I started last night to take the new diet drug, after having found it in stock at a second pharmacy. I have a lot of thoughts about it — the most important being that it really will only work if I take the diet part of it seriously. You take it with your meals, and it basically keeps you from digesting some of the fat you consume. If you surpass 15 grams of fat in that particular meal, you could be in for some embarrassing consequences.
(Some of the materials suggest you “stay close to home” when first taking the drug, and, if you’re going to work, to “wear dark pants” and “bring a change of clothes.” The term for this problem on the company’s message boards seems to be “Alli-oops.”)
So, that’s some incentive to eat right. However, if you want to cheat, it would be simple to just not take the medicine with that particular meal. Seems like that would work, no problem. So it doesn’t really provide much incentive to stay on a low-fat diet all the time. But, when you are already committed to doing so, it should help. So far, so good, in terms of consequences for me, but I’ve only taken 2 doses. The best part is that it’s helping me be more aware of my portion sizes and food choices.