Can Alli make you a biggest loser?

Alli for weight loss; is it safe and effective?

What is Alli?

Alli weight loss aid is the latest diet craze. It's simply an over-the-counter version is the diet drug orlistat. Known as Xenical, orlistat was widely researched, and in double blind testing found to be effective for weight loss. Alli is a lower dose than the prescription drug, yet effective if used in combination with a low fat diet and exercise.

Is Alli a weight loss cure?

While a sure fire weight loss cure does not exist, Alli is a useful tool in your weight loss arsenal. The only other medical intervention that causes weight loss is weight loss surgery which is invasive and potentially dangerous.

How does Alli work?

Alli blocks 30 percent of the fat you eat and causes it to pass undigested through your digestive tract. Relatively safe to use, Alli can be purchased at virtually all drug stores, pharmacies, many grocery stores, and through online retailers like Amazon, Netrition, and MyAlli.com

Is Alli safe?

Alli is the only FDA approved weight loss drug. While safe, it can have side effects if misused. Effective for men and women, Alli is taken right before meals containing fat, and can be taken up to three times a day. Because Alli causes fat to pass through your digestive tract, it's recommended that you eat no more than 15 grams of fat in each meal. This will help you avoid embarrassing symptoms like gas and diarrhea.

Will you be a biggest loser by using Alli?

That depends on you and whether you also follow a healthy, calorie controlled, low fat diet. Moderate exercise will enhance your weight loss results and improve your health. Unlike Hoodia, which purports to control appetite, Alli was proven in scientific studies.

Are there effective alternatives to taking Alli?

Yes. Regular exercise and proper diet with careful calorie and carbohydrate control is effective for weight loss. If you simple eat 30 percent less fat you will not need Alli to remove it in the first place.

Confessions of a Carb Queen Part Two

I’m not going to give you, dear reader, excerpts from this incredible book, "Confessions of a Carb Queen - The lies we tell others, the lies we tell ourselves," by Susan Blech and Caroline Bock, mostly because I don’t want to ruin the experience for you if you decide to read the book.

And at a more than reasonable cost of $10.85 at Amazon, if you’re at all interested in the emotional and psychological reasons why someone can become morbidly obese (468 pounds) while thinking she’s “just a little chubby” this book is a must. Denial was a large theme throughout this book.

Although a very personal memoir with a vivid inside view to one woman’s experience, this book will certainly ring true for a majority of people who struggle with obesity, binge eating, and dealing with emotions by burying them with food, and denial. Denial and miscalculated portions and calories among dieters and non-dieters alike is epidemic. Dietetic studies done with doubly labeled water, which measures exact caloric intake and burn, show nearly all subjects underestimate their caloric intake by as much as 50 percent. (See Leigh Peele's demonstration video on how small miscalculations in portion size can cost you big).

One curious twist to this book is the title itself. Although Ms. Blech gained her weight binging on fast foods laden with carbohydrates, her foods of choice were also rife with fats, sugar, and just plain high in calories. And how does she lose over 250 pounds? Ironically she’s did it by spending 2 ½ years in Durham, NC on the high carbohydrate and very low protein Duke Rice Diet. She maintains her weight with staples like rice, pasta, vegetables, and fruit. So, technically she is still a carb queen, just a much smaller one.

I know most of my readers are low carbohydrate people. But I’d suggest you keep an open mind when it comes to successful weight loss maintained long term no matter what the program. One message Ms. Blech’s book conveys is the inescapable fact that the roots of over-eating and obesity are emotional. The key to sustained weight loss is less about what diet you use and more about dealing with the underlying causes why you got fat in the first place.

Early on in this book, you learn of Ms. Blech’s less than perfect childhood (like many of us have experienced). Her mother suffered a stroke in her early forties and has spent the rest of her life in nursing facilities and hospitals. Her father raised four children on his own and Susan felt how thin he was stretched. Living in “the house without a mother” was the defining difficulty that sent Ms. Blech on a lifetime of emotional turmoil, low self esteem, bingeing and weight gain.

This memoir is so detailed and descriptive that many passages make you cry, laugh, gasp, or reread them. Ms. Blech and her sister / co-author are gifted writers. Ultimately, Ms. Blech gains control of her bingeing and her emotions. She losses an incredible amount of weight and finds her “grown up” self. One defining moment in her struggle comes after 35, while she’s been at Duke a considerable time. When her father visits and fails to say “I’m proud of you” or do or act as she wants, she binges, gains 40 pounds in a week, cries, and eats more. Her doctor’s gentle advice to “be proud of yourself” resonates to her as “Grow Up.”

And she begins to see her childhood in a new perspective. She lets go of the hurt child she was and begins taking care of the adult she is becoming. Susan Blech is a woman of great courage and naked honesty. She should be considered a genuine heroine in the war on obesity.

If this book doesn’t surprise, shock, and inspire you, make you laugh and cry, and hold you spellbound, you need to take a cue from the Tin Man.

Read People Magazine's article on Susan Blech.

More articles about The Rice Diet and their success stories.

Kimkins Watch Revisited

A fake after photo of Kim Drake and a photo of the real Kim Drake who's real name is Heidi Diaz aka Kimmer. How many names can one scam artist have.












I was visiting Marisol's blog a few days ago and was amazed to find out the Kimkins website (link goes to the About.com Inside Kimkins review) and the dangerous very low calorie / carbohydrate diet endorsed there is STILL operating. Admittedly after Kimkins aka Kim Drake was called to task by California news stations and the California Attorney General I thought Kimkins would cease and desist then vanish from the internet and cheesy magazines like Woman's World. No, nada, not happening.

I had deleted my "Kimkins Watch" links from my sidebar awhile back because I thought it was over. Well, now I wish I hadn't. So they're back and near the top of my sidebar for now. Many of the blogs no longer update regularly or cover Kimkins but I feel their previous posts have valuable insights. (If I missed anybody, let me know).

I just want to reiterate Very Low Calorie Diets Are Dangerous unless medically supervised. And medically supervised VLCDs are of dubious value, cause muscle loss, slow your metabolism and cause rebound weight gain after discontinued. Don't Go There. Period.

Healthy women who start low calorie diets (below 1200 calories a day) often end up showing signs and symptoms of eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia. This was demonstrated recently in the BBC America special "Super Skinny Me" - a must see show. I mentioned this a few posts back, one of the female reporters who went on a very low calorie diet (1000 calories a day) began showing signs of bulimia and anorexia and was counseled by an eating disorders specialist to stop the experiment.

In the end, there's only one proven and sustainable way to safely lose weight and KEEP IT OFF. You must create a lifestyle of a healthy balanced diet, eat fresh whole foods, keep calorie restriction to no less than 250-500 calories under your total daily requirements (not under your BMR!) You must also exercise regularly, and do resistance training to preserve or build muscle. This is EXACTLY how I lost 50 pounds, gained muscle mass, and kept the weight off!

The above lifestyle is not just to lose weight. Healthy whole foods in proper portions, regular aerobic exercise and strength training enhance and preserve good health. Always consult your physician before starting any new dietary or fitness practices. Especially very low calorie diets like Kimkins.

Related Links:

What is a portion size?


What Is A Healthy Balanced Diet?

12 Reasons Every Adult Should Strength Train

Scientific Guidelines For Effective Weight Loss

Begin Exercising For Your Fitness and Health

Six New Rules Of Fat Loss - Cardio Isn't The Best Approach To Fat Loss & You Must Build Muscle To Win The Battle Against Fat

Calculators for BMR, RMR and more.

Diet That Made Oprah Winfrey Slim Demands Discipline, Specialists Say