Alli-thoughts?

ChescoMSN

I tried Alli in the past and at first I could see the fat oily substance in my stool. I quickly learned what foods were causing that and changed it. I lost weight in a healthy and consistent manner. Now I am back up in weight and trying to keep it off so I workout with a mixture of cardio and weights every day, and I am back to taking the Alli. My stools are looser, but nothing crazy. If I eat a bunch of pizza then I will see an embarrassing different, but I would definitely rather see that crap in my stool then to know its been ingested in my body! But to each their own. There is no magic pill, but sometimes I just need the little push for motivation. I know that there are a lot of people that dont believe in pills or any assistance other than the norm cut calories and workout regimen, but I ask those people to respect the needs of other people. Not everything works for everyone, but we are all in this battle together to find what works for us. I see so much hatred and anger in responses to these posts. I love that if I want the truth about something I can google the review on MFP but it really upsets me when I see people criticizing other people for asking for opinions or help. Weightloss doesnt come easily to everyone, and its definitely not a battle that needs bullies added to it. Im not talking to any certain individuals, but i hope that everyone takes what I said in the right way. God bless and Good Luck!

I vote this the best reply. :flowerforyou:

I wonder what happened to the original poster?

toronto_j

If Alli and other supplements are meant to be used in conjunction with a healthy diet and regular exercise, why do they get credit for weight loss when we know a calorie deficit and exercising work on their own already? Why put yourself through the sharts if you can do it in a healthy way that doesn't require purchasing a product?

VelveteenArabian

Alli WILL punish you if you do not strictly adhere to their diet recommendations.

I hope you like the color orange.

Maleficent0241

If Alli and other supplements are meant to be used in conjunction with a healthy diet and regular exercise, why do they get credit for weight loss when we know a calorie deficit and exercising work on their own already? Why put yourself through the sharts if you can do it in a healthy way that doesn't require purchasing a product?

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/409519_4

Check that out as a starter. For some of the orlistat studies, patients in both the placebo and active drug groups were maintained on the same deficit, with a small but statistically significant change in body weight between the groups. Alli (and the higher prescription version of orlistat) works by blocking some of your calories from being absorbed, so it essentially creates a larger deficit by taking it and eating the same amount of food. It's not a replacement for diet and exercise, but meant to boost what you are already doing. Not that the FDA is the be all end all, but it IS FDA approved and is probably one of the safer options out there for people really wishing to try a weight loss supplement. At least it is regulated.

There are certainly downsides to the drug - the aforementioned sharts, potential deficiency in fat soluble vitamins, etc., but for someone who is obese and in a bad spot medically because of their weight, the benefits of losing the weight faster may outweigh the risks. Of course, if one doesn't learn good habits and such, the weight always has the potential to pile back on.

Two large, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials administered the drug for up to 2 years. Both studies, one conducted in the United States and the other in Europe, were similar in design. The former compared orlistat with placebo for weight loss and weight maintenance in 892 obese patients (average weight 100 kg, average BMI 36 kg/m 2) who were otherwise healthy. [26] During a 4-week, single-blind, placebo lead-in period the subjects were instructed to consume an approximately 500-kcal/day caloric-deficit diet that provided 30% of total daily calories in the form of fat. Patients with compliance of at least 70% (determined by capsule counts) were stratified according to initial weight loss (< 2 kg, >= 2 kg); 668 were randomized to receive orlistat 120 mg and 224 to receive placebo 3 times/day with meals for 1 year. The hypocaloric diet was continued throughout the first year of the study. At the end of the year, orlistat-treated patients who achieved 70% compliance were re-randomized to receive orlistat 60 mg, orlistat 120 mg, or placebo 3 times/day for an additional year; placebo-treated patients continued to receive placebo. In an effort to stabilize body weight, the dietary intake of all subjects was modified from a hypocaloric diet to a weight-maintenance diet for the second year. All patients were required to attend dietary counseling and behavior modification sessions 4 times/year. The primary end point was change in body weight. Secondary end points included serum concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides, fasting glucose, and insulin, as well as decreases in standing waist circumference and blood pressure. Fat-soluble vitamin serum concen-trations and prothrombin time (to assess vitamin K status) also were evaluated.

toronto_j

Can't read that without a subscription and I'm not signing up, but the Mayo Clinic site says "The average weight loss for prescription-strength Xenical is about 5 to 7 pounds (about 2 to 3 kilograms) greater than diet and exercise alone after one year. (2, 4) The lower dose Alli could conceivably result in a loss of 3 to 5 pounds (about 1 to 2 kilograms) a year in addition to the weight loss you could expect from diet and exercise alone." The risk of crapping your pants doesn't seem worth it.

ninerbuff

I've just started taking Alli. Just wondering if anybody else has tried it, and what your results were?

Just think about this for a minute.

You take the pill to absorb fat.

The pill is non discriminatory about what fat to absorb (meaning good fat gets absorbed too).

So you have to supplement good fat since it's essential to health and fat loss.

In others words you take a pill to remove fat and then take a fat supplement to replenish it.


Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just reduce the amount of bad fat you eat? And save the money?

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

neanderthin

Oh my God. I was at a picnic once and by accident I ate five potato chips made with Olestra. I spent about half an hour in the outhouse, experiencing the "occasional side effect of anal leakage." As soon as things slowed down enough for me to walk semi-normally, I left.

I truly, honestly cannot imagine taking a pill on purpose that would do that same thing.

whitebalance

I wonder what happened to the original poster?

The original poster probably faded quietly into the Net to create several other thinly disguised "product placement" spamthreads on other forum sites, like a hillion skillion other spammers. I don't think the product worked very well for her either, given the post was made in September 2012 and she's ostensibly lost 6 pounds of her 45-pound goal.

BTW, strong thread necro.

fast_eddie_72

I read about it and found all the things people are talking about here. That kind of put me off the idea of trying it. I'm not sure and would be curious if anyone actually understands how it works. As we know, it's about calories in vs. calories out. So does this stuff... how do I put it... make some of the calories that went in go right back out? I can see how it could work, if it prevents you from absorbing some of the calories you put in your body.

I'm just curious. I don't plan to try it. Sounds like something I wouldn't do well with.

BTW, strong thread necro.

Damn, another one. Must be necro post day.

(edit again)

Alli (and the higher prescription version of orlistat) works by blocking some of your calories from being absorbed, so it essentially creates a larger deficit by taking it and eating the same amount of food.

Well guess that answered my question.