Hi, there. I just bought Alli today (Friday) after researching it a bit over the past week. I plan to start the pills Tuesday. I am excited to be on the road to losing some weight as I am at my heaviest weight ever (barring pregnancies but if I gain 12-15 more pounds I can hit that high -ugh). Anyway, I never had a weight problem as a child, teenager or young adult. I even lost all the baby weight after both pregnancies so I can't blame my kids - lol. Somehow though, after that period of time I started gaining. The problem is two-fold. One is that in my 20s & early 30s I exercised a ton. I was a long distance runner and always made time for the gym. The past three years I've had an on-and-off (mostly on) injury in my Achilles tendon that has prevented me from running. Sure, I can bike ride, swim, etc. but let's just say I had a hard time transitioning to a new sport. I also started working more hours as my kids got older and stopped taking time for myself to get to the gym. Then my eating habits started to slip. I used to eat very healthfully for the most part, even though I ate a lot. When you exercise like I was you can afford to eat a lot and slip up sometimes. When you don't, you can't. Slowly, the pounds crept up on me. Now I am 40 and it is time to take my body back!

Anyway, I'm a little worried about treatment effects. I guess most people are when they start this program. I've been reading posts from others about their experiences and that has been helpful. I read stories of people who don't "go" for 2 weeks at a time and am starting to worry that I am the extreme opposite. I've always "gone" 2-3 times a day. Hopefully, this does not mean I'm at increased risk for treatment effects. It's just the way my body works.

Thanks for reading and I'll keep you all posted on my progress and experiences.

E

 Today is day one of cutting out fat for me. I plan on taking the first pill on Monday and am also very nervous. I have heard a lot about the treatment effects but also about the successes using this program. I am 51 years old and have battled weight gains for most of my life. I quit smoking 5 months ago (yeah me) and gained a few pounds. Totally worth it IMHO. I now want to rid myself of the weight and get my body back to where I was happy with it. I am getting more physically active and do try and watch what I eat but my problem is the snacking. I constantly want to be putting something in my mouth and that something is usually chocolate. So Im ready and willing to give this a try and am hoping that the fear of treatment effects will keep me on the straight and narrow.

Suze

 Hi girls.  Today is my one week anniversary taking Alli.  All I can say is that I'm blown away on how good I feel.  The idea of eating 18 grams of fat per meal will surprise you.  I don't feel at all like I'm missing something.  Suze...if you want a snack just plan for it.  Fat free chocolate pudding is my favorite (the small cups). 

Good luck!  There are many wonderful people like you and me in these blogs and they always have great advice.

Have a healthy day!

Ela

 I agree with you Ela

I have been on Alli since 7-26-08 and I feel great !  I still eat most of what the family eats.  My son and I went to McDonalds... he had a big mac... I had a cheeseburger kids meal with apple dippers and a diet coke.  That is well within our limits and I didnt feel like I was missing out on anything.  The other day we went to Wendy's and I had a cheeseburger kids meal and they have orange slices, and a diet coke.... again I didnt miss out on anything.   I used to eat the big mac... but not anymore. We just dont need to eat like that !!  Not if we want to be healthy.

I bought the orville redenbacher microwave popcorn 100 calorie bags. The one that is "kettle corn, slightly sweet, slightly salty"  It tastes great without butter. I used to smother my popcorn with greasy butter in the past. But this kind tastes great without all the grease.  And the quantity is alot, so I can watch TV and snack on a bag of it.  It lasts through the tv show.

DebbieT

Today is day one of my low-fat reduced calorie diet. I'm doing that for 3 days and then starting alli. So far so good. I'm at 20g fat and it's almost 4 pm. I really can't see even eating another 20g fat let alone 30-40g before the day ends.

Do you guys take an alli with a meal if it is very low fat? I know if it is no fat you don't need to but what if it very low fat. For example, this morning I had a bowl of cheerios with skim milk and oj for breakfast. I'm thinking for meals 5g and under I may not take one thereby saving money (making the capsules last longer) and lessening the chance of TEs. Am I off on my thinking here?

E

Hi E,

Welcome to Alli.  Here you will find support and a great deal of information to help get you and keep you at your goal weight as well as a healthiest you.

One 60mg alli capsule will block about 25% of the fat in a meal that has been consumed with that dose.  For optimal results you should be eating well balanced meals where 30% of the calories come from fat.

Many people do opt to skip a dose if the meal is less than 5 grams of fat and save it for a higher fat gram meal.  The choice is really yours. You can take or skip the pill, or even decide to increase the fat (adding some nuts  or whole eggs). You can make this work for you!  

TEs occur when you are going over the fat gram limit. 

Hope this helps.

Sophia De Monte RPh

Thanks for the info, Sophia.

This is day 3 of the low fat diet and tomorrow at lunch (breakfast is very low fat already) I start alli. Woo hoo!

Saturday and Sunday I ate the low fat diet no prob.

Today I took the kids and we got together with a friend and her kids for mini golf and lunch. We went to Rainforest Cafe. We decided on the spur of the moment so I didn't have time to research a healthy meal. I debated over a grilled chicken sandwich, a salad or a veggie burger. I went with the veggie burger topped with onion, tomato, mushrooms and lettuce with no cheese. I ate it open face and ate only half the bun. I didn't eat the potato chips that came with it. So far so good. Then the six of us decided to split a Volcano, this huge brownie and ice cream sparkler-lit creation. I had 1/6 of it which was probably 1/4 cup vanilla ice cream, a tablespoon of whip cream and a brownie slice about 1" wide and 4" long.

I logged it all into my nutrition log. That brownie had 10 g of fat alone! The ice cream another 3 and the whip cream another 3! Combined with the main meal that totaled 22 grams of fat!!! Who knew?? I would've guess 12-15 for the whole thing. Thank goodness I did not start alli at lunch today! I did fine on average for the day but my tummy would not have been pleased after lunch.

I think what I'm going to do is research lots of restaurants in my area and make a list of what is healthy to eat at each one along with fat grams and calories. I'll stick it in my purse or car and then it will be handy for spur of the moment dining.

E

Well, it's day three on alli and day 6 of the low-fat, reduced-calorie diet. So far it is awesome! I haven't officially weighed in yet since my first weigh in date is next Tuesday but I got on the scale and saw I'd lost three pounds already! I feared my digestive system would be in turmoil from alli but I really don't notice anything at all (well, except some oil bubbles in the toilet one time). I am psyched!

I think this will be my own little update thread. If anyone wants to read and respond, great. If not, at least it keeps me accountable because someone MIGHT read it :-).

E

So if I am already eating low fat meals then how does the pill work? I am slightly confused can you clarify for me please?

Hello,

 I have same question, i am happy you ask first.

it is really easy eat foods for the whole day that add up to 1800 cals, all you have to do is take three pills of alli one pill for every meal then at bed time take a multi vitamin

work out alittle for 30mins go to bed and you lose weight

you dont have poop lose in your pants like it says you do you use the bathroom everytime you take a pill and the extra fat comes out from the food you eat

you will have a gap in your weight lose i gained 5 pounds then the next day lost 6 pounds

thats all it is too it

 Hi cmarie77,

Alli works by blocking the fat digesting enzyme lipase.  One 60mg alli capsule will block about 25% of the fat consumed a meal.  For optimal results with alli you should be eating well balanced , reduced calorie meals where 30% of the calories come from fat.  Exercise is key to a successful weight loss program,  not only does it rev up your metabolism so that your body burns the calories more efficiently it helps to maintain the weight that is lost among its many other benefits.

Hope this helps.

Sophia De Monte RPh

E-

I am a Newbie too and have tried the low fat diet for a short time and will start the pills tomorrow.  I am a little hesitant with the "treatment effects" and hope that I am not "stuck" at home for a long time!

The secret to sucess is the ability to share with others, ups and downs, to keep us motivated.  I look forward to seeing this through!

Good Luck!

 Hello,

 I start Alli tomorrow . My Dr told me about  it today and he thinks its safe for me to take. I am a little scared but i really need to do something. I have put on a lot of pounds since i quit my job 11 months ago. I need all the motivation i can get. I have equipment to exercise on i just need a push to get going. I want to feel good again no health issues yet !! but i feel like a cow most of the time and thats not good. I am starting out at 221 thats the most i have ever weighed !! Looking foward to losing weight. I am goin to make this work !!

I'm also a newbie to Alli. Not sure its going to work as I've had my thyroid removed and want to see if this will work as my dr is encouraging me to do Lapband. I'm on week 2 and don't see a difference, so its very discouraging to me, but I will continue to take them until they run out.

I don't mind the treatment effects as with a thyroid problem you suffer from constipation badly, so I say bring them on. I don't get them that badly anyway.

If I'm going to go for lapband I would like to lose a bit of weight on my own, which is why I'm using Alli, even though it seems hopeless. Sorry I used the quote above couldn't figure out how to post without hitting reply.

Paris