to think you must be mad to take weight loss pills 'Alli'

[mamamea]

You may have seen these. Boots were doing a free go on their weighing machine. Big display of pills adjacent. Also lots of TV advertising featuring somewhat overweight woman jumping for joy. Loadsamoney to be made via these things clearly.

Basically the pills make you shit yourself. Oh and you might lose a little more weight than normal. By means of excreting oily shit. And they cost £55/month.

Some samples:

I Can't Believe I Just All Over Myself!

take alli? get ready for a shit fest!

tbh I think that what is wrong isn't so much that the pills exist, but that you can buy them without a prescription.

a bmi of 28 isn't grossly obese, and it is perfectly possible to get your bmi down to a healthier level with basic dieting and exercise. But I think it's highly possible that people will see pills as a quick fix, because a lot of people don't want to put in the hard work to lose weight at the rate of a couple of lb per week, hence why diets like atkins/cambridge etc are also so popular..

it's selling so well because everything in our society tells people that the less they weigh the more value they carry. if you're not in the target market, don't sneer at people who are... your faces are screwing up and it's making you look ugly.

Well done mrsboogie! Stories like that give motivation to others and I am going to tell my friend that I read 'somewhere on the internet, can't remember where that this lady lost a stone in a month?!?!'

I am really hoping it works for my friend as she has been struggling with unhappiness due to her weight for ages.

YAY Aitch. You go girl.

I have been telling people that obese people are judged before they opened their mouths(to speak that is) and if an obese or overweight person had a plate full of salad the fact that they are eating is enough for people to make comment or pass judgement.

(Wheres Cod and the 'fat woman that was chewing gum in M&S' and the like stories).

The other night I was bored at work and we were watchinganother load of crap on telly and at that point I would have gone over the road to Somerfield and bought a packet of biscuits as I only wanted 2, but it dosen't stop at 2 for some does it, they've eaten 6 and said 'oh no, look at me greedy piggy, I best not eat anymore' but this way I CAN'T go get some biscuits as I will have not too pleasant consequenses

it's not about a shallow "thin is good fat is ugly argument" for me - I recently had gestational diabetes and am therefore at risk of developing the real thing - reducing my weight is the way to stop this, a few pills prescribed now will prevent me from being a drain on the nhs in future.

And using Xenical is NOT a quick fix - it is bloody hard work - I lost about 7 or 8lbs the first week but will only lose 1 or 2 lbs a week thereafter. That is how it is meant towork - it isn't a crash diet. None of the hard work is taken away from me - its just that it actually does works using the pills and hasn't before.

HG Your friend should give it a go. If you are the sort of person who figures out how to use it correctly and understnads why and how to take it, it can be great.

mrsboogie, my friends been on it for about a week now. She has been trying hard not to go on the scales in that time so hopefully when she does, she will see a loss and that will help to motivate her. I don't know how much she actually wants/needs to lose as I'd feel too rude asking her.

I think if people find it helpful then the option should be there to take a pill to help. I myself have 7-10lb to lose but I know the pill is not right for me with such a paltry amount to lose. For me it is true laziness but for her it is a longstanding battle that really affects her in terms of body image, confidence etc. One of my other fiends had a balloon fitted and to me, that is more extreme than taking a pill. However, she has done really well and lost 4 stones, different courses for different horses is what I say.

absolutely Holyguacamole

hope your friend does wel - its very hard to not be hopping on the scales all the time but it is best to only do it once a week.

Message withdrawn

err ahem pitchounette I think wannabe may have been quoting me as I think I said that - I was talking about myself really.

I was too lazy to exclude from my sweeping statement those people who have gotten overweight for reasons beyond their own control (medical conditions/accidnets/immobility etc), except to refer to people, like myself, who had "let" themselves get fat.