From: mazur@inmet.camb.inmet.com (Beth Mazur)
Newsgroups: alt.support.diet
Subject: Re: Losing fat, not muscle
Date: 1 Oct 92 14:21:01 GMT
Organization: Intermetrics Inc, Cambridge MA

>, howard@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Bonnie Howard) writes:
>|> What is all of this leading up to - Don't expect any quick FIX for the
>|> weight problem - it is hard work and learning to live with your body    
>|> and finding out what it is trying to tell you.  You may not ever be a 
>|> size (1), or (10) - find out how you feel and if you feel good about 
>|> yourself - then stay there - don't let someone else measure your worth.!
>|> It has taken a long time for me to learn these things and a lot of tears.
>|> 
>|> I am not trying to discourage anyone and their dieting - I am saying
>|> use SENSE and change your lifestyle.  If you don't do that, no matter
>|> how much you lose, you will gain it back, because old habits die hard.\

Actually, I don't disagree with this at all.  As I implied at the end of
my posts, I think VLCDs are a waste of money and a needless strain on
the body *unless* you are prepared to make the lifestyle change at the
end of the diet phase.  If you are prepared to make it permanent, I
feel that VLCDs are a fast and painless way to lose weight.  Unfortunately, 
this probably means that VLCDs are contraindicated for their target audience.
In the Tufts Nutrition book, Dr. Jean Mayer basically comes out and
says that the grossly obese have a very small change of losing and 
maintaining any weight loss.  So if you really want to play the percentages, 
Fiona and Bonnie are right--avoid VLCDs.

But I am here to tell you that my experience was a positive one.  If I
gain the weight back, it will be through my inability to control my
eating and my physical activity.  It will be hard for me to blame the
VLCD for that.

In "Awake the Giant Within", Tony Robbins (of the famous 15-minute NLP
cures) talks about a guy who came up to him and accused him of being a
fake.  It turns out, Robbins had done his NLP thing on the guy to get
him to stop smoking, and the guy was angry because he was now smoking
again.  Robbins asked him how long he had stopped smoking for, and the
guy answered "two years."  Robbins then goes on to say that he realized
that this guy thought that Robbins performed "magic" on him, and that
the guy had no responsibility or control over his desires for smoking.
So now, Robbins talks about changing these behaviors as a process.  We
as individuals must constantly reinforce (and accept responsibility
for) these changing behaviors.  My point is that VLCDs are like the
15-minute cure.  They do work, but they are not "magic." We as individuals
have to accept responsibility for changing our behaviors and for 
reinforcing that change. 

Some people may be right in thinking that if you lose weight slowly 
through changing your lifestyle, this will be more permanent.  It
certainly reflects the fact that you are able to discipline yourself
to achieve your goals.  However, I happen to be one of those people
who thinks that if you can make the losing part painless, you should.
So I did.  I'm doing that hard work now--trying to lose the last
20-30 the "old-fashioned" way.  

But your mileage may vary...

Beth Mazur                   "...life is more than a vision.  The sweetest
mazur@inmet.inmet.com         part is acting after making a decision."
...!uunet!inmet!mazur                                  -- The Indigo Girls