Alli is the latest diet pill hype. We hear about it all over the internet and the television. But does it really work?

Alli is an over-the-counter diet pill, it is another name for orlistat which you can get from your doctor in prescription form as Xenical. Basically Alli is a fat blocker. It blocks some of the fat you absorb from foods from entering your body. It is the one freely available drug that the FDA approves. It sounds great doesn’t it? Wait, you must read on. Many people think that if they take Alli that they can eat all the fatty foods they want and still lose weight. This is an big misconception! If you are planning to use Alli you should also have a healthy low fat diet plan you plan to follow.

The amount of weight that has been lost will Alli varies, according to many case studies. In a study where people took Alli for one year almost half of the subjects experienced a 5% or greater loss of body mass. If Alli is taken in conjunction with a low calorie and low fat diet plan than better results are expected. The participants in the study gained one third of the weight they had lost back after they stopped using alli, but most dieters gain some of the weight they lose after they stop following their diet plan.

Like with most diet pills, Alli does have its side effects. The main disadvantage is that Alli causes frequent bowel movements. The higher in fat the food you eat is the side effects will be greater. Loose stools, flatulence and bowel incontinence will be experienced, especially when you first start taking Alli. Accidents can even happen.

However if you stick to an low fat diet than the side effects will be reduced. One thing you must remember is that Alli will not do all the work for you. Alli does claim to improve your weight loss up to 50% but you must also change your eating habits and exercise daily. If you are willing to deal with the side effects of Alli and willing to follow an low fat diet plan than Alli is for you. Make sure you check with your doctor first. If you are not, than Alli isn’t for you.

As women we are always seeking ways to shed a few pounds. From skipping meals, to investing in Slim Fast products, and taking a pill each day there’s nothing we won’t do to lose weight. If I told you that there was an effective diet that could help you lose weight fast and healthy without starving yourself would you believe me?

Well there is. So there is no more starving yourself, downing pills and spending so much money on Slim Fast products. By consuming five meals a day you can boost your metabolism leading to weight loss. Now I know what you are thinking, five meals a day isn’t that too much? It all depends on what you eat. The key is you want to eat three whole meals which is breakfast, lunch and dinner. The other two meals you will be eating will be small and will have lesser calories than the other three.

Breakdown:

Let’s say if you were on a 1,250 calorie intake diet here is how the diet would work for you:

Breakfast: 100 Calories
Lunch: 300 Calories
Two snacks: 1st- 200 calories 2nd- 250 Calories

Each meal should be from 3 to 3 ½ hours apart. So if you were to eat breakfast at 7:00 am you would have your first snack at 10:00am, lunch would be at 1:00pm, your last snack would be at 4:00 and you should have dinner at 7:00pm. Of course sends we all lead different busy schedules you can adjust your eating schedules as circumstances allow. The only thing you have to make sure you do is eat your five meals a day.

Right now your probably wondering what kind of things you could possibly eat on a five meals a day diet. Don’t make things so complicated, remember your two smaller meals will contain lesser calories so you don’t have to go all out.

200 Calorie Snacks:

A small salad with one boiled egg: (150 calories)
Strawberry and Banana Smoothie- 60g of strawberries, 250ml of skimmed milk topped with a 100g chopped banana. (194 calories0
1 small 100g baked potato with 70g of reduced salt and a small portion of baked beans with reduced sugar. (187 Calories)

These are just a few 200 Calorie snack ideas. You can also come with your own ideas as well, just remember to count the calories.

250 Calorie Snacks:

One portion of roast potatoes and carrots: (210 Calories)
Goulash Soup (218 Calories)
Lemon potato salad: (250 Calories).

With breakfast it’s okay to have a few more calories because you need an sufficient amount to get your metabolism up and running.

100 -150 Calorie Breakfast

Oatmeal and strawberries- 1 bowl of instant oatmeal mixed with a little skim milk topped with 60g of strawberries. (144 Calories)
Pumpernickel bread topped with 20g of reduced fat cream cheese. (100 Calories)
Plain diet yogurt and 20g of stewed prunes: (148 Calories)

300 Calorie Lunch

Banana and Cream Cheese sandwich; two slices of whole wheat bread, 100g of sliced bananas and 40g of reduced fat cream cheese.
100g banana, 60g peach, 125ml fat free yogurt, and 125ml tropical fruit juice. (282 calories)

400 Calorie Dinner

Leek soup with a 250g canned potato and a slice of 80g of French bread. (346 Calories)
Chicken peas served with a brown rice salad- 100g canned tomatoes, 50g canned chicken peas, 30g of onion and a dash Tabasco, 200g of boiled brown rice and 1 tsp of basil. (376 Calories)

Free Foods

Free foods are foods you can have as much as you want throughout the day because they have no fat, carbohydrate, little/or not calories.

Onions, green peppers
Broccoli
Spinach
Collard greens (No meat)
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage;(No meat)
Of course water

Benefits of five meals a day:

Builds up energy
Speeds up metabolism which burns the calories
You never starve
It helps develop healthy eating habits.

Why not ditch the three times a day meal tradition? If you go with the five meals a day the pounds will go away. See for yourself.