My 5th week checkin is on Mon.   I gained 2lbs, lost 2lbs, gained 2lbs and lost them again last week.  I feel huge and actually had to go a size up in shorts :(  Has anyone stayed on alli after not losing and seen results on the second bottle?  I am sticking to the calorie (1200-1400) and fat grams and have added in more activity.  I get more and more depressed everytime i visit the board and see everyone else losing and complaining about it just being 6lbs!  I won't give up on losing the weight but don't want to waste the money on more alli if it's never going to work.

thanks!

I am a little bit  confused because you say you are sticking to the calorie range of 1200-1400, but Alli doesn't give us a calorie range like that.  You need to stick to whatever the calorie and fat allotment is that Alli recommended for you.  You also need to fill out the nutrition log to make sure you're not going too much over or under your allotment.  Alli works best when you follow the guidelines given to you based on your height, age, etc.  If you aren't getting enough calories and/or fat, you aren't likely to lose weight.  You should read the articles written by Betty Kovacs at the beginning of the message board to help you understand this concept.  You seem to be gaining and losing the same 2 lbs, so you need to examine your program and try to figure out what you need to do.  Don't get discouraged and quit.  We can figure out what you need to do to get you on the right track.  Keep checking your post because I am sure Betty will have some good advice for you.  You also need to measure your self when you weigh in.  If you are exercising you may be losing inches as the fat is being replaced my muscle.  Muscle weighs more than fat, so while the scale may indicate no weight loss, you may actually be getting smaller.  You could also be having water retention due to many factors, such as hormonal changes, sodium, stress, etc.  Don't get too stressed out about having to buy a size larger pair of shorts.  Sizes vary so much from label to label that this isn't really an indication that you're heavier.  We'll get this figured out and get you on the right track. 

LIz

   I stayed within the 1800 cal range the first week when i gained the weight. Then i read the articles and did the calorie thing and subtracted the 500 which made it around 1650.  So, i guess i should have said i've been staying between 1400-1600.  I have been eating around 1200 cal. a day for a couple of years now which obviously has not worked (my dr. first said 1100 then changed it to 1200)!  I make sure to get all the fat grams in everyday even if i have to add a T of peanut butter to a banana.  I will have to find time to use the nutrition log more.  Nothing i eat seems to be on the list so i have to type all the info in which keeps me from doing it everyday. Do you know if theres a way to change your calories on the log?

  Thank you, i guess i really just need encouragment more than anything else!  I've been trying to lose this weight off and on (between babies ;) for the past 15yrs!  I have never been able to lose more than 25lbs and it never stays completly gone.  I need to lose at least 50lbs and then see how i feel about that.  I'm a stay at home mom and my kids are all homeschooled, my only adult "friends" are online.  I have absolutely no free time for me!!  I will go get another bottle of alli and at least try for another month!  

Thanks again ,

Lynne

Hi Lynne,

It looks like you got some great advice. It would be very frustrating to be working at this and not see the results that you are looking for. This is definitely the place to come for encouragement whenever you need it! Try to keep track of everything that you eat and drink with the nutrition log for at least 2 weeks to see if that makes a difference.

Keep us posted on how things are going,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Looneyzsis:

I will have to find time to use the nutrition log more.  Nothing i eat seems to be on the list so i have to type all the info in which keeps me from doing it everyday. Do you know if theres a way to change your calories on the log?

I'm a believer in the nutrition log.  Even though I'm not always great about logging, I find that when I do, I see how easy it is to go over if you're not careful. My longest stretch of logging everything-everyday was a month.  But now I seem to just know what I can/can't have.  I have had a few problems going up and down with the weight, and find that I lose more when I keep up with the logging.

Also, it's taken me six months to add all the different foods I eat.  But now, I rarely have to add anything new.  It was kind of a pain but I've gotten so used to saving wrappers, nutrition labels off of things it's old hat now. Kind of like habit  And isn't that what we're looking for, a NEW/GOOD habit? 

In the beginning, I was trying to stay under a bit on the fat/cal thing, and found I wasn't losing.  It's weird, but you have to get it as close to the mark as they tell you.

To change the calorie thing on your log, you need to go to your account and edit your profile.  That was my problem when I went from 1800 to 1600 calories. 

Good luck!  Don't give up!

That first month I did gain and lose the same several lbs., but I knew I was making better choices thanks to Alli so I did buy that second bottle and now I can see I am steadily losing.  Because I have written it all down from the start, I can see that I simply do not lose the week before my peroid or the week of for some reason (maybe water retention?), but those other 2 weeks of the month make up for it!  GOOD LUCK!

  Thanks for all the help!  I gained that darn two pounds back last week,lol.  I'm meeting all my calories and fats still and definitely have added more activity.  I bought that second bottle hopefully i'll get some positive results this month! 

Lynne

Lynne,

Are you weighing and measuring everything you are eating? If not, you may be underestimating the quantity of food/calories you are eating.

 A food scale can be purchased in Walmart for under $10 and measuring cups/spoons are $1 and up for a set.

  Yes, i've been doing that for a couple of years.  Even if i eat one bite of something i will write it down!  It was difficult for me to go up to 1600 calories after staying around 1200 for so long but i'm doing good with that now. 

L

Don't give up.  When I first started taking it, I lost a little bit of weight and then went through what you did.  Gain/lose/gain/lose those few pesky pounds.  Just couldn't shake them.  Kind of like a plateau, if you will.

Then something just 'clicked'.  I started losing weight again.  For a while there I was getting discouraged, but I stuck it out and am sooo glad I did.  Hang in there, it WILL happen!   

YES!  This happened to me too!  I thought I was the only one.  I don't even remember when I started taking alli, but I gained 4 lbs the first week, lost 2, gained 2, etc.  I saw my doctor and she prescribed Meridia to take with the alli, which was supposed to help supress my appetite.  I didn't lose much weight with that either, and started feeling very agitated and irritable.  When i found out Meridia had the same mechanism as antidepressants, I was furious that I'd spent $140 on it.  I'd been taking antidepressants since I was 15, and they only ever CAUSED weight gain.  When I became pregnant nearly 2 years ago, I stopped taking antidepressants for the first time in 10 years, and I saw a DRAMATIC change in my mood swings and depression... they all but disappeared.  I had been periodically hospitalized a couple of times a year for severe depressive episodes, but since I've quit the psyc meds, nothing!  And about 2-3 weeks after I started the meridia, I began experiecing mood changes that my family started to see.

I eventually started forgetting to take pills after the first month because I saw no progress at all and was discouraged.  It also started seeming like my tolerance for fat in terms of TE's with alli was getting smaller and smaller.  I didn't have ANY TE's at all for the first month or so, and  then started having them with 15 grams of fat meals.  I woke up one morning to take a shower, and realized that I had leaked oiled during the night.... I believe that's when I quit.  I haven't taken a pill for 2 weeks, and suddenly, I'm losing weight now!  I've lost 6 pounds in the last week alone.  At one point on alli, I had gotten up to 186, but now I'm 173 today.  In the three weeks since I stopped alli/meridia, I've lost 13 pounds.  How is that possible?  Even though I dumped the pills, I did continue a low fat/low calorie plan.  A year ago, I was nearly 9 months pregnant and 150 lbs, and the 10 years before that I was 120 (despite what I ate).  I'm 26 and 5'9". 

 No dont give up I had the same problem at first, my first month I lost an amazing amount of weight the second month is when I became discouraged. I started noticing I wasn't losing any weight at all, after sitting down and thinking I realized I wasn't losing weight but I had lost inches how I do not know. But none the less it was happening, until recently my weight loss had stopped I continued taking alli and like I said my first months weight loss was over 46 lbs, my second month no weight loss and now into my third month I am losing once again, nothing like my first month but at my weight Im more than happy if its only a pound or two a week. My total weight loss in just 3 months is 56 lbs. Im so happy not with the weight loss but the way I look and the way others look at me. never give up its all in your head to get any where you have to believe. 

Well, now if I lost 46 pounds during the first month, it probably would have been very easy not to give up!!!  46 pounds would have kept me happy for 5 or 6 months. Hell, I would have been happy losing FOUR lbs in the first month, or even 2, or 1!  Instead, I gained 5.  It's not quite the same story.

I don't know what the OP's starting weight/GW or what yours is, but it seems like the heavier you are, the more dramatic the weight loss, at least initially.  Maybe we should be comparing % of total body weight loss.  I think those that may be simply overweight by 10 or 20 pounds are comparing their loss to someone who's overweight by 100 or 200, and then getting discouraged because they won't be able to write the same amazing "OH MY GOD!  IS THIS REAL?  I LOST 30 LBS THIS WEEK! YAY!" 

  Oh My Gosh!  You can't imagine how happy i would be if i had EVER been able to lose 46lbs!  Congratulations that's awesome!

  I'm back at 200 and need to lose around 60lbs :(   At this point i would be totally thrilled with 1lb a week! 

Good Luck with the weight loss this week!

L