booluviemomma,

Your Personalized Slim-Fast Plan online is considered a low-fat diet according to the USDA healthy eating guidelines. Slim-Fast is a proven weight loss plan that does not contain any drugs stimulants or appetitie suppresants and it does not require any pills to be effective.

Alli is recommended to be used in conjunction with a low-fat diet and the Slim-Fast Optima Diet Plan is a low-fat diet providing between 20-30% of calories from fat.

You should speak with your physician before starting this or any other weight loss program since he/she knows you and your medical history the best and can further advise you.  Your doctor can help you weight the pros and cons of using a pill such as Alli.  It may also help to contact Alli at myalli.com or 1-800-671-2554.

As far as hitting a weight loss plateau, it  is normal and almost unavoidable. Eventually your body adapts to living off of the reduced amount of calories you are now consuming, and grows more tolerant of your regular exercise regimen. 

If you have been keeping a food journal (a daily record of all food and drinks) and you are following The Slim-Fast Plan that is right for you based on your current weight (and including moderate exercise at least 3-5 days per week), and you are still not losing weight, one way to jumpstart your weight loss is by changing your exercise routine.

First try to increase the intensity or the length of time spent on your workout.  You can also vary your activities.  Adding strength training twice a week will help build muscle, which can help to boost your metabolism (burn more calories).  If you currently are not doing any strength training, start out slowly by using your own body weight, resistance bands or light hand weights.  At first your scale may not reflect your weight loss, as your body initially loses fat and gains muscle.  If you stick with the Plan, the weight loss should gradually resume.  Also remember that pounds on the scale are only one measure of success.  You may notice that your clothes fit more loosely and that you also feel better and have more energy.

Please consult a physician before starting any exercise program to prevent injury.

Sincerely,

Ali Auerbach, MS, RD

Registered Dietitian

Hi!

I've been doing a lot of research on the Alli Weight Loss pill.  I wanted to get your take on using them with the Slim Fast program before I decide whether or not to try them.

Here's what's going on with me:

I'm 5'8" and weigh 205.  I started Slim Fast at 215 lbs in May.  I'm happy with my results so far, but I've been stuck at 205 for several weeks and been having a hard time staying motivated to keep with the diet.  I try to stay between 1600 and 1800 calories a day and drink fluids through out my day to stay hydrated.  Admittedly, I struggle to exercise, but usually make sure I get active with my kids every day.  From what I've read about Alli, there are some, shall we say, undesirable physical consequences to straying off your diet.  I was hoping maybe Alli could simply give me another motivator to eat right.  But I'm very nervous of diet pills in general and don't want to take something that may give results but pile the pounds back on as soon as I stop taking them.  And I definitely want to lose weight in a safe and helathy way.  Do you have any advice?

Thanks!