Unless you've been spending some serious time under a rock, you're aware that there's a new diet drug on the market called Alli. It's fairly flying off store shelves in spite of an advertising campaign that seems to actually be trying to discourage casual users from buying it.

That, of course, is completely shrewd. No dieter wants to believe that he or she is casual. We all want to believe that we're deadly serious and in it for the long haul. Suggest that dieters might be experiencing less-than-total commitment, that they might still have that stash of ice cream in the fridge "just in case," and they'll do anything to prove to you that they are, in fact, the most dedicated dieter on the planet.

So what is Alli? It's the latest generation of a "fat-blocker," a class of drugs that could be called the ultimate diet weapon. They act in your gastric tract and simply prevent your body from absorbing a percentage of the fat you eat. Alli, unlike some of the past forms of fat blockers, doesn't interfere with your body's absorption of other nutrients. It just neatly bundles up about a quarter of the fat you eat and sends it along down the chain.

And therein lies the rub.

To be brutally honest, fat is grease. Add undigested grease to your digestive system and, well, I'm sure you've heard about the possible side effects. You might end up needing to carry a spare pair of undies around for the first time since your dad and mom did it while you were potty-training. As the father of a toddler, I have experience in these matters.

Alli is an effective drug. Almost all the research says so. If you are a committed dieter who just needs a little extra help to get a few pounds off, or if you're almost at your goal weight and need a boost to make the finish line, Alli is a fantastic idea.

What I fear, however, is that folks like me who have 100 pounds or more to lose are going to see Alli as their road to success long-term. In spite of the very well-phrased and cogently written warnings and advisories dispensed with the drug, they'll take it religiously and not do a bloody thing else.

It seems to be something hardwired into us, or at least into the greater percentage of us: the urge to find the easy way. If you're Og the Caveman stalking a mastodon and figuring out the best way to bring him down, that's a survival skill. If you're Homer the Couch Potato trying to figure out how to can fold up a pizza slice to eat it faster, not so much.

I'm not trying to tell you not to take Alli. I would never discourage someone from doing something that they truly, honestly believed would help them lose weight. Carrying around significant extra weight is very, very dangerous and if something helps you take it off and keep it off and doesn't involve committing a felony, then by all means do it. However, I'm pleading with you to please make sure you don't use Alli (or any weight-loss drug) without a supporting program of diet and exercise. Do so, and you're going to end up right back where you started ... or worse.

Got a question? Comment? Topic you'd like to see covered? Drop me a line, anytime!