weightloss medication

October 13, 2013 12:03 PM

hi forum, I'm checking to see if any of you have any experience using Belviq or other weight loss medication. I'm overweight, and while I do try to get exercise, it seems it's not enough to make much of a dent, and now I'm having knee and back problems when I try to job (for the above mentioned exercise). Someone recommended that I look at Belviq or other weight loss medication. Do any of you have any experience with this or similar medication? kind regards, -matt
posted by earthwalker7 to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

Running is very hard on your body, especially if you are overweight. Try starting very slowly (30 seconds a day), or other exercises like walking or cycling. Anything that gets you moving is a good thing; if it hurts to run, don't run.
posted by jrockway at 12:39 PM on October 13, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: thx. yes, I walk a lot (1 hr per day) and I've tried to jog less. But my weight isn't dropping.
It's not getting worse, and I'm not insanely heavy so a bit of jogging is possible, but i'm just sort of stuck at this, a far too heavy weight for my frame, and I need to look to other things to kick off the weight.

That said, I probably could do better diet wise.

***Does anyone know how to hack one's diet?
I'm terrible at cooking and am really busy looking for a job, but on the flip side I am ok with monotonous food.
So what are good, quick, filling meals I can make?
-Keep baby carrots or carrot sticks on hand seems like a good solution.
-Every weekend I boil eggs so I can have them during the week before I head out.
-keeping cans of tuna fish and chicken in water
-avoid juices and white bread
-what else can I eat?
posted by earthwalker7 at 1:40 PM on October 13, 2013

If you can afford it there are several places that will deliver calorie controlled, nutritious microwave meals directly to you so all you have to do is reheat them. I think most do breakfast, lunch, dinner plus 1 or 2 snacks.

You mention Belviq which is an appetite suppressant, which is fine if your overeating is caused by excessive appetite. If you're one of those people that eats everything on their plate (like many of us were taught to do growing up) and eats the same sort of meals every day regardless of how hungry you are then I suspect it would have minimal impact. Its not magic, if you continue to eat the same amount, you wont lose weight. Have you tried following a calorie controlled diet?

My suggestion would be to first identify your dietary problem areas and take it from there. There is no one-size fits all solution to weight loss. You need to analyse where you personally are going wrong. (you mention avoiding juices but what about other drinks? eg. Soda, alcohol, fancy "coffee"). For some people the problem is simply portion control - they eat healthy, nutritious meals but the portion sizes are excessive, some people eat normal size portions but made up of very calorie dense foods, some people mindlessly graze all day, some people eat normally most of the time then have emotional eating binges, some people have undiagnosed medical conditions...etc if you're committed to finding a solution to your weight problem, you need to first identify the cause.

If you're already walking 1 hour per day then lack of exercise isn't really your problem.
posted by missmagenta at 2:46 PM on October 13, 2013 [4 favorites]

I'd turn to medication only as a last resort... because you likely don't need it.

Consider more education and research first - which is just what you're doing here!

The concept of weightloss is actually pretty simple - calories consumed vs calories burned in a day. Every day. Eating healthier is GREAT - but weightloss is still just a matter of calories.

Buy a FitBit. Start tracking your food intake and calories burned. FitBit (and any other myriad of device or free websites) will help you track everything and help you set goals - to the point of making it fun (almost... heh).

Instead of running you can bike, swim, power-walk, yoga... the list goes on and on!

The other key to weightloss is... consistency. You have to put in the time on a regular basis. Not just once or twice a week. More like EVERY day or at least five days a week.

It sounds cheesy, but - Just Do It. You can!
posted by matty at 2:56 PM on October 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

(I am not a nutritionist or physical activity trainer, I recommend consulting a nutritionist, physical activity trainer or your primary care physician)

I like using something like the "my fitness pal" app where you can track what you're eating and how many calories you are taking in. When I started taking care of my body(not with a weight loss goal, just being healthy about my food intake) I was simply not aware of how many calories were in certain stuff. (The worst was realizing a chocolate shake I regularly ate had 1,000! calories in it!) Also record, not just weight, but you measurements. If you are replacing fat with muscle (which wieghs more) you might see results in slimmer measurements rather than weight loss. Go easy slow and careful with weight loss. Dramatic weight loss (more than 1 or 2 lbs a week) is hard on your body and generally not sustainable.

Protien will help fill you up for longer. Nuts are a good, filling snack.
My go to meal that is fast and filling is: browned ground beef, pasta (shells, rotini or penne) and spaghetti sauce. Make a batch and portion it out into single serving size tupperware, then enjoy throughout the week.

Personally I am a fan of correctly portioned full fat dariy options rather than diet milk/yogurt/cheese/butter. I find they taste better and are far more filling.
posted by HMSSM at 2:59 PM on October 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

Here's my setup:

- FitBit Flex (just pre-ordered a 'Force' - yay!)
- Endomondo app installed on my iPhone (it syncs with FitBit)
- Bluetooth heart rate monitor from Wahoo Blue. (it pairs with Endomondo)
- Bluetooth headphones for music while exercising (paired with iPhone)
- generic armband for my iPhone

I record ALL food and fluid intake on my fitbit app. It shows me how many more calories I can take in each day and still reach my goal of losing x pounds by date x.

Every exercise I do is recorded by Endomondo, which uploads to my fitbit account. It's very satisfying to complete an exercise and watch my fitbit daily calorie allowance go up.

I know this doesn't answer your specific question about medication, but I hope you'll just see it as food for thought. (pardon the pun...)
posted by matty at 3:01 PM on October 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

One thing that losing over 150 pounds over the last two years has taught me, it's that losing weight is 90% food, 10% exercise. So it doesn't surprise me that exercising hasn't gotten you where you want to go. Don't get me wrong, exercise is vital to overall good health, but not that much of a game changer when it comes too weight loss if you aren't eating right.

You should consider using a food tracking app/website like MyFitnessPal.com or others. That and using a food scale to make sure my portions were accurate were huge parts of my success.

If medication were the answer, the makers of those drugs would have won a Nobel prize for solving the obesity pandemic. Unfortunately, it all comes down to eating right.
posted by cecic at 3:10 PM on October 13, 2013 [13 favorites]

Yeah, start tracking your food and your calories. Unless you're doing five hours of sports every day, it is very hard to exercise yourself thin. Get a food scale and start weighing your food, to learn portion sizes and portion control. I'd start with simple calorie tracking of what you're eating anyway. Once you've mastered that, you can start thinking about improving the quality and nutrition of your food. There are a lot of resources and books about nutrition and you can visit a nutritionist to get suggestions for a diet, but first, get an idea of how many calories you're eating and how it affects your weight.

If jogging hurts your knees, don't do it until you're lighter and stronger. It's been said running is a sport for people who are already in shape. Walking an hour every day is great! You can do some strength training, until you're light and strong enough to run. You can start with body weight exercises such as push ups, squats, pull ups, etc before or after your walk. Biking and swimming are great options for an aerobic workout.
posted by sockpuppetdirect at 3:49 PM on October 13, 2013

I lost 40lbs (~25% of my starting body mass) with Qsymia. The weight loss was very steady, about 1.5-2lbs per week for the entire time I was on it. The appetite suppressant nature of the drug enabled me to eat much less than I had been. I've been off of it for about 3 months without significant weight gain, so I think it was reasonably effective at helping me to learn better eating habits (portion control and avoiding snacking). The rapid progress also helped me to start and continue an exercise routine. The progress made it easier to stick with it.

Now, my main problem was psychological. I didn't have a hormonal issue or other physiological issue, so that may explain my significantly better than average results.
posted by Sockenpuppe at 6:30 PM on October 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

how to hack one's diet?

Become a label reader! Avoid high fructose corn syrup. It's in a lot of things where an alternative is available if you just start reading labels (e.g., for a time the only non-HFCS BBQ sauce available at my store was the Safeway Original. Weird!). Ketchup, salsa, salad dressings, ice cream, yogurt, bread, crackers. Options DO exist without HFCS for nearly everything and with no sacrifice to flavor.

Every weekend I boil eggs so I can have them during the week before I head out.

Well done. If you can do this, then take it a step further and prep a bunch of fresh veggies ahead of time too. Carrot and celery sticks, broccoli and cauliflower, bell peppers, jicama, you name it. Then you'll have them for dipping...in hummus, or in dips you make from nonfat plain yogurt. Skip the mayo, always.

You could do something similar with chicken, cooking some boneless skinless breasts ahead of time. Great idea to prep ahead for your week!

Avoid artificial sweeteners. So no diet sodas, for instance. Water is your best bet, and nice with lemon slices. It can be very filling too, if you develop the habit of first drinking water when you have hunger pangs. Lemon seltzer water is a bubbly alternative.

If you are one to get serious to the extreme because that approach just works for you, then consider cutting out meat in varying degrees. Cut out red meat. Consider being a pescetarian. Or a vegetarian. Or just limit yourself to only two days a week of animal protein. The most dramatic and consistent weight loss I've seen has always involved some aspect of this, of course paired with whole foods and generally healthy intake.

And an hour of walking every day? Good on ya! Remember to stretch well; your muscles will thank you and you'll be less prone to injury. Good luck in your explorations!
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 2:43 AM on October 14, 2013

Two things: First try a vegan diet. It's been shown to help with weightless. See this for some interesting info: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/meat-and-weight-gain-in-the-panacea-study/

Second, I concur that calorie intake is more important than exercise. See this for more info: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/diet-or-exercise-whats-more-important-for-weight-loss/
posted by reddot at 6:06 AM on October 14, 2013

as for the hacking your diet thing, you must count your calories. Get a kitchen scale (do not measure by volume or eyeball it, both are going to be inaccurate). Sign up with a place like myfitnesspal to track your meals.

The things I would recommend cutting out are: soda, juice, bread, rice, sugar, and almost all foods labeled "low fat" or "diet". I wrap burgers and sandwiches in lettuce instead, it's really just as filling and eliminates a significant amount of calories. Instead of rice or potatoes with dinner, I have extra vegetables. Frozen veggies are great to keep on hand, because you can cook them quick in the microwave (I finish them in a pan with some olive oil and garlic for flavor), and they take almost no time.

Low-fat foods often have more sugar, and don't offer much in the way of calorie savings. Personally, I avoid them. Plus, I'd rather eat a smaller amount of delicious full-fat cheese than a larger portion of tasteless, unsatisfying low-fat cheese.

-what else can I eat?
You can really eat anything you want and lose weight, as long as you're eating less calories than you take in. I find it easier to lose weight avoiding the foods I mentioned above. And if you get tired of hardboiled eggs, you can graduate to egg muffins!

It's very difficult to exercise yourself thin, your diet should be the first place you start.
posted by inertia at 8:53 AM on October 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

I tried taking a weight loss drug briefly - I forget what it's called but it's basically an upper and it made me really speedy/shay so I stopped taking it.

You can't really "hack" your diet, you need to pick a plan and stick with it. I lost 50 lbs on Weight Watchers and that really worked for me. Psychologically I like counting points better than calories, and the program helps you make better food choices to satisfy yourself.
posted by radioamy at 9:39 AM on October 14, 2013

I too am lazy and don't like cooking much. I know it's not the best thing for me, but what works (30 lbs so far) for me is bringing frozen meals to work. If I bring food from home, I don't want to eat it again when I get home and I go out to eat for dinner. If I don't bring food, I go out to eat for lunch.
So I bring low carbohydrate (less than 40g) frozen meals to work.
Nthing everyone who says you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Exercising is good for firming up what weight loss will make flabby (you don't want to look like Clem from Buffy).
posted by domo at 11:02 AM on October 14, 2013

Keep baby carrots or carrot sticks on hand seems like a good solution.

Make your own carrot snacks, baby carrots come from a variety bred to contain more sugar.
posted by yohko at 7:29 PM on October 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

I tried taking a weight loss drug briefly - I forget what it's called but it's basically an upper and it made me really speedy/shay so I stopped taking it.

Belviq is not "basically an upper." People have been ingesting all kinds of crap supplements with ephedra (before it was banned) and tons of caffeine for years, so this is probably what radioamy was referring to, but both Belviq and Qsymia have different mechanisms and are actual FDA-approved drugs (the first in a long, long time), not barely-regulated supplements.

Belviq worked wonders for many folks in the clinical trials, but the effects on the population as a whole were very small (3-3.7% greater weight loss than placebo). You might be lucky to be one of the good responders, but it's unlikely it will be a wonder pill that will completely solve your issue. It may work better combined with phentermine like Qsymia (an anti-seizure medicine plus phentermine) through an off-label prescription, but that hasn't been tested in the clinic as of yet. Anyway, both drugs may help you lose weight, but you'd still want to make every effort to improve your diet as much as possible and continue exercising while taking either of them.

*Full Disclosure: I worked for Arena for years, but not on Belviq and I don't work there anymore. I do still own some ARNA shares, however.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 2:47 PM on October 15, 2013