Support NeoGAF

[SlimySnake]

I’m just wondering how ”bad” can these cravings be? Like I mentioned earlier, I have been on a calorie deficit for the better part of a year — nothing extreme, but I’m probably eating 200 calories less a day than would be required to maintain my current (unoptimal) weight.

It’s not exactly pleasant. If left to my own devices and I just ate whatever the fuck I wanted, i could easily eat 3000-4000 calories a day without breaking a sweat. And then I would weigh like 250 pounds. Instead, since I’m ”adult supervising” myself, I’ll end up weighing 150 pounds in a couple of months. It’s not a question of ”if”, it will inexorably happen as a result of my choices and actions.

It’s fucking normal to crave things. I constantly fantasize about hamburgers, pizza, milkshakes, chocolate sundaes, BBQ ribs, etc. etc. Sometimes I’ll go a full day without eating just to be able to eat a 2000 kcal McDonald’s meal and still stay within my calorie budget. So, yeah, I DO give in to my cravings from time to time, but I’m fucking smart about it. The Master of my Domain.

you just never feel full. Imagine you just had a 2000 calorie mcdonalds meal and literally 15 minutes later, you are craving something sweet. You can work past it, but then it returns a couple of hours later. Now its not just sweet tooth, but your body is tired and its begging you for food. your stomach is growling. you are lethargic and need a boost. you can do what doctors tell you and drink water but its not enough. you want something salty. so you have a snack. Some lays chips. thats 150 calories AND it didnt fill you up and now your insulin is telling you to eat sugar again.

And lets say that even if you didnt give in and just waited for dinner. The dinner that you had is converted into sugar which is then stored as fat because your insulin is all fucked up and works backwards. Good job staying away from milkshakes and chocolate sundaes but it didnt matter because your rice, bread and pasta has turned into sugar/glucose anyway.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I'm no health expert, but all I know is if I eat any of these foods, I get full fast and they probably arent a lot of calories. Forget the diet pills.

- Apples
- Oranges
- Nuts
- Yogurt

Eat a couple apples or oranges, or small yogurt cups and I'm practically as full as eating a big plate of food. Nuts is hard too. Eat a small bowl of mixed nuts and done.

 

[lachesis]

Coffee with empty stomach isn't good... I've done it for years and it left me with chronic ulcer.
Take some food first and drink coffee. It's torturous for me though - as I love coffee. I used to drink 2shot Americano in the AM, and maybe another 2shot Americano in the afternoon, depending on how I was feeling - but have cut down to maybe 1 shot Americano in 3-4 days.

Losing fat is good and all, but also take care of your gut health too!

 

[jason10mm]

Coffee with empty stomach isn't good... I've done it for years and it left me with chronic ulcer.
Take some food first and drink coffee. It's torturous for me though - as I love coffee. I used to drink 2shot Americano in the AM, and maybe another 2shot Americano in the afternoon, depending on how I was feeling - but have cut down to maybe 1 shot Americano in 3-4 days.

Losing fat is good and all, but also take care of your gut health too!

I do bulletproof coffee if I'm not eating a breakfast, a pat of grass fed butter and scoop of coconut oil. Keeps me going till, or past, lunchtime.

Anyone do the Ryze mushroom coffee thing? I've somehow tripped ads for it all over, now I'm curious.

 

[E-Cat]

you just never feel full. Imagine you just had a 2000 calorie mcdonalds meal and literally 15 minutes later, you are craving something sweet. You can work past it, but then it returns a couple of hours later. Now its not just sweet tooth, but your body is tired and its begging you for food. your stomach is growling. you are lethargic and need a boost. you can do what doctors tell you and drink water but its not enough. you want something salty. so you have a snack. Some lays chips. thats 150 calories AND it didnt fill you up and now your insulin is telling you to eat sugar again.

And lets say that even if you didnt give in and just waited for dinner. The dinner that you had is converted into sugar which is then stored as fat because your insulin is all fucked up and works backwards. Good job staying away from milkshakes and chocolate sundaes but it didnt matter because your rice, bread and pasta has turned into sugar/glucose anyway.

I generally find that the more I eat, the worse the cravings get and the more dizzy and lethargic I feel.

Just try this: eat nothing for two days. Literally nothing (it won’t kill you! But drink LOTS of mineral water). You’ll find, especially on the second day, that it’s a lot less unpleasant than the insulin spike followed by a sugar low an hour after a monster meal.

You’ll be ”slow” and ”low-energy”, for sure, but your mind will feel clear and uncluttered. It’s worth it just for the experiment to see how your body responds, and it’s not as bad as you think.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Read up on diabetes and pre-diabetes. Also some research papers on how addiction affects people differently. Food addiction is a real thing because cravings are very real. Apparently sugar is just as addictive as cocaine.

In the end, it's all about self control, but when your body is craving food almost immediately after you have food there is something wrong chemically. It's your insulin response thats all fucked up. I have never been overweight let alone obese (going by the BMI guidelines) but every time i lose weight, i gain it all back regardless of calorie counting. No soda, no alcohol, fries once or twice a week, no ice cream, cake/cookies maybe once a week at social events, work out multiple times a week, always come under 2,000 calories a day and i still gained back all 25 pounds in a span of 18 months.

One of the most insane things ive read on this is the difference between european and american foods. The ingredients we use are way more processed, contain more added sugar, and have different chemical reactions that lead to weight gain, heart diseases and other health issues. The obesity rate in the U.S is 45%. In Europe, it's 17%. it's not because americans are lazier or have less self control.

At the end of the day cravings are just cravings. Your body wont die, nor are your hands mind controlled. You can absolutely quit eating so much just as you can stop drinking alcohol, smoking and taking drugs. Exercise alone wont lose body fat ofc, youll just be skinny fat, thats why diet is important along exercises. Fruits have a lot of sugar, so dont do a fruit diet cuz they are not as good as ppl might think. Veggies on the other hand are good.

 

[SlimySnake]

I generally find that the more I eat, the worse the cravings get and the more dizzy and lethargic I feel.

Just try this: eat nothing for two days. Literally nothing (it won’t kill you! But drink LOTS of mineral water). You’ll find, especially on the second day, that it’s a lot less unpleasant than the insulin spike followed by a sugar low an hour after a monster meal.

You’ll be ”slow” and ”low-energy”, for sure, but your mind will feel clear and uncluttered. It’s worth it just for the experiment to see how your body responds, and it’s not as bad as you think.

oh, i did intermittent fasting a couple of years ago and definitely went through those 24-42 hour stretches with no food several times. Its definitely doable and not as bad as i thought it would be, but not something i want to do again.

 

[jason10mm]

At the end of the day cravings are just cravings. Your body wont die, nor are your hands mind controlled. You can absolutely quit eating so much just as you can stop drinking alcohol, smoking and taking drugs. Exercise alone wont lose body fat ofc, youll just be skinny fat, thats why diet is important along exercises. Fruits have a lot of sugar, so dont do a fruit diet cuz they are not as good as ppl might think. Veggies on the other hand are good.

THere is good research suggesting that your gut biome drives cravings. So if you eat simple carbs and sugar, your gut gets populated by bacteria that live off that stuff and then make you WANT to eat more of it. But if you can stick to a good diet of veggies, whole fruits, and meat your gut biome changes and the cravings do as well.

It's also that sugar high that acts as a powerful reinforcer of any habit involving sugar. You gotta consciously try to replace a "eat a doughnut" or "drink a soda" habit with something that can generate a similar reinforcement as a substitute, otherwise its way harder to quit if you go cold turkey.

 

[SlimySnake]

At the end of the day cravings are just cravings. Your body wont die, nor are your hands mind controlled. You can absolutely quit eating so much just as you can stop drinking alcohol, smoking and taking drugs. Exercise alone wont lose body fat ofc, youll just be skinny fat, thats why diet is important along exercises. Fruits have a lot of sugar, so dont do a fruit diet cuz they are not as good as ppl might think. Veggies on the other hand are good.

We have rehab centers for quitting drugs and alcohol. nicotine patches for smokers. these habits are hard to kick and people still relapse. Sugar addiction is a real thing and simply hand waving it off as a self control thing or lack thereof is how we have ended up with nearly half of the population as obese. look at the diabetes rates in kids.

In 2021, 352,000 children and adolescents under the age of 20 in the United States had diagnosed diabetes, which is 35 per 10,000 youths. This includes 304,000 children with type 1 diabetes. The incidence of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents in the U.S. has increased over time, from 9.0 cases per 100,000 people per year in 2002-2003 to 17.9 cases per 100,000 people per year in 2017-2018. In 2020-2021, rates increased again, rising 62% from 2016-2019

we need to treat this as a medical issue which is why this drug is such a game changer. of course, like you, i agree that we should try other methods before turning to drugs but big pharma controls the medical industry in the u.s.

 

[BadBurger]

I understand everyone has different needs or whatever. But whenever I felt like I was gaining weight I just cut back on the caloric intake and rode the exercise bike for an extra ten or fifteen minutes. I wouldn't want to mess around with drugs.

 

[E-Cat]

THere is good research suggesting that your gut biome drives cravings. So if you eat simple carbs and sugar, your gut gets populated by bacteria that live off that stuff and then make you WANT to eat more of it. But if you can stick to a good diet of veggies, whole fruits, and meat your gut biome changes and the cravings do as well.

It's also that sugar high that acts as a powerful reinforcer of any habit involving sugar. You gotta consciously try to replace a "eat a doughnut" or "drink a soda" habit with something that can generate a similar reinforcement as a substitute, otherwise its way harder to quit if you go cold turkey.

While I agree that eating sugary foods definitely makes it more DIFFICULT to control your cravings (or have such horrible cravings in the first place), wanting to do something doesn't mean your body has to obey. Just like your limbic system wanting to fuck every other female you come in contact with doesn't mean your prefrontal cortex should oblige.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Just like your limbic system wanting to fuck every other female you come in contact with doesn't mean your prefrontal cortex should oblige.

Have you tried no nut november?

 

[E-Cat]

I understand everyone has different needs or whatever. But whenever I felt like I was gaining weight I just cut back on the caloric intake and rode the exercise bike for an extra ten or fifteen minutes. I wouldn't want to mess around with drugs.

The thing I don't understand is how people let themselves go so... far?? Being around 30 lbs above my ideal weight is the most I've ever been, and even then it started to become really, really uncomfortable. I constantly felt fatigued, my trousers didn't fit anymore and my belt buckle would start chafing up against my stomach. Like, wtf is my stomach even doing there? This really set off the alarm bells where I was willing trade in the luxury of eating excessively to eliminate the bigger discomfort of being slightly overweight. How do people reach that point, and then keep going? I can't even imagine how bad it gets above that.

 

[jason10mm]

While I agree that eating sugary foods definitely makes it more DIFFICULT to control your cravings (or have such horrible cravings in the first place), wanting to do something doesn't mean your body has to obey. Just like your limbic system wanting to fuck every other female you come in contact with doesn't mean your prefrontal cortex should oblige.

Funny, my parole officer says the same thing!

 

[bitbydeath]

No pills. Protein is a good way to get full.
Check my thread here:

Losing weight is really all about calorie intake

This might seem obvious for some, but I’ve never tried to lose weight before. Three weeks ago today I discovered I crossed 90KG’s, 90.4KG’s to be exact. That’s 199.3 pounds. Then my daughter brought home the flu and I lost my appetite for two weeks and I lost around 3KG’s. I’ve since continued...

www.neogaf.com

When I posted that last month I had lost 5.1KG, since then I’ve lost an additional 3.2KG totalling 8.3KG and I’ve found it extremely easy to do.

I’ve even gone out to numerous parties and ate tons of lollies, soda, cake etc on some weekends, you don’t need to go cold turkey, just a good balance.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Legit thought OP was using newfangled slang to ask about a new hip street drug at first.

"YO' DAWG, YOU TRY THEM FAT LOSE DRUGS ON JIMMY'S BLOCK?!"

 

[Divus]

Doctor prescribed me Wegovy a week ago. It takes up to a month for the insurance to clear I guess.

She also had me get some pills in the mean time to help curb appetite, but after a 4 days I had to quit because the side effects were too severe. Side effects for me was the entire universe was twirling around me and I also spinning down a whirlpool. I could not think on that stuff and just generally felt awful. I hope the Wegovy injection is nothing like this.

Backstory time. About a decade or more ago I lost 119lbs in a little over a year just counting calories. I was in a car accident that left me unable to much of anything for a year and kind of just let myself go and kept continuing that life style even after I healed.

One day I noticed it was hard to turn my head to change lanes when driving I decided I needed to do something about that. I lived alone and had no kids so as long as I ate before I went shopping I didn't buy junk and if you don't buy junk you can't eat junk. Now with a family of 4 I can not get away from not having only barely enough to make it on. There are always snacks around me. New job role also puts me in an office space with food being shoved in my face a couple of times a week. Food is my crack. I can't stop myself if it's in front of me. Honestly if there is a solution that can turn that off I am going to take a chance. I have felt like I was starving since I was little. It's kind of hard to believe there is something that can make that stop, but I know a couple of people that it really helped so I am giving it a chance.

 

[SF Kosmo]

My dad did the Ozempic, it sounds miserable but he swears it's the best thing he's ever done. He throws up all the time, but he did lose a lot of weight and is no longer considered diabetic, so I guess it's good?

 

[cash_longfellow]

Stop taking any drugs. Just eat less. Thats all you gotta do. How the fuck is it that hard for some of you? Theres tons of food with almost no sugar you can eat. Meat and water. Stay off soft drinks, coffee, alcohol for at least 2-3 months and you should see some impressive results. Make sure you work out as well.

There are legitimately medications that make
It near impossible, regardless if you are eating less, or even better. That isn’t “all you gotta do” in some cases.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

My dad did the Ozempic, it sounds miserable but he swears it's the best thing he's ever done. He throws up all the time, but he did lose a lot of weight and is no longer considered diabetic, so I guess it's good?

Be careful, some insurances will stop covering it once the A1C levels are below a certain level for a while. Even though it's the only thing keeping it that low.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

The thing I don't understand is how people let themselves go so... far?? Being around 30 lbs above my ideal weight is the most I've ever been, and even then it started to become really, really uncomfortable. I constantly felt fatigued, my trousers didn't fit anymore and my belt buckle would start chafing up against my stomach. Like, wtf is my stomach even doing there? This really set off the alarm bells where I was willing trade in the luxury of eating excessively to eliminate the bigger discomfort of being slightly overweight. How do people reach that point, and then keep going? I can't even imagine how bad it gets above that.

I'd wager a lot of it is bad habits from childhood. For me, I was a skinny kid, had some problems with some illnesses and asthma, and the doctor was adamant that my parents get my weight up. Now the nutrition of the 80s and 90s we had wasn't the greatest. We were already eating a lot of boxed up garbage masquerading as food, but I certainly didn't know that it was bad, and my parents came from the perspective of "holy shit we have food, America is amazing unlike living behind the Iron Curtain directly after WW2". I got bribed with video game money to put on weight. So it was kind of a double whammy because why would I go play outside like a sucker if I had all those video games?

The fundamental problem of long-term success is that it's a lot easier to put on excess calories than to burn them. If I 'eat pretty much what I feel like', that's easily 4 or 5 thousand calories average a day. If I 'go nuts' it's probably double that. It's not an exaggeration to say that I can wipe out 2 full weeks of dieting and exercise in the span of one or two meals.

Both times I've gone from 'pretty fat' to your 'then keep going' zone was after deaths in my immediate family. No drugs or booze for me, but I will stuff my face when I'm depressed for sure.

Back when I got pretty much to my ideal weight, a couple of things sent me back down the wrong path. One was a breakup. But the other thing was just how fucking negative everybody was about my weight loss. 500-1000 calorie deficit and at least an hour of cardio every day, plus an extra 90 minutes of walking, hungry literally all the time for months on end, and when I get to the other side, friends, family and coworkers are gonna tell me I look "weird' or "stupid" without the extra weight? Make fun of me for eating a salad at lunch? Taunt me with cake? I really wasn't ready for the reaction to be 95% negative. Actually looking back I can't believe people said the shit they did.

 

[Goalus]

Just try this: eat nothing for two days. Literally nothing (it won’t kill you! But drink LOTS of mineral water).

This also saves a lot of money.
Not eating anything at all for two days saves me about 20 € per week. I don't do this every week, and it doesn't have to be two days in a row, but it usually adds up to at least 60 € per month.

 

[TheHighFlyingBirds]

I dont think I would want to take these drugs to lose weight. I have been doing a calorie deficit approach with weight training (evening meal only, which is usually home cooked and a protein shake at lunch with a daily creatine hit) and dropped from 17st 8lb to 15st 9lb (246lb to 218lb) over the last couple of months (even after an all inclusive holiday last week, which I ate how I would normally and drank but did plenty of swimming and even managed a good session in the gym).

I wasn't big/obese but had a belly, and some of my weight is due to being so tall at 6'6".

I feel a lot better from a physical and mental perspective, for losing weight and getting fitter as I'm getting some definition and losing my dad bod. Just wish I could train harder but need to see a physio as my left arm is giving me trouble. Just need to start doing some cardio training in addition to weights.

 

[TVexperto]

So I heard there is a pill that you can take instead of ozempic, anybody know what is is?

Also I dont wanna take Ozempic, it makes you age like crazy, people who are 30 look like 50 and like they are ill

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I got some lab work back today.

I was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 years ago, though I was showing symptoms long before that. I held off for a while getting diagnosed even though I knew I had it in my heart. My A1C was at 13 when I got diagnosed.

With Metformin alone, i was able to get my A1C to 8.5. Two months ago, I started Ozempic. My A1C is now at 6.2, at a dose 1/2 what my doctor wants. But that takes me out of "diabetic" to "pre-diabetic". Meaning my body is no longer killing itself. At 1 MG, it will hopefully go down into the fives, which is normal. My concern is that my insurance will see that and say I don't need it anymore, when in reality I need it to maintain that level.

Anyway, like I said before, while the benefit of NOT FUCKING DIEING is something that can't be understated, plus I'm not pissing myself all the time and my limbs aren't constantly burning like they were, the effects of Metformin and Ozempic are still pretty rough. My bowel movements are now weird. I'm either pissing clear liquid or weird shits, with bits of skin-like flakes all the time that is unnerving. And there is a lot of nausea. This isn't something you take and feel great while you're on it. And I'll probably have to be on it the rest of my life in order to manage my blood sugar. But maybe I'll live to 70 instead of my mid 40s

In terms of weight loss, Ive lost 15 lbs in 2 months.

 

[8bitpill]

This is a real thing by the way, a nice little side effect. that comes along with all drugs
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ozempic-face#overview

Here are just a few celebrities that have been open about taking it as a weight lose drug, you can count out John Goodman & Sharon Osbourne since he is 72 and she is 71 and that look comes along with age.

Honestly, just don't eat like every meal is a treat. You can maintain your weight and shave it off after that by exercise.

Ozempic isn't meant for weight lost either, it was meant for diabetes.

If you're chasing that rapid aged look in your 20's or 30's, just do some meth or heroin (for those that don't get it, that's a joke)

 

[StueyDuck]

Drugs don't fix lifestyle, any quick fix now will most likely just revert once you stop.

It's important to get the lifestyle in order, correct calories in and out. Maybe then if you in a healthy routine the drugs might help.

But I forsee a future of chronic weight loss drug use for many the way people are treating this Ozempic and other drugs like a fashion accessory.

 

[chromhound]

It's all fun and games with ozempic until you're stuck on dialysis...

 

[NecrosaroIII]

It's all fun and games with ozempic until you're stuck on dialysis...

What do you mean? I'm taking ozempic to prevent my diabetes from destroying my kidneys, which WOULD cause me to go on dialysis if that happened.

• Kidney disease risk
  A clinical trial found that people with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease who took weekly semaglutide injections were 24% less likely to have a major kidney disease event, such as needing dialysis or a kidney transplant.
• Kidney decline
  People who took semaglutide had slower rates of kidney decline
• Kidney damage
  The success of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic may help delay patients' transition to dialysis and keep them on it for longer.

 

[Blade2.0]

I wouldn't hate trying them when I get a job with insurance.

 

[chromhound]

What do you mean? I'm taking ozempic to prevent my diabetes from destroying my kidneys, which WOULD cause me to go on dialysis if that happened.

• Kidney disease risk
  A clinical trial found that people with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease who took weekly semaglutide injections were 24% less likely to have a major kidney disease event, such as needing dialysis or a kidney transplant.
• Kidney decline
  People who took semaglutide had slower rates of kidney decline
• Kidney damage
  The success of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic may help delay patients' transition to dialysis and keep them on it for longer.

I was talking about people who don't have diabetes and are taking ozempic to lose weight

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Coffee with empty stomach isn't good... I've done it for years and it left me with chronic ulcer.
Take some food first and drink coffee. It's torturous for me though - as I love coffee. I used to drink 2shot Americano in the AM, and maybe another 2shot Americano in the afternoon, depending on how I was feeling - but have cut down to maybe 1 shot Americano in 3-4 days.

Losing fat is good and all, but also take care of your gut health too!

Jesus, 2 shots in the morning and 2 more in the afternoon? Is that healthy?

I had an ex work colleague who had terribly shaky hands because he went through several cups of coffee a day. He's still alive thankfully but hope he stopped that shit. Happy you've reduced your intake.

Though I think coffee on an empty stomach should be fine. Just googled it.

 

[AZLil7]

I’ve used weight loss meds in the past, and they did help curb my appetite. But they come with their own set of side effects and definitely don’t replace the need for a good diet and exercise. It’s definitely worth chatting with your doctor about how this might fit with your goals and if it’s the right move for you.

 

[GigaBowser]

I got some lab work back today.

I was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 years ago, though I was showing symptoms long before that. I held off for a while getting diagnosed even though I knew I had it in my heart. My A1C was at 13 when I got diagnosed.

With Metformin alone, i was able to get my A1C to 8.5. Two months ago, I started Ozempic. My A1C is now at 6.2, at a dose 1/2 what my doctor wants. But that takes me out of "diabetic" to "pre-diabetic". Meaning my body is no longer killing itself. At 1 MG, it will hopefully go down into the fives, which is normal. My concern is that my insurance will see that and say I don't need it anymore, when in reality I need it to maintain that level.

Anyway, like I said before, while the benefit of NOT FUCKING DIEING is something that can't be understated, plus I'm not pissing myself all the time and my limbs aren't constantly burning like they were, the effects of Metformin and Ozempic are still pretty rough. My bowel movements are now weird. I'm either pissing clear liquid or weird shits, with bits of skin-like flakes all the time that is unnerving. And there is a lot of nausea. This isn't something you take and feel great while you're on it. And I'll probably have to be on it the rest of my life in order to manage my blood sugar. But maybe I'll live to 70 instead of my mid 40s

In terms of weight loss, Ive lost 15 lbs in 2 months.

tummy is sick all the time and no food?? this is my living nightmares dont wan this crud wife says i harv to take it

 

[lachesis]

Jesus, 2 shots in the morning and 2 more in the afternoon? Is that healthy?

I had an ex work colleague who had terribly shaky hands because he went through several cups of coffee a day. He's still alive thankfully but hope he stopped that shit. Happy you've reduced your intake.

Though I think coffee on an empty stomach should be fine. Just googled it.

Haha thanks!
I found out many doctors say different things about drinking coffee on empty stomach. (All so confusing... like some say Yolk is okay, some say yolk should be avoided or whatnot.)

I guess it may vary person to person - I used to think my stomach is ironclad that could take anything... Double shot Americano in the morning, and double shot Americano in the PM was like a routine.
Before that, it was Quad shot Iced Americano in the AM! (and maybe single shot in the pm + Monster energy drink, if I need to work later that day)

Turns out, I have ulcer - so I'm trying to minimize anything that may worsen it... (Sucks to be old! lol)

These days, I drink maybe 1 coffee after breakfast in 2-3 days. Most of the time, just water, or ginseng-ginger-honey tea.

But all in all, I think it's the "stress" more than anything that's causing a lot of illness in a person - so all I can say is to take care of your body when it's healthy and young!