Start orlistat today, no clue what to do about diet

Treatment and medication
1

Hello everyone

I just got put on Orlistat today, having never heard about it. The doctor gave me next to no advice , as I'd come in looking for diet ideas, what to eat for food, etc :? , as we don't have much money as we are currently on benefits. (Hubby and I are both at home, so very sedentary (not by choice though)

I've got 4 stones to lose, and have been roughly the same weight for 4 yrs (ok well up and down a little bit) money has been tight (so cant afford healthy food, ww or gym) hence, sedentary, add to that being married - I also read an article that said women gain more weight when married...

Also we just got a cheap cross trainer at home to start exercising, so that solves that problem. :wink:

My main issue is what to actually eat! and how to make it as I've made similar meals last 4 yrs (and it obviously made me gain a lot of weight) So, I've no idea what a good eating plan would be like recipes or types of food. (I tend to make casseroles: meat, veg, pulses rice/pasta and a sauce to hold it all together!) sometimes there is cheese but not anymore I guess! And today for breakfast we had french toast (wont do that again, this was before getting put on the meds of course,.. :oops:

So - need to rethink food and how I relate to it, and I think I must comfort eat as I've got depression (I'm homesick too ... from USA) so dont really know anyone, and stuck in the house for lack of job, friends, family, etc!

However, I am starting my 2nd degree at a University next week which will be good and get me out and about, and meeting people BUT am very afraid of all the side affects, accidents and gas :oops: (in private is one thing, but more worried about in public, public bathroom, or I'm more horrified about not being able to make it - not to be gross but cant tell if that is what people are saying on these forums! I can't be meeting new people and being gross or I will have to drop out!LOL well I hope there are no toilet /gas related issues in public when I finally have a chance to try and make friends!

Sometimes I wont even leave the house because Im obsessing in front of the mirror, so it's not been an easy time of it for me, and Im sure everyone else here must be in the same boat or we would not be given these meds! Well its frustrating but I now have to officially accept that I am obese! :cry: So I hope it will be invaluable to have this kind of resource ... until I can afford WW/gym, but maybe I can if there is any extra student loan money!! :P

2

hi vanna

hope all is well

the rule is to stick to 30g of fat a day(10g per meal)

and take a tablet with all 3 meals.

meal wise healthy eating isn as hard as it seems.

i tend to stick too, white fish (no batter), chicken breast and lots of vegetables and a couple of potatoes.

you can go for frozen veg, i think it may be a little cheaper, they do bags of it in most supermarkets for about £1 so it won't break the bank.

or go to your local market they are alot cheaper than your supermarket where all the veg and fruit are all pre-packed.

you can also buy a whole chicken and make it last a couple of meals, ie have it for dinner, and the next day u can put the leftover chicken with some rice,pasta, in a sandwich, anything u like really.

exercise- who says exercise has to be expensive. why not take up walking? (its free)

or buy an exercise dvd, u can pick them up for a fiver of ebay, or even if you hve a local car boot near you, people are always selling unwanted trampolines, dvds and other exercise equipment, for usually £5 and under.

good luck

nora x

3

Vanna

if you have a video player and send me your address in a private message I will send you a load of exercise videos. Our video player is defunct so I tend to use dvds now. I was going to jumble the videos, but wodul be very happy to send them on if you want them.

RR

4

hi Nora

thanks for that! Yes I do

Personally I DO like veg, salad, and fruit. But since hubby wont eat it and money has been tight - I was trying to save £ by eating same foods and save time on food prep and cooking! (I see the error in my ways) :oops:

I've got to get hubby on board with the meals - he hates veg, and loves pies, chips, sausage so anything fat and greasy lol! So, I have been (the last year) having a casserole with a base of pasta or rice, and some meat and veg (hidden in as a sauce would cover it all together!) Is that fattening (because of the sauce or should I rid the sauce altogether?) and have meat, veg, potato, strictly?

I was in a store today and saw some new pks of frozen veg that are cheap and looked, actually quite yummy.

When you have potatoes, (not homefries or roasties!!) but can they be mashed or should they be boiled?

the last few mos Ive either been eating the \"10p/ea of instant add water and boil for 2 mins type of noodles\", or just having a \"brunch\" of french toast, or omelette.

For breakfast, are eggs banned? Im sure omelettes/french toast is NOT healthy, but is is filling. Half the time I have a big breakfast and skip lunch, or eat a lot of fruit. Well Ive read I should do 3x a day so I can just have cereal!

I guess its hard to change all the habits, but I've been trying to eat more fruit. I guess I need to add in more veg, and I do not mind water, either like some people (Hubby :wink: ) so that will save calories!

thanks again! smile

5

you could buy one of those 'paint your own plates'

what to do is put your hand down flat on it and draw round it, write veg in it. this is the amount of veg u can have.

now curl ur fingers up as if your about to punch someone, put that shape on the plate, this is your meat

you shouldnt have much space left on the plate, this is your carbs, your potatoes rice,pasta etc.

carbs should be no more than the size of your fist!

this is just general information which you doesn't necessary apply to the medication, but this is how everyone should eat not just people trying to loose weight! our nation eats more than twice the amount of food that we should be consumming!

hope that helps x

6

ave a look at frozen quorn mince -it is cheap and makes a mean chilli.

For a chilli measure / weigh 3g of olive oil (yes more expensive than veg oil but you will not be using much of it)

Fry onion in the oil (freshor frozen) add loads of veg and the quorn, chilli to taste and salt and pepper. I tend to ue 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and a packet of passata both are cheap in supermarkets 10-15p for own brand tomatoes and 35p for own brand passata and hey presto a huge chilli that will feed you and hubby for 3 days. Or you can potion it up and freeze it.

I weigh every thng I eat on nutriscales - £9.99 from Lloyds. I know £10 is a lot on benefits but if you can get them they will transform the way you look at food.

When you start uni check up on the sports facilities they have - lots have subsidised gyms and pools. Also, and I wish I could say this not write it because it can come across wrong and is not for everyone, but your uni will have a counsellor who you can access for free. I know I would not be loosing weight the way I am without access to a counsellor and you mentioned obsessing in front of the mirror.

Good luck and welcome

7

Hello ladies!

Thanks for all of your replies!

RR - thank you that is sweet, but unfortunately, no VCR! I guess I can rent DVD's from library or buy on ebay! smile

Nora- that is a great idea of paint your plate! I should know this, I took a nutrition class as a science elective in college, but don't feel like I know how to put it into practice.

Its odd how much Western society have always done the opposite, and we have more of the health problems then the Eastern countries!

Hi Sashh - I do make chili, as its a fav of Hubby's, but use a jar of sauce for 70p for 500 g from Aldi! Actually I've never heard of passata , what section would it be under? I will price them up and see what will work for us, as we tend to make that once every 2 wks!

8

Passatta is sieved tomatoes with a little salt. It's a major ingredient in italian cooking.

It should be sold with pasta sauces but some supermarkets hide it with other things which I'm convinced is because it is so much cheaper than jars of pasta sauce.

9

Ok, well I will have a look for the passata! I I think you are right that they try to hide things that are cheap!)

Of course, I just looked at mince and its 24g of fat, so I may just start only eating chicken, so I can avoid possible issues with the orange stuff!

10

Hey Vanna,

You are just like me, far too scared to eat anything other than chicken,

For what it's worth though, we made a chili the other night with chunks of steak instead of mince. This meant that we could cut virtually all the fat off by choosing a really lean looking bit of braising steak (Cheaper than fillet!!) It was lush, think we saw the recipe in the Jamie Oliver book a while back and have done it chunky style for a while! Not sure on the fat content, but must be low (am probably wrong!) I didn't have any side effects anyway....

Amy

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hi Amy - Beef instead of mince, That sounds interesting (in a better way) I only eat mince because its cheap, not even bc I like it! I'm trying to think of how to change all the mince dinners to chicken/fish but I will get there in the end - but that will end up being a bit more expensive, unless I make 2 dinners (one for me and one for hubby! ) I would have to do it on different days though!

Well this is going to be confusing for the shopping/cooking!

I will have a look at the packets in store - we usually shop online at asda, which is far cheaper than a lot of other supermarkets.

However, before I noticed the fat of mince, I had chilli the other day, no cheese and drained so I did not feel any bad side effects at all. And I was good not eating crap for about 2 wks now (5th day on pills) and last night I was craving something yummy. I wish there was something yummy with no fat, but if it has no fat then its not chocolate anything or its low quality flavor, and is it worth it, well not really if it will make me sick and not even as satisfied if its not even that good!