Still Trying

Just wanted to express appreciation for all that responded to me having a setback in my weightloss plan. The Doctors have offered me two options. One is Optifast. This appears to be a liquid diet and meetings. (Too far away too!) The other is Xenical. They tell me it is a fat blocker, but without any amphetimines, which would affect my heart arithmias. Would love to hear any opinions on this. The Xenical is VERY expensive. Like two dollars a pill and need three a day. But low carb diets have worked well for me in the past. They are saying i just have to get the weight down for the surgery. Have to make 380. This morning I was 426, so I have already been moving in the right direction. Timing is really part of the issue here. I need to be back in my prime within five months as my unemployment will run out. If it takes me too long to lose the next 46 pounds, then getting a job is very difficult. Tough to get a job when you weigh this much. Anyway, I have very little choice but to keep moving forward. We don't get to lie down and die. So I am dieting again. Should make a choice Wednesday. I am leaning toward Xenical. But would appreciate any thoughts. David

Hi David, I am sorry to hear that you are having to jump over extra hurdles in order to have this surgery. I will tell you, though, to keep pushing towards your goal. This is truely the best thing I have ever done. I am going to weigh in on the options you discuss above. Zenical--both my husband and I tried this (aloing with many other diets) in our pre-op days. I did not find the Xenical to be an effective weightloss tool. I lost less than 10 pounds while taking Xenical, and found it to be an easy system to cheat. The Xenical works by blocking some fat absorbtion from food. If you eat a food with too high of a fat content, the fat is excreted from your body via the gastro intestinal system (greasy stools & secretions). The unpleasant greasy excretions are supposed to deter you from eating fatty foods ( along the lines of Pavlov's dog). My compulsion for food, including high fat food, was too great & I continued to eat items that inhibited my ability to lose weight. Also, high sugar foods are just as bad, if not worse, for weight gain,a nd the Xenical does not block the absorbtion fo sugar. Therre are a lot of very high calorie, high sugar foods which are low enough in fat (or fat free) to escape teh Xenical model. Hubby had a similar experience. I will say, however, that neither of us took Zenical as a last chance effort to enable us to have this surgery--that may have provided more motivation and caused greater success. Optifast--I will start by saying that I have not done this program myself. My father did Optifast years ago with tremendous short-term success. I believe that he lost 80lbs, buthe did not keep it off. However, if you were to follow the Optifast with WLS, the long term success of Optifast alone whould be moot. If it is a cumbersome program due to distance, you might want to try doing a liquid diet on your own (which is essentially what Optifast is). Many WLS patients are required to do a 2 week pre-op liquid diet in order to reduce weight and fat around the liver. I was not required to do a pre-op liquid diet, but most of those individuals that I know who have done a two week liquid diet lose a substantial amount of weight prior to surgery. I wish you the best of luck in your journey & hope that you and your doctors can come up with a suitable program for you, which will enable you to have WLS. Roberta

Roberta, I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences. I have been eating no carb for the moment. But not sure how much and how fast I can lose with that. I was kind of thinking that xenical with the low carb might work really well. But not sure. There is a lot of pressure on me to get this done quick. Anyway, thanks for your encouragement! David

There are generic forms of xenical out there. They might not be quite as effective but at 1/10th the cost you could take twice as much right? If you need to lose a lot of weight fast there is just one option that I would consider and that is the Atkins diet. Of course it is a yo yo diet but all you have to do is lose it until the surgery right? If you went on Atkins and stayed true to it you could lose 46 pounds in less than 2 months.... Say after me 1,2,3 boiled eggs for breakfast, 1, 2 3, boiled eggs for lunch, 1,2,3, boiled egs for dinner and youll be a winner!!! I know its a really lame stupid rhyme but its true. Take care and I hope everything works out for you.

Hello David, I agree with Roberta, I also did the Xenical thing and like her , It did not give me great sucess, but it does give anal leakage, and that my friend is a nightmare, one I wish never to re live If you do the Atkins with the Xenical , ( the Adklins did not work for me ) , and you eat hight fat meats , you will know after a day or two what I am talking about, the fat comes out , and I mean COMES OUT , no matter where you maybe. To lose the weight fast--- ask the doctor about a liquid diet, I would hope they could somehow get you the opti fast, via mail OR maybe the doctor could reccommend a GNC liquid diet plan that may work as well. My surgeron requires his folks to do a two week liquid , and I lost 17 pounds in 10 days. With having only about 50 pounds to lose , this could work for you FAST---- it is no fun , trust me, but so well worth it. On my 2 week liquid diet , I had --- protein shakes mixed with skim milk, sugar free pop sicles, cottage cheese, sugar free puddings, broth's , water, crystal light, diet soda's ,,, you get the picture, man o man the pounds just melt off. It also gets you prepaired for after surgery , the first couple weeks of liquids. Work hard as possible to get this tool David,,,, do what ever you can, it has helped me so much , no words can express , how much better I feel. Good Luck and let us know what happens . Allison