I agree Betty - you look like a model :)

I've just started the Alli program and have yet to record my first weigh in.  However, I am a Weight Watcher lifetime member.  Weight Watchers had taught us that if you don't meet your calorie target (thus the point target) that your body thinks it's starving and goes in to "starvation mode" - making weight loss harder.  When you eat your target calories, your metabolism works and you get the weight loss you are working for. I found this to be true - the hard way.

I also agree that when you lose too quickly you lose muscle along with fat - just like you are saying. But I wanted to bring this perspective to light also.

I had been on Weight Watchers so long, that I needed something different to follow to help me along. I love the recipes with the Alli program and the fact that it'll help me lose more weight than dieting alone. Last week I followed the menu's but didn't take the pills, just to get my fat intake down. This week I've started the pills and haven't experienced any side effects - so I think I'm doing pretty good.  I've gone from 185 to 178. A 7 pound loss so far and have to Friday yet to post my first loss.

 Hi Tami,

I am not sure if you still check back on here. Just in case you do I wanted to see how you were doing. How have you been doing the past couple of months?

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Hi Moldysgirl,

Welcome to the board!! I think that it's good go give this a try. The concept of a balanced diet is the same here and with WW. This will give you a little more focus on fat, which will cause you to have to cut back on something else. Most people find that they are consuming too many carbs and cut back in order to make room for the fat calories. It's really worth it for your weight and health. Be sure to consume healthy sources of fat and whole grains.

I wish you lots of success,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Hello,  I am confused about a couple of things. I started yesterday. My goals were set @

breakfast 300 cal/9 grams of fat

Lunch 500 cal/15 grams of fat

Dinner 600 cal/18 grams of fat

Below is my intake for the day. Did I do it right?

Breakfast 302 cal/7 grams of fat

Lunch 340 cal/9 grams of fat

Dinner 537 cal/12.40 grams of fat

AM snack - 140 cal/3 grams of fat

pm snack - 100 cal/3 grams of fat

 Hi, Betty!

Yes - I read this thread whenever there is a new post.  I got a bad cold with chest congestion for about a month, but managed to maintain through it.  I am currently down 32 lbs at 221, and have been fluctuating for about a week between that and 219.  I have been sticking to my 1800/60 fat/calorie count for the most part.

I am starting to be a little tired of the whole thing and I am struggling to keep on track right now.  I know I can do it, my success speaks for itself, but let's just say patience is a virtue that I'm lacking.  :)  I wanted to be down another 5-10 lbs by now and it's hard to be behind my goal.  I was hoping to be under 200 by the end of the year, but now I'm hoping for it by the end of January.  When I get complete below 218 and reach another alli mini goal I think it will be a little easier.

I've increased my workouts since I recovered to 4 days of Elliptical trainer for 35 mins and a little bit of weights a couple of times a week and 1/2 hour ice skating lessons and 1/2 hour skating practice each Saturday.  I've lost fat in my back, my butt, my chest, my arms, my legs, my face, but my baby belly doesn't seem to be budging.  My skinny 7 year old daughter was 11 lbs at birth and I looked like I was carrying twins.  My son was only just under 9 lbs, but I carried him 4 weeks less than my first one.  I'm worried that no matter how much I lose I'm always going to have this huge sagging belly and it's hard not to give up sometimes.

I'm having some real emotional battles, but I get back up each morning and try to do it a day at a time.  I'm not sure how I will handle the holidays, but I have been very purposefully trying to make my new eating habits an easy, but permanent lifestyle change.  That includes some self-forgiveness if I mess up.

I'm glad you said something because I was thinking the other day maybe I just need to totally cut my calories to give myself a metabolic jump start, but seeing you address me specifically got me out of that frame of mind.

If you have any words of wisdom, I would be happy to take some right now.  Still plugging away - slow and steady.  I'm 1/3 of the way to a "Normal" BMI and I have to keep reminding myself of that.

-Tami

Hi Tami,

I really do understand how difficult this can be. The thing to remember about not being at your goal right now is that when you originally set your goal you couldn't predict what life would be like for you. If you lived in a world where the only thing that was happening was your weight and you got to spend all of your time and energy working on losing it you would be at your goal. Most of us will never have that luxury. This means that things can and will get in the way so it's important to take all of that into consideration when you are evaluating where you are at. Try to change your focus to what you have accomplished. It's much easier to stay motivated with positive reinforcement. Think about how you teach your children. Praising them and acknowledging what they do well works much better than pointing out their flaws. You will get there so just keeping taking one step in front of the other.

How does all of this sound?

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Thanks, Betty -

Celebrating my successes is exactly what I am trying to do.  I've lost 5 inches around my hips, 4 inches around my waist and 11/2 inches around my thighs.  I also have pulled out 2 pairs of jeans from my "maybe someday - YEAH RIGHT" box, and the someday is now!  I realize that's a HUGE success and it is what's keeping me going right now.  I am still taking my prescription and breakfast, lunch and snack are easy because I have a great routine with the daycare.  My kids are cheering me on, too.  I worry about my skinny daughter going the opposite direction with this, so about once a week (usually Friday night) I make a "poor choice" and let her know that it's okay if it's in moderation.

It would be great to have nothing else to concentrate on but my weight loss.  If life would allow for me to take the time off, I would apply for The Biggest Loser every season until I got on.  I'd love to spend 2-3 hours at the club each time I went.

Honestly these message boards keep me going.  I at least look at 30-something Tuesday Weigh-ins and Fit by 40 every day - there are some phenomenal people on these boards.  I wonder what the success stats are for alli with the message boards and all these great tools versus just taking the pill.  I understand that my own success so far falls under the "results not typical" category, but there are so many on these boards with the same or better stories.

Thanks for your support!

-Tami

The inital recommended daily calorie intake for me is 1800 calories.  I am a little confused by this.  When I was gaining / maintaining weight I was eating about 1800-2000 calories a day.  My nutritionist says that I should aim more for 1400-1500 calories a day to lose weight.  With about 45-60 minutes a day of cardio/exercise 4-5 times a week.  I usually tend to eat about 1300-1600 calories a day...and workout for about 1 hour a day (treadmill, elipitical, the firm videos) 5-7 days a week.  I understand you should eat more pending the more active you are.  But I am a little confused in the difference in calorie intake recommmended.  I've gotten used to eating smaller ...and it would be soo hard to make myself eat 1800 calories a day again.

 I've only been using Alli for about 1 month now. So far in the first 2 weeks I lost 9lbs (not what I expected!!). Now I've kinda slowed down, but in this first month I have lost a total of 10lbs! As I'm reading through these posts, I'm just wondering how to maintain losing 1-2lbs a week. It kinda makes sense but then it doesn't. I went to that site you suggested to calculate my maintenance, which is 1831 calories/day. Now if I want to lose 1lb a week I would have to either take in 500 less calories a day or burn off 500 less calories a day (if i understand it rite). Now if I want to lose 2lbs a week then I have to most likely do a combination of eating less and excersing each day or else I would starve. Please just let me know if I understand all of that correctly. But I think I'm running into the problem of not reaching the calories that Alli recommends. Is this ok? Won't that help me lose weight? I'm not intentionally doing it...it just happens. I have the same problem with trying to reach my fat intake per meal, but if I'm struggling to come up with fat grams I will just eat a small amount of peanuts (just enough to bring me to where I should be for fat intake). I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything that I think is good, but in actuality it's doing more harm that good. As long as I'm seeing a steady decrease in lbs each week I think I'll be ok. But like I said earlier, I've already slowed down how much I'm losing. Can you plateau already in only a 1 months time? Lots of questions!! Just trying to do it right this time!

Thanks!!!

Hi Nala21aleeka,

You can lose additional weight the first couple of weeks due to water loss. That doesn't mean that you didn't lose any fat. It just explains why the loss was higher in the beginning. Your weight can vary up to 7 lbs in one day so you may not see any weight loss one week and then a 4 lb loss the next week. It's best to watch your weight over time instead of just week to week.

You want to focus on your diet as your way to cut 500 calories per day. It's much easier to do that by cutting back with food then to rely on activity to do that. I like to leave activity calories as bonuses. As long as you are within 200 calories of your goal you are fine. If you see that you are losing 3 lbs or more each week for more than 2 weeks in a row it would be time to increase your intake.

How does this sound?

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 Thanks! So far so good.

 HI

I am new to Alli as of this week, but now I am confused. When I read the start up material and answered the questions it was my impression that I need to eat 1200 cal and 36 fat grams per day.[ Current weight 135 with a goal of 115]

Am I to understand from the "Calories by Betty Kovacs" that I need to reduce my intake by 500 cal per day.

 Yeah, I am a confused now too.

Hi Everyone,

You have two options for determing your calorie needs for weight loss. One option is to use the calorie amount given you when you registered on here. That amount was calculated based on the information that you provided and the 500 calories were already subtracted. This is a standard calculation used for many programs and studies. As long as you are losing weight with that amount then stick with it.

Some people have found that they were not losing weight with the amount given on here. This is the time when they need to get a more specific calculation done to determine their needs. That was what the website that I provided was for. That website gives the Mifflin St. Jeor calculation. You can get your maintenance calories from there and then subtract the 500 calories per day. For some reason that site doesn't use 500 calories so the weight loss calories that they provide are too low.

Does this clear things up for everyone?

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

 Well i am frustrated, 12 days, 1600 cals, watch everything, log everything and lost ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!

not ver encouraging, any thoughts???