Fat Burners Anyone

[JessicaM]

Have any of your tried SlimQuick....the commericals alone crack me up but I havent tried it. Just was curious since it was "designed for a woman".

[sohappy]

Hi,

 

I'm on the weight loss track too. I don't recommend over the counter stuff except for Alli.

 

As a pharmacist I would recommend Alli. It works but it won't be overnight. If you can keep down how much fat you can eat then the side effects won't be so bad it prevents your body from absorbing the fat but not to be crude it has to go somewhere.

 

Hoodia is not safe and I imagine it will be taken off the market at some point like bitter orange. If you decide to do the over the counter stuff a lot of it has stimulants in it, caffeine or caffeine like derivatives so it'll help you pee a lot but drink ton of water or else you retain more water. Make sure you take your vitamins and hydrated.

 

I knew of girls who fainted or ended up deficient in certain minerals.

 

Marguerite

[Jones4Me]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JABride I heard the same thing about Alli ... you go to the toilet very often and my friend even told me to wear pads because of "leaks" coming out of your derriere at times ... but she did say that it works very well. The "leak" story freaked me out so I haven't tried it yet ... I have been thinking about it for the past couple of months but have not decided ... anyone on Alli? have you experienced any issues?

I have not tried Alli myself either - but have heard the SAME thing and am SO afraid to try that.... YUCK!

[sohappy]

I am on alli, but the key thing it teaches you not to eat a lot of fatty foods or you will have to wear a pad.

 

Its like a kick in the butt for going over your limit. I haven't had any "social" problems.

 

If anyone is curious of what side effects I do get or have any q's. PM me.

[cheese_diva]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sohappy I am on alli, but the key thing it teaches you not to eat a lot of fatty foods or you will have to wear a pad. Its like a kick in the butt for going over your limit. I haven't had any "social" problems. If anyone is curious of what side effects I do get or have any q's. PM me.

They had a story on Good Morning America today about this drug.. they had some pretty funky testimonials and it's true.. just like when you have your gallbladder removed.. you have to really watch your fat intake or it runs right through you..

[foxytv]

Alli sounds like what happenes every time I eat alfredo sauce. lol

 

I am lactose intolerant but LOVE Alfredo, so ... you can guess the rest.

 

Anyway -- I think if you work in a regular office environment, it wouldn't be a bad option, especially since you KNOW what you can/can't get away with eating.

 

I am on the road a lot with work, so I don't think it would work good for me.

 

I'm going back to the doctor to see if I can get one last round of a Phentermine prescriptio. It ehlped me, along with working out, lose 20 lbs last winter ... but you can't take it for long b/c its regulated.

 

So, maybe I can get one last prescription to last me through April. I'm calling the doctor now! :-)

[Jones4Me]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheese_diva They had a story on Good Morning America today about this drug.. they had some pretty funky testimonials and it's true.. just like when you have your gallbladder removed.. you have to really watch your fat intake or it runs right through you..

Oooooooooooooh Great! I have had my gall bladder removed. I already have issues - imagine that ON TOP of Alli - Doesn't sound like a good plan!

[MsShelley]

here are some facts about alli... that is not something I want to deal with, lol!!!

 

 

What is Alli?

Alli is a less potent version of the prescription diet pill, Xenical (orlistat). At half the dosage of the prescription version, experts feel that its potential for abuse and overall risk is low enough to be safe for over-the-counter use. You can expect to pay between $50 and $60 for a 30-day supply of Alli, which can be bought in supermarkets, drug stores, and even online.

 

How Does Alli Work?

Put simply, Alli is a fat-blocker. You take a pill with each meal. The main ingredient in the pill binds with the digestive enzymes that would normally break down fat from the meal that you consumed. But because Alli attaches to these enzymes, it prevents them from digesting about 1/4 of the fat you just ate, allowing it to pass through the digestive system and out of the body, undigested and unabsorbed. Overall, fewer calories from dietary fat are stored as actual body fat.

 

Sounds easy, right? There’s more to it than that. Alli isn’t a magic weight loss pill, and its makers don’t claim that it is. They are adamant that daily exercise, a reduced-calorie diet, and a specific diet plan that limits the amount of fat you eat accompany the use of Alli. If you overeat on carbohydrates, protein and/or fat, you will not lose weight by taking Alli. If you eat more fat than recommended in a single meal (15 grams or less), you’ll experience some pretty embarrassing and serious side effects (see Pros & Cons below), and still might not lose weight by taking Alli. Just like any old weight loss plan, it involves counting and cutting calories, reading food labels, limiting high-fat foods, and exercising regularly. It takes will power, determination and consistency to see results.

 

What the Research Shows

 

Modest Results. Studies conducted by the company show that when using the Alli program (pills, diet and exercise) correctly, individuals can lose up to 50% more weight than dieting alone. They compared the Alli program with dieting only (not with dieting AND exercising), so it's hard to say whether these results come from Alli, the exercise component, or a combination of both. While 50% more weight sounds like a lot—here's an example. If you used the Alli program, you could lose 15 pounds instead of 10 pounds in the same amount of time. These results aren’t that dramatic—especially since you have to diet and exercise for it to work. In another study, dieters using the Alli program only lost three more pounds over the course of an entire year than people who dieted and exercised without taking the pill.

Not as Good as Xenical. The full-strength prescription version of orlistat, Xenical, hasn't lived up to its promise, according to data published by Consumer Reports. So how could the less potent Alli be any better? Data presented to the FDA suggest that the Alli program works best in those who are very overweight, but results are modest at best. In clinical trials, severely overweight subjects who took the drug for six months lost about five pounds more than those taking a placebo. In another four-month trial, moderately overweight people lost about 2-1/2 pounds more than the control group.

Short-Term Benefits. The modest benefits of Alli aren't likely to last in the long-term. Alli is marketed for short-term use only, and follow-up suggests that people start to regain weight once they stop taking it.

Generally Safe. According to a GlaxoSmithKline press release, the safety and efficacy of orlistat, which has been marketed as a prescription drug in the U.S. since 1999, is supported by more than 100 clinical studies. This includes the four-year landmark XENDOS trial, the longest study ever of a weight loss medicine. More than 22 million people in 145 countries have used orlistat.

Not for Everyone. Alli is for people over the age of 18 who are overweight. It is not for people at a healthy weight, or those trying to lose the last five or 10 pounds. Other people who cannot safely take Alli include: people taking cyclosporine, warfarin, and thyroid or diabetes medication; people who have had an organ transplant; women who are pregnant or breastfeeding; people who have problems absorbing food; people with thyroid disease, gallbladder problems, kidney stones, and/or pancreatitis; people who are allergic to any of Alli's ingredients; and people taking other weight loss products.

Pros & Cons

At most, you could lose a few more ounces (1/4 to 1/3 of a pound) per week by using Alli, which is expensive and has some serious side effects. Is it really worth it?

You could lose more weight on the Alli program than from diet and exercise alone. But the amount of additional weight is small.

Alli's manufacturer is up front and honest about the potential side effects, which means that they won't come on as a surprise to users. Since Alli isn't a stimulant like other diet pills, it's not associated with any jitters, changes in energy levels, or insomnia. But its so-called "treatment effects" are embarrassing and negatively affect one's quality of life. Alli users experience loose stools, more frequent stools that are hard to control, an urgent need to use the bathroom, and increased gas with oily discharge. In other words, because the fat you are blocking has to go somewhere, you could experience uncontrollable diarrhea.

Alli is expensive. You can expect to pay between $1.50 and $2.00 per day to use Alli.

While Alli may help you lose a few extra pounds than lifestyle changes alone, little research exists to show what happens when you stop taking Alli. Experts predict that uses will re-gain the weight lost since the pill is doing the extra work for them.

Although there's a lot of buzz surrounding it, Alli isn't a magic weight loss pill. Diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes are a must for this pill to help you lose weight.

SparkPeople's Stance

SparkPeople's experts believe that healthy lifestyle changes are the key to long-term success at weight loss and health improvements. Along with that, our fitness and nutrition experts recommend staying away from quick fixes and other unsafe or questionable practices. When it comes to diet pills, we have always advised against them. And even though Alli is FDA-approved, making it safer than any other diet pill on the market, we do not recommend the use of this product. Here's why:

 

FDA-approval guarantees safety and potency of a product, based on the research that is available so far. Most pills and drugs that are approved by the FDA are safe. However, there is no long-term research available to attest to the safety of Alli. The FDA has made mistakes in the past, later removing potentially threatening and deadly products from the market even after they were approved and considered safe. It's always important to be wary of new products that lack long-term data for safety and side effects.

 

Alli's "treatment effects" can seriously interfere with your daily life and well-being. You may have to take time off work, wear feminine or adult products to protect against accidents, and deal with other digestive woes. Imagine sticking to a fitness routine and everything else in your daily life while worrying about these things.

 

According to SparkPeople dietitian Becky Hand, Alli does interfere with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins. It's important to take a vitamin/mineral supplement while taking Alli, but that is no guarantee that your body will still get and absorb all the nutrients that it needs—especially those that need fat to be absorbed.

 

Alli doesn't care whether the fat you ate was from a Big Mac or a healthy serving of salmon. Even though all types of fat aren't bad for you, Alli will take both good and bad fats out of the body. Dietitian Becky thinks this issue is "very important," despite its lack of mention in the press and in the Alli support materials. Healthy fats are important for your overall health, and blocking them can have negative effects.

 

The diet recommended by Alli is questionable. "I'm not sure I understand the Alli diet," says Dietitian Becky. It calls for a reduced-calorie diet (based solely on your current weight) and an equal intake of protein, carbohydrates and fat (about 30-33% each). In comparison, SparkPeople's medically- and research-based recommendations are 10-35% protein, 20-35% fat, and 45-65% carbohydrates, with a calorie level based on your current weight, goal weight, goal date and exercise level. Alli's diet is low in carbohydrates, the body's preferred source of fuel, which should make up the bulk of your diet.

 

According to the Alli diet, a person will take in about 533 calories from fat (59 grams) each day. "That's really not that low-fat," says Becky. The Alli pill will result in 25% of those fat grams (15 grams) to be excreted and unused—a total calorie savings of just 135 calories per day. Over the course of a week, the calories you save by excreting that amount of fat will result in about 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound lost. If you consume less than the 30% of fat recommended, your weight loss results will be even smaller—a matter of ounces.

 

"There's almost a built-in conflict of interest with using Alli," says SparkPeople Coach, Dean Anderson. "You have to get the fat content of your diet up high enough for the pill to have any noticeable effect, but doing so increases the risk of side effects and pushes people towards nutrient ratios that wouldn't make any sense on a normal diet."

 

The Bottom Line

Taking a pill doesn't teach you how to create a healthy lifestyle that you can live with long-term. By making permanent changes to your diet that you can actually stick with, you're likely to keep the weight off for good. Alli does require some dietary changes, but it isn't a long-term solution to the battle of the bulge. Dietitian Becky says that you really have to ask yourself if the benefits of Alli outweigh the risks. "Is losing an extra 1/4 pound weekly worth the discomfort, cost, and embarrassment that Alli causes?" she asks. "For some the answer is yes. But for many others, no."

[Debs]

Well anyone that thinks a pill is going to solve their problems shouldn't be taking fat burners at all, IMO.

 

You didn't take a pill to add the fat, you just can't take one to make it go away.

 

Diet, exercise, and some help along the way, that's what these are!