Kryptonite

Willpower is a wonderful thing.  I can be faced with a mountain of Brussels Sprouts, and I can easily resist taking even the tiniest mouthful.  Similarly rhubarb crumble, pistachio ice cream, wasabi peanuts and hoisin duck pizza.  Then there's times where I actually get all determined to do something about my ever expanding backside, and actually make an effort to resist things that I really enjoy.  And for a while I can do it.  I can cut out the muffins, I can ignore the office biscuit pile, and even say no when someone says they're going to the chippy for Friday lunchtime, and do I want a noodle special.  I even took homemade soup in to work today for my lunch, rather than a trip to the corner shop.

Powerless to resist

But then it happened.  I had to get oil for my car, which decided to be a particularly temperamental beast at 8 o'clock in the morning, when I needed to drop La Squeak at breakfast club at get in to work as early as I could to try & work the hours they pay me for.  So, there was no chance of a car-parts shop being open, and I took my chances with the supermarket.  What a mistake.  Right in front of me, on a huge pallet, just as I walked through the entrance barriers (it's getting more & more like Terminal 2 at Heathrow, my local Tesco, I'm sure).

KRYPTONITE

Kryptonite in cake form.  Mr Kiplings Frosty Fancies, to be specific.

I tried.  I really did.  I turned my head, walked away & found the really exciting motor oil that I went in for.  I browsed the trashy magazine selection, and considered whether I had enough diet coke to get me through the day.  And then I had to walk past them again to get to the checkout.

Big Fat FAIL.  And getting progressively bigger and fatter, as these are going to be hanging around the supermarket for the next two months.  Honestly, I can resist most cakes, but I only need to think about these to start drooling like one of Pavlov's dogs.  They barely even touch the sides.  And if you think I'm going to share them with anyone, you're sadly mistaken.  My Kryptonite!  MINE!!

Frosty Fancies are my kryptonite.  What's yours?

Alli Diet Aid, 1 month on.

If you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed at the start of the month, that I posted about Alli diet aid tablets, that I had received to review.  Well, I've kept on taking them, and here's the second stage of my review.

If you remember, after a fortnight, I'd managed to lose 5 pounds, by a combination of willpower, exercise and Alli tablets for that extra boost.  However, the last few weeks haven't been quite so successful.  Real life has got in the way on a few occasions, and I've found myself choosing to skip the tablets in favour of being able to eat what I choose without suffering the consequences.  And that has affected how effective the tablets are.

They're not a magic wand.  Sadly that doesn't exist yet.  If you carry on eating rubbish and take Alli, at best they won't work, at worst, they won't work & you'll spend most of your time sitting in the bathroom.  If you skip tablets for a meal, or a day, to indulge yourself, they simply aren't as effective for the next few days.  This means that over the last couple of weeks I haven't lost any more weight, I'm stuck at the 5 pounds I lost in the first couple.  I've got no-one to blame but myself, and now I've got to get back to eating better, avoiding the pizzas, and treating myself better.  I think I'll stick with them for a little while longer, because they do work when you use them right, and I could do with the boost to get me back on track.

The instruction booklet in the Alli pack says to take a daily multivitamin, in order to ensure you're getting all the appropriate nutrients, seeing as some of your food isn't being absorbed.  This is a habit I'd got out of after I stopped breastfeeding Squeaky, so it's been a good thing to get me back to taking vitamins regularly.

Alli is an over-the-counter medication, and can only be bought from a pharmacy.  You can find it in most high street pharmacies, and certain registered online pharmacies.  The pharmacist may ask you questions to ensure that it is suitable for you.  Alli is only suitable for adults with a BMI of 28 or above.

Disclosure: I was provided with Alli tablets free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own. Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

Alli Diet Aid Review - 2 weeks in

I'm heavier than my doctors would like. That's the polite way to put it.  I'm like most women, I guess, on a constant search for a.weight loss that works for me.  Well, about 4 years ago, I bought some Alli diet aid tablets, but then fell pregnant with Squeaky about a week later so never got to try them out.  So when I was given the chance to try them again recently, I went for it. I've just reached my pre-pregnancy weight, but not.from the direction you'd expect, so something's got to be done before I get mistaken for Nelly the Elephant.

When I first heard about this opportunity, Daddy reminded me what happened last time & said he hoped it wasn't an omen. And when I told the girls at work, half wanted to know where their samples were & the other half took great delight in telling me horror stories of digestive disturbances caused by combining Alli with Gregg's sausage rolls!

Alli, if you didn't know, is a diet aid tablet.  Designed to be combined with exercise and dieting, the tablets reduce the absorption of fat in your diet, meaning you can lose around 50% more than just by dieting alone.  I'm giving it a month's trial to see how it works.  You take 3 tablets a day, one with each meal, and eat a sensible, low calorie & low fat diet, and the tablets can help you lose weight faster.

The Alli kit

I had a look on the Alli website before I started, and was impressed to find a recipe section, promoting healthy eating, rather than just reliance on the tablets.  I think that's a big part of the Alli programme, educating yourself to eat better, and make better food choices, which to me is missing from some other diet plans where your choices are very restricted.  You don't have to change your diet, but if you're taking the Alli tablets, trust me, you will want to!

The online programme has a load of support & information, and there's even a community message board to share questions, support & success stories.  I think this is quite a nice touch, as it is always daunting starting out on something new, especially on your own.  That said, the forum does seem quite quiet, and I'm sure that there are similar & more active forums elsewhere if you look.

There's a section in the information booklet that comes with the tablets about side effects, and "common" side effects, especially during the early days of taking the tablets include wind, sudden bowel motions and abdominal pain.  As far as I can tell this is because the fat in your diet is being blocked from being absorbed, and instead is passing through you like, well, a dose of salts.  I'll be honest here (those of a nervous disposition should look away now), I've had the cramps & wind, but fortunately, nothing worse.  If you limit the amount of fat you take in, there's less to have to come out, and so you avoid the side effects.  The programme advises that if you limit the fat intake in a meal to no more than 4g, then you shouldn't have the side effects, so it's a learning curve.

I have had to make choices a couple of times.  I went to visit a friend last week, and had my Alli tablets in the little blue shuttle, but we decided to order in a take-away pizza.   Now, I'm not daft, so I didn't take a tablet before that meal, or for the rest of the day. While I could have done with limiting the calories, the side effects would have been too much, and I firmly believe a diet is more likely to be successful if you allow yourself the occasional treat.  And there was a point over the weekend where I had quite uncomfortable cramps, and did say to myself that if they didn't go away, I would quit the tablets.  Luckily, they went, and so I've carried on.

I'm not going to tell you my starting weight, or my finishing weight, come to that. There are some things that are too personal to share.  But after almost 2 weeks, I've lost 5 pounds, and my stomach has pretty much settled down to behaving normally.  I'm going to stick with the Alli tablets, and let you know how I get on.  Let's see if I can lose some more!

Alli is an over-the-counter medication, and can only be bought from a pharmacy.  You can find it in most high street pharmacies, and certain registered online pharmacies.  The pharmacist may ask you questions to ensure that it is suitable for you.  Alli is only suitable for adults with a BMI of 28 or above.

Disclosure: I was provided with Alli tablets free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own. Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.