Diet Pills

Are there ant diet pills out there that will help in losing weight or control appetite. I eat very little from the time I get up in the morning until dinner time. I exercise 3-5 times a week, and at night is when I seem to eat the most but still make sure what I eat is somewhat healthy, no beef, pasta, white bread and I slowly seem to gain weight. Food has very little interest and if I can go from 7 am to 6 pm w/ <500 calories and at 6'2'' 226lbs I consume 1k calories at the most at night and over time I'm gaining and not losing. I could get by with a pill in the morning, 1 at lunch and 2 for dinner. Does anything exist or am I being foolish?

Sorry to say it but you are being foolish.

Someone has to tell you ... You are gaining as you are in starvation mode. You need to up your calories ASAP for your own health and if you want to have any chance at long-term and sustainable weight loss.

Calorie Count is all about healthy and sustainable weight loss. We do not support the use of diet pills which can destroy your body.

Undereating as you are doing is not only against posting guidelines but it is also extremely unhealthy. You are, in fact, endangering your life and longevity by your continual abuse of your body.

Undereating also puts you at risk for binge eating which can lead to a lifetime of yo-yo dieting which is not good for the mental health and confidence!

You should probably be consuming upwards of 2500 calories a day ... have you used the  FREE TOOLS on this site to figure out what you should be eating?

Also why are you only eating one meal a day? It isn't good for you or your digestive system. It is better to wake up, get your body moving by eating breakfast, stimulate your metabolism and go.

Here is some information from our Nutrition pages, this is just a start for what you need to take in:

• Calorie Count Nutrition Guide
• Jump-start Your Metabolism
• Mini-meals and Metabolism
• How Dieting And Age Affect Your Metabolism
• Understanding Metabolism

I am posting some info here from our Director of Nutrition Mary Hartley's ASK MARY section, I hope you will take it to heart ... will you increase your calories and forgo the pills idea?

Why eating only 1200 calories or undereating doesn't work

In the long run, you won’t lose weight faster by eating 1200 calories a day.  Under-eating deprives your body of essential nutrients and leads to muscle breakdown to provide energy.  With less muscle, you require fewer calories and you reach a weight low plateau more quickly.  Restrictive dieting also places you at risk for binge-eating which can lead to weigh gain and a life of yo-yo dieting.

Will I go into starvation mode if I eat 1000 – 1200 calories a day?

Your body will not selectively burn stored fat because your central nervous system needs glucose and you can’t make glucose from fat.  But protein can be converted to glucose, and so the body breaks down your muscles to provide it.  Ultimately, you lose lots of muscle along with fat, and that drives down your calorie requirements because muscle burns calories but fat does not.  You then maintain a higher weight on less food making weight gain inevitable.  For best results, eat the number of calories prescribed by the Calorie Target calculator in the Tools section.

I always feel so guilty when I eat more thinking I am going to gain even more thas backn I seem to be gaiing when I am eating less than 1500 cals. On the one hand I read burn more calories than you take in but  in my case the advice I always receive is eat more. All very confusing.

Yes, in the healthy individual you are generally supposed to keep a deficit to lose weight. But the deficit should never be more than 500-1000 calories tops below your total daily burn amount.

However, as I said above, if you continue to undereat your metabolism may slow down until you are burning less than a healthy individual without a slow metabolism would burn. Meaning you are in starvation mode.

A better term for "starvation mode" is adaptive thermogenesis.

Here's some more information from our nutritionist, Mary Hartley. Mary's articles can be found in the Ask Mary section of the Advice tab.

Can you tell us more about "starvation mode" and what it means to us as daily dieters?

ANSWER:

Observations by scientists and lay people show that the "starvation mode" exists, but there is no clear explanation for the phenomenon and it is difficult to measure in the lab. In scientific terms, “starvation mode” is called “adaptive thermogenesis". In relation to weight loss, it is the decrease in calories burned by an individual following a low calorie intake, that is beyond what could be predicted by individual’s age, gender, weight, and activity. In other words, the person is burning fewer calories than the calculations predict. The composition of diet, duration of dieting, the exercise output, and the individual’s muscle-to-fat ratio all affect the adaptation. Unfortunately, obese individuals may be more prone to adaptive thermogenesis.

I am not a doctor but that is what appears to be happening with you. However there could be other reasons for why you are not losing weight. Therefore, I do suggest you consult your general practitioner for more information.

However, I know one thing for sure and that is you are not eating enough for a man who is 6'2" and 226 lbs.

Have you used the free tools on the site to figure out how many calories you should be eating??

I did your stats (very vaguely as I don't know your age) in the burn meter and you burn about 2500 calories a day - without logging in your exercise. So, subtract 750 from that (in between 500 - 1000) and you get 1750. You can eat 1750 calories a day and definitely lose weight.

So, you are eating between 1000 - 1500 calories a day? Just by being alive you probably burn at least 1500, then add a couple hundred on to that for normal everyday activities like walking, reading, typing, brushing your teeth, driving, laundry, washing dishes, etc. Then add a couple hundred more onto that if you're exercising.

Besides that - because you eat the majority of your calories at night, your metabolism is probably out of whack.

This is what I do and I've been successful in weight loss so far.

I eat about 700-900 calories by dinner time. But not in one sitting. Breakfast is about 200, morning snack (10:30am) is about 50 - 100, lunch is about 200 - 400, and afternoon snack (2pm) is about 50 - 100. 

Then, if I don't exercise that day I still have about 400 calories left for dinner. If I do exercise (which I normally do everyday) I have about 600 calories left for dinner - that's a good sized meal plus dessert!

Your stats are much higher then mine (Im a 25 yr old female, 172lbs, 5'2) - so if that's what I eat in a day, you can a decent amount more then that and still be successful

You are making yourself sick and actually hindering your weight loss and damaging your metabolism. You need clean/balanced eating. No "diet" and not diet pills. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and a snack if you are hungry. Eat the right foods in the right amounts. Exercise and you will loose weight. There is no magic pill or secret answer to weight loss, no diet that will magically melt the fat off. It is about willpower, commitment, lifestyle change and determination.

Drink plenty of water and eat right.

Thanks for the input, I would imagine I burn quite a few calories as I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, run 3-7.5 miles, 3 -4 times a week and practice martials arts on top of that. I guess I'm just not eating enough and that explains why as time goes on I have less and less energy. I just started inputing all my info and food items into CC and it does appear that I should be eating more, just not what I expected by going on a diet. Again thanks for the info and my plan is to lose 20 lbs. during the winter and at least I now have an idea what needs to be done.

"diets" don't work. You may loose weight initially but if it is not something you can stick with for the rest of your life why bother? Most of the time people end up gaining it all back plus some when going on a "diet" instead change your diet. Eat clean/balanced. Complex carbs whole grain bread, pasta, rice and so on, lean meats and protein, good fats, low-fat dairy. Drink plenty of water and exercise 4-6 days a week. Strength train/lift 3 days a week. Muscle burns more calories than fat so the more muscle you have the more calories you burn just being alive. Don't overdo the cardio. Look into HIIT. You can cut your cardio time way down and get twice the benefit you would from steady state cardio. But you have to eat and have to eat right. Don't fall for the diet, low-fat, sugar free diet food crap. Eat real whole foods.