5'7", 260lbs... About to begin my journey with Orlistat

[poundless]

I'm a long time lurker but this is my first time posting. As the title says, I have been prescribed Orlistat from my doctor. In case you're unaware of what it is exactly, it's a drug that is used to promote weight loss. It works by preventing the absorption of fat, therefore limiting calorie intake. Of course this is done so in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet of 1500 per day. My dietry intake of fat, carbs and protein is to be divided evenly between my three main meals, with 30% of my daily calorific intake coming from fat. With each meal, I have to take one tablet. Orlistat is pretty well known for the potential horrific side effects that can occur when you eat / take the medication inappropriately. Most of the side effects are concerned with gastrointestinal functions, such as abdominal pain, oily or fatty stools, liquid stools and flatulence followed by an oily discharge... So as you can see, the drug is some pretty serious stuff.

After being overweight for all of my adolescent / adult life, something inside of me finally snapped. For years I have been living, and not achieving my full potential. People think that being obese is down to lazyness and greed. I agree. For years I have eaten whatever the **** I want, because hey - I'm fat anyway, so what does it matter? There has always been a satisfying feeling when I am "full", and therefore, I guess I just kept on eating. Fast forward to where I am now.

I can tell you that being obese is a miserable lifestyle. Every aspect of my life is impacted by my weight. Physically, I find things hard to do as I quickly get out of breath, start sweating and begin to get aches and pains... Even things like cleaning the house. Not to mention the potential risk from life threatening illnesses and conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, strokes, certain cancers and high blood pressure / cholesterol. However, the physical impacts as scary as they are, are not as hurtful as the social and emotional difficulties I have faced through obesity.

I don't have a very active social life. I have a small group of friends who I have known for many years, but when it comes to going clubbing / dancing / any sort of social activity, I always refrain because I feel so self aware, and with zero confidence it just makes me think "why bother"? I have never held a relationship that meant something. I briefly dated someone at the beginning of the year, but I quickly left him because I felt that the only reason that I was dating him was to fool myself into thinking that someone actually found me attractive. Professionally, I feel like my performance at work is deeply affected by my current weight. I feel like at work I can't achieve things that I would like to because I feel like I have already been judged as a fat, lazy worthless employee. So it's safe to say that the emotional issues regarding obesity are large (no pun intended, haha). Zero confidence and esteem. I have actually came to the point where I hate myself, and I feel disgusted and bitter that it had to come to this before I was ready to accept the negativity of my current state and find the will power to change my life style completely.

When I was about 17, I joined Weight Watchers (lol) and successfully lost 40lbs through following their point system. I was deluded though. Weight Watchers doesn't teach you anything and at the end of the day, it is a business. They are giants capitalizing on the low self esteem of thousands of people out there. When I think about it now, it makes me laugh at how ridiculous it all was. Paying money every week to get publicly humiliated... Not to mention the money that I spent on their food products. I would of been better off eating cardboard. However, instead of continuing with my weight loss, I was another number in the statistics who not only put on all the weight that I had lost... But more!

Anyway, I just wanted to make this post to get those thoughts / feelings out there. I'm not looking for any kind of pity whatsoever, I just needed to get what I was thinking out of my head. I'm both nervous and scared, but also so excited to actually be beginning this journey. I know that I have a long journey ahead of me, but I'm willing to embrace it with open arms. I'd like to use this post to refer back to and maybe update with achievements and goals as I go.



Cliffs:

1. 21 y/o obese female (5'7", 260lbs)
2. prescribed weight loss pill from doctor
3. ready to change my **** life style after years of horrendous physical health and mental state.
4. nervous, scared and excited.

[SoutherNtellect]

Good luck on your journey to health and happiness!

[poundless]

Good luck on your journey to health and happiness!

Thanks a lot. I'm feeling really excited... Kinda like it's Christmas!

[birdiefu]

I think you are going to do awesome losing your extra weight. To make any momentous change in one's life, it takes the introspection and analysis of *why* you were doing what you did, how it affects you, if you really liked doing it at all anyway, and the determination to know that there is no looking back once you have put that part of your life behind. Reading your post made me think a lot about when I decided I was done with cigarettes and happily quit cold-turkey (2 years now, yay!) by changing my perception of cigarettes and smoking. I wish you the best on your journey and know that coming here is really going to help you make this a successful change, supported by caring and knowledgeable people.

However, one thing I was wondering is, if you are going to be put on a 1500 cal diet, why still take that medication? 30% fat on that cal amount is actually healthy. Leaching fats out of your GI tract (in what sounds like an unpleasant way) may cause more harm than good. Have you thought about going on the restricted calorie diet *without* the drug first and see how you do? Have you spoken with an actual nutritionist or just a general doctor?

Wishing you the best!

[mariplay2004]

Hi, I just want to wish you the best, I hope you stick to this ..and if this works for you ..great ..

take care of yourself ..and try to change your diet so you don't eat so many fats.
if you do eat healthy/good fats .

there's allot of information on this forum, and friendly people .

take the time to navigate the site..believe me it's worth it .


good luck !!1

[poundless]

I think you are going to do awesome losing your extra weight. To make any momentous change in one's life, it takes the introspection and analysis of *why* you were doing what you did, how it affects you, if you really liked doing it at all anyway, and the determination to know that there is no looking back once you have put that part of your life behind. Reading your post made me think a lot about when I decided I was done with cigarettes and happily quit cold-turkey (2 years now, yay!) by changing my perception of cigarettes and smoking. I wish you the best on your journey and know that coming here is really going to help you make this a successful change, supported by caring and knowledgeable people.

However, one thing I was wondering is, if you are going to be put on a 1500 cal diet, why still take that medication? 30% fat on that cal amount is actually healthy. Leaching fats out of your GI tract (in what sounds like an unpleasant way) may cause more harm than good. Have you thought about going on the restricted calorie diet *without* the drug first and see how you do? Have you spoken with an actual nutritionist or just a general doctor?

Wishing you the best!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply, and congratulations on stopping smoking!

The reasoning for the restricted calorie diet and taking the medication is all to do with the specific absorption of fat... Or at least that's how it was explained to me by the doctor.

Hi, I just want to wish you the best, I hope you stick to this ..and if this works for you ..great ..

take care of yourself ..and try to change your diet so you don't eat so many fats.
if you do eat healthy/good fats .

there's allot of information on this forum, and friendly people .

take the time to navigate the site..believe me it's worth it .


good luck !!1

Thanks so much.

[workoutgirl1970]

At age 21 with the right amount of cardio and weight training and restricted diet you can lose the weight without the medication. We all want a quick fix but thats not the way to do it. Workout most days of the week, watch your diet and with your 21 year old metabolism it will come off.

[KimberlyWX55]

Good luck to you! Most importantly just remember that major changes take time. It will get hard and you will face obstacles. Only you can do the work to make the changes.

Take progress pictures and measurements every month or so not only to track your progress but to see the results. If nothing else, try to get out and walk for 30 minutes everyday. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Look through the transformations on the supersite for inspiration.

Again good luck! This is an investment in the rest of your life!