Just lost on phen now how to maintain

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jengragg
jengragg Posts: 8
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I've got one week left on phen and have lost 21 pounds. While I'd love to loose a few more, all in all I am happy with my current weight. I have not been excercising at all, but I am willing to start slowly. I have made major changes in my diet and portion size. I don't crave the foods I once did.

I know there are lots of phen-haters online and believe me I have read enough boards on it. I need realistic advice on what I can do to maintain the weight loss I have accomplished. Is there an OTC diet pill that I can take once I stop the phen for a month or so before quitting diet pills all together?
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Replies

  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    This sounds like a question best answered by your doc.

    add: I don't condemn you for using phen but I do question your *doc's* competence if he gave you a prescription drug intended for the morbidly obese when you only had 21 lbs to lose.
  • release_the_kraken
    release_the_kraken Posts: 304 Member
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    Diet and exercise would work best..and have better long term results for you vs diet pills.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    You might need to look into reverse dieting to avoid the classic weight gain rebound. Diet pills make you eat very little, so it might be really helpful to eat low for the first week you get off the pill, then slowly add more calories (probably no more than an extra 100-150 a day) for several weeks until you hit your maintenance calorie number.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
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    Diet pills generally don't equate to sustainable loses... You need to eat healthy, exercise, and get off the pills. If you find you are gaining - decrease your calories or up your exercise.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,324 Member
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    I've got one week left on phen and have lost 21 pounds. While I'd love to loose a few more, all in all I am happy with my current weight. I have not been excercising at all, but I am willing to start slowly. I have made major changes in my diet and portion size. I don't crave the foods I once did.

    I know there are lots of phen-haters online and believe me I have read enough boards on it. I need realistic advice on what I can do to maintain the weight loss I have accomplished. Is there an OTC diet pill that I can take once I stop the phen for a month or so before quitting diet pills all together?

    sorry...you want a pill to help you get off a pill?

    a couple questions, if i may...

    why did you get on phen to begin with? looks like you only had 25 or so to lose.
    knowing that the phen was not a permanent solution, did you do anything in the way of preparation for getting off of it?
    you are willing to slowly start exercising now, to help maintain what "you accomplished"...why wasnt exercise implemented earlier?
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Phen is an appetite suppressant. Weigh and log everything you eat this last week while you're still on it. If, in that week, you eat, say, 1,500 calories on average every day and you lose 1 lb, then that is how many calories per day you need to net to lose 1 lb per week. After you get off of phen, set your MyFitnessPal goals with those numbers in mind. If you only have a few more lbs to lose, then you should have your settings on ".5 lb loss/week" in the Goals setting on MyFitnessPal.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Since you also lost probably almost 4 lbs easily of muscle mass since no exercise - you also aren't going to be able to eat as much as you would have otherwise, so that will make it more difficult to maintain because you have less room for error.
    So MFP estimating what your daily burn is outside exercise is going to be inflated, because it's based on average ratio of fat to muscle, which you are probably not at anymore.

    Reverse diet reference means eat 100 extra daily for 1-2 weeks. Take the increased water weight gain, same big water weight drop you got starting a diet, everyone gains that back.
    Then increase another 100 daily, ect.
  • LynetteWho
    LynetteWho Posts: 4 Member
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    Jen,

    I am about where you are. I've lost 27 pounds on phen, with 7 left to go to my goal. I am working out 5 days / week, and plan to keep this up.

    I am very excited about reaching my goal weight, and want to make sure that I maintain. I really like britishbrocco's suggestion.

    Lynette
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
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    Is this a trick question ?

    You maintain your weight the same way you lose or gain weight.

    By managing your calories.

    You lost weight because you ate at a calorie deficit

    You will gain weight if you eat at a calorie surplus

    You will maintain your weight by eating at your TDEE.

    phentermine doesn't magically make you lose weight, it suppresses your appetite so you eat less which puts you in a calorie deficit.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,324 Member
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    Is this a trick question ?

    You maintain your weight the same way you lose or gain weight.

    By managing your calories.

    You lost weight because you ate at a calorie deficit

    You will gain weight if you eat at a calorie surplus

    You will maintain your weight by eating at your TDEE.

    phentermine doesn't magically make you lose weight, it suppresses your appetite so you eat less which puts you in a calorie deficit.

    what phen DOESNT do is magically instill willpower. therein lies the challenge.
    methinks phen did the OP a disservice.
  • Brandolin11
    Brandolin11 Posts: 492 Member
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    what phen DOESNT do is magically instill willpower. therein lies the challenge.
    methinks phen did the OP a disservice.

    Amen. I have never, EVER heard of a successful story of a person maintaining a weight loss after losing from diet pills. I've only heard rebound stories of people gaining even more, or even having their body shape change.

    This happened to me. I lost a ton of weight on that Metabolife stuff back in the 90's. I had no appetite when I was on those pills and thought I had "conquered" my eating problems....because I only wanted Slim Fast shakes and oranges all day long (not much else appealed to me). The SECOND I stopped taking them, the sugar cravings surged back stronger than I had ever experienced, I gained everything back - plus some - within months, and my hips became two inches bigger than my breasts when I had been a perfect hourglass my entire life. The stuff is NASTY.

    I realize the OP said she's read enough boards about this wants realistic ideas to maintain, but I'm sorry, "realistic" and taking pills" do not belong in the same sentence. There is zero reality involved. You want a quick fix using a short cut to bypass the character it requires to be healthy...and I'm sorry but you'll pay for it in the end. I've never heard of someone *not* paying for it and being very sorry they ever did it in the first place. :ohwell:
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,324 Member
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    what phen DOESNT do is magically instill willpower. therein lies the challenge.
    methinks phen did the OP a disservice.

    Amen. I have never, EVER heard of a successful story of a person maintaining a weight loss after losing from diet pills. I've only heard rebound stories of people gaining even more, or even having their body shape change.

    This happened to me. I lost a ton of weight on that Metabolife stuff back in the 90's. I had no appetite when I was on those pills and thought I had "conquered" my eating problems....because I only wanted Slim Fast shakes and oranges all day long (not much else appealed to me). The SECOND I stopped taking them, the sugar cravings surged back stronger than I had ever experienced, I gained everything back - plus some - within months, and my hips became two inches bigger than my breasts when I had been a perfect hourglass my entire life. The stuff is NASTY.

    I realize the OP said she's read enough boards about this wants realistic ideas to maintain, but I'm sorry, "realistic" and taking pills" do not belong in the same sentence. There is zero reality involved. You want a quick fix using a short cut to bypass the character it requires to be healthy...and I'm sorry but you'll pay for it in the end. I've never heard of someone *not* paying for it and being very sorry they ever did it in the first place. :ohwell:

    i would like to thank you sincerely for posting your actual experience. so many people think that gimmick-hate is wrong and "bullying". HOPEFULLY supporters of these products will see your experience and realization here and think twice. sadly, it's too late for OP and she may very well find herself back at square one faster than she ever thought possible...and without having learned the valuable tools to go about this in a healthier fashion.

    all the best to you, and thanks for sharing your story! :drinker: <---those are NOT slimfast/herbalife shakes :wink:
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Didn't the phen plan come with nutrition education? It certainly should have.

    If it didn't... and you feel like you don't know how to eat right, consider starting with something educational, like phase 3 of South Beach.

    Best of luck, hope you can figure out what works!
  • Brandolin11
    Brandolin11 Posts: 492 Member
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    i would like to thank you sincerely for posting your actual experience. so many people think that gimmick-hate is wrong and "bullying". HOPEFULLY supporters of these products will see your experience and realization here and think twice. sadly, it's too late for OP and she may very well find herself back at square one faster than she ever thought possible...and without having learned the valuable tools to go about this in a healthier fashion.

    all the best to you, and thanks for sharing your story! :drinker: <---those are NOT slimfast/herbalife shakes :wink:

    You're welcome! I'm a very supportive person (ask my 200+ friends on here), but I don't mince words when it comes to this stuff.

    The only thing that *really* works for losing weight and keeping it off permanently is emotional growth and maturity. Period. Everything else stems from that: eating healthy, eating in moderation, exercising regularly, getting good sleep, keeping oneself accountable, supporting others, and so on and so forth... These things require us to grow up, practice good character, and care for ourselves. If you try to go the other way 'round, you will fail.
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
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    Im not going to get into a discussion here as to what i think about diet pills/drugs. I will say that the best solution for you is to not proceed to go looking for another diet pill to maintain your weight, but spend the next week doing what you should have already been doing--getting into a regular exercise program and figuring out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight as well as logging your intake. If you hadnt been on the drugs, you would likely have already been doing this to lose weight and there wouldnt be a learning curve for you. Boring and tedious as it seems, there are no shortcuts in life. Best of luck.
  • PlanetVelma
    PlanetVelma Posts: 1,231 Member
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    Phen is basically legal speed. The risks and side effects outweigh the results you may see on the scale. I speak from personal experience. That **** will wreck your metabolism and your sleep cycle.
  • tabicatinthehat
    tabicatinthehat Posts: 329 Member
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    Just eat the amount of calories you've been eating while taking the pills. It won't be easy. I know this because you needed pills to eat this way in the first place. After all this, if you manage to maintain a deficit or maintain your weight, you may ask yourself why you didn't just do that in the first place. I suspect you'll gain all that weight back, though.
  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    Whoever prescribed it should be able to give you an idea of how many calories you need to maintain. I love this app for helping calculate, it makes it easy.
  • FeefWV
    FeefWV Posts: 36 Member
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    How are you even getting phen? It was deemed "unsafe" and "outlawed" multiple years ago! Stop, please you don't know what you are doing to your cardiac status!
  • FeefWV
    FeefWV Posts: 36 Member
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    I don't even know she obtained the Phen!!!!!!!! It was outlawed. If she lost weight, that's great. Congrats. However, I hate see the overall impact on her cardiac status. Best to do it the old fashioned way - exercise and portion control. It takes longer, yes, but in the end, it will teach us to take control of food and not the other way around. Bless her heart.

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