Those who know me best realize that I am very skeptical about new medications, no matter the intent of the drug. This is a result of over a decade of my youth spent in an iatrogenic fog of side effects from various treatments for a very serious neurological disorder.
Those who have worked with me over the past decade or so know that I'm also very passionate about reading the fine print for new agreements and projects. "Read before you sign" is my mantra. The extra time now is worth it to avoid pain later. ("Measure twice, cut once.")
It is with these principles in mind that I began a cautiously optimistic relationship with the diet drug Alli. Having read through the fine print and having deemed the potential gastrointestinal side-effects as nothing to worry about (how could I possibly tell--I have issues with my digestive system anyway!), I embarked on this new diet adventure.
It has been a week and a half.
So far, I've gotten through the holidays, not quite glutting myself on holiday fare as the fine print clearly mentions that it is very important to limit fat intake if you want to avoid major gastrointestinal distress. I'm "down" 0.3 lbs, which is nothing for a week and a half. But if you take into account my "normal" ingestion of food (not glutting, but also not "dieting"), and my "normal" activity levels (nothing above a ~350 calorie elliptical workout daily with several days of rest interspersed therein), the progress is great.
The pros: Alli is FDA-approved. Alli is not speed.
The cons: When I do experience the side effects (when I've had too much fat and Alli is clearly meant to handle a certain level of fat intake), they are pretty disturbing. Thankfully, this only happened once.
The trick now is to self-regulate. There's a happy medium somewhere here, and I mean to find it. Happy Holidays, Introverts.
