What Type of Diet Can You Use Being on Phentermine?

What Type of Diet Can You Use Being on Phentermine?
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A medication used to initiate weight loss, Phentermine is a prescription drug used as an appetite suppressant to aid you to your weight loss goals. It works by stimulating the hypothalamus and affecting neurotransmitters responsible for hunger. Although it serves as an effective weight loss method, the drug requires a healthy diet and exercise regimen in order to continue weight loss.

The Exchange Plan

A balanced system effective in managing weight, the exchange plan follows the MyPyramid plan, which breaks down food into six categories. The consumption of food from each category depends on your body weight, height and the amount of energy expenditure. Depending on your daily calorie requirements, an exchange of starch, dairy, fruits, protein and fats is required. While consumption from each category provides a variety of meal choices, portion control helps in weight loss while you're on the medication.

The Meal Replacement Plan

Meal replacement products such as powdered mixes, shakes, bars and prepackaged meals present an easy alternative to conventional meals. These products let you manage your diet by controlling the level of fat and carbohydrates while limiting portion size. They offer balanced nutrition providing a mix of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. However, you should limit the use of this plan to replace only one or two meals a day while eating a balanced meal during the day.

Decreasing Fats

One of the more important factors of weight loss depends on your fat intake. According to the Adipex-P Prescription Plus Lifestyle Program, decreasing your total fat intake to 30 percent helps in weight loss. Choosing foods lower in saturated fat while substituting polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oils in cooking will aid you to lose weight.

The Importance of Exercise

An essential to any weight loss regimen, exercise burns fat while building lean body mass. The Pennington Nutrition Series suggests an exercise program of 150 to 200 minutes of moderate level activity per week along with an effective diet plan in order to achieve weight loss while taking Phentermine.

Changing Your Lifestyle

As with any weight loss medication, Phentermine requires a lifestyle change in order to successfully reach weight goals. The short-term drug initiates weight loss only to aid you to your goals, but it requires a commitment to change your approach to eating and physical activity. Increasing awareness of eating patterns by reducing mental or physical signals to unhealthy eating along with keeping records of food intake and physical activity reduces your chances of weight gain.

References

Article reviewed by Matt Olberding Last updated on: Jun 14, 2011

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