Pabs, hang in there! I know exactly what you mean! Sometimes it can be hard for other's to relate when they haven't walked in the same shoes. Stay determined and hang in there. I don't care how long it takes me or how many different things I have to try along the way, I plan to make my goal someday!

Froufy, I am finally getting my 3 year old (Dylan) to go on the potty, but it's been pulling teeth to get him there! Some days I too fell like I'll be changing diapers forever!

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the party. It sounds like you didn't do too bad. Summer is THE worst time for me, it seems like everytime I turn around there is another BBQ and more food! I've been trying hard to remain in control, but I know I could be doing a lot better, so I'm trying to step up the exercise again. I just wish I could get back that "fire" that I had the first 6 months at TOPS, when I could ignore all the "goodies"!

By the way, I admire you for choosing to skip the Xenical the day of the party, I probably would have still taken it and then been left to deal with those UGLY side effects!

Sounds like you are doing great. Keep up the good work!

Another couple of dayson Xenical and I am strongly resisting the urge to step on the scale (yes I did get a new battery for it).

I don't want to see if any damage was done on the weekend..so I'm hoping a few days of watching my intake will correct anything that may have gone wrong.

I am definitely now hitting my stride, and consuming around 1500-1700 cals per day....and about 40-45 fat grams....as I'm supposed to. I am anxious to see how this is working as I am a bit more relaxed this week and having the occasional treat (seeing as I was never able to reach my max fat grams last week). Only time will tell if this is working!

Tonight I had garlic shrimp for dinner...seriouly low in calories and fat (according to the box nutritional label....133 grams has only 71 calories and 0.1 fat grams!!!)...so I was able to splurge and have some leftover birthday cake for dessert!

Tomorrow should be tougher as I work all day, then I'm in class from 4 pm-10 pm...so I'm already packing lots of goodies and dinner to take with me (this is also a very stressful class so I tend to nibble a lot!).

Is everyone else also taking a multivitamin? I take one before bed...and in the a.m. I take a B supplement and 500 mg of calcium as I am not a big milk drinker!

Let me know how you are all doing!

Frouf

P.S. How about the name Xenical Xanies for our group?

Cute name! I like it!

I have my weigh in at TOPS tomorrow and I'm SO nervous. I just finished filling out my food menu for the last couple of days and I have had some major snack attacks. I'm in that dreaded "PMS" week where my appetite never ends. I'm also retaining water from the 95 degree heat and humidity that we've been having the past few days. Needless to say, I'm not expecting any miracles tomorrow! But I have been keeping up with my exercise and as we say at TOPS "Tomorrow starts a new week" -- so I'll just have to deal with whatever the scale says!

Sounds like you have been doing great. Keep it going! I think you will have a terrific weigh in at the doctor's!

Ladies,
I am not on Xenical, but I know a lot about it, and have a few aquaintences who have taken it. The research I have done has shown that it is just an approved form of chitosal/chitosan and the ingredieant can be found in many supplements at your local vitamin type store or store that sells diet supplements, you just need to read the label. It definitely does not run anywhere near the price range you are talking about!
Aphil

I've used chitosan, in fact I use it for a while and I can tell you that it didn't work nearly the same way as the Xenical. Chitosan is the ingredient that is also found in things like "The Enforma System" which promises you that you can eat "anything you want" and still lose weight. Which we all know isn't true! (Don't I wish!!) Chitosan is used in major oil spills (like the Exxon thing a few years back) and I also read that while it can block some fat, you would have to take a substantial amount before it produced any substantial result. I agree that the Chitosan is cheaper, but if I needed to take that much for it to work, then I guess I would have ended up spending the same as I'm paying for Xenical?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to push the Xenical in any way shape or form! I definitely believe everyone needs to use whatever method works for them! I lost a lot of weight on my own and now I'm hoping to break my slump with the Xenical. I still believe that a healthy diet and exercise is the way to go!

Thanks for the info though!
Vi

Hey guys been on xenical for awhile and know about the icky side effects which can also be very embarrassing. But it doesn't make sense if you dont take the xenical during your high fatty meals because that's when its most effective and then also not take them when u have low fat meals! Then when do you take them? During 'normal' meals?
It makes more sense to me that u treat xenical as a harbringer of consequences...(we know what they are, let's not go into detail) that if u want to eat fatty meals then u have to deal with the consequences and this can begin to instill a sense of discipline about your diet. It becomes too easy to become lax about your diet and xenical when u base it upon what type of food u eat. I think that even when you go off xenical, the discipline instilled will be important in an ongoing healthy lifestyle and better eating habits.

I think the goal is to instill healthy eating habits in the long run...so that we choose the lower fat heathlier foods....especially once we have lost the weight, motivation will be high to keep it off!

As for when we take it...I guess that's just a matter of choice. The goal would be to always stay within the 30% fat range, but I guess that's not always possible. One can either skip the pill once in a while, or take it and hope for the best. The goal of the pill is not to "punish" you into suffering nasty side effects because you ate too much fat...it doesn't work best just because you ate a higher fat meal...It consistently blocks 1/3 of the fat you eat.

The sense of discipline will come from seeing the numbers move down and the clothes fit better and the breathlessness decrease...not from "suffering the consequences" of an occasional high fat meal.

I hope this medication gives me the jump start I need to begin my weight loss journey.

How long have you been on Xenical and what success have you had Turby? When & how often did you have unpleasant side effects? I'm curious cuz I've only been on for about 10 days now...and so far so good.

Frouf

After reading all of your post you inspired me to try taking the Xenical again. I have now finished day 4 and can tell it is starting to work. I'm not sure if I've lost anything yet, but I know it will come.Consistency (i't would have had more impact if I knew how to spell it) BUT...that is what my doctor says the secret of sucess for Xenical. That means taking it when you eat low fat or french fries an onion rings!!! And yes you will pay for the french fries. Anyway keep up the good work and I'll weigh in, in the morning an let you know if I've losty anything. Claire!!! Boy is it good to hear from you. Where are you hanging out now? I'm still struggling with Oxycise, but not having much sucess. I've also change health clubs and this one has some GREAT water aerobics classes. Email me at [email protected] so we can catch up!!

Hopefully I get to know the rest of you. violet Rose I'm really jealous of the way you seem to have it all together. I can't seem to stay motivaated long enought on any one thing, but jump from plan to plan to plan looking for that ONE thing that will finally work for me.

Hope the rest of the week is good for everyone, and I'll try to stop by more often.

Weigh-in went pretty much as I expected! I gained a pound. But I know why, so I'm not beating myself up over it. And I *DID* get my period today so that can account for some of it. But most importantly it proves that no pill will work for you if YOU don't put in the effort and I know this week I had a lot of major "no-no's" so hopefully those people out there who criticize us for taking Xenical will see that no one here is taking the easy way out. Even with the Xenical you still have to do your part!

I plan to make this a better week! I am being extra careful by weighing, measuring and CHARTING everything! I'm also making sure I have all my water.

At least the heat eased up today! It's actually a chilly rainy day. Big switch from the oppressive heat we had yesterday!

I have to get on the ball and write to my insurance company in the hopes that I can get them to change their mind about not paying for Xenical. I'm truly dreading having to pay $125 for it next month! But I will if I have to! I figure I've spent enough money on stuff that never worked, might as well spend it on something that does!

Ageoldie, thanks for the compliments...I just SEEM to have it altogether...hahaha. But seriously thanks! I try my best and I refuse to give up. That's all there is to it!

Vi

Hi everyone,

Hope all is well...I am still sticking to it, which in itself quite amazing. I do have times when I am still extremely hungry, but I am trying to cope with that...I am also increasing my water intake, trying to get in at least 8 glasses a day. I hope that helps.

VR: I wouldn't worry about 1 measly pound gain, considering it's your TOM.....this will only add to the great loss you'll have next week!

Ageoldie...glad to see you on board...let us know how you're doing. How many cals/fat grams are you consuming? Any particular plan....are you writing everything down?

As for your dr. suggesting consistency...does that mean you take a pill after each meal..no matter what? My dr. did say that the breakfast one could be skipped if it was very low fat...

Would LOVE to hear from all the other Xenical Xanies and see how they're progressing!

I did hop on the scale (okay about 20 times because I'm obsessed)...and it kept registering two numbers which were 2 lbs apart??? Of course this made me even crazier....one shows my "original" weight loss (4.5 lbs)...and the other shows a further loss of 2 lbs (which would be AWESOME!)

I know I shouldn't be weighing myself so constantly but I do need that motivation to keep going. I'm also hoping that by following my food plan that "possible" 2 lb loss will turn into a reality???

I will try to avoid the scale jumping tomorrow a.m....but it's so hard...anyone else have this problem???

Frouf

I do the same thing! I jump on and off the scale about 20 times a day. It's a hard habit to break and for the longest time I wouldn't buy a scale because I knew I would do that! Sometimes I think I was better off not knowing!

Okay...so this morning I only hopped on the scale a couple of times (but made dh go on a few times to see what was going on)...since I was late for work I had no time to continue, but it does look like I've lost some more weight, which is quite thrilling!

I'm still hungry sometimes so I think I'm not eating right combinations or enuf veggies or fibre maybe? And I'm still having trouble getting in 50 grams of fat..but I figure that's mostly to my advantage.

I'm a bit anxious about this weekend as I'm going to Montreal for a family event which will be EXTREMELY STRESSFUL!!!! My brother is flying in from Florida, so it will be very nice to see him again.

We are staying in a hotel and will be taking all our meals out, so I know I'll have to plan carefully and may not have the information I need to calculate all fat grams. I know there is a "chicken" place nearby, as well as a fish place, both of which I'm sure I can handle. Bought myself one of those calorie/fat gram counting books which I hope will help.

Hope you all have a great weekend....I'll check in later!

Frouf

Good luck Frouf! Eating out is always difficult for me, but I have learned how to handle it a lot better than I used to! One of the tricks is to share a meal with someone or take half home and have it for lunch the next day (that probably won't work if you're staying at a hotel though). But scour the menus, they have lots of low-fat options these days!

I was doing great until tonight! Took the kids to an amusement park and indulged in too many goodies! I think I will walk 4 miles tomorrow to try and make up for it!

You sound like you have been on a roll! Don't let the trip set you back! You can do it!

I'm so amazed that you have a hard time eating all your fat. I have a hard time NOT going over! I think in the beginning though, I was the same way. I was so motivated and SO GOOD that I never went over on anything, but then I also lost about 10 lbs a month! (This was pre-Xenical.) How I wish that enthusiasm could have been bottled into a blue pill for me!!

I go through weeks when I'm ravenous, by the way. I think I'm having one of THOSE weeks right now in fact! The hunger thing eludes me, I wish I could find the secret to eating less and NOT being hungry, unless the hunger is all in my head!

Vi

Well I didn't walk 4 miles on Saturday, but I walked 2 and I stayed with my plan! Ate within my "exchange system", didn't go over on fat or calories and didn't eat before bed. That alone is a huge accomplishment for me. Now if I could get back to doing that every day! I'll take it one day at a time!

Today we're taking the kids to a ball game. That will be a real test for me as the place is loaded with ice cream, hot dogs, fried dough and a million other goodies!

Here's to ending the weekend on a GOOD NOTE!

Vi