From: djk@saki.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Douglas Knights)
Newsgroups: alt.support.diet
Subject: Re: Losing fat, not muscle
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:26:23 GMT
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ

In article <1992Sep30.184322.13865@m.cs.uiuc.edu>, howard@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Bonnie Howard) writes:
|> fi@grebyn.com (Fiona Webster) writes:
|> 
|> >Beth Mazur asks:
|> >>>	3) major depression, including two psychotic episodes
|> >>>	and multiple hospitalizations --> reversed (although I
|> >>>	still take antidepressants)
|> >>>
|> >>>	4) loss of my job, massive debts, and permanent change
|> >>>        in lifestyle, as a result of #3 --> not reversed
|> >>
|> >>Do you mean to imply that 3 and 4 are common side-effects of VLCDs?
|> 
|> >No, I don't mean that.  I don't understand how simply stating what
|> >happened to me could constitute any sort of implication about statistical
|> >likelihood.  My story is just one story--no more, no less.  I see it
|> >as an important story for the *magnitude* of the catastrophe, though.
|> >It's like the anecdotes about women (what is it, 10 of them so far?)
|> >dying on the table during liposuction surgery.  Sure, it's unlikely
|> >that you'll die of liposuction surgery.  But is getting thinner thighs
|> >worth risking your *life* for?  I hope not!  I feel the same way about
|> >the havoc that the Optifast diet wreaked in my life: no amount of
|> >hypothetical pleasure attached to achieving a societal standard of
|> >attractiveness, was worth risking my life for.  I wish I had known that
|> >this was even *remotely* possible, as a consequence.
|> 
|> >Post-partum depression, by the way, is usually quite mild--that is,
|> >it usually doesn't include the more severe symptoms I experienced:
|> >hallucinations, psychotic delusions, severe impairment in mental
|> >functioning (e.g., I was incapable of reading, even just one page,
|> >for well over a year), loss of all income-earning capacity--just to
|> >name a few.
|> 
|> >Does anyone have an update on the Federal Trade Commission's
|> >investigation of deceptive advertising on the part of the "Big 3"
|> >(Medifast, Optifast, and Ultrafast).  Last I heard, late last
|> >year, evidence present in congressional subcommittee hearings
|> >was calling the FTC on the carpet for not having better regulated
|> >the diet industry.  
|> 
|> >						--Fiona Webster
|> 
|> I have to side with Fiona on the dieting part - I have dieted my way
|> to being FAT by being on starvation diets... It started when I was 
|> 13 because I was a little on the chubby side and my mother thought 
|> that I was going to be fat like my aunt, so she decided to take me to
|> a diet doctor who prescribed (SAFE) diet pills - they made me lose 
|> weight - I lost 40lbs in one month - well, I looked a lot better, but
|> did I change the habits - NO!!  This started a lifetime of dieting and
|> getting bigger and bigger all the time - lose weight - gain weight and
|> more than what I had lost in the first place.  I lost weight before
|> I got married by just eating a whole lot less and walking and walking.
|> Then I had children - well, diet again!!  So finally about 11years ago,
|> I decided to do the ultimate - Staple - Well, now we are talking major
|> mess up... I had the stapling done and yes, I did lose the weight - and
|> my hair and my muscle tone - I use to be strong as an ox - I also came
|> up with a vomiting problem, that I still have!!!!!  I nearly died with
|> this whole thing - I ended up having to go to Mayo Clinic in Minn. and
|> they diagnosed be with being a borderline anorexic (msp) - I read a 
|> book by Cherry Boone that made me see that dieting that way is not the
|> right way.  I decided that I wanted to change things, however, my body
|> was messed up with the stapling.  I have ulcers that flare up and I 
|> cannot eat a lot of the food that one needs to eat for dieting - I can't
|> handle roughage and I have a great deal of trouble with meats and other
|> things to numerous to mention...  I went through a long period of being
|> severly depressed and did minimal work around the house - things got
|> really out of hand with my kids - they didn't know what to expect when
|> they came home.  Sometimes it would be 2 or 3 days before I would get
|> dressed.
|> 
|> 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.\
|> 
|> Good Luck to those of you who are winning the game :)))
|> 
|> bonnie

Bonnie,

You hit it right on the head...there really is no quick fix for weight loss 
(besides possibly severing a limb 8-0  ) and it  is a lifestyle change which   
includes, according to reputable doctors and physicians, sensible eating
habits, exercise, and supplementation (yes...we don't necessarily get all
of the right nutrients in the foods we eat, even if we try to eat right).

			Doug

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