6 Reasons You’re Not Losing Fat On Phentermine

To get the body you want from phentermine, you need to focus on losing fat. While cutting calories can help you to lose weight without building lean muscle and, in turn, increasing your metabolism, you could end up right back where you started once you stop taking phentermine and start eating more. So, if you’re trying to cut down your body fat percentage but it’s not going to plan, then these tips should help you to work out why you’re not losing fat on phentermine.

1. You’re Not Getting The Right Amount of Protein

Many Americans don’t get enough protein in their diets, instead loading up on convenience foods full of trans fat, salt and sugar. Lean protein, in the form of foods like chicken, fish, yogurt and nuts, helps to keep you feeling full and helps you to build muscle, meaning a faster metabolism and more fat burn. So, if you know that you don’t eat much lean protein, this could be the key to losing more fat on phentermine. However, thanks to many of the fad diets made popular over the last few years, people now think that carbs = bad and protein = good. Based on this, many people will cut out healthy carbs such as whole grain pasta, legumes, and even vegetables and load up on protein. But, you can have too much of a ‘good’ thing; intentions to eat healthily stop being healthy if we fail to eat these foods in moderation. The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) states that individuals over 19 should eat 0.36g of protein per lb of body weight. If you are training hard with weights then more than this is advisable. However, if you eat more protein than your body requires, your liver cannot cope with this excess and simply converts most of these calories to sugar and then fat. So, while it’s a good idea to incorporate more protein into your diet, you should stop chugging on those protein shakes in the hope that they will magically burn away the calories and instead eat a varied diet, including a range of healthy sources of protein.

2. You’re Not Building Muscle

If you’re not building muscle with strength training then you need to start! And if you are incorporating weight-bearing exercises into your phentermine workout plan but you’re still not losing fat then maybe you need to up your weights. As we explain here, women lack the testosterone to get bulky, but in order to build muscle and increase fat burn, you need to lift weights that challenge you. Beginners need to start slowly so as to avoid injury, but as you get used to the weights you have to push harder – strength training is not supposed to be easy, which is why it’s necessary to have a day’s break between strength training workouts. Furthermore, your weights should vary depending on which muscles you’re exercising – for example, you should be lifting more when doing deadlifts and squats than when you’re working your biceps and triceps. The ideal weight for each exercise should be one that you can lift without problems for the first few reps, but after around 13 or 14, you should be desperate for a short rest before you can do another 15 reps.

3. You’re Too Stressed

Many people mistakenly think that a stress-packed life can help with weight loss, when it fact, being stressed is a surefire way to stop you from losing fat. Stress is an enemy to weight loss success as it increases our cortisol levels, which then causes us to gain fat, as this hormone breaks down lean muscle (the type of tissue that helps burn calories more efficiently) and holds onto fat stores, particularly around your stomach. So, even if you do everything right when it comes to diet and exercise, excessive stress can keep you from achieving your goals to lose that muffin top. So, for the good of your health and your weight loss efforts, try to relax a little by using these stress-management techniques.

4. You’re Doing Too Much Low-Intensity Cardio

Walking is fine to get you started, especially if you’re new to exercising, but you actually get much more for your exercising buck if you go harder for short periods than you would with a long walk or a two-hour slow jog on the treadmill. So, once you feel ready, try to add short bursts (around 30 seconds) of a faster jog or sprint, then slow it down to a slower jog for a minute, and then pick up the pace again. You could also try this on an elliptical machine or stationary bike, or a combination of any of these, but around 30-45 minutes or less is sufficient for a workout – when it comes to exercise, quality is always better than quantity. Interval training like this gives your body the wake-up call it needs to boost your metabolism and get you losing fat, while also saving you from those dull two-hour workouts.

5. You Eat Too Many ‘Diet’ Foods

Packaged foods want you to buy them, which means that if you’re on a diet, they say they are too. But what do food labels like ‘low fat’ and ‘diet’ really mean? Low fat can simply mean that the product contains less fat than the standard version of that particular product and, therefore, may not be low in fat at all. And we all know that diet soda is just as bad for us as regular soda, so remember to be suspicious of any foods that shout out how good they are for you. Many studies have shown that when we think a food is good for us, we tend to overeat it, which means that diet foods can have the opposite effect and actually lead to weight gain, because overeating low-sugar reduced-fat diet foods is still overeating, and often these foods contain fewer nutrients as they are so overly processed. What’s more, lower-fat versions of foods like peanut butter and yogurt notoriously contain more sugar to make up for the fat that has been taken away. Unused sugar then gets converted to fat by the body, so although your food may have lost fat, you won’t get the same result by eating it. Try to eat fewer packaged foods in general and remember to eat these fat-burning foods for the best results.

6. You’re Not Sleeping Enough

You’re factoring in your weight training, cardio, and healthy eating, but are you factoring in enough sleep? Like stress, a lack of sleep raises cortisol levels, meaning that weight loss is much harder as your body is working against you to try and keep hold of your body fat, thinking that there are lean times ahead. Sleep deprivation also increases your insulin sensitivity and causes an imbalance in the hormones that control hunger and satiety, sending you hunting for high-fat, high-calorie foods and making it difficult for you to know when you’re full. Unfortunately, a key problem for those taking phentermine is that insomnia is one of the most common phentermine side effects. To help you switch off after a busy day, you should try to disconnect as much as possible in the hours before bedtime with reduced use of smartphones, computers, and televisions and try reading or taking a hot bath instead. Lastly, avoid caffeine by refraining from drinking coffee, tea, and soda in the hours before you go to bed, and you should be losing weight while you sleep before you know it!

—————

Are you having trouble losing fat on phentermine? Or do you have any fat-fighting tips of your own? Let us know by commenting below!