A light bulb just went on, I just understood that if more calories come from my fatty foods then carbs and protein that's when alli works the best. So I'm definitly revamping my daily menu. I don't really like the menu alli plan offers. I may have been raised in north america but my immidiate bakground is African, and the type of foods we eat are definitly different from what alli plans for me. Now that I know what to do, I will definitly be on track with my weight loss. I'm glad I figured this out now. Thanks everyone.

Ok, this is week 3 for me and reading all these posts I am getting confused.  I have lost 6 lbs. so far.  What I am getting confused about is reaching the fat grams per meal.  I can not do this by eating fatfree or low fat items.  Am I suppose to be going over the 15 grams per meal in order for the alli pill to work?  Am I suppose to have treatment effects for this to work &help me lose more weight?  Most meals I consume are from 5-10 grams of fat and stay below on my calories.  I know that I am eating better these days and am dropping a pound or so each week but I do not have a complete understanding of reaching the fat grams.

HELP!
***DAZED & CONFUSED

I am just wondering,have you ever heard of someone having a hard time reaching their recommended fat grams? I know it sounds funny, but i struggle to get up to the amount of fat grams im supposed to be eating most meals,except dinner. Breakfast and lunch are a challenge for me to get to that many grams of fat. Who knew an overweight person would have this problem! Anyone with any ideas or have the same problem,......talk to me

Nancy

I, too, have a very hard time reaching my fat grams.  I am not that overweight, but, for my height, I am.  So, every extra pound shows.  This is my 10th day on Alli and I have not lost a pound.  I've tried very hard to reach my amount of calories and fat, but, it has been harder than I thought it would be.  I wonder when I'll see any loss?????, if I will.......

Discouraged, Connie

I've only been on Alli for 10 days and have not lost a pound.  After reading what you said about lowering my calories, that looks like what I need to do.  Right now my calorie intake is 1200 with 39 fat grams a day.  If I lower it by 200, should my fat gram be the same?  Need advice...

 Connie

sashacat45:

kmcknight:

 

This is kind of an add-on question. So, I would want to look at labels to find foods low in carbs rather than just fat, because the pill does not reduce carbs, but does fat. Does that make sense? Or am I making it harder for myself?

I have found that if I just target the proper calories and fat that the carbs always come in at the target range.  I do buy some low carb products, but do so for the lower calories and increased fiber.  So I am usually at the lower end of the carb target.  Good Luck.

You don't need to worry about carbs with alli.  The main concern is calories and fat.  If you're not following the Sample Menus precisely, that's fine, just try to follow the general pattern of the menus.  They're designed around 30% total calories from fat; 20% protein and 50% carb.  That's similar to the diet of the American Heart Association, and includes a variety of nutrients for good health -- as well as weight loss.

I hope this helps.

Pat

Please post additional questions on the main portion of this message board.  Feel free to mark it "Pat, please reply" if you'd like me to answer. My colleague, Sylvia Melendez (who is terrific!) also covers the board.  We don't check this thread frequently as we meant the top post for information only -- but we weren't clear about that.

sashacat45:

kmcknight:

 

This is kind of an add-on question. So, I would want to look at labels to find foods low in carbs rather than just fat, because the pill does not reduce carbs, but does fat. Does that make sense? Or am I making it harder for myself?

I have found that if I just target the proper calories and fat that the carbs always come in at the target range.  I do buy some low carb products, but do so for the lower calories and increased fiber.  So I am usually at the lower end of the carb target.  Good Luck.

You don't need to worry about carbs with alli.  The main concern is calories and fat.  If you're not following the Sample Menus precisely, that's fine, just try to follow the general pattern of the menus.  They're designed around 30% total calories from fat; 20% protein and 50% carb.  That's similar to the diet of the American Heart Association, and includes a variety of nutrients for good health -- as well as weight loss.

I hope this helps.

Pat

Please post additional questions on the main portion of this message board.  Feel free to mark it "Pat, please reply" if you'd like me to answer. My colleague, Sylvia Melendez (who is terrific!) also covers the board.  We don't check this thread frequently as we meant the top post for information only -- but we weren't clear about that.

Hi Connie, I'm not 100% sure but I believe I read somewhere on the message board that we should not go under 1200 cal/day as this will make it hard to lose weight. Can a dietitian confirm this for me?

 Anette

Yes, that's correct.  Check the post after this about "why you need to reach your calories."

Pat 

anethaney:

Hi Connie, I'm not 100% sure but I believe I read somewhere on the message board that we should not go under 1200 cal/day as this will make it hard to lose weight. Can a dietitian confirm this for me?

 Anette

anethaney:

A light bulb just went on, I just understood that if more calories come from my fatty foods then carbs and protein that's when alli works the best. So I'm definitly revamping my daily menu. I don't really like the menu alli plan offers. I may have been raised in north america but my immidiate bakground is African, and the type of foods we eat are definitly different from what alli plans for me. Now that I know what to do, I will definitly be on track with my weight loss. I'm glad I figured this out now. Thanks everyone.

The alli diet is designed around a diet that is 30% total calories from fat, 20% protein and 50% carbohydrate.  That's similar to the diet of the American Heart Association.  And that is the balance you should strike to achieve.

While you don't have to follow the alli menus precisely, they're a nice pattern for how to distribute calories and fat throughout the day -- and get a variety of health foods.

Not having enough fat will definitely slow sown weight loss, but it shouldn't be the other extreme either.

Please post additional questions on the main portion of this message board.  Feel free to mark it "Pat, please reply" if you'd like me to answer. My colleague, Sylvia Melendez (who is terrific!) also covers the board.  We don't check this thread frequently as we meant the top post for information only -- but we weren't clear about that.

Pat 

So how do you add fat without adding too many calories??

I eat oatmeal and a fruit for breakfast - not meeting fat. intake

fruit for a snack 

smart ones for lunch - and a piece of fruit = about maybe 1/2 of fat intake

fruit for snack

smart ones for supper - close to fat intake

so if I reach my fat intake goal of 15 grams of fat per meal, and accidentally go over say 3 grams, am I going to experience treatment effects?  Just wondering because in the comanion guide on page 20, people who can have an intake of 1800 per day can have up to 19 grams of fat per meal...do they always experince treatment effects since they are eating more than 15 grams of fat per meal?

Hope that makes sense.

~J

Glad this helped.  

Pat

Please keep in mind that you'll always get a faster reply by posting on the regular Dietitians Message Board.  Originally, this post about "Why you need to reach your fat grams" was intended as information only -- but we weren't clear about that :-)!

maryskinny:

So how do you add fat without adding too many calories??

I eat oatmeal and a fruit for breakfast - not meeting fat. intake

fruit for a snack 

smart ones for lunch - and a piece of fruit = about maybe 1/2 of fat intake

fruit for snack

smart ones for supper - close to fat intake

It takes a little juggling around but after a while it will become second nature.  While you don't have to follow the Sample Menus precisely they're a nice guide for how to distribute calories and fat throughout the day at each calorie level.

However, in your case it looks like you have lots of room to add calories.  Even if you're at the 1,200 calorie level your intake looks very low to me.   There's no dairy, few grains, and vegetables, AND fat.

Take another look at the very first post on this thread.  It's great information on why having too little fat will hold back weight loss.  The same is true of calories.  Too few calories will bring weight loss to a halt at some point.  So you might want to take a look at the other top post on "Why you need to reach your calories".

If you round out your menus you'll come closer to both your calories and fat recommendations.

Pat