Hello fellow peoples,
I would just like to share my journey on Duromine 40 mg/day so far.
Setting the Scene Starting weight: 128.5 kg
Current weight-ins:
- As of 13/09/17 - 115.2 kg
- As of 19/09/17 - 114.2 kg
- As of 13/10/17 - 112.9 kg
- As of 28/10/17 - 111.9 kg
Height: 175cm
Physique: Broad & Stocky
Time elapsed since starting: 7 weeks
1st week's initial loss: 4.5 kg
BMI (start): 41.8
BMI (As of 13/09/17): 37.6
BMI (As of 19/09/17): 37.3
BMI (As of 13/10/17): 36.87
BMI (As of 13/10/17): 36.2
(NOTE: BMI is such a crappy tool as it's inaccurate to actual body fat % since the fat/muscle density ratio is so far off. It's outdated and it isn't even used for its intended purpose that it was designed for)
Side Effects - Dry mouth - Really bad first couple of days, minor for the rest. (Almost use to it now).
- Insomnia - Had it to begin with so no change (oh the joys of long, always last minute changing in shiftwork).
- Slightly lowered libido (Still male so it'll never be all gone).
- Bladder - Used to urinate frequently and forcefully pre-meds, now only a couple times daily and seems to take ages to only piss a little.
- Feelings of being Hyper - uncommon occasions and only when with friends.
- Hunger - Some days it works brilliantly and never hungry, others as if it does nothing (70%ish of time no hunger)
- EDIT: (19/09/17): 'Parageusia' - Strong metallic taste coming from the right-most teeth. Getting checking by dentist. EDIT: Vanished after two weeks
The journey thus far... TL;DR Big nerd with poor health education upbringing PLUS injury limiting strenuous exercise = fat guy in a bad headspace. Changed career and education to Health, active self-management of conditions, and a Doctor that believes me and shows genuine concern led me to making better choices.
I weigh myself the same way each morning; wake up, bathroom to void, no clothes weighing before any intake of foods or water, record results, take tablet. My weightloss is going down like stairs; big drop that plateaus for a day or two then drops again.
Only exception was a single cheatday. Had bad news that day and I gained 2 Kg back as things kept going wrong but lost it all again within a couple days and now back on track. I've set myself until end of Dec to reach my first goal and I'm just over 1/3 of the way there already. I track my loss through a program that graphs the loss and it predicts that If I maintain my rate of loss, I'll reach my goal 1.5 months early.
Also I bought an exercise bike (cant run due to injury) that I use 30 mins daily right after before lunch and my classes.
Meal plan
BFast - Either 2 x wholegrain toast with Vegemite (I'm Australian. Great source of nutrients and doesn't taste bad IF SPREAD PROPERLY! Hahaha).
- OR Banana OR if hungry, cereal (sugar-free muesli) and half as much Milk as I used to pre-Meds.
Lunch - Either a Banana/apple.
- OR a very small handful (big meaty man hands) of mixed nuts and dried fruits diced very tinely.
- OR 2 x tablespoons of vanilla Yoghurt (not often as still has high sugars).
- OR on odd occasions I might swap lunch out with a VLCD shake satchel left over from last fad diet attempts.
Dinner - Usually always the Australian staples: Spaghetti Bolognese only now instead of pasta (high carbs) I swap it with Cucumber or Zuchini thats been sliced into thin strips and pan fried (very little oil) and amount no more than half what I'd used to pre-meds.
- OR meat (snags/chicken breast no crumbing), 3 x Veg (peas, beans, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, whatever tickles the fancy on the day) and 2 x tablespoons of mashed potato (easy on butter/milk too as high in starch). Only 1 extra snag if really hungry.
- OR nothing depending on mood or day's events.
Snacks None. Replaced with extra water.
Cheatdays Once or twice a month and even then, no large meals, fries, or icecreams (my #1 weakness).
Background I've always been a big guy for as long as I can remember. I'm a giant nerd (gotta fit the stereotype ya know), never really got into sports (though I enjoyed camping & hiking), didn't have much of a social life (like nearly at all), was very sedentary (still enjoy being so when I have the time for it), and while my upbringing was much better than other person's I've met, it was no 'silver spoon' upbringing. The promotion of healthy lifestyle choices wasn't really a thing in our household.
I'm 26 years old now and what's made my health even worse was when I suffered an injury on the job years back when dealing with manual use of machinery. My lifestyle choices just seemed spiral downwards after that. It wasn't until I started to reach some pretty dark headspaces that I decided to turn things around.
I hopped industries going from cleaning other people's s**t, to security (1st hand that bad people can be incredibly vile and cruel), and I saw myself slowly becoming the type of person I swore I'd never be like going in.
After making the choice to change industries again, I decided on a second university degree with the Health industry, specifically Paramedicine & Pre-Hospital. Oh boy, what a change and steep learning curve. Learning the anatomy and physiology has helped my understanding and management of my injury.
With a new promising career to build, a diet plan, and exercise bike, and new, healthy & supportive friends, I'm finally seeing positive progress in terms of weight as well as body shape (starting to shrink the big belly bulge and NO MORE THUNDERTHIGHS!). I finally feel alive again. Now to maintain the progress.
Jimmys
sw 83kgs current weight 72 kg !!
