You can take Alli with low-fat meals (even if it is below the 15 grams of fat). The only difference that taking Alli with low-fat meals is that you are blocking less calories. If you are eating too low a fat meal then you may choose not to take Alli just because of cost considerations but Alli will block calories from fat whether you eat 5 grams of fat or 15 grams of fat. The recommendation is to take Alli with the three meals that contain the most fat and to not take Alli with when you have eaten no fat (because it won't do anything) and to not take Alli when you eat a high fat meal (unpleasant side effects).

Wow! This is great! I started my low cal low fat diet the other day and bought some lean cusines and smart ones for the freezer but when I got to the site today I got worried that maybe if I didnt follow the meal planner and lists I would not do as well.  Its good to see that I can eat a lean cusine for lunch and/or dinner and still be sucessful! I dunno about you guys but I am totally strapped for time, I'm a full time student and work as a pizza delivery driver and find it hard to pack lunch and dinner and eat breakfast on the run when trying to eat healthy, all the food suggestions need to be cooked and can be taken along very easily does anyone have any suggestions other than the freezer dinners (which I LOVE, dont get me wrong, but you can't really live on freezer dinners alone!) 

Thank you and best of luck to everyone! :D

Like you I am a full-time student and I also work (full-time as well). I can completely relate to being strapped for time. The only solution that has worked for me is really being committed to making a plan for my meals.

I pick a day that is relatively time friendly and I cook up a couple of easily portable dishes (like pasta or chicken and veggies). After everything has cooled, I pack it up into individual containers so that I can just grab my leftovers for lunch and go. By planning ahead I am able to break up my meals between things like Lean Cuisines (which I definitely keep on hand for when I am short on time or have no desire to cook) and real home cooked foods.

Also, investing in a slow-cooker or Crockpot is a great timesaver because you can just toss something in the Crockpot to cook while you are at work or school and by the time you get home you have a meal that you spent about 5-10 minutes time preparing.  

Hope this helps!

Thats a great idea! I'm always trying to find foods I can make quick in the morning or night before but portioning out pasta and such foods for the week thats awesome! I also love the crockpot idea, and I have one....locked in the trunk of my old car and kinda stuck right now...but i do have one that i'm hoping to get to by the end of the week! ;)

Thanks for your help!

You might also try for days that you are totally strapped for time and didnt get a chance to cook the oven roasted chick breast 6 inch from subway, its our list of low fat iteams and is really good w/ some veggies and little mustard!

The Lean Cuisines have been my saving grace!  

I'm a stay-at-home Mom, which can be WORSE for dieting than having a busy job or school because the kitchen is in the house with me ALL DAY   ;-)  

I have been pretty good at finding the Lean Cuisines with the low fat AND low carbs.  (I don't buy any with over 5 grams of fat).  Alot of times, these meals load up on the carbs to make up for the missing fat, I think.  Smart Ones are okay too, but I prefer Lean Cuisine.  My faves are:  Spaghetti with meat sauce, Spaghetti with Meatballs, Roasted Turkey with dressing, and one I only found once, the Vegetable Eggroll.  I eat Lean Cuisines for both lunch and dinner with a salad and a treat of the Pineapple Angel Food Cake (in the desserts section of this site) or a Jello Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate Pudding cup (only 1 gram of fat).

Mmmm!

I don't like eating pasta, so I go with Banquet's selections.  The ones I buy are BBQ chick dinner, Chicken fried steak dinner, Turkey with dressing dinner, or the Mexican dinner.  I buy the Dragon eggrolls, 5 to a pack at Walmart, they are 100 calories each with 2 gms of fat for a giant eggroll, just nuke it for 90 seconds, yum!  Tampabayb