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If you miss a meal, or your meal doesn’t contain fat, don’t take a capsule – alli doesn’t work unless there’s some fat in the meal.
Do not take more than 3 capsules a day.
Remember also to take a multivitamin tablet at bedtime (containing vitamins A, D, E and K). As alli removes some of the fat you eat from your body, some fat-soluble vitamins are removed with it. Taking a daily multivitamin ensures that you have an adequate supply of these vital nutrients.
Adjusting to Your New Lifestyle
There are a few simple but fundamental changes you will need to make in your life to succeed with the alli programme.
Here’s what you need to be willing to do to join the thousands who are succeeding with alli:
• adopt a reduced-calorie, lower-fat diet
• plan your meals
• manage your cravings and setbacks
• take guidance from the alli programme.
Achieving your goal with alli isn’t complicated; it just takes a little practice to get into the new habits. As well as sticking to a reduced-calorie, lower-fat diet, becoming more physically active is part and parcel of becoming healthier. Like most things in life, once you’re used to them, they simply become part of your daily routine.
Commit to a Reduced-calorie, Lower-fat Diet
Why Reduce Calories?
Calories are a measurement of the energy your body needs to function. When you eat more calories than your body needs, it stores the excess energy as fat.
Your calorie target is the maximum number of calories you should eat per day. This target varies, according to your weight, gender and activity levels. You can use the chart (below) to set your daily calorie targets.
Before you can set your calorie targets you’ll need to know your activity level. The more active you are, the higher your calorie limit. Choose which activity level most closely fits your daily routine. If you’re unsure which is your level, choose ‘low’.
• Low activity = you do little or no walking, stair-climbing, gardening or other physical activity on a daily basis
• Moderate activity = you burn around 150 calories a day in physical activity, for example, walking 2 miles (3 kilometres), gardening for 30–45 minutes, or running 1.25 miles (2 kilometres) in 15 minutes.
Calories for Women
Calories for Men
Lower Fat Is Key
You may be surprised to know that alli doesn’t require you to eliminate fat completely from your diet. Eating the right amount of fat helps the body absorb vitamins and perform other essential functions.
Your fat target is the maximum amount of fat each meal and snack should contain for you as an individual while on the alli programme. This is based on your daily calorie intake. When you follow the alli programme, you’ll be focusing on the total amount of fat, not whether it’s unsaturated or saturated.
Use the chart below to set your fat target for each meal and snack.
Reducing fat not only helps you to lose weight, it is also the way that you will be able to manage any diet-related treatment effects such as fatty or oily stools, sudden bowel motions and wind (flatulence). These effects are caused by the way the alli capsules work on the food you eat: because alli prevents the absorption of some of the fat in the food you eat, this unabsorbed fat passes naturally out of the body. Be reassured that most new alli users who experience these effects learn how to manage them by staying within their recommended fat targets.
Tastier, Healthier Food
alli is dedicated to helping you eat a tasty, nutritious and varied diet. Although it’s important to limit the foods that are high in fat and calories, there are lots of other delicious choices open to you.
Lower-fat doesn’t have to mean lower-taste; we have lots of easy, satisfying recipes and meal ideas to prove it. The advice in this book should enable you to eat satisfying, balanced meals without feeling bored or deprived.
Enjoy trying new things and varying your meals with alli.
Eating Together
With the alli programme you will be able to eat such a variety of delicious food that your whole family can enjoy the same meals as you. Some of the recipes are written for two, some for more, and many are adaptations of family favourites.
At the Table
Putting the right amount of the right foods on your plate is a simple but important part of achieving success.
Try downsizing your plate to downsize your portions. If you use a plate that’s 20cm (8 inches) across, it’ll look fuller so you won’t feel you’re missing out.
When you’re sure of your portion sizes at home, you’ll then find it easier to judge how much you should eat when you dine out (restaurants usually serve bigger portions than you need).
Planning Your Meals
Ideally, you will plan your meals while you’re on the alli programme so you can stay within your recommended fat target per meal. Knowing what you’re going to eat a few days in advance puts you in control and raises your chances of success. Planning ahead helps you avoid making last-minute choices which are too high in fat and calories. It also enables you to experiment with new recipes.
In reality, you probably won’t be able to plan every meal. However, as you learn more about the programme you should be able to assess what will and won’t work within the programme for you. This book will help.
Shopping
Try not to go shopping when you’re hungry. You could be tempted by fatty convenience foods and may start snacking on your way home.
Also, if you don’t already make shopping lists, start now and try to stick to them.
There are lots more tips on better (and smarter) shopping later in the book.
Move Your Body and Shift the Weight
The alli programme recommends you increase your physical activity levels to help you lose more weight.
When you consume fewer calories your body has to use its fat stores for energy and, as it does that, you lose pounds. When you exercise, you encourage your body to burn fat stores more often and, as a result, help increase your weight loss. Upping your activity levels should help you lose more weight.
Incorporating more physical activity into your everyday life is easier than you think. There are lots of fun and easy ways to exercise.
Exercising isn’t just good for your body, it’s a well-known fact that it’s good for your mood and relieves stress, too. It’s not just about joining a gym; there are lots of other ways to get moving and burn calories.
Whatever shape you’re in and however busy you are, it’s still possible to be active every day. Start gently and increase slowly. Begin with 10 minutes’ extra walking a day. If you’re already active, then build up the time or add in something else as well.
Remember to check with your doctor before you start any new exercise programme.
There’s a chapter on exercising as part of the alli programme later in the book, but here are some tips to get you thinking about how to include more activity in your daily life:
• Write your goals down somewhere you will see them every day.
• Break your goal into long-term and short-terms goals that are achievable.
• Involve family and friends in your weight-loss plan.
• Take the stairs more often at home – make extra trips and burn extra calories.
• Don’t sit down when you make a phone call – walk about the house while you talk.
• Cleaning is good: hoovering, mopping and dusting are all excellent activities for burning fat.
• Take a seat on an exercise ball. It will help you sit up straight and work your abdominal muscles.
• Get off the bus one stop early. When you feel ready you can try two stops earlier!
• Cycle rather than driving whenever you can.
• Walk up escalators.
• If you take the lift, get out a floor early or take the stairs from ground level.
• Park further from the shops and walk the rest of the way there. Supermarket car parks can be huge, so get into the habit of parking as far away from the shop entrance as possible.
• Walk the dog! A brisk daily walk will help burn off any extra calories consumed.
• Get gardening – a great way to burn some extra calories.
Managing Cravings …
Cravings can be the downfall of many dieters.
It’s important to learn, therefore, to recognize whether your body is hungry or if you’re experiencing a craving for something. Hunger is an empty feeling in your stomach – a signal that you haven’t eaten anything for several hours. A craving doesn’t mean that your body is hungry; it usually happens when you feel like eating a certain type of food. It can be triggered by stimuli outside the body, such as stress, changes in emotions and seeing or smelling something appetizing.
It would be unrealistic to tell you that you won’t experience cravings, but it is possible to control them and limit the damage they can cause.
Tips for Beating Cravings
• Drink a glass or two of water – sometimes your body is thirsty and not hungry at all.
• If you feel like chocolate, whisk up a cup of reduced-calorie hot chocolate with water or skimmed milk and a shake of cinnamon on top.
• If you’re at home, do something to take your mind off the craving – walking away from the fridge and out of the kitchen is a good start! You could try phoning a friend, doing 10 star jumps or taking up knitting to distract yourself.
… and Setbacks
Blips. Bumps in the road. Snack-attacks. Whatever you call them, they happen to everyone. The essential factor is how you handle the setback.
If you eat the wrong foods and/or too much of them, don’t be too hard on yourself because that can make things worse. Instead, accept that it’s happened and decide why, so you can aim to avoid the same mistake again.
• After a setback, make your next meal really tasty and within the accepted fat and calorie limits.
• Then start planning an occasion or night out and make a shopping list of the new, smaller clothes you’d like to buy for it to spur yourself on.
Take Support from the alli Programme
When you commit to the alli programme, it’s committed to you. It’s here to help you adopt a healthy lifestyle so you can reach your goals.
Visit www.alli.co.uk for online support, useful tools, tips and more recipes to help you stay motivated and on track.
Are You Ready?
Before you start, here are some final things to remember:
• Don’t rush: alli provides you with a gradual and steady approach to weight loss. You can use alli for up to six months.
• Smaller portions = a bigger reward. If you commit to a healthy lifestyle, following a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet, alli can reward your hard work with 50% more weight loss. So, for every 2 lb you lose by your own efforts, alli can help you lose 1 lb more.
• Lower-fat is the way forward: limiting the amount of fat you eat at each meal is very important when you’re taking alli capsules. If you don’t stick to it, you increase your chances of experiencing diet-related treatment effects.
• Get more physically active: Exercise helps to burn calories, so when you’re taking alli, you can help yourself by taking more exercise.
• Remember to read the label and information leaflet that comes with the alli pack before you start.
Your Reward
Successful weight loss may seem like a big challenge, but alli can be a big help. Importantly, the alli programme provides you with useful tools to help you sustain your weight loss and commit to lasting, positive changes to your eating and lifestyle habits.
This is the first step on your journey to a healthier lifestyle. Good luck!
Chapter 2 Your Diet Essentials (#)
Well done for taking the first steps to a healthier, trimmer you. The information in this chapter will help you learn how to eat a healthier diet, both while you are trying to lose weight and in the longer term.
Many people spend years hopping from one diet to another but are still confused about what or how much to eat. Add to this the pressure of modern living, being short of time and the confidence to cook, as well as being surrounded by tempting and readily accessible food, and it’s little wonder we find it so hard not to put on weight. There isn’t a magic solution, but you can take more control by learning more about what and how much to eat and starting to incorporate more activity into your life.
This chapter explains the background to the diet, giving you guidance about the food groups that will be part of your eating plans.
This chapter has several sections:
• The key to weight-loss success outlines the principles of energy balance.
• What can I eat? takes you through the food-group system, explaining the importance of each group and providing you with useful tips for your diet.
• Your diet goal provides a breakdown of the calories and fat that you may have at each meal.
• Your meal blueprints helps you to plan healthy, balanced meals by giving you a clear guide of what to include each mealtime.
• Food and your mind helps you to identity why you eat and provides a few tips to keep you motivated.
