real alli stories

TANYA NEWMAN, 22, STUDENT/ YOUNG MOTHER

Having lost 2 stone 9 lbs in five and a half months, young mother Tanya is a huge fan of alli. Tanya’s new found confidence means she’s back in her favourite jeans and going back to school. The young mother has just heard that she’s received a place in nursing school.

A football fanatic Tanya had played and trained several times a week with her club Fingal Ravens. “I had been very fit up to that point.” With the arrival of her little bundle of joy football fitness from regular training with her team fell by the wayside. Her new mother status meant the baby got prioritised and Tanya let her fitness and healthy eating habits slide - “I was punctuating my days with bottle feed and snacks.” She didn’t have time to return to football, and the exercise regime that went with it. “My eating habits relaxed and I ate a lot more take-aways because I was often too tired to cook.”

CHANGING YOUR LIFE

Weighing over 15 stone in March of this year Tanya decided to take the matter into her own hands. “I was faced with the prospect of buying size 18 clothes as the clothes I had hoped I’d eventually get back into remained in my wardrobe.”

“I’ve never been skinny – I’d always been about eleven stone. But I wanted to change the way I felt about myself. A cousin who worked in a pharmacy suggested alli to me. She was instrumental in getting me to sign up for the initial 12-week programme.”

Tanya went online and researched the treatment extensively. “And the pharmacy invited me to attend a public talk about alli. I found that really helped to kick-start my will to change the way I looked. I was surrounded by like-minded men and women who, like me, also hadn’t felt the pounds creeping up on them. And my girl friends were also very supportive.”

Having checked with her doctor that she was fit to start exercising again she followed the exercise tips from the alli programmes. alli is not an overnight success. It really takes about 8 – 10 weeks before you start noticing the weight loss but this is exactly the time when you falter in any new weight-loss regime. And of course you have to change your eating habits and embark on an exercise programme to see results. Like a best friend offering a supportive shoulder by taking alli Tanya was no longer going it alone. She followed the programme for 12 weeks and then took a two week break before returning to the programme for another 8 weeks.

“Encouraged by the results I’m back playing football and training again. I now make sure I get out a lot more and walk every evening I’m not training.”

The alli Diet Plan book was also very educational about the fat content in foods. “There were lots of things I was eating everyday without really understanding their fat content.” She even started cooking.

“Having a baby makes you have to grow-up very quickly. It also makes you think long and hard about your responsibilities. And one of those is your health. Thinking about what I was putting into my baby made me rethink my eating habits and about taking a more responsible approach to both. I may have cut out most of the take-away’s but I still allow myself a treat once a week.”

“You’ve nothing to lose except a few pounds. For me as a footballer alli helped me score a goal I had thought was out of my league.”

DAVID COEN, 42, RUNS A FAMILY BUSINESS

Father of three David Coen, 42, lost three stone and four inches from his waistline after being on the alli programme for three-months. alli rewards you by offering results and can help boost your weight loss by as much as 50%. You could say it props up your diet plans, says the former rugby player.

He has so much more energy too. “Getting up at 6 am every day used to destroy me. Now it invigorates me. I have more energy and am loving the change in my life. And the evening walks have become a wonderful way to spend quality time with my wife.”

“It really is a collection of small little steps coming together to help you make that quantum leap into a healthier and more fulfilling life. alli is the catalyst that helps you make this happen.”

David had played rugby since his teens until a knee injury forced him into retirement in his mid thirties. He replaced participation in sports with watching sports on TV and his weight hit 18 stone 6 lbs. His muscular frame had disappeared and he knew he had to do something.

“For me turning 40 was a great motivator. In January of this year I got my bloods back from doctor who told me I needed to lose weight because my blood sugars were heading in the diabetes direction. I wasn’t ready to slide into middle age through what had been my own carelessness. I heard about alli through a friend.”

Charged with running a small family business in the current economic climate his everyday life was fairly stressful. Being short on time he had developed terrible eating habits. “I never had breakfast, was tucking into a big carvery-style meal at lunchtime and snacking on sugary sweets throughout the day.” He was also getting through two bars of chocolate per night.

“Losing weight requires commitment, time and planning. You have to want to genuinely change your life,” David admits. “On a three-month alli programme I lost almost three stone dropping from 18 stone 6 lbs to 15 stone 7 lbs”, he says. “But I also made significant changes to my eating habits. Thanks to the advice of the alli Diet Plan book I replaced white bread with brown bread, swapped carvery lunches for a bowl of home-made soup, changed butter for a low-fat spread and I’m eating pieces of fruit instead of sugary sweets. And low-fat yogurts have replaced the chocolate bars.”

Exercise was an integral part of his weight loss. “I participated in a regime of 35 k cycles and 10 k walks four or five times a week. I realised that fitness had to become part of my new lifestyle. alli was a way to boost my own endeavours.”

The role of the pharmacist is critical in offering advice and more encouragement. David found the monthly weigh-ins at the pharmacy very encouraging. He was also confident that he was capable of getting back into shape, thanks to first having had a full check up from his doctor.

“The fringe benefits have been enormous”, he says. “I used to snore incessantly. Carrying three stone less means I now sleep like a baby.”

“Of course you have to remain focused to lose a stone or more. But if you’re really diligent about training and portion control alli will show benefits almost immediately rewarding you with additional weight loss. I am now a different person. You have to get into a routine which with a hectic family and work life is difficult to get into but once you start to see and feel results it is easy to stay established.”

Elisabeth Finney, 52-YEAR OLD MOTHER OF THREE

I’VE RETRAINED MY EATING HABITS

By paying attention to her fat intake Elisabeth Finney lost weight and rediscovered her fashion sense.

“By retraining my eating habits I’ve dropped two dress sizes,” smiles Elisabeth Finney. At almost 15 and a half stone she had to try something different.

“I used to be thin when I was younger,” admits the 52 year-old, who is originally from France, and moved to Ireland 25 years ago when she fell in love with an Irishman. She also fell in love with food.

“I was at home with the children and I started to snack. As the weight crept up I put off addressing it, until my son, who works in a pharmacy, suggested alli to me. Using the alli programme Elisabeth lost two and a half stone in four months. alli rewards your dedication by helping you shift those extra pounds.

Elisabeth feels that to succeed in losing weight and keeping it off you really have to change your whole attitude to food and you have to factor exercise into the equation. She has changed her sedentary routine and brought exercise into her daily life. She goes for walks along the seafront for 20 minutes every day and distracts herself by listening to songs her daughter has downloaded onto her iPod Nano. She also exercises in her front room following a Callanetics DVD.

“Thanks to alli’s weight loss diaries I learned how to count the grammes of fat I was eating”, says Elisabeth. “It is really astonishing to discover how many foods are fat-rich. All my favourite foods were laden in fat. For the first time in my life I started to read the nutritional information on everything I was buying. I now bring my reading glasses to the supermarket to make sure I know what I am buying.”

While taking alli you’re allowed to consume 45 grammes of fat per day. When Elizabeth started on alli she invested in low-calorie ready meals so she could monitor her fat intake. Everything was labelled so she knew exactly what she was ingesting.

“Now that I’ve retrained my eating habits I use alli’s taste of success starter guide, which lists recipe suggestions, I make soup for lunch to help fill me up. Feeling full helps cut down on the temptation to snack.” She’s cut out butter completely and has switched to low-fat or fat-free yogurts.

Before starting the alli programme Elisabeth went to her local doctor for a check up. Being overweight can also affect your cholesterol and her cholesterol was high when the pharmacist first checked it. After the four month programme it had returned to normal.

Previously Elisabeth would eat a large lunch and a big dinner, along with some wine. She would often snack on left-overs from the family dinner and was prone to staying up late watching television, which she felt left her open to temptation. She believes that to succeed you have to be very disciplined.

“It’s very hard to shift weight, especially at the age of 52. My family has been very supportive. But temptation remains everywhere in my home. I have to remain strong. There is a tendency to try and reward yourself at the end of the day for being good all day long, but this type of behaviour puts on pounds.”

If you’re overweight following the alli programme might help you start on a regime that will help you lose weight.

“The key to contentment is a healthy breakfast everyday, before the alli programme I never ate breakfast,” Elisabeth admits. “Now I pile dried blueberries and cranberries on my cereal and use low-fat milk. I feel full until lunch.”

Elisabeth is very happy to have her figure back, she feels better and enjoys going shopping again - and she doesn’t miss those big baggy t-shirts!