[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference rocks::weight_control

Title:	Weight Loss and Maintenance
Notice:	PLEASE enter notes in mixed case (CAPS ARE SHOUTING)!
Moderator:	ASICS::LESLIE

Created:	Tue Jul 10 1990
Last Modified:	Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	933
Total number of notes:	9931

340.0. "THE THIN BOOK and THE THIN BOOK 2" by DPDMAI::POGAR (CAT) Wed Aug 03 1988 23:46

    For the benefit of several of you who have asked me about THE THIN
    BOOK and THE THIN BOOK 2, both by Jeane Eddy Westin, I am reprinting
    (without permission) a day of reading from each book.  The author
    was at one time more than 100 pounds overweight herself, and these
    motivational messages are those that helped her lose her weight.
    
    In THE THIN BOOK, there is a different topic each day, with a one-page
    reading about it, ending with "Before you reach for that extra bite
    today, ask yourself: (new question[s] each day)."  By thinking about
    what you have just read, and pondering the question(s) presented,
    your mind is placed on the _reasons_ behind your overeating, not
    just the act itself.
    
    THE THIN BOOK 2 has twelve Action MindSteps that are geared toward
    self-awareness.  They are not, however, connected with the 12 steps
    of OA, although the author does mention other 12-step programs in
    her introduction.  Each day's reading is headed by an appropriate
    quotation, then a few paragraphs relevant to that quote and to the
    overeater, then "Today's Action Plan."
    
    I have only been truly "dieting" for eight days, but for me that
    is a major accomplishment.  I read the two books daily at lunch,
    then write in my diary every evening.  I usually do my writing at
    the times when I have previously been vunerable to eating -- 9-10
    each night.  Now, instead of raiding the fridge, I sit down with
    a tall glass of water and write my thoughts, accomplishments, lapses,
    feelings, everything, in my little book.  For me, it works.  I hope
    it helps some other dieters in this conference.
    
    Cat

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
340.1	Excerpt from THE THIN BOOK	DPDMAI::POGAR	CAT	`Wed Aug 03 1988 23:54`	51
	From THE THIN BOOK for July 29: SELF-CONTROL There's nothing so irritating as to be told you lack self-control. And we overweights hear that all the time. If others aren't telling us (sometimes in a nice way, sometimes not), we are telling ourselves. Even the venerable philosopher, Plato, gets into the act. "The first and best victory is to conquer self," he said. And then, like most moralists unable to stop at well-enough, he goes on to say, "to be conquered by self is of all things most shameful and vile." The hardest thing to swallow, of course, is that old Plato is right. When we overeaters take a good look at what we have done to our lives with our forks and knives, we must admit that self-control is a desirable trait to own. What is self-control anyway? Phillips Brooks says that it is the things we learn to do without. Can you learn to do without excess food in your life? What else is self-control? It is sure evidence of personal courage. It tells you that you can endure. It is the only possible way you can maintain confidence in yourself. Without self-control, you can never really believe in yourself or in your abilities. For the overeater, self-control means one thing: the ability to resist the first bite of unneeded food. Why? Benjamin Franklin said it for us even though he had his own problems with self-control. He said, "It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it." That first extra bite is easier to stop than the binge that can follow. You know that truth well enough. Why not take the easy way to self-control today? Just don't take that first bite of food not on your eating plan. It's as simple as that. _________________________________________________________________ Before you reach for that extra bite today, ask yourself: Am I letting my desire for excess food rule my life? Do I believe, finally, that the more I give in to overeating, the less I will be able to control myself?
340.2	Excerpt from THE THIN BOOK 2	DPDMAI::POGAR	CAT	`Thu Aug 04 1988 00:01`	40
	From THE THIN BOOK 2 for July 28: "It takes what it takes." Alcoholics Anonymous saying Why is is that some people gain ten pounds, hit the panic button, and search for a solution, while others may put on a hundred pounds before the pain propels them into Action? No one knows why people have different levels of pain tolerance. We do know that the same solution works for all overeaters, no matter the size of their problem. It isn't a new magic diet. The permanent solution for overeaters is a new way to see the world and their place in it. Have you ever thought of the MindSteps as a new window to the world? The negative compuslsive personality (many overeaters seem to fall into this category) is marked by passiveness, anxiety, perfectionism, super-sensitivity, and hiding sadness behind a happy-clown exterior. This is the way compulsive people respond emotionally to the world, and in addition, compulsive overeaters buffer these feelings with excess food. To win your new body, mind, and life you must experience a complete psychic change. Each day you must become more Action-oriented, more confident, more able to learn from mistakes and begin again, more able to reject rejection, and more emotionally honest with yourself and others. Ahh, now you're becoming addicted to this new way of viewing life, aren't you? What have you done right today? You resolved to make a constructive psychic change, so that you will never have to use excess food to help you face another day. ________________________________________________________________ Today's Action Plan: I will be constructively addicted today. By taking charge of my tendency toward compulsiveness, I can use it to change my life.