Aside from keeping up at work, it seems that weight gain is one of the biggest hurdles many Adderall users face when quitting. Totally understandable! Adderall takes the effort out of staying thin, just like it takes the effort out of doing work. Plus, most people who have been on Adderall for a long time have been starving their bodies for awhile. When they stop taking the pills and start eating normally again, their bodies want to store as many calories in fat as possible in anticipation of another starvation period.
The good news is that it is entirely possible to quit Adderall without gaining weight, provided that you are at a healthy weight on Adderall. If you are Adderall skinny like many users are, you will gain weight if you start eating properly, but youll actually look better. How do you know if youre Adderall skinny? People in your life probably comment on how thin you are, and not necessarily in a complimentary fashion. If youve been the butt of any Kate Moss jokes, you can bet youre Adderall skinny. Your BMI is probably under normal, and while your body fat percentage is probably really low, your lean muscle mass probably is too. Remember, the number on the scale doesnt mean muchmuscle weighs more than fat, and a healthy individual has muscle. Adderall users may be freakishly thin, but they often still have lots of cellulite because there is no muscle to tone the butt and thighs properly. The goal here is a healthy, athletic physique, not a rail thin one.
But quitting Adderall without piling on the pounds does require concentrated effort and willpower. My suggestion? Dont worry too much about initial weight gain. For the first few weeks off of Adderall, just focus on eating as healthy as possible (check out my nutritional guidelines for quitting Adderall here) and if you gain a couple unwanted pounds, dont worry about it. Once you begin seriously focusing on losing weight, those few pounds will melt off like candle wax.
There is a simple principle behind losing weight, and its the same whether you have a history with Adderall or not. Burn more calories than you consume. As long as you burn more than you eat, you will lose weight, period. One pound of fat is 3,500 excess calories that you ate but did not use. In order to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit between what youre putting out and what youre taking in.
Calories In (Nutrition)
So how many calories a day do you need? First, find your Basal Metabolic Rate (handy calculator here), which will tell you how many calories a day your body would burn if you did nothing but stay in bed. Then use the Harris Benedict Equation (found here) to figure out your calorie needs based on your activity level. A general rule of thumb is if you subtract no less than 500 and no more than 1000 calories from that number and consume that amount of calories daily, you will lose weight.
A somewhat simpler alternative is to sign up at livestrong.com (its free!) There, you can enter in your calorie goals, activity level and how much weight you want to lose each week, and it will tell you how many calories you can eat per day. Then, you can start tracking what you eat and how many calories you burn through exercise (their user interface and food database is amazing, so its really easy) and it will give you a nice bar graph with a red line across it. As long as you keep your net calories (calories consumed minus calories burned) below the red line, you should be losing weight at the pace you want. In addition, it will keep track of your protein, carbs, fiber, etc. The site has Blackberry and iPhone apps to accompany it when youre on the go. Slender made simple!
Eating a low calorie diet does not mean you have to go hungry. There are a lot of tasty, healthy, low-calorie foods out there. Try to fill up mostly on raw fruits and veggies. Theyre naturally low in calories, and theyre nutrient packed. Avoid heavy, processed foods (like bread, pasta and chips) as much as possible, and make sure any dairy you eat is low or non fat. Fried and greasy foods are out.
Pay close attention to portion sizes. When Im trying to lose weight I make sure not to eyeball portion sizes whenever possible. Do you really know how much one cup of cereal is? Chances are youre really eating three or four for breakfast every morning if youre measuring by eye. Buy a measuring cup or a set of dry measuring spoons and actually measure out your portion sizes. This alone should make an impact. If youre really serious, you can buy a kitchen scale and weigh the portions you eat of everything.
Make sure you arent drinking your calories. Many energy drinks, coffee drinks, smoothies and juices are caloric gut-bombs, especially if theyre coming from places like Jamba and Starbucks. And alcohol? Any nutritionist worth their salt will tell you to look at drinking alcohol as drinking liquid fatnot because its a fat, but because it will have that effect on your body fat percentage. Not only is it high in carbs and calories, but the type of calories that are in alcohol cannot be used by your body for anything and therefore will automatically be stored as fat. Drink tons of water. There are no calories in it, and it will rev your metabolism up, among with a plethora of other health benefits. If plain water is too boring for you, try squeezing some fresh lemon or lime into it, or try the new Crystal Light Pure Fitness drink mixes, which are low calorie and use all natural stevia leaf, a new alternative to aspartame.
Speaking of aspertamesteer clear of it. It may be calorie free and is found in loads of diet products, but its proven links to cancer should not be ignored. Furthermore, studies have shown that people who consume aspartame are still more likely to carry fat around their bellies than people who do not. Splenda isnt much betterit is a derivative of chlorine thats been linked to infertility. Stick to raw agave nectar or stevia leaf (in limited quantities) for low calorie sweeteners, as theyre all natural.
In the future, Ill provide some healthy low calorie recipes that are delicious and tailored to the nutritional needs of the former Adderall user. But until then, lets move on to the second piece of the weight loss puzzleexercise.
Calories Out (Fitness)
If you want to achieve a healthy, toned physique as opposed to a skinny one, youll need to exercise. Additionally, exercise has been proven to be an effective treatment for ADD, and it really will help you get your motivation and mood back on track post Adderall.
In regards to shedding body fat, cardio is more important than strength training. Cardio means exercise that raises the heart rate for a prolonged period of time, such as jogging, cycling, or swimming (cardio is also synonymous with aerobic exercise if you want to get technical). Simply walking for 30 minutes a day at a brisk pace will be enough to make an impact. But to see serious weight loss in a short period of time, experts generally advise that you do 5 cardio workouts each week at a medium-high intensity for at least 30 minutes.
So how should you go about getting some cardio? Heres a handful of ideas. You can go to the gym and use their cardio equipment, bike to work, take a fast paced dance class or a kickboxing class, play sports that get your heart pumping like soccer or tennis, or jog through your neighborhood. By the way, making a goal to run a 5K in a few months as a symbol of defeating your Adderall dependence and winning back your self and your health of is a great motivator. Not a runner? Check out The Coach Potato To 5k In 9 Weeks program see, theres no excuses!
When I began losing weight after Adderall, I started the Insanity workout DVD program. I noticed serious results within a week. Insanity is really cardio based, as opposed P90X (that other high intensity home workout program youve probably seen in infomercials), which is more geared towards gaining muscle. Insanity isnt for everyone thoughit is very intense, requires you to be in halfway decent shape already, and it takes major dedication. The same workouts over and over can start to feel repetitive over time. If youve been very inactive for a long time or your cardiovascular system is weak, you will need to work your way up to Insanity. But if youre in alright shape and are serious about getting a smoking hot body, I can vouch for it. If you stick to the program, it works, and fast.
Strength training does have its place in your workout regimen too. Muscles require calories to burn and maintain, so someone with more muscle tone can get away with eating a lot more calories than someone who doesnt. Strength training comes in a variety of formsyou can lift weights or try mat based strength training exercises. Yoga done properly is good for strength training, particularly ashtanga and vinyasa yogas, as is Pilates.
In the future, I plan to write more about fitness plans for previous Adderall users. In the meanwhile, I hope youve found this overview to be a helpful start. Please feel free to ask any me anything, and rememberif you improve your physical health your mental health will always follow suit.
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