Anyone heard of Alli.?

[Jwife22]

My mom was telling me about it. Apparently, it was orignally a prescription weight loss medication that will be made over the counter this month. I am going to try it. I struggle with losing weight because I am insulin resistant but the only way to lose the weight is to get the insulin resistance under control....hmmmm.....How on earth am I supposed to do that!

Side effects are bad......if you eat too much fat for the day it could cause uncontrollable or hard to control bowels.

I am just going to give it a try to see if I can use it. Just wanted to know if anyone else has heard of it.

[Jwife22]

I try to keep a low fat diet but being insulin resistant prevents me from being able to process some sugars and in turn fats like you, a normal person would, so taking the Alli. for me, would reduce the intake of the fats I do consume. It doesn't give me free reign to go out and eat whatever the heck I want. I unfortunately, no matter how much I apparently would eat like you, would never lose weight like you do.


Plus----if i had a problem with allowing to many slips for fat before, I sure have some incentive not to do it on that medication....don't you think?

I do educate myself before I take anything, including OTC medications. I am not going into this blindsided but for those of us out here with problems.....just eating right and exercising isn't doing it.

[elizabeth1979]

Hey Jwife,
Have you tried not eating refined sugar and wheat products?

[Jwife22]

I have drastically cut down on my sugar intake. Wheat products, I am still working on. I still struggle horribly to lose weight. Even walking for atleast 30 to 40 minutes a day, 5 days a week and trying to do yoga in the evenings.

[elizabeth1979]

I have PCOS too, I think I mentioned on another of your threads. Have had it for 10 years, so Ive learned the hard way how tough it is to keep weight off when diagnosed with that.
I noticed that when my stress level went down, so did my weight. My doctor told me that holding onto weight was a bodies way of fighting.

I primarily do not eat wheat bc of the PCOS although I do have a wheat sensitivity. My body takes wheat turns it to sugar and that means bloating, weight gain, lethargy, and nausea. There are alot of wheat substitutes. Rice pasta, quinoa pasta, the only bread I eat is Ezekiel bread which is sprouted wheat bread. Sprouted wheat bread has wheat in it, but in sprouted form its easier to digest and has more nutrients, so I can tolerate it in small amounts. Maybe 1 piece a week I will eat.

I struggled for years with an alcoholic partner and PCOS. That combination was not good for my weight loss, I understand how you feel.

[Jwife22]

Thank you for that info Elizabeth. I will continue to look farther into other options for wheat.

For me, I don't eat when I am stressed, its when things are good that I eat more. Things are good right now....lol.....

[Done-With-It]

Yea, I have, it's like Xenical, but Xenical is prescription and really expensive.
It prevents about a quarter of the fat you eat from breaking down.

It's one of the diet pills that work through your digestive system and not
though your brain.

Just be careful when you take it that you are around a bathroom.

Let us know how it works!

[Nina Kay]

Jwife,
I'd love to hear how it's working for you too.

[pedagogue]

Originally Posted by Jwife22

I have drastically cut down on my sugar intake. Wheat products, I am still working on. I still struggle horribly to lose weight. Even walking for atleast 30 to 40 minutes a day, 5 days a week and trying to do yoga in the evenings.

You should probably get your thyroid checked out. IIRC, it is an issue in <10% of people, but it can make a world of difference if you can get an out of wack thyroid back in check.

-p

[BigSis]

I used Xenical for a couple months... the "uncontrollable" bowel part seemed to happen if I overate fats... had ice cream, or too much dairy, or coffee creamer. Made me late for work a couple times, and cost me close to $80/mo... don't think I lost even five pounds.

It might be a good tool in conjunction with some other method, but I don't think I would take it as a "cure".

[Jwife22]

Thanks Done.

Nina--I haven't tried it yet. I seem to be running into multiple health problems at the time and can't take anything. Its possible I am going to have to have my gall bladder removed soon so I can't be taking anything yet. This sucks.

Ped- I have had by thyroid checked before. My levels were slightly off but not that much.

Bigsis--I completely agree. I don't think ANYTHING should be considered a cure all. It takes diet and exercise to lose weight, but even doing those things, I can't seem to lose more than 10 lbs. I don't know.

[kelliegirl]

I don't know about any of you but I have enough intestinal disorder related to my nerves and poor diet. I don't know that I'd ingest something that will definitely make me embarrassed.

Anymore I've found that since I didn't put all of this weight on in one day it's not going to come off that quickly. I think that my emotional issues (please see my thread in the "What is Recovery" forum) are the biggest issue. When I decided to leave my husband I actually felt happy. I was losing weight and had dropped 60 pounds. Having been over 300 at one point that was really nice. When I decided to stay in the marriage the weight is coming back.

I started NutriSystem last week to jump start my body and mind. I need to find that desire to love myself and to treat my body with respect. I want to be thin again. I want to be happy. I want to feel like I am desirable. I wish I liked to exercise. I hate it. I either have really heavy friends or really fit friends that are fanatics. The heavy ones aren't ready to change and the fit ones don't understand. I wish I had someone in the middle with me. I need a shoulder to lean on now and then.

[BigSis]

I hate exercise, too... but I kinda enjoy the feeling I get right after.

I found out that wasn't JUST relief that I was done (though that is part of it!). It is likely a rush of endorphins to my brain... a true, chemical high.

That I can produce with just 1/2 hour of banging around the circuit at Curves, or a 40 minute walk to Safeway.

Once I knew I could produce that feeling "at will", it felt sort of powerful to do so... so now I do so.



(just trying to dispell any rumors that I actually ENJOY exercise...grin)

[Jwife22]

I completely understand where you are coming from kellie. I don't really have any in between friends who are ready to commit to lose weight and its hard for me to do it alone. There aren't any local OA meetings around that happen after I get off of work.

Once I've gotten my medical situation figured out, I plan on looking into weight watchers or something. I need motivation and I need accountability.

[kelliegirl]

Thank you Jwife. I hope you get your medical situation figured out very soon. I am sure that worries you a lot. I am pulling for you! (((hugs)))

I don't have access to an OA group either. My little boy has good eating habits (at my insistence). I don't know why I can't treat my body with as much care and worry that I put into my son. I don't want him to be like me but yet I don't think I deserve anything better for myself.

My issue with food is when I am stressed and not at home. I have been trying to keep junk out of the house. I will go buy bad food at a fast food joint because I feel bad about a whole host of things. It's like a dirty little secret but everyone knows it.

[Jwife22]

My issue isn't when I am stressed, its when I am not. I tend to not eat when I am stressed and eat more when I am happy. Right now, I am barely eating at all though so I eat what I can (what doesn't hurt to eat).

I am pretty sure that I'm going to be okay. I think I'm having my gall bladder removed soon. Once that is done, I should be feelin good!

[TryingisDying]

Originally Posted by BigSis

I used Xenical for a couple months... the "uncontrollable" bowel part seemed to happen if I overate fats... had ice cream, or too much dairy, or coffee creamer. Made me late for work a couple times, and cost me close to $80/mo... don't think I lost even five pounds.

It might be a good tool in conjunction with some other method, but I don't think I would take it as a "cure".

Alli is the same med just less of a dosage....Be prepared to be in the restroom ALOT....You have to exercise and diet while taking it.....Im not paying to poop more lol......

[BeeBee]

Originally Posted by TryingisDying

Im not paying to poop more lol......

LOLOL, not at $60 a bottle! I can poop for free on my own.

[DaVinci2]

I'll chime in here, if it's OK. I'm a powerlifter and have a good understanding of nutrition.

First, if you get your thyroid checked, make sure your doctor dose it through a saliva test taking over a 24 hour period (Basically, morning afternoon and before bed) done at home, obviously. Thyroid levels change throughout the day, so what's normal in the morning may not be at night.

As for diets, fats are very important. If you are insulin resistant (Something you can only really tell by regular blood sugar tests) then I would say, really limit the grains, sugars, and High GI carbs in your diet...basically eat meats, dairy, adequate fat (Which is about 0.5grams per lbs of bodyweight, that's a MINIMUM...and I would stick with mostly polyunsaturated fats.) and fresh fruits and vegetables..try this for about a month and see how you respond. The first couple weeks you might feel a bit rundown, but after your body acclimates you should be just fine.

Also, eat ever 2-3 hours regardless of if you are hungry or not. This will help manage your blood sugar through the day. You don't have to look at the meals as WHOLE meals, but just as snacks throughout the day. For some this is not possible with work etc. But for many it's quite simple. This is more a way to get your insulin under control first, than to promote weightloss outright since eating 3 meals a day is just as effective as several meals for healthy people.

I understand that having someone there with you to exercise makes things 'fun' and easier to continue, but believe me when I say that once you start you never stop...you start to see the benifits and you start to want to do things on your own because others slow you down.

Unfortunately, from what I've seen in my own life and the lives of those around me, weightloss can't be found in a bottle. There can be some underlying causes to difficulties in weightloss, such as thyroid problems, or even testosterone problems (Which is something I have, but can't take care of at the moment because the testosterone replacement therapy was killing my sperm, and I want to have kids soon...after I'll take care of it). Once those problems are treated, you still have to face the fact that calories are the king. If you understand nutrition right, not the crap they shove down your throat on T.V like Jenny Craig and all that hype, it's all about calories and the type you eat. I'm sitting at 250lbs, and I need 4500 calories a day to maintain that weight. To some, that can be easily attained with BAD food. However, the amount of food I eat, because of the type, can make some puke (As it is a lot of food spread over the course of 1 day). This is maintenance...meaning I'm not trying to add weight or lose weight.

Once you know how many calories your body needs in order to keep you at your current weight, it's a simple matter of dropping them by 10 percent, which is not a lot. Changing the type of food you eat will make it easier too, since there are foods out there that are lower in calories but fill you up far more. There are great things such as 'nutritional timing' that also help. Exercise is obviously important, but 90 percent of the battle is done in the kitchen believe it or not, even with powerlifters, bodybuilders or anyone looking at leading a healthy lifestyle.

I would go into more detail about what/how to do things, but I've already made this a long reply. If anyone is interested, I will post more. Good luck with everything.

[BeeBee]

Great information DaVinci and highly appreciated!!

[TryingisDying]

Originally Posted by BeeBee

LOLOL, not at $60 a bottle! I can poop for free on my own.

You got it sister LOLOLOLOL

[Done-With-It]

Jwife how's it going have you used it? I've been hearing pretty good things about it so far from others. Seems to like better than Xenical.