Everytime people ask me how I lost the weight I tell them that I learned how to eat and that Alli and this great web site really made it all possible.  But many of these friends just want to talk about the treatment effects.  Or worse yet, they want to tell me what they are "trying."  Anyhow, I was just thinking today about  just about every single diet product in the world and what a rip off they are, simply because they merely help you lose weight (at the best) and virtually none of them teach you how to keep it off. 

So for anyone who thinks they can forego the learning how to eat properly and just take any product, including Alli, they are just throwing away their money.  Most will help you lose a little weight but how many months or years do you plan to take the product?  It is insane how we allowed ourselves to be deluded into believing that a bottle of this or that was the answer to our problem.  The Alli plan is not about just using a product to carry away a percentage of the fat you take in.  It is about that and learning how to eat less, in the right proportions. 

I am on maintenance, having achieved my modest goal.  Obviously this message is just my sharing my thinking on what Americans think of as dieting.   Like myself, literally all of you are fortunate that you made the choice to join this site and to use Alli.  So this was not meant for you but just to help you when someone tells you that they are using a good product and losing.  I have learned to tell them, if they are really interested, that they can lose weight with or without any product but that only by learning the science of how we gain and lose weight.  Then when I explain the reason for using the Alli with the proper eating, until they get to their desired weight, they begin to understand.  Thanks for reading and I want to say that I am so proud of all of you and for you not to give up because we are humans and humans are imperfect.  No matter what happens, get back up and start the next meal or at least the next day.  Jim

Bravo Jim!

Nicely stated! Congratulations of making it to your goal weight!

I get frustrated when people don't follow Alli directions (or even read the literature or use the Nutrition Log) and then post here about Alli "not working" for them! We all have to learn it is US who have to work WITH Alli!

Obviously, YOU get it! I think everyone can 'get it' too when they are TRULY ready to lose weight. That means many things, one of which is getting real with what, how much, and WHY you eat the things you select to eat! A reality check is the first thing that needs to be done if one wants to lose and KEEP weight off!

I wish you all the best on your maintenance plan!

Carol Joy

Thank you Jim!! Could not have said it better!! Last "diet" I went on was in 1980 and almost lost my life because of it!! Spent two months in the hospital!! Since then, I have not tried another diet!! Believe it or not the person who told me about Alli has not started the plan yet, even after her doctor told her to!!  She could have started when I did, seven months ago, and would  be so much healthier and thinner now!!  Oh well, let the dieters waste their money and time, I am in this for the rest of my life!! Once again Jim, you are my man!!  Hugs,

Elia

Thanks so much Carol Joy and Elia.  Great minds think alike.  Or so we have convinced ourselves.  LOL.  Jim

Jim, you got that right!! Hugs to all,

Elia

Yes. you have said what everyone on this plan is thinking. Im sick of taking shortcuts...all shortcuts do is give you false hopes and a lot of frustration when you start to get off the "diet". I was on Atkins for 6 months when i was younger and I have to tell you it made me feel like I was anorexic. I had no ENERGY to eat- or to care on what when in my mouth---i would SLEEPWALK to the kitchen at night and eat every carb in sight and when i woke up the next morning I would feel like I had a hangover! Then id see the wrappers everywhere and cry until I had to go to school. I STARVED myself for so long and even though I lost 30 pounds- I couldnt enjoy myself or how I looked because I felt so run down and hungry all the time.

With this new lifestyle I get the same results- only healthy-er and i am 100 times more energetic then I was with Atkins. I feel this lifestyle will add years to my life- and not "shortcut me" into clogging my heart with grease and take away the value to my life. I enjoy seeing my pants fit and my skin looks amazing from all of the vitimins.

Alli and this site has changed my life in so many positive ways.

Im glad you posted this~!

Ali

Jim,

Congratulations on meeting your goal, and I hope one day in the near future i can also say I have met my goal, with not only the help of Alli, but learning to eat healthier, and correctly. You guys and gals are a great support system on here.

Thank you Ali and Jennifer for your threads to this subject.  I asked for folks to send me the money they would be wasting but actually, truth be known, I would like to have just half of the money I have spent on the junk diets.  And good planning to both you two smart people.  Jim

Yay Jim, you've done it again - put into words so many of the same thoughts I have.  Just yesterday somebody I haven't seen for about a year told me how good I look and asked what I was doing.  I told her that alli had done so much more than supply me with a fat pill, it had taught me how to change my life, along with giving me a weight-reduction plan.  I told her I have been on Nurti System-type diets that hand you the food to eat, and you lose weight, but when you're done you go right back to your old habits, having learned nothing.  I told her if you don't do anything else, read labels, track the fat grams and calories you consume everyday.  You can do that without alli, but it will give you a huge jumpstart.  I didn't push alli, I pushed what I have learned from alli, and suggested she look at what the program offers, (I didn't want to hear the oily discharge lecture).  Thanks again for sticking with everybody even though you've achieved maintenance, I hope you're here for life, literally.

Judy

 Hi Jim,

   I guess I'm what they call a 'newbie' and am having a hard time negociating the Alli site. All I really want at this point is to count my calories and fat grams. Did you find a good site to do that. I don't have the time to look up everything and to also read all the labels, weigh and so forth. Any suggestions? Thank you, KB

Hi KB,

If you are having trouble with this site you can try www.fitday.com or www.calorieking.com. You need to be careful about what site you use. Many of them get their nutrition information from what their members enter and that can lead to errors. You want a site that uses the USDA Nutrient Database as their source of information and both of those sites do.

Good luck,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 I found this really neat caloire/exercise counter application for my phone.  now i just put in what ever i am eating and it tracks it daily.  I have my phone with me where ever i go and it is so handy to just enter the information.  I it does not have somehing listed you can always add it yourself.  But mostly it has had everything I look for down to brand names of products like a certain yogurt or bread I am eating.  You can also put in any exercise stuff in that you like such as walking.ect. Just wanted to share.