1. Community
  2. Health promotion
  3. Orlistat

Scared to start tablets - Any advice welcome

Posted , 6 users are following.

leanne90312
leanne90312

Hiya, I was prescribed orlistat by my doctor three weeks ago, I'm 92kg and 5ft 5. Problem is I'm scared to take them so they're still sitting unopened. I've done slimming world before and got down to under 13 stone so was planning on using the meals I would have on that with it. I'm a very fussy eater. I eat bacon, egg, meat, savoury rice, potatoes and green veg, I only like lettuce of the salad variety and strawberries and grapes as fruit. My other worry is the side effects. I'm a teaching assistant and without sounding too crude I'm very regular anyway. Am I going to have an accident in the classroom? I have Psosriatic arthritis too and take dihydracodiene each even for pain. Any advice is greatly welcome. I need to do something I'm just unsure how to take that first step

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • corinne11
    corinne11 leanne90312

    Posted

    Hi leanne welcome on board x take your tablets hun you will be fine really!! You must stick to 5gms of fat per 100gms no more then 15gms per meal you will have no accidents if you keep your fat intake under these amounts as the " accidents" are the tablets working removing the excess fat if you dont eat the fat and keep it low you will have no problems at all good luck keep us informed everyone on here is lovely and very helpful so just ask xx
  • madespo28
    madespo28 leanne90312

    Posted

    Hi, I too was sacred at first,but what I did I made sure I started them one day when I was AT HOME, they were fine, no problem for me but beware of the bacon, as its fat content is high, cut off visible fat on any meat, avoid sausages too and you should be fine, Unfortunately I had to give up things like salami and full fat cheese(i love all types of cheese) as it went straight through me when on these tablets. Your body will settle down once in your system,also I've had no leaks unlike some, hope this helps...x
    • jesslou28
      jesslou28 madespo28

      Posted

      Hi

      I was the same. I've had accidents but only because I've been silly with what I have eaten. You need to go them a go they work. I would take spare underwear and an identical pair of pants to school with u, no one will know then if u had to change. Start them next Friday, being bank holiday have extra day off. In my experience they take a couple of days to get in your system. Good luck.

  • corinne11
    corinne11 leanne90312

    Posted

    Hi leanne ive been on them 5 weeks now never had leakage nothing at all more constipated then anything! I have a bacon sandwich now and again i get lean back bacon use my george forman grill that reduces the fat in it only 2 slices in warbutons wholemeal thins ive never had a problem i also use quorn sausages there quite nice too so you feel like your still having some cooked breakfast hope this helps xx the bacon ill have once a week the quorn sausages 2/3 times a week very lowfat but high in protien xx
  • leanne90312
    leanne90312

    Posted

    Thanks very much lasses. Think I'll write myself some meal menus and start on Saturday. One more thing. Can you drink alcohol? I have a drink with the lasses on a Saturday night. Thanks again x
  • Niclips
    Niclips leanne90312

    Posted

    My gosh, you are a fussy eater - that made me laugh as I too am very fussy - but you make me look like i'd eat snails! Have you ever tried anything else any time or have you only ever lived off this food you mention? Do you eat puddings and cakes and sweets and stuff like that as not sure why you have gained weight with that limited diet. I'm only asking to gauge what you do eat most days as it's hard to give advice on menu's etc because you haven't listed any of the bad stuff which you would need to avoid in order to avoid any accidents whilst on these tablets. But from what you do mention, the strawberries and grapes are excellent - eat as much as you like. The lettuce is good but not really substantial or filling - is there any other kid of salad you could add to this as packing out meals with salads and veg is a good way to fill up. Have you tried sugar snap peas (raw) with the lettuce - they are green and very sweet. Also, what about white cabbage (raw) chopped up very finely with the lettuce - I do that when I make a salad as it's really tasty and sweet raw, and adds a really nice crunch to the salad so you chew more and longer so fill up more - if you catch my drift. I personally think sausages are a no on this diet as even the low fat kind are still very fatty, bacon has to be really lean with no fat and in fact all red meat needs to be extra lean with all fat removed - and even then, it still contains high amounts of fat so you are better off having chicken, turkey and I would say fish and prawns but I suspect you will go eeeeeeek to fish? Do you make the savory rice yourself because the ready make packs are high in fat and at least if you make it yourself you can count what fat goes in. Also, what do you put in other than meat - I ask cause i love savory rice so would be interested in your recipe - and I could give you mine but again it has kidney beans, sweetcorn, onions, a small amount of chorizo sausage, paprika (amongst other things) so you'll probably go eeeeeek to that too? As for cakes and stuff - these are big no no's. Potatoes can only be boiled or jacket as no cooking with any fat or oil. And eggs are o.k provided they are boiled or poached or scrambled with no butter. Do you like soup? Soup is really good for a meal because there are lots of low fat options out there and Baxters Health range is excellent and they do some fantastic flavors. If I'm really hungry I boil up some gnocchi, pasta, rice or veg and add that to the soup - very filling and tasty. For sweet stuff I like fat free yoghurts - my favorite being the muller lights ones, low fat jelly, fruit, jelly babies (but only 4 once a day) OR marshmellows (again, only a couple once day) as these are both fat free. What do you drink? I only drink water, sugar free squash, diet fizzy drinks, herbal tea and cadbury highlights (1 mug a day of the hot chocolate). I don't drink alcohol but I understand some people have the odd glass of wine at the weekend etc. As long as you stick to a very low fat diet, only max of 15g of fat per meal (3 times a day = 45g in total) and within each meal no one things over 5 grams of fat per 100 grams, then you should be find. I have had no accidents or leakage as I stick to a very low fat diet, but a couple of times I have eaten something bad and I have gone to the toilet easier than normal the next day but luckily no accidents. I hope I've given you some ideas and hope you can pluck up the courage to start and that they do help you lose the weight you want to. Good luck, and let us know how you get on. Bye for now.
    • leanne90312
      leanne90312 Niclips

      Posted

      Wow! Thanks niclips! What a reply! Pleased about the alcohol because I don't wanna have any accidents when I'm out with the girls. I love chocolate! I also eat things cooked the wrong way and have takeaway pizza twice a week. The stuff I've listed above is what I eat when I'm being healthy. The savoury rice s worrying though as i don't make my own, in fact I wouldn't even know where to start with that. I also drink a lot of full fat fizzy drinks, which obviously I will stop and drink plenty of water and sugar free fruit juices too. I only liked my grandma's homemade soup but she passed away last year so havent had any, i've got her recipe though so may try and make that and see what it tastes like! I wil also have a look at the the Baxters soups. Thanks for all the advice smile
    • Niclips
      Niclips leanne90312

      Posted

      Hi Leanne, Wow I've never had a wow in my life in any way shape or form before so thanks for that. Are you a fussy eater because you've never had other stuff before so the thought of it makes you heave, or have you tried other stuff before and just don't like it? I'm gonna have to try and broaden your horizon a bit otherwise you are going to find this very difficult to lose weight for the long term. From what I can garner, here are some little suggestions to start with:

      1) You need to cut down the amount of meat you eat. Meat has so many calories, not to mention natural fat content. You really should aim for no more than 1 small piece a day and you must remove any visible fat. As for bacon, I would say just avoid it apart from maybe once a week - and then it should be lean and no more than 2 slices grilled. Chicken and turkey are better meat choices than red meat so try and stick to those and only have red meat once a week (small piece, all visible fat removed) and grilled or baked.

      2) Eggs are fine but you really don't want to have more than 1 a day and this should be boiled or poached, and not fried, and if in a sandwich (don't know if you eat bread?) only with very low fat mayonnaise or salad cream and even then only a teaspoon.

      3) Pizza is an absolute no no. Unless you make it yourself (I can hear you laughing at me from here). You can make the dough yourself using wholemeal flour and it works out a lot less calories/fat than the greasy stuff in ready made. You can then also add a pure tomato puree with no fat in it and then a selection of veg and various herbs - sorry, no cheese at all. Now that is going to be difficult because you are not a lover of veg so here are some suggestions you could try and see how you get on: red pepper thinly sliced (sweeter than green so you might like them), mushrooms, sweetcorn, olives thinly sliced, salt n pepper, and once cooked sprinkle over some fresh coriander or basil. I do know that Pizza Express do a low fat pizza which might work for you although I doubt it would be less than 15g of fat for the whole thing - but you might be allowed a couple of slices. You need to do some investigating but I suspect most pizzas will be off the menu.

      4) There are actually lots of drinks you can have but you absolutely must ditch the full sugar fizzy drinks. You can have water, sugar free squash, tea & coffee (no sugar), herbal tea, sugar free fizzy drinks, and once a day a Cadbury Highlights hot chocolate to satisfy a sweet tooth (I have one every evening at about 9 when I want CCCAAAAKKKKKEEEE!). And if I have been really good that day I have 4 marshmellows to dunk in it.

      5) I would also absolutely avoid juices (do you mean the fresh type such as orange juice). No matter that they are healthy, they are very sugary and high in calories. However, a glass of fresh orange juice or apple juice or pineapple juice is a healthy option once a day if you are including it in your calories, but certainly not just as a drink as and when you need one - too high in sugar.

      6) A couple of glasses of wine if you are out with your buddies is fine once a week or so as long as you are counting them in your daily calorie allowance.

      7) Chocolate - NO

      8) Cakes - NO

      9) Sticky puddings - NO

      10) Basically no puddings or goodies of any kind unless they are the very low calorie, low fat variety. A list of things I have found are: low fat yogurts - I find Muller light yogurts to be really nice and also Rachel's organic fat free are really nice. They have all sorts of flavors such as black cherry, strawberry, passion fruit and mango etc. You may think eek no way but perhaps start to try them a bit and test them out - my taste buds have changed immensely since this diet and I now love yoghurt which I hated before. Beware when you are picking yogurt though as you must not have the full fat ones as they are huge amounts of fat and calories - must be fat free.

      11) I also discovered Alpro chocolate desserts last week and they are gorgeous. They are where all the custards and rice puddings etc are (well, in Waistrose they are anyway) and they are very low fat and very chocolatey. I had one last night instead of my hot chocolate and I put 4 marshmellows in it - god it was flippin' lovely. So check those out.

      12) Marshmellows and jelly babies are ok to have once a day as they are fat free, but you can only have 4.

      13) Savory rice is really easy to make. Whilst rice is boiling in a large Wok add finely chopped onions, finely chopped red and yellow pepper, finely chopped mushrooms, sweetcorn and I add olives but most people wouldn't add the olives. Only use Fry Light to fry up these mushrooms (and only for a minute or 2 as you don't want them going mushy). Once the rice is cooked, drain and add to the Wok and veg, then pour in some chicken stock - just use a Knorr or such chicken stock cube and some boiling water. Then add dried oregano (you will find this in the jarred herbs & spices section) and smoked paprika - again, in jarred herb & spices section. Then finally add lots of salt and pepper and let it all simmer for about 15 minutes. Now then, you are going to have to experiment as to how much herbs you add because that is all depending on taste, but I add lots as my family love savory rice. And if you chop the veg very finely by the time you serve it, it is all broken down and same texture as rice so you won't even know you are eating veg.

      14) I feel you really are going to have to "discover" soup as it is a great option for lunchtime as you are going to be cutting down meat and I doubt I could get you to eat a wholemeal pitta bread could I? If you could check out the wholemeal pitta you can have ham and lettuce in it - try and add some cucumber and tomatos - or boiled egg slices up with salad. Have that with a yogurt and some grapes for lunch and that should see you until tea time. But you have lots of soups to choose from - Baxters Health range are fantastic, there are lots of low fat cup a soups available which you might prefer as they are a bit more watery and so not so overpowering.

      So hopefully this has given you some tips and ideas, now all you have to do is the hard work! Good luck and keep me updated babes. x

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.