We last spoke about these on Day 1, and as I'm in the last week of my Alli challenge I thought I really should mention them again. If you're eating, or if you ever plan to see me in real life, you'd probably better skip on.
You may remember that one of my main reasons for choosing the Alli diet was to hold my eating habits to ransom with the promise or threat of unwanted bowel activity. As the website says, "alli works in a unique way by preventing some of your body’s enzymes from digesting about a quarter of the fat you eat. As undigested fat can’t be absorbed, it passes naturally out of the body in your stools. "
The side-effects, of 'diet-related treatment effects', of continuing to eat high-fat foods while taking Alli include:
* wind (flatulence), with or without oily spotting;
* sudden bowel motions;
* fatty or oily stools;
* loose stools
In addition, as you need some fat to process vitamins you are advised to take a multi-vitamin each day while on the programme (I haven't remembered once, oops).
So, physically, how have I been? Obviously I've achieved some weight loss, which is fantastic. I had quite a few headaches at first, which may or may not be related to the diet. I also found myself needing to wee a lot; I haven't seen this in any of the leaflets and I don't think my liquid intake increased, but I certainly noticed that.
My skin and nails have been fine. I've had quite a flaky scalp, which may also be accounted by the colder days and central heating, but otherwise everything has proceeded as normal.
I've had no stomach pain, and for the first 4 weeks I had no 'treatment effects' either. My diet was within limits, and so I never had a problem. At first I was quite terrified though, every time I felt windy I ran to the loo just in case!
As you know, I broke the diet while on holiday last week. While doing that I conducted two experiments:
1) to see what happened if I ate a fatty meal e.g. pizza, while taking Alli.
You are advised NOT to take the Alli tablet if eating a high-fat meal, to reduce the likelihood of treatment effects; however I think this is entirely the point of Alli - if I'm eating fat, it needs flushing out with the little blue capsule, so I kept taking it. In theory I should experience treatment effects.
2) to see what happens if you eat fatty foods when not taking Alli, having taken it previiously.
Alli is described as working on one meal at a time, so in theory it should only work on the meal it was taken during, not on subsequent meals, whatever their fattiness.
How did I get on? Well, I experienced side effects. They weren't troubling in a 'sharting' way, but it was disconcerting the first time I looked in the bowl. The oily fat does pass through you. Bizarrely it looks like chilli oil, or carrot oil, no matter what you eat, which may be like those chunks of carrot ever present in a vomit episode, even when you don't eat carrot... anyhoo.
As I was still fairly moderate in the fat I was eating, even with the diet broken, that was the extent of the issue.
I did find however that the Alli appeared to have an action beyond the meal it was taken to treat. In fact up to 24 hours after the last Alli tablet was taken treatment effects were still experienced.
This, to me, is all good news. I WANTED to be held to ransom. I didn't want to be able to dip in and out. My resolve stiffened.
I will say as an addendum that following Treat Tuesday yesterday, an oil-fest of Chinese takeaway and pizza, more extreme treatment effects were felt today. I really did have to rush for the loo at one point, although there was no pain or cramping. It makes sense after all, that eating a lot more fat would exacerbate the treatment effects. I can totally understand how people who don't stick to the diet could experience leakage and other nasties. You have been warned.
Now we have that over and done with, we can begin the final push...
What I ate today:
Shreddies with milk
Tuna and EL Philly sandwich with cucumber
TLC Hot Cross Bun
Chicken fillet and salad pittas with a couple of lattice fries on the side
Exercise of the day:
Some light housework. Looking at the sweet and sour staining on the blinds (see yesterday) reminds me too much of treatment effects so they will have to go.
Product of the day:
Do you know, I haven't got one today? Sorry!
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