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Many people who suffer from obesity and who want to be able to use prescription weight loss drugs to help them to lose the excess weight don’t realize what that usage actually looks like. For instance, many people don’t know that there is a required break that must occur after every few weeks of use with several weight loss medications.
For instance, when using Phentermine (Adipex), the drug becomes gradually less effective as the user continues to take it. The body develops a tolerance to it, decreasing its effectiveness. Boosting the dosage is typically out of the question as it only raises the risk of severe and dangerous side effects as well as addiction and associated withdrawal symptoms.
Even if a doctor recommends that you continue using these medications for several months at a time, breaks every few weeks will be mandatory in order to keep up the effectiveness of the benefits while avoiding the potentially risky and rather unpleasant drawbacks.
The break generally consists of at least one week – if not more – without taking the drug. If you have been taking it for several weeks in a row, your doctor might recommend a schedule that weans you off the drug instead of quitting “cold turkey.” That way, if there is a chance that you may already have built an addiction, it will reduce the risk and strength of any withdrawal symptoms that could occur. In those cases, the breaks may be longer in order to give your body time to return to its regular functioning without the medication in your system.
That said, just because you’re not on the prescription diet medication anymore because you’re taking a mandatory break, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be continuing to keep up the good habits you’ve been instructed to follow. After all, while you were taking Adipex, for example, your doctor will have given you more instructions than simply to swallow the pills at the right time. You likely will also have been directed to start following a certain eating strategy that likely involves calorie reduction. Moreover, you have also likely been advised to increase your activity level to a fitness appropriate degree.
These healthy lifestyle habits must be continued regardless of whether you’re still taking the Phentermine. After all, they’re habits you’re supposed to be building for the rest of your life. They are what will help you to prevent the return of the weight once you’ve lost it.
Still, the whole point to taking the prescription diet drugs is to make it easier for you to keep up those habits. Phentermine and Adipex, for example, are stimulant drugs that help to keep your energy levels high while your appetite is suppressed and your metabolism gets a shot in the arm. Using it means that you won’t feel as likely to overeat because you won’t be as hungry. It also means you will burn fat more quickly during your workouts, and you’ll be able to keep up your energy levels to eat right and exercise in the first place.
Trying to keep up those healthy habits during breaks from the medication is therefore more challenging than when you have the assistance of the drugs in your bloodstream. After all, you still need to do your workouts and eat calorie reduced meals, but without the reduced appetite and increased energy.
Is your weight loss doomed to fail during those mandatory breaks from the medication? Not at all! There are some great strategies that you can put into place to keep up your positive efforts and continue building your habits and seeing the progress you need to achieve a healthier body.
Consider the following techniques to help keep you on track:
• Plan your meals and snacks – Don’t wait until you’re hungry to make food decisions. If you do that, you’re only setting yourself up for failure. Your hunger has significant powers to cut into your motivation and convince you to eat all the wrong foods – and a lot of them. Instead, when you know you’re going to be off your diet prescription for a week, plan every meal and head to the supermarket so you have all the ingredients you’ll need to make them. It may seem like a lot of work, but it’s worth it. In fact, you might find that it makes your life so much easier overall that you’ll pick up the habit for most days of most weeks, not just when you’re off Adipex.
• Prep your meals – Do the prep work for your meals in advance. For instance, while you’re waiting for your dinner to cook do the prep for the dinner you have on your schedule for the next day. Make sure that you’ve made enough dinner that you can have the leftovers for lunch the next day. That will make sure most of the work is done ahead of time, and you’ll be less likely to feel too tired to make what you’d planned.
• Consider a non-prescription diet pill instead – A pill like FENFAST 375 has a formula full of ingredients that have each been clinically tested. This option can serve as an Phentermine alternative. It offers a source of energy and diet support while you’re not taking a prescription drug to help you to lose weight.
