Advice needed.....

It was a bit. I have woke this morning with pain in the back of my ribs which I am sure is wind. Is this also a common side effect? I have taken some charcoal tablets and had a warm bath which has eased it but not got rid of it. 

Thank you niclips. I am beginning to feel better, maybe I did eat something I shouldn't have yesterday. I guess I'll have to keep a closer eye on what I eat  xxx

Hi, yeah it is suprising what can make you feel gassy and crampy - you literally have to double check every single thing that passes your lips as it is surprising how much fat is in foods. You will get the hang of it, it is early days yet. I'm pretty settled on it now after 3 months but I have just been away for a week and didn't bother taking the tablets as I knew I would not be able to be as careful as at home. Anyway, I did pretty well and just had breakfast and lunch with nothing in between and STILL mamanged to put on 8 lbs. Needless to say I am so pee'd off - I have never put 8lbs on in 1 week in my life! To say I was shocked is the understatement of the year - so I am now having to remove that before I can continue with weight loss. Bummed out!

Can you share any kind of meal plans. Is the basis of these tablets to eat foods very low in fat or no fat at all. Feel like I was given tablets without guidance. Any help very much appreciated

I am off to Turkey on the 21st July, I think I am defiantly going to leave the tablets at home I don't think I could handle a family holiday with craps wind and all the delightful added extras haha xxxx

Hi, the basis of these tablets is an extremely low fat diet. The general rule is no more than 15g of fat per meal, 3 times per day, so that is 45g of fat in total per day. However, in addition to this you need to watch the fat content of each item you are eating and make sure that nothing is over 5g of fat per 100g. For example if a tin of soup has 2g of fat per 100g and the whole tin is 400g and you eat it all, you need to multiply 2 x 4 (2g x 400g = 8g of fat in total). This would be fine as you can have 15g of fat in total per meal, so if you went for the soup you could have a wholemeal pitta bread with it and sala, or steam some veg in it. Then in addition to your meals try to snack on only fat free foods such as fruit, raw veg, fat free yogurts etc. but be careful how many fat free yogurts etc that you eat as you also need to stick to around 1250 calories per day and fat free yogurts are around 99 calories per pot so they do add up pretty quickly. A couple of other things which are fat free for snacks is jelly babies and meringe nests. There are also Alpro chocolate desserts which are fat free and cadbury highlights hot chocolate. It's a big learning exercise trying to find fat free foods and very low fat foods but you do get the hang of it after a while.

A typical day for me is a wholemeal pitta bread with mashed up banana in for breakfast (sometimes I add a teaspoon of low fat peanut butter too).

Lots of fruit & raw veg to snack on.

Tin of soup for lunch and I either add a couple of rice cakes with ham on, a pitta bread with ham and salad, or 100g gnocchi & steamed spinach into the soup which is very filling. Or sometimes jacket potato with tuna or chicken and salad, or beans on (no butter EVER). Followed by 4 jelly babies.

Fresh fruit and veg afternoon/tea time.

Evening meal is usually fish or chicken with pasta, rice, gnocchi, jacket potato and lots of fresh veg or salad, or stir fried with soy sauce and ginger etc.

In the evening I always have a muller light toffee yogurt or alpro choc dessert with a meringe nest or cadbury highlights hot choc depending on how many calories I have left.

You have to learn to be quite inventive on this diet because the calories soon get eaten up. Luckily I don't drink and so I don't waste calories on alcohol as I only drink water, sugar free squash, herbal tea and diet coke or diet lemonade.

Hope that helps. Speak soon. x

Oh yeah, definitely not worth taking the tablets. I also took an Immodium the morning I went away just in case as I didn't want to get caught on the plane - could you imagine the shame!

I've just read your post and I just want to say thank you . Like many here I feel I've been left to my own devises and have been dramatically under eating for fear of a public toilet desaster lol . Great advice x

Thanks again x

Hi, you are very welcome, I'm glad it has helped. Yeah, it's the fear that keeps you on the diet - that's what makes you lose weight, the tablets don't do anything else other than make you eat very low fat - just in case! As long as you stick to the very low fat rule, you shouldn't have any unpleasant side effects so relax and just try to embrace the diet - sounds mental I know but I am certain the right frame of mind is key and in order to have the right frame of mind you have to embrace and enjoy the whole process - yeah right I hear you say!!!!!! Anyway, good luck and let me know if I can help at any time. Bye for now.

Did you figure out what foods were causing it for you? The only thing I can think of is I had some gammon last night with salad. Xx

Hi Karen, trust me, you are not alone. Many of us struggled to start with and it took some getting used to and I certainly didn't and still don't think the tablets actually do anything other than frighten you into not eating anything fatty as the consequences are awful if you do. So they "encourage" you with fear to eat no fat and eat low calorie and that is how the weight comes off - by you not eating much etc. However, having said that, whatever works is good for me. I have been on these tablets 3 months now and HAD lost 26.5 lbs and was feeling fantastic but last week we were on holiday and I gained 8lbs. I am totally disheartened and fed up because I have never in my whole life put 8lbs on in 6 days. It took me weeks about 7 or 8 weeks to lose 8lbs and in 6 days I am right back to square one. I am disgusted because although I did eat well last week, I only had breakfast and dinner (I skipped lunch) and I don't drink alcohol and only drank diet coke and water and fresh orange juice for breakfast. So to say I am pee'd off is the understatment of the year.

Still, I shall perservere and see if I can get that 8lbs back off but I am struggling mentally because I go away for another week at end of July so I know whatever I lose up to then is going to go back on, and then I am away for 2 weeks in August - again, ditto! So right now I am feeling very sorry for myself and feel like giving up.

But it is is early days for you Hannah. You are in that difficult stage of still figuring it all out and what your body does and does not like etc. So keep trying and give it a few more weeks as the first 5 weeks were hell for me but then I settled right into it and was doing great - just don't go on holiday or break your routine otherwise it's back to square one it seems!

Thanks for your reply and encouragement. I'm away for 2 weeks in July, having that Chinese last night and the aftermath today has scared the living daylight out of me, not great feeling! Yes going to keep going, my problem is I travel and struggle to always prepare my food but generally I just don't eat fatty foods. Thanks again x

I have been sooooo uncomfortable today to the point I find it difficult to breath because of the pain I get in my rib area. I know it's all wind because as soon as do the rare burp it eases for a whole 30seconds! I have just returned from Holland and Barrett with my bag of peppermint oil capsules and peppermint tea bags. I intend on taking these and having a nice bath and an early night. Feels like it's been a very long day xxxx

How odd, I've just had cup peppermint tea, hot bath and now bed 😊

Haha great minds think alike haha 

Hi Karen, sorry about yesterday's message - I called you Hannah. Oops. Anyway, you live and learn as they say and in a few weeks you shouldn't have any horrible side effects so good luck. Bye for now. x

I can sympathise, I have been there. I would suggest gripe water aswell but you are probably feeling a whole lot better today. Peppermint tea is good as is ginger tea but you will find it will all settle down after a while. Bye for now. x

Thanks for the advice feel loads better today. It's just my stomach is literally bubbling....

Yup, been there. It will settle, honestly. Just try to have as little fat as possible for the next couple of weeks and drink lots and lots of water and herbal tea - that will help. It took me about 5 weeks in total before I was sorted out and now I never have so much as a grumble.

I've just weighed myself and from scales I've haven't lost anything but diff feel lighter in myself and clothes

Appreciate ppt his may just be a little too much info, gone from not being able to leave the bathroom to now can't go!  Any ideas or reasons why. Sorry appreciate not great subject but just want to be sure if this is part of the process. Thanks 

Ha ha, yup that'll be the tablets for you. I had exactly the same problem for the first 5 weeks - constipation! I couldn't believe it as I thought it would be the reverse. I think these tablets have funny effects before your body gets used to taking them. I've read some people have no effects, some people the weight falls off etc. but for me the constipation was, and still is, a real problem. I think once your stomach settles down you may not go as much as normal as the diet is very strict, but what you can do on those occassions you get "stuck" is take either fibogel powder or senokat tablets - they are both a high fibre natural very gentle laxative, so not like putting harsh chemicals into your body. The fibogel is pretty gross as you drink it and although it tastes of either orange or lemon (sort of) it is a fibre drink - but it works very gently over several days so you never get a rush or desperate situation, and all natural ingredients. Senokat is the same - a very gentle natural fibre tablet - you take 2 before bedtime for a couple of days only and it sorts you out gently with no emergencies. You could try those. I have had to use the senokat 3 times since being on this diet (3 months in total) (for 2 days each only) and it sorted it out.