Hey all! I have been pretty inoperational for the past week or so, there is a reason for this...I had an episode. A few weeks back I decided to go back on the Phentermine for a little boost in my metabolism. I've never had a problem with the drug before, so I was surprised when I started having panic attacks one afternoon. Okay, it didn't start with panic attacks, it started with depression and just feeling tempermental and edgy...and then came the panic attacks. I was sitting in my living room talking with my friend when all of a sudden I felt like a deer caught in the headlights...terrified! That night I decided to go to bed early, sleep it off, and ended up losing all touch with reality. I remember opening my eyes and looking at the alarm clock's red glare...it said 2:32 a.m., so I proceeded to get up, get dressed, and get Jobe up for school...I remember thinking "oh man...we're gonna be late". After getting him dressed I looked out the window, and seeing that it was pitch dark I told Jobe to go back to bed, at which point I went in the bathroom and layed down on the floor and went to sleep. I was not aware that I was sleeping until I woke up (what seemed like an eternity later) and wandered into my room...looked at the alarm clock and it read 2:34 a.m. ...how is that possible? I spent the rest of the night between dreams and hallucinations, unable to tell which was which...you can not imagine some of the things that I saw! The next morning I was tired, but no longer openly hallucinating. I was confused as to what could have caused my issue...so I went on the internet and started looking around. That's when I discovered that psychotic episodes, confusion, and panic attacks are all symptoms of a reaction to phentermine. I was scared, so I called the pharmacy, and the pharmacist said that phentermine is one of a small number of diet pills that actually builds up in your system...taking 36 hours to be halfway out. "So", he explained, "in taking one pill every morning you are allowing it to build up in your system...basically, you overdosed on speed". I was mortified...the pharmacist suggested that I take 1/2 a pill every other day so that it doesn't build up in my system again, but I was so freaked out that I just quit it cold turkey. So, I'm doing better now...but I'm still going through withdrawl (tired, headaches, drastic mood changes).
Now here's the problem, I can't lose weight! I'm still logging everything, and from what I can tell I would have to eat no more than 1,050 calories in any given 24 hour period. This is a serious problem for me as I have been eating about 1300 calories per day over the last 5 days, and it has been painful. I mean, I am starving...and I haven't been losing an ounce. I have tried several different calorie levels, and have come to the conclusion that in order to lose weight I need to eat approximately 1,000 calories per day. If I am starving at 1,300 calories, how am I going to handle 1,000 calories? The only reason why I ended up having 1,300 calories the last few days was to calm down my hunger headaches. I am sitting here right now, ready to ravage, my stomach is growling out loud...and I'm afraid to eat! What am I going to do? I'm doing 35 minutes cardio 5 days a week and weight training 3 days per week. I'm soooooooooooooooo hungry!
Whoa buddy - you're recovering some major sh*t right now. Throw the scale out until YOU feel better. From my perspective, it sounds like you just ODed on diet pills because of your desire to lose wieght and now that you're off them, you're still obsessing about it. Sound scary? It is! Please, please take better care of yourself. You need to eat at least 1200 calories a day. It's possible that your body is holding on to the weight because you aren't eating enough - it's storing everything you'll give it because your body is starving. I say let your body recover, eat your normal number of calories (maybe 1600?) and calm down about the scale, weight loss will come when your body is ready for it.
Hey girl! First off, I am glad that you're ok!!! Second, your body is probably still recovering from all that so weight loss probably won't happen. You need to be patient. If I remember correctly a few weeks ago you lost about 5 pounds or more in just about 2 weeks, if that's acccurate it's completely normal after a fast loss to stay the same for a while or ever gaina few pounds back temporarily (it's not fat pounds most likely water). That has just happened to me. Losing weight isn't going to go by the bood, our bodies are touchy and at times sutbborn. Be patient, and EAT if you are starving. Even going up to 1800 calories for a day or so won't make you gain actual fat! Don't go under 1200 (like Jenirca said), and thay may even be too low for you. I found that I wasn't losing as fast at 1200 than at between 1300 and 1600! Take care of your body!!! I am glad that you're ok!!!
Thanks gals! Okay, just so you know, I didn't take more of the medicine than I was supposed to...just more than my body needed obviously. So yep, I'm still trying to recover, but I just don't want to gain the weight back. How do I get used to being hungy all the time? Also, I have tried giving my body more calories...here are the calorie levels I have tried: 1,000 - lost 0.333 lbs a day; 1200 - lost 0.1 lbs in 4 days; 1300 - stayed the same weight; 1400 - gained; 1500 - gained; 1700 - gained a lot; 1900 - gained over a lb in a day! What's a girl to do? I refuse to gain this weight back...not after everything I've been through to lose it! Should I just stay at the 1,000 calorie level until my body gets the message that it isn't getting any more calories. I know that for most people that isn't enough calories, but remember that I have an extremely slow metabolism due to my thyroid. I know y'all think I should eat at least 1200 calories a day, but if I do that I will either stay at the same weight or I will gain it back. The real crappy thing is that I am in physical pain at the 1200 calorie level (losing minimal to nothing), and I am in physical pain at the 1000 calorie level (losing at a decent rate of speed). I am SOOOO AGGRAVATED!!! FRUSTRATED! Any way you slice it...this is gonna hurt! If you were me, would you give up?
How long were you "trying" each of those levels? Just a day or two? I agree with everyone else that 1200 really is the minimum, and if you make sure those 1200 calories are coming from healthy, natural foods then that may help with the weight loss as well (you can eat more low cal veggies and fruits than skinny cows and popcorn). Plus increasing the intensity when you work out will help you to keep calorie levels up while still losing. Try forgetting about the scale for awhile and focus on the food/exercise nourishing you instead. Good luck, I know it's a really hard time for you right now but I am glad you are deciding to do it without drugs now.
Hey there...I hope you're feeling better now! After an experience like that you and your body deserve a break from this dieting for at least a week. I know exactly how you feel about calories- I am also convinced that I can't lose anything if I eat over 1200 calories a day. Now get ready, cause here comes my advice
1. It's really not accurate to say "well I ate 1200 calories for x many days and lost/gained x number of pounds, when you're measuring in days, not weeks or months. Your body's weight is constantly changing and not just because of fat loss or muscle gain- because of water retention or excretion, due in part to your hormones. Don't even count 0.1 lb gains! Weigh yourself once a week- then you can get an accurate picture of your weight over a longer period of time.
2. It is impossible to gain a pound (of fat) from eating 1800 calories a day.
3. Are you positive that you're actually eating that number of calories a day? I know I have a habit of estimating low, or not counting little snacks.
Your exercise level looks great, and the other girls have also given you some great advice. This thing is a marathon, not a sprint.
Amanda - I'm glad to hear that you weren't taking more than the dosage recommended - I'm sorry if I was a little reactionist - you scared me!
Are you exercising BTW? Obviously, that would help. And yes is right - it's impossible to gain a pound of fat eating at the rate you are. It's possible that you're body is dehydrated (water loss is a common side effect of a lot of drugs - especially diet pills). Why don't eat you at a level that comfortable for you (your normal one) and stay off the scale. You might gain a pound or two, but it's only going to be your body replenishing itself. After your body is back where it needs to be, you can start losing real weight again.
Hey Liz...congrats on the 50 lb thing! Thanks for the advice, I'm really just trying to get myself straightened up right now...shake the crazies out I tried out the various calorie levels for differing periods of time, some for 7 days, some for 4 days. I do not believe that upping one's calories will ever lead to weight loss...at least according to everything I've read as well as my own experience. I would love...I mean LOVE to take a week off to get all my ducks in a row, but I am afraid (no doubt rightly so) that the weight will not just creep back on, rater it will fly back on! I would have a really tough time dealing with this...in fact, I couldn't bear it! As of today I have upped my cardio to 60 minutes a day, an well as strength training 3x a week. I hope I can keep this up, I just need to stay focused.
yesitsmeagain - thanks for the reply! I wish I could take a break, but for now I have to step it up a bit with the exercise. I know I'm a bit neurotic on the scale, but I'm just so used to weighing in every morning that I couldn't imagine waiting a week between weigh-ins. As far as whether or not I am counting my calories correctly...I definately am, if anything I always err on the side of overestimating. So wish me luck.
All - Okay, I am going to try and find a way to post my food log somewhere on the internet...and then link it here so I can get some feedback as to what I need to improve upon. I am sooo hungry!
Oh, and thanks Jenicra. You were right about me overdosing by the way, but I was actually taking the dosage prescribed when the overdose took place. Phentermine builds up in your system...so if I had been taking it every other day I would have been fine. Sometimes doctors can be so dumb! Anyways, I would love to go up to a normal level of calories for a while, but I'm sooo afraid of the consequences, I just don't have the balls at this point! I'm going to find a way to post a link to a food diary of sorts, and hopefully everyone can give me some input!
Amanda, have you tried Fitday.com? You can post all your food and exercise in a public journal and then link it so other people can view it and make comments. Just an option...
Okay, so this is the best I can do as far as letting you gals know the basic facts. I'm hoping that y'all will notice a kind of pattern that I am not picking up on. The columns seem to run together, nomatter what I try to do I can't format them, so I hope that everyone can discern what I'm trying to get across. The first column is the date (ie, 07/01/05), the second column is the number of calories I consumed throughout the course of that day, and the third column is how much I weighed that morning upon waking up, after peeing, wearing nothing. At this point I'm desperate, let me know what other info could be of use!
It looks like you're doing amazingly well! Wow, 30 lbs in 3 months is PERFECT! I would just suggest eating around the same number of calories a day (1200?). You're probably just plateauing- seems to happen to most people around here once they've lost a certain amount. I think the general advice given is to keep doing what you're doing and the weight will eventually start coming off again- not the best advice but it's all we've got Good luck.
Did you/can you ask your doctor about what you're experiencing with the weight fluctuations? He might be able to shed some professional light on the sitch.
I know that you're afraid of gaining, but it's not like you're going to gain back 30 lbs. over the course of 3 days. As far eating less than 1200 calories a day - of course you're going to lose weight eating below that amount - how do you think anorexics/starving kids from Ethiopia/Survivor contestants get so emaciated? I think the point that most of us are trying to make is that the body will resist the weight loss as long as it can by trying to work more efficiently, making you weak and tired and sick. But is it really just about losing weight? I know all of want to look our best and feel our best, but if I had to choose, I'd rather be fat and healthy than skinny and sickly.
Maintaining for a week or two is pretty normal for many people even while totally on-plan - I think most of us have experienced that at least once. Not to even mention that weight can fluctuate up to 5 lbs. a day, especially for women. Besides, looking at your numbers, you've lost 3 lbs. in the past two weeks. 1.5 lbs./week is a very normal, healthy rate of weight loss. There are a lot of people on this board who have to work their @$$ off to lose 1.5 lbs. in a week! You can't expect to continue to lose at a rate of 3-5 lbs./week consistently, it just isn't reasonable.
Your posts are alarming to me - you seem so desparate to see the scale go down EVERY DAY that it seems like you're kinda pushing your health aside. Very Low Calorie Diets and diet pills aren't exactly the "healthy way" to lose weight, especially if you're not being carefully supervised by a doctor. I'm not trying to be judgemental, I just hope that you're considering your health here (and your sanity!) and not just your weight.
I guess I just hope that you'll CALM DOWN, keep on trucking, and I can almost guarantee you that if there isn't anything wrong with your body or health, you'll start losing again soon enough.
Hey there. I agree with Jenicra. I was thinking about you, Amandaholly, last night as I was going to sleep and I kinda got upset thinking about you asking if you should give up just because of this, that's so silly. I would kill (not really) to lose as fast and steady as you have, and although I know you don't mean to be, it's kind of insulting when you act as though it's not normal to plateau and have slow weight loss. I have been struggling on and off since I have started, and I really do work my butt off, count calories keep all kinds of logs on what I eat, how much I workout and so on. And people DO sometimes lose more (faster) after upping their calories a little bit. And you really can't tell how your body does at a certain calorie level fro 4 to 7 days. It took my hair dresser a whole year to lose as much as you have!!! Please don't complain about it, it's really discouraging to me and makes me feel like I am doing horribly. I understand your frustration, but it's not like you haven't been losing!!! I hope that you are feeling better!
Hey Amanda,
I think I have to agree with what some of the other folks have said. Don't beat yourself up about it. you are platueing. I platue all the time, almost after every 10 pounds. I want to give up but I know I need to keep going. You are losing really fast. the amount you lost in this short time, I have taken almost 3 times as long. so look at how far you have come and don't get upset about the slow down.
The low calorie thing is a hot subject but you just make you metabolism get slower by eating less. Ihave a slow metabolism but I try really hard to not let it slow down any more. I make sure I eat always above 1300 and I try and get as many caloried from whole foods, and unprocessed fruits and veggies. I could eat 1300 calories of processed food and be starving or 1300 calories of the good stuff and be filled to the gills. Have you visited a nutritionist? It might be a good idea. I also know there are certain foods for people with thyroid problems that help keep their body chemistry kind of in check.
Get rid of your scale! I am a scale addict. I weigh almost two times or more every day. I used to get so upset, and mad at my self for the slightest gain. But it could just be water or that what I ate was literally heavier than what I ate the day before, not that I gained a pond of fat. I still weigh a lot but I only record once a week. Other wise, I think I would go nuts.
Last but not least, diet pills are scarry, for a little while, I was taking adipex, I lost weight fast, I was never hungery, but I also wasn't sleeping, my whole body got out of wack and when I went off it, I gained back 20 pounds with out even noticing. I new people who had taken it and they were like OH its so great. But its really not. I still have sleeping problems, and I'm back on track losing the right way but it still scares me to think about that stuff. And to hear your story was really awful. Keep yourself healthy, even if it means not losing so fast. You want to be around for your self and for you son.
I hope you are feeling better.
Psychotic Episode...And Now Calorie Issues
