AP Wilsonville, OR

History was made this morning at 5 a.m. Pacific Time when Harley H dropped her yoga pants, stepped on her scale (famously nicknamed "Aunt Harriet's Scale," for the beloved Aunt who often berated Harley for overeating) and let out the whoop heard 'round Clackamas County.  "I'm under 200 pounds!  At last!" nearby residents reported hearing.  This was followed by a drawn-out cackle, said some.  This story will be updated as more details become available.

Reprinted by special request and with the permission of the 50s Forum ;-)

Big day for me

Harley

This is absolutely terrific!  I'm sure that everyone in Clackamas County has noticed too.  Seriously, this is a Big Day for you and it's a great incentive to all the others on this board.

Thanks for letting us know.

Pat

 Hi Pat.  Yes, people are noticing!  My work-out partner calls me "Almost Skinny," and my handyman keeps saying "Wow! You look great!"  And my children are proud of me.  Also, the Flirt-O-Meter is starting to work again, and I'm not entirely invisible anymore when I go about town.  Isn't that weird?

I have to say, though, that I'm at a weird point - I've had 3 evenings where I cheated a bit on the weight-loss plan.  What's THAT about?  Mostly with dark chocolate morsels, so I'm banning those particular MUFAs from the house for now. 

However, what I wanted to ask you about is this:  wouldn't it be great to have a weight-loss-familiar psychologist give a "talk" or two here on the boards?  I mean, Alli probably wouldn't want the liability for having an "Ask the Shrink" forum here, but it would be so cool to have someone here who could just present a little talk and Q & A session revolving around common issues of eating disorders, obesity, dieting, self-image, self-sabotage, etc, etc, 

I thought of this because I think there's probably a huge psychological factor to my finally getting under 200 lbs, and maybe there's something in my psyche that feels or felt uncomfortable getting there, hence the chocolate morsels episode (attendent with light TEs! ).  It's been almost like starting all over back in the beginning of July.  That's what my subconcious has been doing to me.  But I think I recognized it with minimal damage.

But it would be very cool to explore this dimension of the weight loss experience.  There must be so much a diet-saavy psychologist could offer in terms of educating us.

And I'm a big believer, especially these past few years, in the holistic self, and in becoming healthy in all dimensions: physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The support here is excellent, and I could not even have started on this path were it not for my doctor pointing me to Alli, and my tapping into the website here.

Thanks for being part of my journey.

Harley

I'm sure people are beginning to notice and it sounds like you're pleased!  While some people are pleased the closer they get to teir goal (whatever it is: making money, losing weight, getting a promotion, etc.) the more frightening it becomes, and they'll do things to short-circuit their success.  It's called "Fear of Success."  Some consider this to also be a Slef-fullfilling prophecy: "What I beileve to be true, makes it true" (I'll never earn more than $50,000.; I'm not good enough to be VP; I can't lose weight/I wasn't meant to be thin.

Your suggestion about the psychologist is a good one, and I'll definitely pass it along.  Since diet and exercise are the basic components of the alli Program dietitians and fitness specialists were chosen as moderators, and since alli is consider a medication a pharmacist was selected to round out the team of moderators.  There is also a blog that's done from GlaxoSmithKline to alli users so you might check to see if they've covered any psychological issues there.

It's great that you have the insight to recognize these issues.  It's also great to hear your MD suggested alli.  Some people on the board mentioned their docs haven't heard/don't know about alli and that's disappointing.

Cheers!

Pat

 Hey, Pat.  Glad you like my idea!  I'm thinking an online Webinar would be a good medium for such an event.  You know, the kind you sign up for, get a passcode emailed to you plus a phone number.  You watch the video or slide show online, and the audio comes over the phone.  (It's great to have a speaker phone function for this purpose, but I suppose a headset would work as well.)  There are several online businesses that provide webinar services.  In my online business, we attend them all the time.

I have another fantastic idea that I wish I could talk to GlaxoSmith about, but don't know who to contact.  It has to do with making doctors more aware of Alli, and also how to present it to their patients. 

Pat, thanks for the validation of my suspicions about my "inner fat lady" (aka my psyche).  Stephen King has his "Boys in the Basement" (what he calls his Muse), and I guess I have my "Fat Lady in the Belly" (sitting there along with Seymour, my antihero).  I think a webinar hitting on these issues would be so valuable for all of us.

I went to the doctor this morning - he's reviewing my progress once a month now - and Pat!  He's so proud of me.  I gave him my opinion about how he should present Alli to his patients (because all he told me was to take one with my highest-fat meal (which would have been disasterous!).  I told him about the great on-line program and support, that his patients should be encouraged to dive headlong into the entire program, and that they may have regrettable results if they simply add Alli capsules to their high-fat diet.  He listened and took notes.  So now I'm brimming with ideas. 

I guess once I become a fan of a product, I get very enthusiastic - a bit of a "proud owner" of the success or something like that! (I'm that way with the Love2Pet grooming tools I sell, too.  I bought one at a county fair for my dog, and loved it so much I purchased a huge lot of them and sell them in my online store!  Same with reusable grocery totes.)

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement and insights. 

Harley

I'm so happy to hear you getting such great validation from your MD!  That's not often the case as many just take weight loss for granted when they tell someone to go on a diet.  YOU should be proud of yourself too.

It's a mystery to me about why so many people come to this board and say their docs never heard of alli.  With all the advertising when alli first launched I'd think you'd have to be living under a rock to miss it.  Also, I know that the sales team actively calls on docs with alli brochures; info on the "healthcare professional" section of myalli.com etc. etc.  I'll mention this again when we have our Moderators Call next week (we all check in with one of the brand manager) twice a month to talk about what's going on among the board; get update; bring issues to the table, etc. 

Good luck with your business.  With your enthusiasm I know you'll be as successful with those products as you've been with losing weight!

Pat