How's Everybody doing Physically?

[duffman]

On this board there's a lot of discussion about the mental effects associated with quitting Adderall, and rightfully so. However, I want to know how everyone is doing physically which includes, but is not limited to, changes in: body fat, muscle mass, energy levels, energy consistency, sleep quantity, sleep quality, and exercise tolerance. At 10 months in, here's a rundown of what I'm experiencing with a rating next to it ranging from 1/10 to 10/10 (1 meaning terribly unsatisfied, 5 meaning moderately satisfied, 10 meaning absolutely satisfied). 

• Body Fat 4/10: To put it succinctly, this remains a problem. I have ~10-12 pounds of body fat that I cannot seem to shake off. I sometimes wonder if Adderall had a deleterious effect to my basal metabolic rate or something, because I seem to consume less than my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) yet am not noticing much fat loss. I know this because I've tracked all calories I've consumed for the past 3 months, yet I haven't loss much weight and am not showing very much definition despite working out 6 days per week and cooking all my meals (aside from my cheat meal, which I'm thinking of eliminating.. sadly). To be fair, I do believe I lost SOME body fat from the 25 pounds I gained after quitting Adderall. 
• Muscle Mass 9/10: I'm very satisfied with this aspect of my life. I finally have been able to put on an appreciable amount of muscle mass. When on Adderall, I experienced a global "plateauing" effect to all my lifts, meaning I wasn't getting any stronger on anything. I felt like lifting weights would just cause muscle damage without the repair, and would result in a soreness that didn't result in any gains. Now I'm crushing my weight lifting goals (partially shameless brag incoming), I've been able to bench press 365 pounds and deadlift 495! That's way stronger than I've ever been in my life. Then again, I don't have very much definition due to the body fat, so it's difficult to tell I lift that much by just looking at me (I know this, because during Christmas break, all my girlfriend's relatives asked me if I still worked out -_-).
• Energy Levels 6/10: This has improved over the past few months and varies from day to day. I'm able to perform tasks and duties without resembling an aimless corpse. I do possess the necessary energy to exercise, make dinner, ..uhh we'll call it spend "active time" with my GF, and do my share of chores throughout my day. At some points throughout my day, I feel very close to 100% (something I haven't felt in years). However, that brings us to my next point..
• Energy Consistency 4/10: So not as good here. The reason why I divided my overall energy into "energy levels" and "energy consistency" was because I notice (sometimes drastic) fluctuations in my energy levels throughout the day and from day to day. Now, I do understand that fluctuations in energy levels occurs in otherwise "normal and healthy" people (people who haven't abused stimulants throughout the day), but these fluctuations in my energy levels still come off as extreme at times. I tend to crash at around 3-4 in the afternoon and wake back up at around 7-8pm. When I crash, I feel like my social capabilities take a nosedive, which is a problem because I still see patients for another few hours after my afternoon crash and they wanna talk. I'm sure I come off as aloof at this time, but if that's the price I have to pay to be able to function without popping pills, then c'est la vie. 
• Sleep Quantity 8/10: This has undergone a pretty drastic improvement from only a few months ago. I can now sleep anywhere from 5-9 hours. When I first quit Adderall (and for months that followed), I would sleep for 4 hours, wake up, roll around till my alarm went off. Falling asleep at a reasonable hour.. now that's a different story, but that has been a problem that has existed before Adderall, so I can't wholly blame Adderall for that. 
• Sleep Quality 6/10: Like energy, I decided to split sleep into two categories in order to be more specific. Though I'm able to sleep for longer periods of time, my quality of sleep isn't the greatest. Again, my sleeping habits before Adderall weren't great. However, I'm comparing to my ability to sleep prior to Adderall use rather than how I sleep compared to other people. I do have a tendency to wake up every 3-4 hours to roll over for a bit, but I can fall back asleep now. I'm doing everything I can to fix my sleep habits (all the usual shit you read about online), and I do feel my sleep is gradually improving, but definitely not where I want to be yet. 
• Exercise Tolerance 8/10: Another one of these aspects of my life where I'm very satisfied. I am able to workout for ~1-1.5 hours a day at ~5-6 days per week, which is exactly what I want to be doing. I didn't give myself a 10/10 in this category because my workouts aren't great if I go during a time when my energy levels are crashing. Now, I don't exactly "feel" like working out, but I'm not sure I ever have. I mean, very few people I know who go to the gym daily "feel" like working out everyday. But it's one of those habit things, and it gets more automatic and more routine the more you just go. 

Anyway, look forward to hearing how everyone else is doing. 

 

EDIT: For the record, you shouldn't feel compelled to type out something this elaborate, a simple rating out of 10 or a one-word response would suffice.

[Tom23Jones]

This was an awesome idea Duff.  As soon as I have time today I'll do my physical self assessment.

[Frank B]

Good progress I'll try to do in comparison when I get time. Have you considered not worrying about calories and focus on cutting out carbs much as possible? I feel personally it's way more beneficial to loosing weight. Also do you mix in cardio into your workouts or just do weights? Just thinking those two things might get you where you want to be. 

[duffman]

1 hour ago, Frank B said:

Good progress I'll try to do in comparison when I get time. Have you considered not worrying about calories and focus on cutting out carbs much as possible? I feel personally it's way more beneficial to loosing weight. Also do you mix in cardio into your workouts or just do weights? Just thinking those two things might get you where you want to be. 

Yeah I've done all different variants of low carb. My diet is mainly composed of meat and sauteed veggies, with berries at night. I recently added in rice to my diet because I felt myself dragging at my longer workouts once I added in cardio. I do about 1-1.5 hours of cardio a week. 

[Frank B]

Unless your competing in the Olympics I wouldn't skip a cheat meal once a week life's too short just my take. Sounds like your in good shape maybe bump up the cardio a little more but if your going for the muscle mass look it may take some of that away. Im a medium build when I stopped addy I got up to 200 now around 185 avg like to reach 175 and maintain. Ive been really laying off the carbs if I do eat some besides my cheat meal ( or day) try to do it before a work out. Overall Im in the best shape since I was in my early 20's I wish that carried over to energy levels but Im still the laziest Ive been in my life its frustrating I go to a gym run couple miles hit weights eat healthy and feel tired most of the time!?! I guess adderall must really fuck something up in us and only time itself can truly heal each month gets a little better just at a snails pace. One day I just want to stop thinking about adderall altogether think when that happens you know your healed a few people on here have reached that point but its well after a year of quitting. I have no craving to take the pill but I use it as a excuse for my laziness and so tired of that mindset.

[duffman]

21 hours ago, Frank B said:

Unless your competing in the Olympics I wouldn't skip a cheat meal once a week life's too short just my take. Sounds like your in good shape maybe bump up the cardio a little more but if your going for the muscle mass look it may take some of that away. Im a medium build when I stopped addy I got up to 200 now around 185 avg like to reach 175 and maintain. Ive been really laying off the carbs if I do eat some besides my cheat meal ( or day) try to do it before a work out. Overall Im in the best shape since I was in my early 20's I wish that carried over to energy levels but Im still the laziest Ive been in my life its frustrating I go to a gym run couple miles hit weights eat healthy and feel tired most of the time!?! I guess adderall must really fuck something up in us and only time itself can truly heal each month gets a little better just at a snails pace. One day I just want to stop thinking about adderall altogether think when that happens you know your healed a few people on here have reached that point but its well after a year of quitting. I have no craving to take the pill but I use it as a excuse for my laziness and so tired of that mindset.

Lol. I am able to relate to what you said 100% in regard to doing all these strenuous activities in the gym and it not translating to energy throughout the day. Makes me wonder if we truly lack energy or we're just aware what operating at 500% normal human energy levels feels like and we compare ourselves to that state. 

[Frank B]

Could be right and maybe once we subconsciously forget that feeling felt in the past we can move on. I've often wondered if hypnotherapy could help speed up this recovery process but it's expensive and a crapshoot. 

[Frank B]

Just had a really good workout tonight ate a bowl of oatmeal before I hit the gym felt it really gave me a good boost. Realized how much progress I've made hit the uneven training monkey bars for the first time since I started. I easily completed it a couple times. When I first started working out after quitting addy doing it once simply was not possible lol. 

[Bubbagump99]

On 1/3/2017 at 0:53 PM, duffman said:

On this board there's a lot of discussion about the mental effects associated with quitting Adderall, and rightfully so. However, I want to know how everyone is doing physically which includes, but is not limited to, changes in: body fat, muscle mass, energy levels, energy consistency, sleep quantity, sleep quality, and exercise tolerance. At 10 months in, here's a rundown of what I'm experiencing with a rating next to it ranging from 1/10 to 10/10 (1 meaning terribly unsatisfied, 5 meaning moderately satisfied, 10 meaning absolutely satisfied). 

• Body Fat 4/10: To put it succinctly, this remains a problem. I have ~10-12 pounds of body fat that I cannot seem to shake off. I sometimes wonder if Adderall had a deleterious effect to my basal metabolic rate or something, because I seem to consume less than my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) yet am not noticing much fat loss. I know this because I've tracked all calories I've consumed for the past 3 months, yet I haven't loss much weight and am not showing very much definition despite working out 6 days per week and cooking all my meals (aside from my cheat meal, which I'm thinking of eliminating.. sadly). To be fair, I do believe I lost SOME body fat from the 25 pounds I gained after quitting Adderall. 
• Muscle Mass 9/10: I'm very satisfied with this aspect of my life. I finally have been able to put on an appreciable amount of muscle mass. When on Adderall, I experienced a global "plateauing" effect to all my lifts, meaning I wasn't getting any stronger on anything. I felt like lifting weights would just cause muscle damage without the repair, and would result in a soreness that didn't result in any gains. Now I'm crushing my weight lifting goals (partially shameless brag incoming), I've been able to bench press 365 pounds and deadlift 495! That's way stronger than I've ever been in my life. Then again, I don't have very much definition due to the body fat, so it's difficult to tell I lift that much by just looking at me (I know this, because during Christmas break, all my girlfriend's relatives asked me if I still worked out -_-).
• Energy Levels 6/10: This has improved over the past few months and varies from day to day. I'm able to perform tasks and duties without resembling an aimless corpse. I do possess the necessary energy to exercise, make dinner, ..uhh we'll call it spend "active time" with my GF, and do my share of chores throughout my day. At some points throughout my day, I feel very close to 100% (something I haven't felt in years). However, that brings us to my next point..
• Energy Consistency 4/10: So not as good here. The reason why I divided my overall energy into "energy levels" and "energy consistency" was because I notice (sometimes drastic) fluctuations in my energy levels throughout the day and from day to day. Now, I do understand that fluctuations in energy levels occurs in otherwise "normal and healthy" people (people who haven't abused stimulants throughout the day), but these fluctuations in my energy levels still come off as extreme at times. I tend to crash at around 3-4 in the afternoon and wake back up at around 7-8pm. When I crash, I feel like my social capabilities take a nosedive, which is a problem because I still see patients for another few hours after my afternoon crash and they wanna talk. I'm sure I come off as aloof at this time, but if that's the price I have to pay to be able to function without popping pills, then c'est la vie. 
• Sleep Quantity 8/10: This has undergone a pretty drastic improvement from only a few months ago. I can now sleep anywhere from 5-9 hours. When I first quit Adderall (and for months that followed), I would sleep for 4 hours, wake up, roll around till my alarm went off. Falling asleep at a reasonable hour.. now that's a different story, but that has been a problem that has existed before Adderall, so I can't wholly blame Adderall for that. 
• Sleep Quality 6/10: Like energy, I decided to split sleep into two categories in order to be more specific. Though I'm able to sleep for longer periods of time, my quality of sleep isn't the greatest. Again, my sleeping habits before Adderall weren't great. However, I'm comparing to my ability to sleep prior to Adderall use rather than how I sleep compared to other people. I do have a tendency to wake up every 3-4 hours to roll over for a bit, but I can fall back asleep now. I'm doing everything I can to fix my sleep habits (all the usual shit you read about online), and I do feel my sleep is gradually improving, but definitely not where I want to be yet. 
• Exercise Tolerance 8/10: Another one of these aspects of my life where I'm very satisfied. I am able to workout for ~1-1.5 hours a day at ~5-6 days per week, which is exactly what I want to be doing. I didn't give myself a 10/10 in this category because my workouts aren't great if I go during a time when my energy levels are crashing. Now, I don't exactly "feel" like working out, but I'm not sure I ever have. I mean, very few people I know who go to the gym daily "feel" like working out everyday. But it's one of those habit things, and it gets more automatic and more routine the more you just go. 

Anyway, look forward to hearing how everyone else is doing. 

 

EDIT: For the record, you shouldn't feel compelled to type out something this elaborate, a simple rating out of 10 or a one-word response would suffice.

You ever think you're gaining more weight or that the more weight you have is actual muscle and not fat? I'm sure you know muscle weighs more than fat.  

Physically after 3.5 months of no adderall I'm ok. Lazy. gained too much weight which is why i mainly didn't wanna quit ha. Fml. started eating healthy again and working out this week and I do feel better.

feel like it's a long road ahead but at least I'm heading in the right direction smh