Xen and the art of getting thinner

In the beginning:
I'm 31 I'm overweight, and it makes me miserable sometimes - that's how all this began for me. Well, a few months on, and I'm now 32, more than 3 stone lighter and pretty darn happy about how things are going in my life. Let me go back and start a little more at the beginning for you and hopefully you will understand why.

Towards the end of 2004 something changed within me, and although it's very hard to put my finger on it properly, it was as if suddenly I had found or developed from somewhere this desire and determination that I was going to do something about my weight, and that it wasn't going to be another paltry attempt at 'dieting' it was going to be something bigger, something worthwhile and I thought I knew how to do it.

I went to talk to my GP about the possibility of using Xenical to help me lose weight, and to my surprise and I have to say joy, he was very keen on the idea and having talked to me about the way Xenical works, and how it could benefit me, he set the wheels in motion for me to begin my long journey.

Xenical is a fat absorber - When you ingest food the fat from that food is either converted into energy, or stored for later conversion into energy. What Xenical does is to absorb a percentage (approx 30%) of the fat that you eat, and carry it straight out of your body via the bowels so that your body has less fat to convert into energy, or to store. So, by regulating the amount of fat you ingest (i.e. the amount of fatty foods you eat), and then removing another portion of that fat using the Xenical, you are forcing your body to convert fat that it already has stored into energy which means that you lose weight.

I was warned that there are some possible side effects to taking Xenical, which I already knew as someone I knew through the internet was on them, and she had explained that side of things to me, and to be honest, I wasn't really that worried! The Main side effect, and the one which puts people off even considering Xenical quite often, is that if you eat too much fat, the Xenical has too much that it tries to absorb, resulting in extreme flatulence sometimes including an oily discharge, and either oily stools or at worst diarrhea. The main thing I was told to remember here though is that you will ONLY get these side effects, IF you eat too much fat!

The day I got the tablets!
Two weeks pass, back to the nurse, my blood test results are back, and everything is ok. I'm good to go, and the tablets are mine. I leave the office with a prescription for 4 weeks of tablets, and an arm full of information on how to take them, the MAP (Medical Assistance Plan) helpline and some diet sheets and advice on what sort of foods etc. I may find suitable.

MAP is the support system/network set up to support people who are taking Xenical - I believe it is actually run by the manufacturers of the tablets themselves, and you get a phone number you can ring, where you can register with them. When you register, they offer to phone you regularly to see how you are doing and offer advice. They tell you that you can call at any time if you have any questions, and they take your address details so that they can send you useful items in the post. (Things like a tape measure, calorie and fat counter booklet etc.). Personally I have to say when I rang them, I found them quite condescending and I declined being phoned regularly to see how I am getting on as they couldn't guarantee to phone within specific times that I wanted to set. The chap I spoke to seemed to think I was about 5 years old and needed to be talked down to in a way that completely put me off contacting them again.

Follow up's with the Nurse:
To begin with, I had to return to the nurse every 2 weeks, to be weighed and to chat about if there was any problems, etc. After the first couple of visits these were cut to once every 4 weeks. When I go in to see the nurse now, she weighs me, tells me how pleased she is with how much I've lost, and checks my blood pressure.

So what can I eat?
Most of the things I eat are pretty normal really nothing faddy with the Xenical plan! I eat chicken, fish, bread, salads, fruit, cheese, yoghurt, I drink tea, and I've even been known to have the odd bit of ice cream! The difference is that I'm choosing my options carefully. I eat chicken breast with no skin because it's lower fat than thighs. I opt for the half fat cheese, or the 3% cheese made by weight watchers. I eat virtually fat free yoghurts and skimmed milk instead of the full fat stuff. I try to keep my maximum intake of fat per meal to less than 10g of fat (I was advised to keep it to less than 15g fat per meal by my nurse and MAP say you should stick to a max of 30-40g of fat per day). In a typical day I eat around 3-5g of fat at breakfast, 5-7g at lunch, and 6-10g at dinner.
*note* - Xenical is not suitable for weight maintanance, only for taking whilst you need to lose a lot of weight, therefore you need to learn to balance your diet while you are taking the xenical so that later on when you stop taking it, you will have built a new style of eating into your regular lifestyle.

So how long can I take Xenical?:
Different doctors seem to see things differently. My ideal weight is around 11stone, and I've been told that as long as I continue losing weight with the Xenical, I can stay on it to help me get down to that weight. I know some people however, who have been told that they can stay on it for a maximum of 6 months or 12 months. It used to be the case that you would be required to lose a small amount (usually 5lb to 5% of your body weight) before you could be prescribed Xenical, but that was meaning that a large group of people who really needed the help couldn't get it as they couldn't lose the required amount on their own. This has now been relaxed although apparently some GP's still stick to it, so I guess the rule about how long you can take Xenical for could be similar and some have relaxed it others haven't.

Do NOT take more than one tablet at a time. If you've missed a tablet then if it is within one hour of eating you can still take it. If it is not within one hour of eating then it's too late, you've missed it, forget about it and wait till your next meal to take the next one!

My most recent weigh in:
I weighed in with the nurse this week, and my Weight is now down to 16 stone 11 and ½ lb. I have lost 45lb in 22 weeks. I still have a long way to go, my goal being to reach 11 stone, but I now feel like it's an achievable goal, not the distant dream that it used to be. I look forward to adding bulletins over the next few months to let you all know how I am getting on, and if there's anyone else out there who would like to share hints and tips about losing weight with Xenical, or if any one else would like any more information on my experiences, feel free to leave me your e-mail address in my guestbook and I'll be very happy to share experiences with you.