I just wanted to thank you also Betty for posting this information regarding the importants of making our fat intake goal. I never thought that it would be difficult to make that goal but it is. I will have to get closer to my daily goal so I can keep the weight coming off. Thanks again!!!!!

BETTY, PLEASE UP DATE ME ON EATING FAT. I THOUGHT I NEEDED TO CUT DOWN ON FAT. I AM KEEPING MY CALORIES ABOUT WHERE THEY SHOULD BE....SO FAR I HAVE HAD NO SIDE EFFECTS WHAT SO EVER.AND SEEMED TO BE HUNGRY BEFORE IT'S TIME FOR MY NEXT MEAL......HELP PLEASE...SHARON 

HI DelillieJ,

You are very welcome! It will take some time to get used to actually adding fat to your diet. In the end, it will be beneficial to your weight and health to consume a balanced diet. Remember, you want to consume healthy fat and whole grains.

Keep me posted on how it's going,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Hi Mapleshar,

You only need to cut down on fat if you were consuming too much before you began. You want to consume the recommended amount of fat grams at each meal for a diet that has 30% of the calories coming from fat. It will help so give it a try.

Your hunger would not be impacted by your fat consumption. Here are some things that you can do to help curb your hunger:

• Protein - this is the only nutrient that increases your satiety. If you don't get enough protein in your meal you will feel hungry soon after eating. High sources of protein are meat, chicken, turkey, seafood, soy, nuts, tofu, eggs, cheese, beans, peanut butter, and dairy. My recommendation is to get at least 14 grams of protein at each meal. Each ounce of meat has 7 grams of protein. A 3 oz serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards and has 21 grams of protein.
• Volume - there is lots of really great research to support the fact that cutting back on the amount of food that you eat can be a problem. You want to get fewer calories, not less food. It takes a little work but it is really going to make a difference for you. One of the top researchers in this area is Dr. Barbara Rolls. She wrote the book Volumetrics Eating Plan and has a site to look at for more information http://thevolumetricseatingplan.com/. This entire concept is based on energy density. Here is an article on this: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00195

Give this a try and let me know how it goes,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 I'm going to start taking Alli tomorrow, and I'm extremely nervous about the unpleasant effects that might be uncontrollable.  With my luck, I'll be in a meeting at work in my best suit & have 'effects', or I'll be in my exercise class & have 'effects'.  So, I've been limiting my fat intake for the last 3 days (day 1 = 55g of fat, day 2 = 37g of fat, day 3 = 25g of fat).  I'm really afraid that if I eat 40g of fat a day, that I'll suffer from the 'effects'. 

Did you notice the unpleasant effects when you upped your fat intake to the Alli recommended amount?   

 mmotr87,

I know our first impulse is to do everything fat free and cut our fat intake as much as possible but as Betty says, its very important to meet your fat intake for every meal that is suggested by alli and its only when you go over that could you experience TE's. I never had any TE's last year when I started. Some do, some don't but Betty explained to me that if you take a pill( up to 72 hours in advance) and consume more fat than is recommended by alli you may experience TE's.

Also, I strongly suggest you put off taking the pill for the first time until you are not required to go anywhere, like to work. That way, you can see how your body reacts to it without undue embarrassment.

Good luck in your quest!!

 Hi Betty, Thanks for letting me know this about the fat grams in this plan. I have just started the Alli plan and this is a very important subject to know about before starting. This info does go against any other diet I've ever been on. I've stayed away from fat for years. I didn't even know there was bad fat and good fat. My fat grams for the day are 48. Does this mean I absolutely have to have 48 FAT GRAMS PER DAY???  Will almonds be ok to eat to make up for the needed fat grams? I don't want any extra calories. This is going to be hard for me to eat all this fat per day. I sure hope it works!

Please answer my question someone, thanks so much for your help.

Linda

 Thanks for this information - I've been on alli for nearly two weeks now.  I've been writing everything down and am below my fat and calorie targets. I've also been working out for 30 minutes 5 days / week for the past two weeks. I've gained 5 lbs! I just signed up for Fitday, so I'm hoping that'll help me track and target my fat and calories better. I'm disappointed that I've gained weight - I'm wondering if it's muscle?

Any advice or support is MUCH appreciated!

heather

Hi,

 I'm very new to this and thought that keeping my fat intake under 60 grams a day was a good thing and would help cause less side effects. How do you up your fat intake and NOT up everything else? I've been trying different things but nothing seems to be working.

Thank you!

 This is week 3 and I think I'm not eating enough fat. On my 3rd day on the program I had 9, yes 9 bowel movements in 1 day and it freaked me out!!! So I've been eating fat free stuff and I am now not even going to the bathroom everyday. Is that why? I am sooo frustrated.

Hi Linda,

The only way to add fat to your diet and stay within your calorie goal will be to cut back on other foods. Most people find that they consume too many carbohydrates (bread, rice, pasta, cereal, sugar, fat free products). When you are keeping food records on here or on a site that is adding up your nurtients you can see where your calories are coming from. Here are some healthy sources of fat that you can use to reach your goal:

• Flaxseeds: 1 Tbsp has 37 calories and 3 grams of fat - you can sprinkle this on your salad, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, and rice.
• English Walnut halves: 14 halves (1 oz) has 185 calories and 18.5 grams of fat- you can have them on the side with your meal or add them to your food (salad, yogurt, cereals)
• Almonds: 23 whole kernels (1 oz) have 164 calories and 14.4 grams of fat - you can have them on the side with your meal or add them to your food (salad, yogurt, cereals)
• Avocado: ½ cup sliced has 117 calories and 10.7 grams of fat - you can use this in place of mayonnaise on sandwiches or add it to your salad. Here are more ideas http://www.avocado.org/.
• Salmon: 3 oz has 175 calories and 10.5 grams of fat
• Black Olives: 1 oz black olives has 66 calories and 5.7 grams of fat
• Green Olives: 1 oz green olives has 41 calories and 4.4 grams of fat
• Mackerel: 3 oz has 223 calories and 15.1 grams of fat

The nutrition information is from Calorie King.

It may take time to get this right, but it is worth the effort for you health and weight so don't give up,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Hi Heather,

This is all about calories. Your weight can vary up to 7 lbs in one day, but when you see a gain in two weeks time it sounds like a calorie problem. It is very important to keep accurate records of the number of calories that you are consuming. I have a post right below this one about reaching your calorie goals.

Take a look at that and let me know if you have any questions,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Hi Flaoria,

People confuse diarrhea with treatment effects. Before taking alli I bet that there were times when you had bouts of diarrhea. This could be from a stomach flu or food poisoning. I recommend that you get back on the plan and reach your recommended amount of fat for each meal again. I think that you will see a difference this time.

Let me know what happens,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

I understand the concept of eating fat to lose weight and I feel that I'm doing an ok job at hitting my 15g at dinner, sometimes lunch but never breakfast.  Can someone give me some ideas of healthy things to eat to increase my fat at breakfast and lunch but not explode my calories.  I want to do this right from the beginning.  Thank you all so much!

 Can you do Weight watcher's with this program?