your fingers in your ears and not loose weight, or you can listen to what people are repeatedly telling you.

I have a slightly different perspective. I've been taking Alli (which is Orlistat, a prescription medicine but at a lower dose available over the counter) since June. It's the one that removes fat from your diet and yes, if you don't control your eating you can indeed shit yourself. I have never had any 'incidents' on it. On the very odd occasion I've had a very high fat meal (for example we had a Chinese on my birthday) I didn't take a tablet but since June I've only skipped a tablet 2/3 times.

However. IF you can consciously make an effort not to eat high fat foods it can really help. It's not a magic bullet, you have to control your diet and it helps, it doesn't do all the work for you. But I've gone from 15 stone to 11 since June. I've got another stone to go, and I've now stopped taking the Alli (as you shouldn't take it if your BMI is under 28 which mine now is) and I'm still losing weight just not as quickly as I was. During that time, my eating habits have changed.

I tracked calories using MFP, and I counted every food and drink that passed my lips and stuck to it. Took the Alli with every meal and made sure I do 15000 steps a day. No other exercise as I have an injury at the moment that means I can't do anything impactful at all.

I would never tell anyone to take it and you'll just lose weight. But it can definitely increase yo he weight loss and during that time you change how you eat to hopefully leave you with permanently better habits.

Hello OP. what if for a week you tried logging religiously what you're eating and post back here everyday? Literally, every mouthful, every drink. Be really accurate. People might then be able to perhaps give a bit more advice?

You could also try a bit of a change - stop adding sugar or sweetener to anything, stop adding salt to food. Consciously drink a lot more water.

If you really aren't eating many calories and you're not losing any weight, there really is something wrong going on.

I honestly think you are not being honest with yourself op

I think your aiming for very low cal then (understandably!) get hungry and over eat. (Been there done that!)

Even if you go to see a dietitian they will need to know exactly what your eating. That's why you need to record accurately. It's impossible to see what's going wrong otherwise.

You need to remember too that the lower your cals go the lower your metabolism will eventually drop too. Your body is very efficient and so tries to adjust output in order to meet input.

No plan, no matter which one however is going to work unless you are consistent. That why the odd cheat day doesn't matter, it's what you do consistently that makes the difference.

IMHO you would be far better sticking with a higher cal count and being consistent both with calories and recording.

Good luck

It all sounds like my DH who kept having 1500 cal... Not really losing. But logging in mfp.
Once I saw him holding a cheddar and with all seriousness of the world on his face observing it then cutting a piece off. I mentioned that that's some piece there with like 60g, that's not what he logged. He argued it's 40g. This would be about 80 cal difference. Just there in couple of bites.
Well obviously my cheese weight master arse (I am honestly an expert now considering density, wetness and shape I can cut off the desired piece with +/-2g accuracy) was right and it was 60. He admitted to guesstimating basically everything 🤦
I am now doing his food for a couple of weeks and he is to not eat anything what wasn't okayed by me. Suddenly he is eating 1600cal (plus a day off on about 3k) and lost a kilo...

Bugger is now carrying a lunch box for few weeks. He works in hospitality so it looks bit ridiculous.

Honestly from where you are now, just eat 2 x 500 calorie ready meals a day, black tea or coffee (no sugar) or water only to drink for a month and see what happens. Boring and not the healthiest but if you don’t lose weight on that, go to the doctor.

I appreciate everyone's comments and advice. I obviously am doing something wrong but I haven't found what yet and most people's suggestions I've already tried. I know a lot of posters might think I haven't but if it was as simple as not logging what I'm eating properly or eating double the calories then it would be an easy fix and I would have done it already as diet pills are my absolute last resort.

Today I had a chicken salad (Lettuce, cucumber and spicy chicken pieces) and 2x coffees and water.
Yesterday I had 1 x coffee, 1 x cup of tea, canned tomato soup and 2 x plain rivetta.
And the day before I had a cheese sandwich with my 2 x coffee/tea.
Tomorrow I am planning on having roast chicken and veg.
I don't usually eat sandwiches unless its my cheat meal but the rest is a pretty normal dinner.

There is a chance I could be overeating on my cheat days but it is only since I've started these cheat days that I have lost weight. I also only eat one meal a day so my cheat meal would have to be very high to out-do all of the calories I've dropped and I am conscious of this so if I have pizza or anything I always look at the box to see the calories or if I have a fried egg sandwich etc I will overestimate it on MFP when I log it just in case.

OP you need to commit to doing a few weeks of ready meals / meal delivery service so you have absolute, bullet proof, no need to underestimate or overestimate calories and see how that goes. Doing it yourself isn't working.

OP you need to commit to doing a few weeks of ready meals / meal delivery service

I do do mostly readymeals/canned soup unless its a salad or something but a meal delivery service might be a good idea if there is one that is aimed at weight loss which I'm sure there will be.