Thread: Considering Xenical - one main question

Hi all,

This is a brilliant site - you cant beat real life people in real life circumstances to give you support, advice and encouragement.

Where I'm at right now is that I finally plucked up the nerve to talk to my GP about weightloss meds and, after a chat and lots of questions, she recommends Xenical over Reductil.

I was a bit surprised cos I had heard all about the "squeaky bum" side effects, but her reasoning is that provided you follow the rules, it teachs you to eat properly...unlike Reductil where your appetite comes back once you stop taking them....hence the weight returns.

She sent me off with instructions to get out for a 30 minute walk every day and I have to go back to her in the next few weeks to get the Merina coil in and at that point I've to have decided fully if the Xenical is the one for me.

Now - having read loads and loads of your diaries and posts the one thing that keeps coming into my mind is that with Xenical I need to track what I'm eating... some it seems do this to the minutest detail and others simply track fat grams, each to their own and from what I've read both seem to work well.

I'm betwixt and between tbh.... if I'm going to track everything then maybe I'd be just as well off doing that along and leaving the Xenical out of the equation altogether.

What I suppose it comes down to is this - is the difference between purely tracking and planning and then tracking, planning and taking Xenical worth it....... will the addition of the Xenical speed up the rate of weight loss?

My head tells me that by being on Xenical I wont cheat....well you cant really can you and this is usually my downfall - I do great for a few days and then blow it all and then dont get back on the wagon until I've regained what I'd lost and more...

Also - anyone in Ireland???? What does it cost here? Do you have to go to the doc each month or is that a personal preference of some doctors? I'm a bit strapped for cash at the moment so this all makes a difference.

Thanks in advance for your advice, please let me know what you think.

Thanks,
D

Hiya Deem and welcome to mini's.

Whatever you decide it sounds like you're in that place to lose weight but i know exactly what you mean about lasting a few days/weeks then falling off the wagon. I dont really track fat or kcals consciously but when we go shopping I always buy food thats low in fat and this is 9/10 low in kcals too so i just stick to my 3 meals, breakfast is usually between 2 and 5 gms of fat then lunch only about 4 but tea can vary depending on whether i'm at work or not. Also you can cheat on xenical and i hold my hands up to that, have been pratting about with it for the last 3 weeks and have only had a 3lb weight loss to show for it whereas the previous month i lost 1 stone. The exercise thing is also a biggy, since ive reduced the exercise i've wanted to snack more, felt more lethargic and well as i said the weight loss has slowed too.

There's also different trains of thought on the xenical vs just healthy diet, i've been dieting since i was 9 as ive always been obese except for when i went major skinny aged 16-18, the only time ive lost a considerable amount of weight in my adult life was on a meal replacement diet, all the other ones my weightloss halted after about 10lbs now since taking xenical i've lost 17lbs in 2 months and i can actually see the results.

At the end of the day it's up to you what you choose and as long as it results in you feeling good about yourself and being healthy it doesnt really matter xx

Hi deem and welcome to Minis and to the Xenical forum
Ok, for me personally, Xenical keeps me on the straight and narrow, its also allowed me to *step back* as it were, and look at the reasons for my binge eating/emotional eating. I keep a food diary, and have done for 2 years now. I track fat grammes and calories. I keep a track on these for 2 reasons. 1. To plan ( and stick to) food for that day, and 2. if I do have a stayed the same weight week, I can look back at my food diary and see what potentially caused the problem.
xx

I also keep a food diary religiously every day and like Ali I keep a record of fat grams and calories. The xenical keeps me from going over the fat rules, I have dabbled with crisps a few times and on the whole I know I can have a packet everynow and again but I did have a day when I had about 3 packs and although my calories were fine for that day a day later I got the dreaded orange oil in the loo, strangely comforting though to know it does actually work and also that I can't eat 3 packs of crips and get away with it, if I hadn't had kept a food diary I would have forgotten what I had eaten and not know what had caused the problem. So far I am a great fan of xenical, I have no scales so can't weigh at home just when I go to the Drs and am never hungry as I am eating better stuff, but loosing at a pleasing rate.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
xx

How many calories do u aim to eat in one day?... question open to all.

Thanks girls for all your replies. I have signed up for 3 months to another website (..dont know if I'm allowed mention it by name here!) and in there I can track all food and exercise. It give you full nutritional information for your food so you can plan your meals etc keeping within certain guidelines...like 5gr fat per 100gr

Well, I was going to go back to WW for about the 4th time this year (they were in between Cambridge, Lipotrim and good old eating) and couldnt face it yet again...I've been going to WW on and off since I was 15years of age.

wrt to cals per day - according to this website if I want to lose 1.5lbs per week (not using Xenical) then I need, based on my height, energy requirements etc, to eat 1281 cals per day.

Thanks for your help, no doubt I'll be back many times for more!!
D

hello and welcome!!

Not much i can add to what the girls have put!!

good luck and post away your always welcome to!!

luv katie

id say xenical saved my life...
nearly 8 stone gone... on xenical & exercise x

Hi Deem!

Welcome aboard and Good luck on the weight loss hun!

I personally LOVE xenical, for someone who's prone to binging and starting (and failing!) lots of diets, it REALLY does help keep me on the straight and narrow as I dread the orange oil!

Although, as Nina mentioned, it is def possible to "cheat" on Xenical, by not taking your tabs properly.....so its not a miracle pill but it definately helps!

You def seem to have your head in the right place (as they say!) for weight loss, and I think you're gonna succeed with or without Xenical! As with lots of the girlies (and guys!) on here, Xenical can't take ALL the credit - it still takes hard work and exercise to get those nasty lbs shifting......look at Nina, Ali, Katie and Piink!! They've been tremendously good and all do lots of exercise and count fat/cals etc....But it DOES make you a hell of a lot more conscious of what you ARE eating - you analyse every morsel that you pop in your mouth (still doesnt mean you wont pop it in tho! lol! you just close your eyes and pray you dont have any nasty toilet troubles then! but you will! lol!).

The only thing that concerns me is the AMOUNT of cals you've found out to allow yourself?? Don't know if it's just me, but this seems very low?? I'm shorter than you (around 5ft 3, and only just) and I allow myself between 1400-1500cals per day, very rarely going under 1300cals and sometimes as much as 1600-1700cals if I've been busy and exercising?? And with this I've still lost, on average aronud 3lbs/week?

I know Ali is a little bit taller than you (5foot 5) and she has around the same as me per day...more too if she's been exercising, and she's lost LOADES of weight.

Don't know what the other girlies think, but 1281cals/day seems quite low, and might make it difficult to stick to? If you allow yourself more to begin with, you'll def still lose weight and then you can always cut down later on when the weight's coming/come off? I DEF wouldn't go BELOW 1200cals a day or the starvation mode thing may kick in??

Didn't want to sound negative, just trying to advise you that you can EAT and lose weight! If I was you, I'd have a chat to your doctor when you go bk for the coil, and for Xenical if you ARE going to get it, and ask them how many calories they would recommend.

Good luck! you're gonna do amazingly!

xxxx

P.s - this site is fab for motivation and will really keep you going! I find keeping a diary on here really helps me stay on the straight and narrow and you can write down your food, cals, fat etc...in that, it's a fab slimming class/diary rolled into one and free! Bargain!

I would have to agree 1281 cals per day is going to be hard going everyday, I tend to allow myself anything up to 1500 per day but if I'm hungry I sometimes go over that, I walk everyday with my dogs and try to keep active when I'm not walking but do no formal exercise. I am 5ft 1in and a fag paper as my dad would say but tend to put that I'm 5ft 2in as it doesn't sound so bad. Remember this is a lifestyle change not a diet, the aim is to change your eating habits for good not lose the weight then go back to the old habits and gain it all again, so eating what your body needs is really important, try to see food as fuel and you need to eat to lose, sounds daft but its true.
xx

Hi again girls (and lads, of course)

I still havent bitten the bullet and have of course done nothing but eat and therefore have gained 3lbs

But yesterday I joined up in my gym for a Weight Loss Boot Camp, so at the moment I am doing this along with keeping an online food and exercise journal.

One question for you all - with Xenical you must (for health & safety reasons) stick to the 5gr fat per 100gr rule, do you think your weightloss would be the same if you just stuck to this rule and didnt do the Xenical as well?

I think I'm steering in this direction tbh....

Denise

Xenical makes your body only absorb 2/3 of the fat you eat, and holds 1/3 in your gut. So yea it helps alot. And the fact of going poo poo on this bus makes you stick to it lol. Goodluck and welcome back!

haha love the new sig pic reddd. x

OMG you copi kat! <3 your new pic x
We need to stop ruining peoples threads with our conversations lol.

Red x

yeah you better stop =] haha.