Using Multiple Plans to Lose Weight (shh even meds)

Texsox
Texsox Posts: 146 Member
Yes, that includes the new medications like Belviq and Qsymia. Since these types of threads bring an immediate rush of people not taking medication and trying to warn people who are using them, I will place this in the first post

Can I block a user's forum posts?

If you would prefer not to see forum posts from a particular user on the website, click the triangular menu button below that user's profile photo, next to any post made by that user in the forums. Select "Ignore User" and that user's posts will be hidden from you in all topics. These posts will be replaced by a notice that you are ignoring the user, along with an "undo" link to reverse the process.
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Replies

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Yes, that includes the new medications like Belviq and Qsymia. Since these types of threads bring an immediate rush of people not taking medication and trying to warn people who are using them, I will place this in the first post

    Can I block a user's forum posts?

    If you would prefer not to see forum posts from a particular user on the website, click the triangular menu button below that user's profile photo, next to any post made by that user in the forums. Select "Ignore User" and that user's posts will be hidden from you in all topics. These posts will be replaced by a notice that you are ignoring the user, along with an "undo" link to reverse the process.
    This sounds like you want to hear what you want to hear and damned to those who disagree.

    As for the anti med folks-there are plenty who have used diet pills who are anti med, including me. Please feel free to block me. :wink:
  • Texsox
    Texsox Posts: 146 Member
    My doctor and I decided on Belviq after ten years of yo-yoing by counting calories alone. Three times I counted calories successfully only to gain it back when I stopped. Twice was the old school carry a diary and add them up. The last time was with MFP.

    My doctor termed me fit but fat. I could carry a backpack many miles a day without too much struggle. I was active, but I just ate too much. My job involved summers where I had no control over what I was eating, only how much I ate. I was surrounded by people who were burning thousands of calories a day, my job was to be in the office running things. I was sedentary. The menus needed to be high calorie for the people who were surfing, kayaking, scuba diving, etc. So every summer I would gain weight. Then fought to lose it.

    Our plan is for me to reach 165 on my 6'1" thin frame. Then after a month or so of maintaining that weight remove Belviq from my plan and just use MFP. If I gain weight, we'll look at the options again. The hope is my teaching, coaching, and student life will settle down a bit so I can exercise regularly.

    So far after three weeks on Belviq I am pleased. The first couple of days I limped through some minor adjustments, about the same I received with blood pressure medication changes. Headache, backache, etc. Now about the only concern I have is fatigue. But that can also be explained by my college semester is ending next week, my teaching semester ends next month, and I've been burning the candle at both ends. I have felt this tired every May for the past two years of graduate school.
  • Texsox
    Texsox Posts: 146 Member
    Yes, that includes the new medications like Belviq and Qsymia. Since these types of threads bring an immediate rush of people not taking medication and trying to warn people who are using them, I will place this in the first post

    Can I block a user's forum posts?

    If you would prefer not to see forum posts from a particular user on the website, click the triangular menu button below that user's profile photo, next to any post made by that user in the forums. Select "Ignore User" and that user's posts will be hidden from you in all topics. These posts will be replaced by a notice that you are ignoring the user, along with an "undo" link to reverse the process.

    There just isn't much use fighting the anti medication folks, so if you find that sort of help a problem, feel free to block those posters.
    This sounds like you want to hear what you want to hear and damned to those who disagree.

    As for the anti med folks-there are plenty who have used diet pills who are anti med, including me. Please feel free to block me. :wink:
    No, There are people here looking for support. Can't they have one thread? Do you tell everyone that if they stop MFP they will gain weight so be prepared to log everything you eat for the rest of your life? I see plenty of encouraging threads here and I thought there could be one tiny place where people who are really trying to lose weight by combining MFP with medication can go. I guess you disagree with that. Would you prefer we leave the site or stay and listen to you criticize?
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    There's also a Report Post feature at the bottom of every single post, in which you can report posts you feel violate the Community Guidelines and/or Terms of Service. So if you feel someone is actually posting something that violates those, and not just disagreeing with you, you can use that and the mods will handle it.

    Any post asking about extreme weight loss plans or diet drugs generally gets reported and locked pretty quickly, because it usually involves the promotion of unhealthy weight loss practices. A person doesn't have to respond to report a post, so even if you ignore the "naysayers" there's still a good chance you'll end up with a strike from the mods for the topic.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    I would gain weight (and do) when I stop logging and I think that's pretty typical. I do expect to have to track my whole life.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Yes, that includes the new medications like Belviq and Qsymia. Since these types of threads bring an immediate rush of people not taking medication and trying to warn people who are using them, I will place this in the first post

    Can I block a user's forum posts?

    If you would prefer not to see forum posts from a particular user on the website, click the triangular menu button below that user's profile photo, next to any post made by that user in the forums. Select "Ignore User" and that user's posts will be hidden from you in all topics. These posts will be replaced by a notice that you are ignoring the user, along with an "undo" link to reverse the process.

    There just isn't much use fighting the anti medication folks, so if you find that sort of help a problem, feel free to block those posters.
    This sounds like you want to hear what you want to hear and damned to those who disagree.

    As for the anti med folks-there are plenty who have used diet pills who are anti med, including me. Please feel free to block me. :wink:
    No, There are people here looking for support. Can't they have one thread? Do you tell everyone that if they stop MFP they will gain weight so be prepared to log everything you eat for the rest of your life? I see plenty of encouraging threads here and I thought there could be one tiny place where people who are really trying to lose weight by combining MFP with medication can go. I guess you disagree with that. Would you prefer we leave the site or stay and listen to you criticize?

    In my opinion you started your post off quite defensively to try and take a pre-emptive strike against people who comment on your methods of weight loss.

    Is it surprising to you that this didn't go well?
  • Jestinia
    Jestinia Posts: 1,153 Member
    Hope it works for you. The problem I have isn't weight loss meds, the problem I have is people with one or two posts coming in and starting a 'have you tried Product X?' followed by a handful of others with one or two posts each saying 'oh ya, it's great, all my friends are taking it we've all lost fifty billion pounds on it!'

    Marketing drives are really annoying and should be called out whenever you see them.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    Or just tell them they're idiots for doing it and let them feel stupid :)
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Yes, that includes the new medications like Belviq and Qsymia. Since these types of threads bring an immediate rush of people not taking medication and trying to warn people who are using them, I will place this in the first post

    Can I block a user's forum posts?

    If you would prefer not to see forum posts from a particular user on the website, click the triangular menu button below that user's profile photo, next to any post made by that user in the forums. Select "Ignore User" and that user's posts will be hidden from you in all topics. These posts will be replaced by a notice that you are ignoring the user, along with an "undo" link to reverse the process.

    There just isn't much use fighting the anti medication folks, so if you find that sort of help a problem, feel free to block those posters.

    Overly defensive much? If you want a forum where only people agree with you it might put less strain on your wrist to avoid all that uneccesary clicking on peoples profiles to block them to simply purchase yourself a mirror and every day look into it and confirm your opinion that you are correct and anyone who disagrees with your opinion is wrong.

    If your confidence in your approach is so fragile as to be shattered by the opinion of people you do not know on the internet then perhaps you aren't that confident about it. If you aren't confident perhaps its because on some level you aren't sure in which case perhaps you should listen to the opinions of others until you find an approach that you are confident in.
  • Texsox
    Texsox Posts: 146 Member
    There is another thread where everyone who hates weight loss medications has jumped in. There were a couple posters who are using MFP and asking for a place to support each other. It clearly is not on this site.

    I've been studying Belviq along with my doctor for over a year, and extensively the past three months. I appreciate all the friendly advice from people who have no idea how Belviq is intended to be used or how it works. Because I have read so much, before beginning a medication that I may be taking for the rest of my life (as it is prescribed and intended), I am being accused of being a shill for the company. Interestingly if I entered this blindly and ignorantly I would be much less suspicions. LOL

    So it seems that the consensus here is if your doctor recommends Belviq, do not post on MFP. I get it.

    I wish you all the best.
  • Texsox
    Texsox Posts: 146 Member
    Hope it works for you. The problem I have isn't weight loss meds, the problem I have is people with one or two posts coming in and starting a 'have you tried Product X?' followed by a handful of others with one or two posts each saying 'oh ya, it's great, all my friends are taking it we've all lost fifty billion pounds on it!'

    Marketing drives are really annoying and should be called out whenever you see them.

    I agree 100%.

    I started posting in October 2010. I have failed at using just MFP. Weight control is the one area of my life that I have not been successful at. I'm trying this only after my doctor and I tried everything else. Sadly, that means ridicule and dire warnings from the doctors here who have studied Belviq and my specific health issues.

    Again, clearly I am not welcome here. I wish y'all success however you are achieving your personal goals.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    There is another thread where everyone who hates weight loss medications has jumped in. There were a couple posters who are using MFP and asking for a place to support each other. It clearly is not on this site.

    I've been studying Belviq along with my doctor for over a year, and extensively the past three months. I appreciate all the friendly advice from people who have no idea how Belviq is intended to be used or how it works. Because I have read so much, before beginning a medication that I may be taking for the rest of my life (as it is prescribed and intended), I am being accused of being a shill for the company. Interestingly if I entered this blindly and ignorantly I would be much less suspicions. LOL

    So it seems that the consensus here is if your doctor recommends Belviq, do not post on MFP. I get it.

    I wish you all the best.

    Well the rule here is if you post on this forum expect to hear peoples opinions. That happens to be the rule on any internet forum.

    My opinion is no matter how safe or how perfectly it works I do not support the taking of diet pills for weight loss. Why? Perhaps not for the reasons you might think.

    If you want to lose weight and keep it off you have to adopt new behaviors in your day to day life that result in weight loss and eventual maintenance at healthy weight. To have those behaviors stick after your "diet" ends so that you remain healthy you have to practice those behaviors over and over and over and over for years until they become a part of you. To truly learn how to eat in a way that maintains your health you have to practice these behaviors in the environment in which you are going to live your life.

    By taking an appetite suppressent or some other sort of diet pill you are changing your body in an artificial way so that it responds differently to food than it naturally would. Any behaviors you learn during this time are learnt in respect to the way your body responds to food under that medication. As soon as you come off that medication, which you will eventually have to, those learned behaviors will no longer apply. You will find your body responding to food differently and that your routine will no longer work for you. That means the time you spent on the medication was wasted time for learning the behaviors that will set you up for a lifetime of being at a healthy weight.

    You may lose weight when you are on the pill but the behaviors you learn during that time will not support you keeping that weight from coming right back on when you come off the pill. As a result you are setting yourself up for a yo-yo and wasting your time. I seriously would recommend you consider just starting on a diet and exercise plan slowly, easing into it, where you do not supplement with an artificial appetite suppressant. Your results may not come as quickly but you will be learning in a way that the weight will stay off.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Yes, that includes the new medications like Belviq and Qsymia. Since these types of threads bring an immediate rush of people not taking medication and trying to warn people who are using them, I will place this in the first post

    Can I block a user's forum posts?

    If you would prefer not to see forum posts from a particular user on the website, click the triangular menu button below that user's profile photo, next to any post made by that user in the forums. Select "Ignore User" and that user's posts will be hidden from you in all topics. These posts will be replaced by a notice that you are ignoring the user, along with an "undo" link to reverse the process.

    There just isn't much use fighting the anti medication folks, so if you find that sort of help a problem, feel free to block those posters.
    This sounds like you want to hear what you want to hear and damned to those who disagree.

    As for the anti med folks-there are plenty who have used diet pills who are anti med, including me. Please feel free to block me. :wink:
    No, There are people here looking for support. Can't they have one thread? Do you tell everyone that if they stop MFP they will gain weight so be prepared to log everything you eat for the rest of your life? I see plenty of encouraging threads here and I thought there could be one tiny place where people who are really trying to lose weight by combining MFP with medication can go. I guess you disagree with that. Would you prefer we leave the site or stay and listen to you criticize?

    You could join groups or make your own group for support. A public forum is just that. Public. You can't control the responses you get. It's also rather odd you think that the people who would speak up against the use of the pills have never been on them or on similar types. Just feeds the notion that you only want to hear what you want to hear.
  • jenmom2myboys
    jenmom2myboys Posts: 311 Member
    You lost weight but once you stopped tracking you gained it back. The same will happen with the meds. Once you stop taking them you will gain the weight back. Why not continue tracking calories at a maintence level once you lose it?
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    There is another thread where everyone who hates weight loss medications has jumped in. There were a couple posters who are using MFP and asking for a place to support each other. It clearly is not on this site.

    I've been studying Belviq along with my doctor for over a year, and extensively the past three months. I appreciate all the friendly advice from people who have no idea how Belviq is intended to be used or how it works. Because I have read so much, before beginning a medication that I may be taking for the rest of my life (as it is prescribed and intended), I am being accused of being a shill for the company. Interestingly if I entered this blindly and ignorantly I would be much less suspicions. LOL

    So it seems that the consensus here is if your doctor recommends Belviq, do not post on MFP. I get it.

    I wish you all the best.

    I'm curious, you say you can take this the rest of your life? Really? I don't know many doctors (I work in healthcare) that prescribe any weightloss drug longer than 3 months.

    And I'm sure you have, but have you seen some of the side effects?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    There is another thread where everyone who hates weight loss medications has jumped in. There were a couple posters who are using MFP and asking for a place to support each other. It clearly is not on this site.

    I've been studying Belviq along with my doctor for over a year, and extensively the past three months. I appreciate all the friendly advice from people who have no idea how Belviq is intended to be used or how it works. Because I have read so much, before beginning a medication that I may be taking for the rest of my life (as it is prescribed and intended), I am being accused of being a shill for the company. Interestingly if I entered this blindly and ignorantly I would be much less suspicions. LOL

    So it seems that the consensus here is if your doctor recommends Belviq, do not post on MFP. I get it.

    I wish you all the best.

    I'm curious, you say you can take this the rest of your life? Really? I don't know many doctors (I work in healthcare) that prescribe any weightloss drug longer than 3 months.

    And I'm sure you have, but have you seen some of the side effects?

    Yeah they aren't going to give you a lifelong prescription to something like a diet pill.
  • ZombieEarhart
    ZombieEarhart Posts: 320 Member
    My doctor and I decided on Belviq after ten years of yo-yoing by counting calories alone. Three times I counted calories successfully only to gain it back when I stopped. Twice was the old school carry a diary and add them up. The last time was with MFP.

    My doctor termed me fit but fat. I could carry a backpack many miles a day without too much struggle. I was active, but I just ate too much. My job involved summers where I had no control over what I was eating, only how much I ate. I was surrounded by people who were burning thousands of calories a day, my job was to be in the office running things. I was sedentary. The menus needed to be high calorie for the people who were surfing, kayaking, scuba diving, etc. So every summer I would gain weight. Then fought to lose it.

    Our plan is for me to reach 165 on my 6'1" thin frame. Then after a month or so of maintaining that weight remove Belviq from my plan and just use MFP. If I gain weight, we'll look at the options again. The hope is my teaching, coaching, and student life will settle down a bit so I can exercise regularly.

    So far after three weeks on Belviq I am pleased. The first couple of days I limped through some minor adjustments, about the same I received with blood pressure medication changes. Headache, backache, etc. Now about the only concern I have is fatigue. But that can also be explained by my college semester is ending next week, my teaching semester ends next month, and I've been burning the candle at both ends. I have felt this tired every May for the past two years of graduate school.

    How is Belviq going to change all these excuses you tell yourself? I'm confused- you're hoping to be a different person with a different life who's willing to prioritize your health and exercise self-control when you go off the meds? What is your actual plan here?
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  • Jestinia
    Jestinia Posts: 1,153 Member
    Hope it works for you. The problem I have isn't weight loss meds, the problem I have is people with one or two posts coming in and starting a 'have you tried Product X?' followed by a handful of others with one or two posts each saying 'oh ya, it's great, all my friends are taking it we've all lost fifty billion pounds on it!'

    Marketing drives are really annoying and should be called out whenever you see them.

    I agree 100%.

    I started posting in October 2010. I have failed at using just MFP. Weight control is the one area of my life that I have not been successful at. I'm trying this only after my doctor and I tried everything else. Sadly, that means ridicule and dire warnings from the doctors here who have studied Belviq and my specific health issues.

    Again, clearly I am not welcome here. I wish y'all success however you are achieving your personal goals.

    I think you should stay and discuss your real experiences with it as you go along, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Just like we all discuss whatever methods we are trying at any given time. As was already suggested, you could also create a group for users of this particular weight loss drug. Why not do both?
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Most of the people who tell you that taking diet pills is not the way to go about it are the ones who are trying to save you time and money. Yeah, counting calories worked for you in the past, but you have to we aware of how many calories you need to maintain your weight. It's incredibly likely that you ate more than your maintenance calories once you got to your goal weight, causing you to gain it back. As one poster above said, it's likely that the same will happen when you stop taking the pills.

    TLDR-- diet pills are a waste of your time and money. But I guess it's your time and money to waste, so go for it.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    What happens when you come off the pills? What's to stop you putting the weight back on? In reality the reason you yo yo is you are trying to go on a 'diet' rather than thinking about the big picture and how you will live the rest of your life. You can't stay on the pills for ever and in some cases they can be useful personally I think doctors too easily give them out now. In the end it's your choice but try and think past the bit when you have lost the weight and think how you will maintain it.
  • My doctor and I decided on Belviq after ten years of yo-yoing by counting calories alone. Three times I counted calories successfully only to gain it back when I stopped. Twice was the old school carry a diary and add them up. The last time was with MFP.

    My doctor termed me fit but fat. I could carry a backpack many miles a day without too much struggle. I was active, but I just ate too much. My job involved summers where I had no control over what I was eating, only how much I ate. I was surrounded by people who were burning thousands of calories a day, my job was to be in the office running things. I was sedentary. The menus needed to be high calorie for the people who were surfing, kayaking, scuba diving, etc. So every summer I would gain weight. Then fought to lose it.

    Our plan is for me to reach 165 on my 6'1" thin frame. Then after a month or so of maintaining that weight remove Belviq from my plan and just use MFP. If I gain weight, we'll look at the options again. The hope is my teaching, coaching, and student life will settle down a bit so I can exercise regularly.

    So far after three weeks on Belviq I am pleased. The first couple of days I limped through some minor adjustments, about the same I received with blood pressure medication changes. Headache, backache, etc. Now about the only concern I have is fatigue. But that can also be explained by my college semester is ending next week, my teaching semester ends next month, and I've been burning the candle at both ends. I have felt this tired every May for the past two years of graduate school.

    Sounds like you are just lazy. Counting calories works without meds and you know it but only want meds because you gain when you stop counting. That's laziness.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    There is another thread where everyone who hates weight loss medications has jumped in. There were a couple posters who are using MFP and asking for a place to support each other. It clearly is not on this site.

    I've been studying Belviq along with my doctor for over a year, and extensively the past three months. I appreciate all the friendly advice from people who have no idea how Belviq is intended to be used or how it works. Because I have read so much, before beginning a medication that I may be taking for the rest of my life (as it is prescribed and intended), I am being accused of being a shill for the company. Interestingly if I entered this blindly and ignorantly I would be much less suspicions. LOL

    So it seems that the consensus here is if your doctor recommends Belviq, do not post on MFP. I get it.

    I wish you all the best.

    No doctor is going to allow you to take prescription weight loss drugs for the rest of your life.

    What you are going to have to do for the rest of your life is count calories. So get used to it.

    If you are having such a difficult time keeping the weight off, maybe you should be tested for endocrine disorders. Even though I'm sure it's simply you consuming more calories than you expend, which results in weight gain.

    Also, you say you count calories but do you use a food scale?
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    So, OP, why did you make this thread if you don't want to hear opinions about the pills you're taking?

    I took OTC diet pills and they did nothing to my weight and health. Feel free to block me as well.
  • grinogirl
    grinogirl Posts: 32 Member
    You lost weight but once you stopped tracking you gained it back. The same will happen with the meds. Once you stop taking them you will gain the weight back. Why not continue tracking calories at a maintence level once you lose it?

    Like Texsox, I am having a hrd time losing it in the first place. I just got prescribed Belviq and am on my 3rd day. I believe this thread was created due to the fact that I asked in another thread if there were a supportive place to discuss Belviq, without getting ridiculed by the anti-pill people.

    I realize this is a public forum, but as you can see from this thread, we are looking for ONE thread where more than half the comments are by like minded people looking for support.

    We all have beliefs / opinions about weight loss pills, but please, if your not supportive of us, why even come in here and give your 2 cents ? just do your own thing, and leave me alone.

    Thanks.
  • Zak045
    Zak045 Posts: 5 Member
    I think the key with fitness is sustainability. Sure I could eat 400 calories every day and lose weight but could I sustain that for the rest of my life? and would that adversely affect my health? If your able to eat at deficit effectively and lose weight then whats the point of the medication? Will it excelerate your losses?
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    You lost weight but once you stopped tracking you gained it back. The same will happen with the meds. Once you stop taking them you will gain the weight back. Why not continue tracking calories at a maintence level once you lose it?

    Like Texsox, I am having a hrd time losing it in the first place. I just got prescribed Belviq and am on my 3rd day. I believe this thread was created due to the fact that I asked in another thread if there were a supportive place to discuss Belviq, without getting ridiculed by the anti-pill people.

    I realize this is a public forum, but as you can see from this thread, we are looking for ONE thread where more than half the comments are by like minded people looking for support.

    We all have beliefs / opinions about weight loss pills, but please, if your not supportive of us, why even come in here and give your 2 cents ? just do your own thing, and leave me alone.

    Thanks.

    People don't just come in to these threads to "ridicule" you (which no one has, we advise against this because it's not sustainable for your lifetime).

    People come into these threads for the following reasons:
    1) Some have been there and done that and are trying to save you time, energy and frustration when you possibly gain the weight back.
    2) It's not just about you. It's also to make sure newbies and the lurkers who read it get BOTH sides of it. They should be as educated as possible, and yes, they could do the research, but if they just come on here and see 20 people preaching how it worked for them (at that time). These posts never come up a couple years down the line showing whether the weight stayed off or not. Most likely not, because people don't have a plan after they reach their goal weight.
    3) There is no jump start, there is no quick fix, there is no magic pill. It takes hard work, dedication, a food scale, moderation not deprivation, and realizing it has to be a lifestyle change.

    If you are having a hard time losing weight, I'd ask the following:
    1) Do you own a food scale? If so, are you weighing everything you eat.
    2) What is your calorie goal? What are you netting?
    3) Are you exercising?

    If you aren't losing weight, you aren't in a deficit.
    If you are gaining weight, you are in a surplus.
    If you are maintaining, then welcome to maintenance - eat less to lose weight.

    Then depending on how much you have to lose, you have to set your goals correctly:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

    If you have 30 lbs to lose and are trying to lose 2 lbs a week, that's too aggressive and you probably aren't eating enough.
  • My doctor and I decided on Belviq after ten years of yo-yoing by counting calories alone. Three times I counted calories successfully only to gain it back when I stopped. Twice was the old school carry a diary and add them up. The last time was with MFP.

    My doctor termed me fit but fat. I could carry a backpack many miles a day without too much struggle. I was active, but I just ate too much. My job involved summers where I had no control over what I was eating, only how much I ate. I was surrounded by people who were burning thousands of calories a day, my job was to be in the office running things. I was sedentary. The menus needed to be high calorie for the people who were surfing, kayaking, scuba diving, etc. So every summer I would gain weight. Then fought to lose it.

    Our plan is for me to reach 165 on my 6'1" thin frame. Then after a month or so of maintaining that weight remove Belviq from my plan and just use MFP. If I gain weight, we'll look at the options again. The hope is my teaching, coaching, and student life will settle down a bit so I can exercise regularly.

    So far after three weeks on Belviq I am pleased. The first couple of days I limped through some minor adjustments, about the same I received with blood pressure medication changes. Headache, backache, etc. Now about the only concern I have is fatigue. But that can also be explained by my college semester is ending next week, my teaching semester ends next month, and I've been burning the candle at both ends. I have felt this tired every May for the past two years of graduate school.

    Well, if you REALLY have been trying hard with other methods and have had some success, but then regained, maybe an additional "aid" could be helpful for you, but that doesn't mean it wont have side effects and "cost" you something, and if you have no plan to stay at that weight once you get there, how is this any different than losing with calorie counting or one of the diets you tried previously? If you do this, you will rebound just like you did before, unless you take a medication constantly, and this incurs cost, side effects and unknown body effects (yes all supposedly tested new medication is really not very thoroughly tested, you are the test sample case for many many years till there is a real picture). Have you tried upping your caffeine/B vitamins/ginseng/green tea instead? This can also have side effects too in some people, but it does produce an extra "boost". Just like the rest though, it requires hard work/exercise, +calorie restriction to ever "get anywhere" with it. Then there is even bitter orange, which is a "safer" ephedra substitute, but safer is relative, it may also kill a certain percentage of people like ephedra does, we just dont know, and wont know, because no big pharmaceutical company can patent bitter orange and pay for the studies...which again really don't tell the whole story. So again it comes back to: what are you willing to do to keep yourself at the weight you want to get to? Nothing so far can do that, except for you, your diet and your exercise. And most "aids" not only wont work alone, but can harm your health in other ways. That's why people are against them, and I think its right that you do get negative comments talking about it, because it serves to warn others. You should be ready to brave negative responses and data against it if you want to do something controversial which may hurt you, and doesn't really solve your problem I'd say. At least brave them for the sake of others, or you are being very selfish.
  • grinogirl
    grinogirl Posts: 32 Member
    Not sure about others, but I can eat at a deficit and not lose weight. I don't know if it's my anti-depression med that I have to stay on for the rest of my life, or not. I have gone and done thyroid tests twice, and the doctor says it's normal. I have tried so many things, adding a pill will just be another tool to help me lose, along with calorie counting, exercise, etc. I am looking into the FitBit.

    Back to Belviq. Anybody taking this have fatigue ? I am only on my 3rd day and have fatigue that i'm hoping will subside. Aside from that I haven't had any other side effects yet, which is good. :)
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    Not sure about others, but I can eat at a deficit and not lose weight. I don't know if it's my anti-depression med that I have to stay on for the rest of my life, or not. I have gone and done thyroid tests twice, and the doctor says it's normal. I have tried so many things, adding a pill will just be another tool to help me lose, along with calorie counting, exercise, etc. I am looking into the FitBit.

    Back to Belviq. Anybody taking this have fatigue ? I am only on my 3rd day and have fatigue that i'm hoping will subside. Aside from that I haven't had any other side effects yet, which is good. :)

    Anti-depressants are notorious for weight gain. I took them for anxiety and gained 111 lbs over 3 years because of the meds. If I were you, I would talk to your doctor about getting off of them and instead using exercise as "medication." Anti-depressants mess with your metabolism and most of them increase hunger. Taking the medications was the biggest mistake I ever made.

    I don't take Belviq but fatigue is a side effect. Along with headaches, dizziness, and nausea.