So I bought Alli today at Target. It seemed like the best diet pill on the market right now, and I read up on it before I went out and bought it.
Anyway, my boyfriend got pretty t-ed off at me when I told him. He just kept saying it was bad for me and that I should just stick with what I'm doing now. THe thing is, it's not like I'm going to stop dieting/exercising just because I have diet pills. It just means that it might help a little bit more, right?
So I need advice from my personal experts... this site! haha. What experience did you have with diet pills, preferably Alli if anyone's taken that, and what do you think I should do?
I just don't see how it can be dangerous if I follow the directions like I am supposed to...
I take Alli occassionally and feel it is ok to use periodically. I only use it if I'm having a meal that is higher in fat than I want (usually when out to eat).
I have not personally experienced any of the infamous "treatment" effects.
In my opinion you should build your diet to include the right amount of fat (which should be some), and not rely on a pill to get you there for normal days.
I have no idea if it has helped my weight loss to be honest (I use maybe once a week), and would have no issues stopping using it if I had a reason to.
EDIT: Oh and I was answering specific for Alli. The general rule of thumb with diet pills is super bad/avoid. The only thing I use regularly that I have decided is safe enough is limited amounts of caffeine. Everything else you are looking for a fix where the risks greatly outweigh the rewards.
Last edited by randomcards; 02-02-2010 at 01:18 AM.
I started taking Alli when I decided to lose weight.In the past, I haven't been that successful with weight loss, and would only lose 1-2 pounds a week, but with Alli I've been losing up to 5 pounds a week.The side effects are really gross and unpleasant, but if you stick to a healthy diet, you shouldn't have any problems.I definitely reccomend it.Hope this helps.
I purchasd Alli and used everything in the problem besides the pills themselves and it is what helped get me on the right track for the weight loss... I LOVED there online membership program and hte system they used to track foods. However once I found this place I realized I didn't really need the Alli plan anyways
I did use another diet pill a few years ago, herbalife. It worked well in holding back my appetite and thanks to a lot of exercise and very little food (we're talking less than 500 calories a day... hey, I wasn't hungry!) I lost 40 pounds in 3 months, then stopped and ended up gaining it back plus tons more. I say stay away from the pills if you can muster the strength. Good luck girlfriend
Last edited by bensempress; 02-02-2010 at 03:07 AM.
To be honest with you I haven't used Alli, I've never really been a fan of diet pills... I think there's always a catch somewhere and it puts me off.
But of the people I do know who took Alli there have been some mixed reviews:
1) One of my friends parents took it in the 'xenical' form and she didn't change her eating habits and was still cooking with oil etc. She had TERRIBLE treatment effects - she told me how hard it was for her to go out and socialise because she was having constant Bowel Movements! She gave up after a few weeks because it was all too much for her.
2) My best friend started about a month ago, she has been on the same eating plan as me which is essentially very low fat. She has no regular problems (Except frequent runny BM at times and excessive gas) but something happened last week which left her feeling kind of funny. We had cooked a low fat curry, we used no oil and removed all visible skin and fat from our chicken and it was beautiful. She was on the train on her way home and was experiencing lots of gas, she tried to hold it in but suddenly she felt something wet... somehow loads of oil had leaked out! She was so embarrassed that she literally ran home and had a bath straight away because her backside was fully covered in oil!
Eeeek, I don't think I could deal with that just for an extra lbs loss a week.
To just simplify things - I always think that if there was a magic pill of some sort - Oprah would know about and wouldn't keep regaining her weight.
To me the only magic solution that I've found - is that there is no magic solution. Once I accepted that and accepted the fact that I'd have to permanently alter my eating/exercise habits, things fell into place for me. I realized/accepted the fact that the only way to shed pounds safely and permanently was to adhere to a healthy diet and exercise regimen - forever.
Upon accepting that, that's when I committed to a lifetime of good eating/exercise behaviors. That's when I started seeking out healthy foods to eat and getting rid of the unhealthy ones, that's when I started sticking to a calorie allotment. I didn't need anything to "help it a little". Nothing. Doing that was assurance that I would indeed lose the weight.
To just simplify things - I always think that if there was a magic pill of some sort - Oprah would know about and wouldn't keep regaining her weight.
To me the only magic solution that I've found - is that there is no magic solution. Once I accepted that and accepted the fact that I'd have to permanently alter my eating/exercise habits, things fell into place for me. I realized/accepted the fact that the only way to shed pounds safely and permanently was to adhere to a healthy diet and exercise regimen - forever.
Upon accepting that, that's when I committed to a lifetime of good eating/exercise behaviors. That's when I started seeking out healthy foods to eat and getting rid of the unhealthy ones, that's when I started sticking to a calorie allotment. I didn't need anything to "help it a little". Nothing. Doing that was assurance that I would indeed lose the weight.
**Heavy Sigh** Robin your words are full of such wisdom! Thank you for sharing!
I just wanted to add to what Robin already said, (which I totally agree with).
Alli is expensive. I would suppose that if you have unlimited funds, and have oodles of money, then if you want to spend that much on glorified laxatives, then heck, go for it... BUT, if you are anything like 90% of the rest of the population, money is hard to save. If I were you, I would remain on a low calorie "free" diet. Each month stash away the money you would have spent on Alli, and when you get to goal you'll have a great start for a new wardrobe. I'm a tight-wad though, I just can't imagine spending money on something I can do for free.
I too agree with Robin--she is so very wise. Lori and I are both tightwads. I couldn't put up with the side effects of any diet pill, Alli included, and still have to empty my pocketbook too.
I did a cost analysis of Alli when it came out and if you followed the Alli diet (15g fat/meal), then Alli would 'remove' 100 calories/day from your food. 3500 calories is a lb so technically for about a month worth of pills, you could lose a lb. A month worth of pills is about $60?
Of course you could also easily gain on alli since it restricts your fat and takes a small portion of fat out of your food. If you ate low fat stuff all day, took your alli pill and exceeded your calorie target, then you would easily gain.
I've always said that if there was a magic pill out there, you would hear it on every news station and every doctor would be prescribing it. That isn't the case though.
The "treatment effects" with Alli are just to extreme!
Also...I'm no longer going to refer to eating healthy as being "on a diet/dieting". I'm not dieting. I'm changing my eating habits so that I can live a healthy life. I'm not doing this until I lose my weight and then going back to eating the way I used to. I'm changing my eating habits for the rest of my life.
Also...I'm no longer going to refer to eating healthy as being "on a diet/dieting". I'm not dieting. I'm changing my eating habits so that I can live a healthy life. I'm not doing this until I lose my weight and then going back to eating the way I used to. I'm changing my eating habits for the rest of my life.
I agree with the negativity regarding diet pills. My motto is, if it's not something that I can stick to for the rest of my life, then I'm not doing it.
Honestly, there's no magic pill, as others have said. The risks are not worth it. For me, losing weight has been about fixing the problem in my relationship with food. If I used diet pills, I would only be a quick fix. It's about changing your whole lifestyle and outlook on food.
Diet Pills?
