Appetite suppressants that work? Not starving myself btw.

Tinkachu
Tinkachu Posts: 25 Member
edited November 23 in Food and Nutrition
It's in the title but I'll say it again: I'm not starving myself. I want to lose weight in a way that's healthy and sustainable for me. I'm eating a healthy, high fat diet of mainly whole foods with some low cal treats (like a 100 cal pudding cup) and the rare cheat while tracking my caloric intake. I also eat back my exercise calories if I'm tracking them (if not I eat a fail-safe snack to up my blood sugar). I also eat a lot of mainly cooked veggies like peas and canned black beans.

That said while this is by far the best method that has worked for me, I only stick to it with appetite suppressants because my willpower is garbage in my workplace and at home even when I make really yummy, filling food. If my appetite is normal, I get weirdly emotional about food, like I'll feel genuinely distressed and stressed out over not getting to eat really big portion sizes of junk food even if my stomach is already sick from over-eating. I work with people who offer me delicious food regularly and I live with a family that buys a lot of delicious take-out. I've tried for years without appetite suppressants and I always fail spectacularly whether I restrict myself or not. My binge eating and over-eating did not start from restricting myself by the way, it's just a bad habit I've had since childhood. If my appetite is artificially suppressed (like caffeine), it is much easier to say no and stick with my healthy diet plan without feeling horrible about it.

Right now I'm just taking caffeine pills or I'll drink coffee instead and I'm worried about becoming tolerant of them. Also they give me an upset stomach sometimes if I take 'em w/o food but I can't always eat with them if I want to save my calories for later in the day.

So what appetite suppressants (like diet pills with or w/o caffeine) actually work that aren't $50 a bottle? I'm not looking for a magic fat burning pill btw if that isn't clear.

Oh I'm also taking supplements that help such as a multivitamin, D3 with K, and chromium picolinate.

Replies

  • wefts
    wefts Posts: 183 Member
    FIBER ! I make a fiber smoothie it has staying power so I am not hungry all the time 2 TBSP oat fiber 1/2 tsp konjac fiber , a TBSP chia seed and crystal light orange . I vary it some days I do not want breakfast so I add a half apple and a half banana , Beet juice and flax seed I make a large nutribullet cup full and let it sit 10 min ( improves the texture) then fill to the top with more orange and water , drink half with my coffee and half an hour or 2 later adding a bit more water ice or orange drink as I am in the mood for . ( some days I add spinach or kale , in the summer when I garden I toss in tomato or cuccumber)
  • Tinkachu
    Tinkachu Posts: 25 Member
    edited December 2017
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    They are all just expensive fibre capsules really.

    Ahaha. I'll keep that in mind, thank you. :)
    Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »
    Drink water when you're hungry.

    That never works for me if I'm craving something, but thank you for trying. Maybe that'll work for someone else. I do find that drinking a ton of water helps overall, but it doesn't work at all when there's a bowl of free cookies in the breakroom or when my family orders pizza unfortunately. :P It'll fill me up, but my brain still wants to eat half of the pizza or handfuls of cookies. Mmm
    wefts wrote: »
    FIBER ! I make a fiber smoothie it has staying power so I am not hungry all the time 2 TBSP oat fiber 1/2 tsp konjac fiber , a TBSP chia seed and crystal light orange . I vary it some days I do not want breakfast so I add a half apple and a half banana , Beet juice and flax seed I make a large nutribullet cup full and let it sit 10 min ( improves the texture) then fill to the top with more orange and water , drink half with my coffee and half an hour or 2 later adding a bit more water ice or orange drink as I am in the mood for . ( some days I add spinach or kale , in the summer when I garden I toss in tomato or cuccumber)

    Huh. I don't actually have a problem with hunger in of itself if I stick to eating a lot of fats, but I've never tried a fiber smoothie before. I'll keep that in mind, thank you. :3 Especially keeping in mind what the first poster said, maybe I just need more low-calorie or 0 calorie fibery goodness.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    wefts wrote: »
    FIBER ! I make a fiber smoothie it has staying power so I am not hungry all the time 2 TBSP oat fiber 1/2 tsp konjac fiber , a TBSP chia seed and crystal light orange . I vary it some days I do not want breakfast so I add a half apple and a half banana , Beet juice and flax seed I make a large nutribullet cup full and let it sit 10 min ( improves the texture) then fill to the top with more orange and water , drink half with my coffee and half an hour or 2 later adding a bit more water ice or orange drink as I am in the mood for . ( some days I add spinach or kale , in the summer when I garden I toss in tomato or cuccumber)

    Be careful with fiber supplements though, they can also back you up instead of making things smoother.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    If it’s not hunger that is driving you then appetite suppressants won’t help much.

    Other drivers are habit and mindlessness. Figure out what drives temptation and come up with non food rewards and habits to replace them.
  • HellYeahItsKriss
    HellYeahItsKriss Posts: 906 Member
    I can relate to how you feel.. I'm on a prescription narcotic for my eating disorder that basically does this for me. Without it I am an emotional mess
  • ccruz985
    ccruz985 Posts: 646 Member
    Having meals with fiber and protein help a bit. The protein gets you full faster, the fiber keeps you full longer. Don't neglect the carbs because not only are the good, quick energy sources but they're also part of a balanced diet and including them won't make you feel like you're missing out on something.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    Even the best appetite suppressants are temporary. IIRC, most will last a few months in terms of effectiveness..


    What worked for me was pre-planning and volume foods, like found in the link below:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10563959/volume-eaters-thread/p1


    In the end, you will need to find willpower and a way otherwise maintaining the weight loss wont last.
  • GemstoneofHeart
    GemstoneofHeart Posts: 865 Member
    edited December 2017
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Even the best appetite suppressants are temporary. IIRC, most will last a few months in terms of effectiveness..

    Agreed. Before I got on MFP I begged my doctor for something to control my over eating. She gave me vyvanse and it was absolutely awful. Horrible side effects and while it did help my eating for a couple of weeks, it wore off and she upped my dosage. Then another two weeks went by and i needed a higher dose again. Higher dose=more side effects. I decided to get off the crap instead.

    You know what did work for me in terms of over eating? Counseling, tracking everything I eat in MFP, being honest with myself, and not restricting what I eat, just how much.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Metformin supposedly works as an appetite suppressant for some people. I believe it's an off label use still but some doctors will prescribe it for that reason. Since it seems to work that way for me and I have zero side effects, I asked my doctor to let me keep taking it even though my A1c is in normal range now.

    I think you should talk to a doctor about your options.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    Generally be suspicious of *any* diet pill not recommended by your doctor.

    At best they're money flushed down the toilet, at worst can have serious health consequences.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Ann262 wrote: »
    I don't think a diet pill will work for you because you aren't over-eating (when you do) because of hunger. You are over-eating because you just want to eat the delicious food...or you are stress-emotional eating. Diet pills won't fix that. I think creating new habits to address those stress/emotional triggers will work better.

    This is what I was trying to get at as well. It doesn't sound like hunger is the issue, it's habit and self control. If you think appetite suppressant has been helping with that, it's the placebo effect.

    If you're overeating a little, figuring out why it's happening and changing your mindset is what will permanently fix the problem

    If you're overeating a lot or with no control, you should discuss with a doctor.

    Appetite suppressants are a temporary fix, and it doesn't sound like this is a temporary issue.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    You've gotten lots of advice, but just a thought. A really good tasting herbal tea? Maybe orange? Or ginger?
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    edited December 2017
    I eat a lot of protein but I haven'tnotice that it affects my appeptite all that much, despite claims to the contrary.

    However, I have been drinking a lot of black coffee (and nothing else) in the morning recently and that seems to keep me from feeling hungry until well into the afternoon.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    edited December 2017
    Amphetamines work. But they’re dangerous and generally restricted or controlled legally.

    Even the ones that aren’t exactly illegal are part of most standardized employment drug screens
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    You've totally sold yourself a line on this one, sorry. You do say that overeating is a bad you developed since childhood, so why not take steps to develop better eating habits and learn portion control. Drugs are not the answer.
  • HellYeahItsKriss
    HellYeahItsKriss Posts: 906 Member
    GemstoneofHeart wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Even the best appetite suppressants are temporary. IIRC, most will last a few months in terms of effectiveness..

    Agreed. Before I got on MFP I begged my doctor for something to control my over eating. She gave me vyvanse and it was absolutely awful. Horrible side effects and while it did help my eating for a couple of weeks, it wore off and she upped my dosage. Then another two weeks went by and i needed a higher dose again. Higher dose=more side effects. I decided to get off the crap instead.

    You know what did work for me in terms of over eating? Counseling, tracking everything I eat in MFP, being honest with myself, and not restricting what I eat, just how much.

    My experience with vyvanse was completely different. It saved my life. No awful side effects and have been on it for a year now.
  • GemstoneofHeart
    GemstoneofHeart Posts: 865 Member
    HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »
    GemstoneofHeart wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Even the best appetite suppressants are temporary. IIRC, most will last a few months in terms of effectiveness..

    Agreed. Before I got on MFP I begged my doctor for something to control my over eating. She gave me vyvanse and it was absolutely awful. Horrible side effects and while it did help my eating for a couple of weeks, it wore off and she upped my dosage. Then another two weeks went by and i needed a higher dose again. Higher dose=more side effects. I decided to get off the crap instead.

    You know what did work for me in terms of over eating? Counseling, tracking everything I eat in MFP, being honest with myself, and not restricting what I eat, just how much.

    My experience with vyvanse was completely different. It saved my life. No awful side effects and have been on it for a year now.

    That’s awesome! Are you on it for BED or for ADHD issues? It was originally an ADHD drug that was found in clinical studies to be an appetite suppressant, and was then accepted by the FDA as a treatment for BED as well, but that’s not what the original intention was.

    My husband took it for ADHD temporarily and had the same symptoms I did, even though we were prescribed it for entirely different reasons. I am the opposite of ADHD....
  • ninpiggy
    ninpiggy Posts: 228 Member
    edited December 2017
    It sounds like when you eat foods that aren’t healthy for you it’s because you perceive that you are missing out on the junk foods that your family and coworkers are eating. I recommend working with a therapist or a life coach on changing your perceptions so that you can approach a healthy diet and exercise routine as a way to live a better, healthier life instead of something that feels restrictive or less fun as eating junk food. You also stated this is a habit that began in childhood so it will take time for your brain to adjust to a different way of eating/behaving. But you can do it with the help of counseling.

    Good luck!
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