Hi everyone,

I want to start the Alli program, but I am terrified of the treatment effects! I work a professional job where the rest room is a good distance away from my desk. I am also frequently in meeting throughout the day and the idea of experiencing one of these effects during a meeting or anytime during the workday scares me so badly that it's kept me from trying it so far. I'm afraid that something will happen to really embarass me in front of my co-workers or clients.

I have a similar routine with food every work day...go into work and have a bowl of cereal with skim milk, so I'm not so concerned with a side effect from that meal. It's lunch I'm worried about. I usually will have a microwaveable 'healthy' meal and maybe some low fat cottage cheese or carrots as well. I eat lunch with clients out at least once a week, so that will be more difficult to monitor the fat and calorie content.

I am getting married in 7 months and would be at a healthy body weight with 15lbs lost. A friend worded it correctly that I am 'thick', and I'm ready to change that. I exercise consistently, at least 4 times a week. I also don't have terrible eating habits, as I avoid fried foods and I've recently started becoming really conscious about what I eat and drink. I haven't been able to change my body on my own so far these efforts, so I really think Alli could help me get there, I'm just so afraid of embarassing myself. Sorry for the long explanation, but I really appreciate any advice you have! 

Hi Abashore18,

Many people are concerned about treatment effects before beginning this and find that they are not a problem when they follow the plan. As long as you are overweight or obese you can lose weight with this plan. The key is to consume fat at every meal. Your body needs fat so cutting it out is never a good idea. You are given a fat gram goal that you need to reach at each meal. As long as you are under 18 grams of fat per meal you should not have any problems with treatment effects. I have a post on the beginning of this board about reaching your fat grams. Take a look at that for more details.

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

I have been taking alli 2-3 times a day for a year now and have never had any treatment effects at all.   As long as you stay under 20 grams per meal, you'll be fine.  My target is 15 grams, so it's not a problem to stay under 20.  You just have to know exactly how many grams of fat you are eating.  Don't guess, approximate, estimate, or round off the fat grams or just say to heck with it; that's what can get you into trouble.  I measure food in a measuring cup, weigh it on a scale, and count out pieces and have been doing that almost every meal for a year.  I also record every calorie and fat gram I eat and calculate my weekly averages.  IMO, alli is not for people who can't be precise and consistent. 

If I don't know for sure how much fat I am eating, like in a restaurant or at a party, I don't take a pill.  Usually in restaurants, I chose something that is low fat and skip the pill, and at parties I eat very, very little or I skip the pill.  At home, I have to make an effort to be sure I am eating enough fat for the pill to benefit me. 

Eating a lot of fiber can mitigate any treatment effects you might have.  I eat a ton of fiber.   

If you only need to lose 15 pounds, are you really medically overweight?  Is your
BMI in the normal, overweight or obese category?  The reason I ask is that alli is meant for people who are overweight or obese and usually that means people who need to lose a lot more weight than 15 pounds.  If your weight is normal but you still want to lose 15 pounds, you don't need alli.  Some other diet will work better for you. 

Good luck.  Alli works if you can follow the instructions and stick with it. 

Caroline