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How To Lose Weight Faster While Taking Phentermine? Weight Loss Journey 2025
Updated on
- Written by Anna Milton, Former Health Writer
Medically reviewed by
Victor Nguyen, PharmD.
How To Lose Weight Faster While Taking Phentermine? Safe AND fast weight loss? Can it be true? Here we’ll lay out tips for how to maximize the efficiency of doctor-prescribed phentermine and plan for maintaining long-term weight loss results.
While countless approaches have been studied as to what’s good for weight loss, FDA-approved prescription phentermine has shown the ability to be a useful aid for those needing to lose weight quickly.
Is Phentermine good for weight loss?
Yes! However, you DO have to use it as prescribed and combine it with dietary changes AND an exercise program to notice a difference in your weight.
Phentermine, when you combine it with some level of an overhaul of your lifestyle, diet, and exercise, can be highly effective,[1] for weight loss, particularly in patients who are obese.
Phentermine’s Best Weight Loss Buddies
Healthy Diet Plan: Dietary/Nutrition Changes
When trying to lose weight with phentermine, you also have to decide on a permanent lifestyle and nutrition change. The medication is only a short-term prescription (usually a few weeks,[2] maximum). You’ll need to plan for what comes next!
A study has shown that participants who do not plan for their bodies to maintain their weight loss through dietary changes after discontinuing phentermine will regain,[3] any weight loss.
The number 1 thing to do to help phentermine kick you into weight loss is to drink LOTS of water! A 2010 study,[4] suggests we should be drinking between 74 oz – 101 oz per day!
Appetite Suppressant
One of the intended effects of Phentermine is an appetite suppressant. Researchers,[5] found that a group of people participating in a meal plan and taking phentermine lost 3.3% more body weight than a group participating in a meal plan alone. Those taking Phentermine also had reduced food cravings as well.
Once you start taking Phentermine, start practicing your long-term “meal plan” for properly controlling portions and creating well-balanced meals so that you’ll stay motivated to continue losing weight long after you stop taking Phentermine.
The real success with nutrition is what you’re able to maintain.
Planning for your body’s nutritional success is like planning for the lifetime maintenance of a luxury car. Phentermine is what helps build your body into that beautiful shape; a lifelong nutrition plan is the “must-do” maintenance that will keep you looking and feeling like you belong in a showroom
Talk to Your Doctor
Talking with your doctor about your desired weight loss goals, potential current medication interactions, lifestyle and medical history, and known side effects of phentermine is a necessary first step. Your doctor will tell you if phentermine is the right choice for your situation.
Once you have your doctor’s support to help you lose weight, take it exactly as prescribed. Starting your plan well-informed and having it professionally monitored is a great start to boosting yourself into your new, healthier lifestyle.
Weight Loss Exercise Plans
Regardless of your current activity level, Phentermine can help you lose weight when combined with a regular exercise plan that is tailored to your safety and health. Talk with your doctor to find out exactly what that should look like for you. There are more than enough plans out there to gain health, reduce stress, and take care of your body. If you already have a favorite, go with it! Walking, running, swimming, cycling, fitness classes, using apps and Pilates are just a few examples of ways you can get your body moving and boost your metabolism.
Frame Your Goals to lose body fat quickly
When creating your healthy weight expectations and goals for taking Phentermine with your doctor, make sure to determine an appropriate goal that’s within a healthy range for your body.
Take that super vague goal of “losing weight” to new heights, and FRAME it!
Finish
Weight loss efforts can be very daunting if you don’t give yourself a finish line where you can assess your progress. Knowing there’s an end in sight can provide great motivation to keep going when it gets tough!
Reachable
Making your goal reachable will not only increase your chances of success; it will also give you a mental boost when you start to question whether or not you can do it! If you decide from the beginning that your goal is within reach, you won’t be able to question yourself on it later.
Accountable
Everyone needs support when trying to reach any kind of goal. Get people around you who support what you’re doing and are willing to hold you accountable for reaching your goal. It’s especially helpful to include a behavioral specialist if you find yourself unable to keep yourself accountable, as s/he can help you understand how to improve that.
Measurable
If your goal isn’t measurable, you’ll never know if it has been met. You can measure by weight loss, body shape, clothing fit, lab work results, or any other method you choose. Just make sure whatever you choose can be made specifically measurable. That makes it easy to keep up with progress along the way, too!
Exciting
If you’re not excited or motivated to meet your goal, you’re probably NOT going to meet it. If your goal is made realistically but doesn’t hit the total weight you want to lose, realize it is a baby step. Get excited about every baby step, and you’ll be closer every time to your overall goal.
Here’s an Example
Remember that boring “lose weight” goal? Let’s FRAME it. Kick it up a notch by replacing it with something like this: “I will lose at least 15 lbs within 8 weeks by taking Phentermine each morning, following my nutrition plan daily, and exercising at least 30 minutes a day.”
Which goal shows more thought and planning? Which goal is more likely to be met? Taking more time to think through the details of a goal translates to higher levels of success in reaching that goal.
Charge Up with Sleep
Ideally, our bodies would keep burning fat for us while we sleep, right? There are some bedtime drinks you can try that may help your body do that for you! Drinks or not, getting enough sleep is a critical part of making sure your body is at its best. We all know how stressed out we can become when our smartphones need a recharge. You wouldn’t want to start your day with your phone at 20%, would you? Don’t force your body to do that, either!
Make sure to include 7-9,[6] hours of sleep almost every night. Keeping your body “charged” with sleep will help you start each day with more energy and can only help you on your road to better health.
Avoid Common Mistakes
Skipping Meals
Although it may become easier and maybe more tempting to skip meals as your appetite lessens with the use of Phentermine, don’t fall into that mistake! Your body needs you to keep eating to keep up your metabolism, which is your body’s food-to-energy converter. According to this study,[7], “appropriately timed meal patterns are critical to prevent circadian desynchronization and limit metabolic risks.”
Unrealistic Expectations
Creating unrealistic expectations does nothing but sabotage your success. Saying you’d like to lose 40 lbs in 2 days is not realistic and will only make you feel like a failure when you don’t meet it.
Inconsistency with weight loss Medication
Phentermine is a stimulant medication. Taking this pill in the morning gets the biggest bang for your buck. It gives you the energy you need throughout the day to keep your lifestyle change momentum going. Taking it at the same time every morning will help you not to skip or forget the medication as well.
The Bottom Line
With doctor guidance to create a long-term plan for weight loss success, taking Phentermine is a great option for some. You’ll have an increased understanding of your own body, a specific low-calorie diet and exercise plan, and goals you can FRAME. With consistency, support, determination, and a positive attitude, you’ll be on your way to a lifetime of health.
+ 7 sources
Health Canal avoids using tertiary references. We have strict sourcing guidelines and rely on peer-reviewed studies, academic researches from medical associations and institutions. To ensure the accuracy of articles in Health Canal, you can read more about the editorial process here
- Allison, D.B., Gadde, K.M., Garvey, W.T., Peterson, C.A., Schwiers, M.L., Najarian, T., Tam, P.Y., Troupin, B. and Day, W.W. (2012). Controlled-Release Phentermine/Topiramate in Severely Obese Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial (EQUIP). Obesity, [online] 20(2), pp.330–342. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3270297/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2021].
- HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESCRIBING INFORMATION. (n.d.). [online] . Available at: https://www.adipex.com/globalassets/adipex/adipex_pi.pdf [Accessed 24 Jul. 2021].
- Towns, C.S., Heuberger, R.A., Logomarsino, J. and Arturo Olivera Jr (2020). Weight Changes Post-Phentermine Use. [online] NSUWorks. Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/ijahsp/vol18/iss2/4/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2021].
- Meinders AJ;Meinders AE (2012). [How much water do we really need to drink?]. Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde, [online] 154. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20356431/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2021].
- Moldovan, C.P., Weldon, A.J., Daher, N.S., Schneider, L.E., Bellinger, D.L., Berk, L.S., Hermé, A.C., Aréchiga, A.L., Davis, W.L. and Peters, W.R. (2016). Effects of a meal replacement system alone or in combination with phentermine on weight loss and food cravings. Obesity, [online] 24(11), pp.2344–2350. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21649 [Accessed 24 Jul. 2021].
- Laing, E.E., Möller-Levet, C.S., Dijk, D.-J. and Archer, S.N. (2018). Identifying and validating blood mRNA biomarkers for acute and chronic insufficient sleep in humans: a machine learning approach. Sleep, [online] 42(1). Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6335875/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2021].
- Challet, E. (2019). The circadian regulation of food intake. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, [online] 15(7), pp.393–405. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31073218/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2021].
Written by:
Anna Milton, Former Health Writer
Medically reviewed by:
Medically reviewed by:
