This summer I went into an obsessed craze about my weight and looked to many different alternatives to shed pounds. I tried the lemonade diet which consists of no eating for a minimum of ten days but drinking a lemonade concoction of water, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and fresh lemons. I also had to drink laxative tea and 32 oz of sea salted water. Unfortunately, I barely made it to day four. My next venture was to try Hydroxycut diet pills, after that I pondered the idea of diuretics, and even thought about getting a colonic. At the end of the summer, I still weighed the same and had only visited the gym all of 5 times. In today’s society we like everything to have speedy results, so of course I know that weight loss can be obtained through healthy eating and consistent exercise, but still that takes time.
With all the many programs and diets available, there was one that I hadn’t tried and was curious about, the alli weight loss program. alli is the only FDA approved over the counter weight loss product. According to the alliwebsite, the capsule pill based program functions to work on the enzymes that break down fat.
“alli prevents your body from absorbing about a quarter of the fat you eat. Fat is more calorie-dense than carbs or protein. Just one gram of fat has more than double the calories of the same amount of protein or carbs. So if you eat a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet and use alli capsules, you can make a real difference in your weight as you limit the total number of calories that enter your system,” the website explains.
Potential users should be interested to know that on the alli program it is possible to lose 50% of weight than dieting alone. Like most diets and weight loss programs results are not attained through pills alone. A lifestyle change must take effect. Users are encouraged to follow the rules, meaning adopting a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet, getting plenty of regular physical exercise and taking the alli capsules as instructed. Results will vary with the individual, but the program suggests that 1 to 2 pounds can be shed a week.
“alli is designed for overweight adults, it’s not just a pill but a whole program that requires users to commit to a healthy lifestyle. Alli won’t, can’t and doesn’t claim to be able to make up for an unhealthy lifestyle, but it can reward people who adopt a healthy lifestyle,” said Brian Jones, representative from Alli and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
alli is available online and can be found in local drug, grocery, and discount/warehouse stores, such as CVS, Target, or your local supermarket. Price ranges from $49.99 to $69.99 for starter and refill packs, containing sixty or ninety capsules. There are also books available, The alli Diet Plan and The alli Cookbook, sold at various bookstores.
Despite its FDA approval, local dieticians are not quick to recommend the program.
“This is not balanced eating and does not promote learning how to manage a person’s calorie intake vs. calorie output. The result of any over-restrictive diet is short-term and allows a person to become obsessed with the “motions” of the diet, not understanding the reasoning behind the choices being made,” said Kim Remeta, registered dietitian and certified life coach from Ultimate Results Personal Training and Wellness Center in Alexandria, VA.
Remeta’s practice is focuses helping individuals who desire to change their lifestyle to achieve weight loss and whole living. Many people believe that weight loss is hard to achieve, but lack the knowledge of the actual weight loss process.
“Individuals should educate themselves about what foods, in the proper amount will benefit their body at that point in time. The food industry has done all Americans a tragic disservice by putting the dollar as the bottom line when it comes to consumer education and food advertisement,” Remeta said.
“Americans are more confused than ever about what is healthy. I work hard to challenge my clients to be responsible for their decisions while continuing to teach them how to be confident in their journey back to balance,” added Remeta.
The truth remains that people seeking weight loss (included myself) rely on “lose weight fast” ideas, not fully acknowledging that some programs are not beneficial, and the real answer is available at no cost.
“They do work, [weight loss programs], it offers a support system and with diet pills it helps to control the appetite, and that’s what people want,” said Kathy Glazer, a registered dietitian from the George Washington University Weight Management Program . However, like Remeta, Glazer also stresses that the most effective road to weight loss is to decrease caloric intake and increase physical activity.
In my quest to lose weight, I realized that maybe I wanted to do so for the wrong reasons. The notion of being “thin or skinny” seems attractive if one follows society’s influence. My goal should not be to become smaller for superficial satisfaction, but instead to become a healthier individual. Like the other programs I tried and thought about, the alli program is very seducing, and upon further research I may take a stab at that as well.