Hi Ilano1,

I need to know your gender and height to find out what your calorie needs are.

Let me know and I'll help you figure out why you are not losing,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 Betty

I'm female, 5 ft 2" and 74 years if that makes a diference.

Thanks for anything that you can do to help

LLano1

Hi Ilano1,

I used to information that you provided to calculate your calorie needs. At 234, 5'2, and 74 years old you need to consume 1320 calories per day to lose one pound per week. Your maintenance calories came out to be 1820.  You subtract 500 calories per day to lose one pound per week so that is where the 1320 calories comes from. A 1300 calorie needs 43 grams of fat per day. Here is the site that I used for the Mifflin St. Jeor calculation http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm.

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 I'm confused about the plan and my diet.  I know this was also discussed in another forum that has closed.  According to the posts, I see the most success from people who eat a horrible diet (6 pieces of pizza?) and are losing dramatically.  In addition, the bottle says "take one pill at a meal that is high in fat" right on the bottle.  BUT it encourages a low fat diet.  I currently eat a low fat diet and exercise regularly, I was just looking for something to help me a long with those 20 last pounds.  Is Alli going to make any difference for me?  I've been on for 2 days and have had little side effects, except that I am peeing like I did when I was pregnant.  Can you help guide me?

Thanks for the information.  Please explain why the plan says 1800 calories and you figure just 1320 to loose one lb.  I don't think even with adding more exercies, doing some now, would bring me up to 1800 calories.

Confused llano1

Thanks! I have been in the program now since June 30 and have been maintaining one to two pounds a week. I have learned more about patience that I have ever new existed but it is all starting to pay off. 21 pounds to date and feeling motivated. 30 more to go but I am as positive as I have ever been.

Paul

(spencer36)

Hi Ilano1,

There are two ways to calculate calorie needs for weight loss. One is to use a standard number based on your gender, height and weight. This is a very popular way to determine calorie needs for large groups (e.g. research studies and message boards). The other way to determine calorie needs is to use a calculation that takes age, gender, height, weight, and activity level into consideration. This is more complicated to do so it's usually done in smaller groups, in one-on-one situations, or when the other method does not work. I recommend giving the number that you were assigned on here a try for a couple of weeks. When someone does not see any weight loss from that then I recommend using the calculation.

Does that clear things up for you?

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 Thanks  Betty.

I have been on the 1800 caloies for over a month now and my weight loss is very small.  In fact I haven't reached the 1800 caloies yet, I am usually in the 1400-1500 amount. Right now I have n't been able to do too much exervise due to health issues so that may be the problem.  I am going to try and keep my intake to about 1400 does that sound right?

llano1

 Betty, will you please explain what happened?  I've been on Alli since July 3, 2008. My calorie intake was 1800 and my fat grams were 60 per day.  I've been losing steadily, about 2 pounds a week.

I just checked in and all of a sudden, the calories are down to 1600 and the fat grams down to 17 per meal.  I am hypoglycemic, and i need those 200 calories and 2 grams of fat per meal buffer. I really don't want to lose any faster than I am doing. How can I reset the calorie/fat counts?

Thanks.

Leslye

 Hi All,

so I am a brand new user - actually starting today! And I have a lot of weight to loose but here is my problem: My doctors, as well as other such as trainers etc have tried to help me with the weight loss thing before but tell me after having me journal everything that I put in my mouth - that most of the time I fall way short of the calories that I am supposed to take in unless on days when I try hard and then go way overboard....what to do? My calory intake is supposed to be 1800 - here is my typical day: I start with a bowl of cereal and 1% milk at 6 am - I try to make sure I eat either oatmeal or fruit or a cereal bar or something around 10 am then eat lunch at noon - Smart Ones frozen entree, yogurt and a banana or other fruit....then I eat something when I get home, trying not to eat anything after 7 pm - my problem is that I get bored, edgy, whatever you want to call it and want to eat everything in the house at about 8pm...help!

My second problem is that I just can't make myself drink enough water....

Soooo...anyone else out there with that kind of issue?

Sunny

 I'm not the dietician, Sunny, but I remember posting something similar in the early days of my being on the plan. That was back on July 3rd. To me, in my humble and admittedly newbie experience, you need to add more calories and fat, and try to follow the menu plans as closely as possible. It seems to me that Alli really works best when you plan out your meals and snacks in advance and stick to it.

I used to be a chocoholic and I would crave sugar like nobody's business but I quickly lost the cravings when I was following the plan.  My best friend is the nutritional log, which not only calculates your calories/fat intake, but allows you to put in your own favorite brands of foods and create your own menus.  It got to the point that I couldn't eat everything on my plate for a while -- it was too much! But once I adjusted, I was never hungry again and I've lost all those cravings. Now I'm just as happy with an apple and peanut butter as I used to be with chocolate.

By playing with the nutritional log you can spread your snack calories out and schedule one for 8 p.m.  I have the same need to eat in the evenings, and before bed I usually have cereal and soy milk with fruit or almonds. I am losing about 2 pounds a week and am quite happy with that result. Of course, each one of us is diffent and all I'm doing is trying to encourage you and congratulate you for making the decision to change your lifestyle to a more healthy way.

As to the water --- how about trying to carry a water bottle and take sips often through the day?

 Hi -

I just want to say "Thank you" to Betty for starting this thread!  I have read it a couple of times, and after a couple of weeks really took it to heart - I am coming very close to my 1800 calories and making sure I have AT LEAST 13 grams of fat per meal (no more than 19).  When I am using my nutrition log and making sure i eat enough calories I have been losing 3 pounds a week.  It's a little more than you recommend, but my WW Coach mother-in-law says that it is a good rate.  I am exercisig a LOT and losing inches.

With a starting weight of 253 in July and now 230, I feel fantastic.  The carb cravings are gone - if I feel the need for something sweet I eat some fresh fruit (I love mangos and bananas) or I eat a WW Yogurt.  Often I reduce the fat in my meals enough to have to add almonds or part of an avocado to get enough fat in.  I used to hate both of them - now I LOVE them and the MUFA's seem to be helping me with the belly fat (or it'severything and I'm just buying in to media hype).

Thanks again!

Tami

 This makes sense to me - now, I have a question: Does this explain why I have people that I know are much "bigger" than I am tell me how much they weigh and it is less than I weigh? I know muscle weighs more than fat but I am not muscular in any sense of the word.

 Another question - i have been trying to train myself away from fatty foods - now I have to add fat to meet my goals. How does this prepare me for the day when I have lost my weight and want to maintain without ALLI?

Hi Lmabry9999,

There are people whose BMI may say that they are overweight, but they do not have excess body fat. You can have a lot of muscle in place of the fat and that would mean that the BMI isn't important.

The goal of this plan is to learn to eat a balanced diet. The guidelines for our diets are to consume less than 30% of our calories from fat. Once you reach your weight goal you will need to adjust your calories so that you stop losing. You may do this by sticking with the amount of fat that you are consuming without taking alli. The calories that you would not be excreted from alli would be the ones that put you at your maintenance level. My next post on reaching your recommended amount of fat will give you more details about this.

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD