Frustrated

[Stinkerbell]

Not eactly sure where this goes but I am a little frustrated and need to vent a little...

Basically, I have been on Alli and I am doing pretty good, I have lost about 20lbs in the 2.5 months that I have been on it. I know I could do much better but I injured my back MONTHS ago and just can't move well. Well the long of the short of it is I have had a very bad week... I have gained about 3 lbs back this week. I know it is stress and I have always been a stress eater. I really thought I had it under control, but not this week I guess. I am not "down" on myself because I ate and "fell of the wagon" as to say. I am just tired of being frustrated with my life. It seems like the more I try to take control of things the more it falls apart. Anyway, I am hoping to get back on track tomorrow and have set a 10 lb weight loss for the end of Oct. I used to make large goals and I never could make it so I would quit. Now I make little more atainable goals and it seems to work for me.


Thanx for letting me vent....

 

[KaraCooks]

Hi there.

I can sympathize with your frustration, but I'd also like to point out that 20 lbs in 10-11 weeks is a GOOD rate of loss. That's an average of 2 lbs per week. There's no reason you should be disappointed in that or feel like you should be able to do better.

Can you give us a little more information about yourself? There are a lot of people here who would be more than happy to make suggestions and see if we could help you out, but it's hard to do without knowing more.

Male or female?
What do you weigh now?
How much do you want to lose in total?
What are you eating?
What kind of exercise are you doing?
Any other information that might help ...

I'll tell you honestly that I think Alli is a crock (I know that's blunt - but that's how I feel). The only thing Alli does is force you to do what you know you can do anyway - eat less fat - out of fear of the consequences. It doesn't actually do anything to cause weight loss. And even with Alli, that's no guarantee that you're eating HEALTHILY. Alli makes no allowance for healthy fats, which are a NECESSARY part of a healthy diet (some vitamins and minerals are fat soluble - and they can't be properly processed w/out enough dietary fat).

I would suspect that a few tweaks to what you're eating and maybe a switch up in your exercise would make a difference.

 

[Stinkerbell]

I am female, and yes I agree I have had some great results... But this last week I have been EATING... Almost everything in site. I have never been much of a sweets person but I have been eating cake, cookies, brownies. Things I really don't like/want. As far as exercising, not a whole lot, I know that is part of my issue, but I am in so much pain with my back. Before I got hurt, I bowled 4 days a week. Now I sweat walking up and down the stairs. (due to the pain).. I had surgery done on my back today and hopefully I will be up and around in a week. The first time in months, I am very excited about this. As far as how much I want to lose.... Originally I wanted to be 150lbs. again. But at this point in my life, I would kill to be under 200 and wearing a 18.... So I set little monthly goals, and where I end up, I am sure I will be happy. Personally I don't know if it Alli crock or not, but it does remind me to watch what I eat. Makes me more acountable, before it didn't matter, now there is a consequence.

 

[Omega]

I am sorry to hear about your back problems. That is naturally going to limit your exercise options for a little while. Did the doctor suggest some forms of exercise that you can do in the meantime? Has the doctor suggested a time frame for being able to widen your scope of exercise options?

I understand that walking on stairs causes you some pain. How is walking on the flat for you? Any movement is beneficial as all exercise helps one way or another. Walking was my first (and main) form of exercise - although I naturally have progressed on to do other things too.

Maybe swimming would be an option. Also some resistance exercise would be better than none - so it may be that you could focus on your arms until you are able to do more. Your doctor should be able to give you guidance.

Exercise is great for a number of reasons. It burns calories both at the time and later. It builds muscles which cause your body to generally burn more calories.

Another main benefit for me is that it is a great distraction bringing in a window when you dont eat - even if you are having one of those binge days when you want to eat everything in sight - irrespective of whether you like it or not. It can therefore give you an opportunity to retake control on the food front. If I go out walking for two hours - that is two hours where I will not eat anything. If I want something I just have one piece of sugar free chewing gum and that is it for the next two hours. It is also a great opportunity to get away from things and think for two hours. When I am walking I tend to walk pretty quickly. Even if I am on the treadmill and someone else is in the same room as me - I am walking too quickly to be having a conversation with them. That doesnt stop me thinking things through though.

I found that another great way to break up a binge was to get people to phone me or distract me in another way for a few days. If we tell our nearest and dearest that we are having a bad day with our food and would welcome some distraction I have found them more than happy to give a few extra phone calls. All you need is several people making several phone calls and you feel like you have never been off the phone...

I have now trained myself to only ever binge on fruit and raw veg. There are times when I eat far too much of it. I always have plenty in the house. I can eat it way beyond getting the full signals which is far from good. I figure that it is low calorie so not going to do much harm. It gives vitamins and if I am lucky - a lot of it will pass through on the way to the toilet...

As far as Alli reminding you to watch what you eat goes - have you tried logging your food on ? Many of us find that planning and logging (and indeed honing) our nutrition reminds us to watch what we eat. It has the added benefit of ensuring that we eat really healthily (and gives us great weight loss) too. This places us well for eating a healthy diet as we get to goal weight (having taught us how to control and hone our nutrition) which means that we are less likely to gain weight at the end and give ourselves the same problem again.

For the record - I am not a great believer in medication like Alli either. The same reason as Kara outlines (re vitamins / healthy fats) - also I would rather find the willpower than risk the embarrassing consequences... Medication like Alli also leave people high and dry and risking a yoyo effect as they get to goal - since they are not going to take Alli for the rest of their lives.

You do not mention your current weight - so it is hard to comment further on your statistics.