Conference rocks::weight_control

    I watched it too.  The other was the Pritikin Longevity Diet.  I've
    never tried the Pritikin diet or Opti-fast, but would say that
    everything they said about WW, N/S and O-f are pretty much on the
    money. (no pun intended).

   I too watched it all, and discovered that I didn't like something about each
of the plans.  I don't think they went into enough detail about any of the
diets, or dieting in general.  I did not think the 'official' advocates of the
diet plans (weight watchers excepted) did a very good job of countering the
objections raised by the detractors (for each of the 4 diet plans the program
solicited a 'man on the street' who raised an objection).  In the case of
Opti-fast and Nutri-system I felt the diet sponser did a 'handwave' to the
objection and did not really address the issue being raised. 

   It seemed that each of the plans was working for some.  Each to their own.
A point which was raised, but not expanded upon was the EXPENSE.  It seemed 
that Weight Watchers and Pritikin were the most economical (provided you did not
go in for the residency plan of Pritikin) and that the other two had extremely
close supervision (read 'expense').  Nutri-system and WeightWatchers talked
some about maintenance.  The others did not..

   The show offered trade-offs (aren't they everywhere) to the 4 plans.

Weight Watchers offered gradual weight loss and flexibility
Opti-fast was a quick weightloss and milkshakes for lunch.
Nutri-system had quick weightloss and all prepared meals (no work on your part)
Pritikin was slow weight loss and change in eating style and excercise habits.

  Overall I'd give the show a 'B-'.  I wouldn't watch it second time, but it was
worthwhile to see once.

Al

    I thought the show was a big waste of time. I watched the first
    two segments on WW and Optifast then quickly filpped to Wonder Years
    reruns for something more educational.
    
    Really, the Optifast segment, a program I am somewhat familiar with,
    said absoulutly nothing of value. Someone considering the Optifast
    program should spend several days talking with not only Opti physicians
    but their own family Dr. as well, and feel completely sure that
    they know all the benifits and pitfalls. One should also be prepared
    for a big expendature and some very drastic body chemistry and
    metabolic changes.
    
    Bottom line on the program     TRASH!!!!!!!!!!!
    

    
    	The reason why I wrote this entry is really not for myself (5'7"
    165-168).  It was really to see what the viewership response was
    because my wife is the "heavy" of the family.  She keeps trying
    but its like a roller coaster effect. Up an' down.  If I keep her
    out of the kitchen and away from the food she's down.  If she goes
    in the kitchen for any length of time it's up.  She readily admits
    that this is a battle bigger that she can handle and usually during
    the summer months when schedules aren't so hectic (there 3 children
    involved here as well) i usually do the evening and breakfast meals.
    She's been into various "health clubs" (Gloria Stevens, Better Body,
    etc.,etc. ) and as long as she stay out of the kitchen she does
    fine.  She is over 100lbs OVERWEIGHT and as this note bears I am
    worried.  I know I can't make her do it but I sure can try to help
    her because she has told me and I have seen what "my cooking" does
    to her. Right now she is at the end of her rope and willing to try
    anything, practically.  That's why I entered this.  Thanks for the
    feedback and I'll still be "listening".
    
    			Thom
    

    Thom,  I hope this doesn't sound too harsh but is your wife at the
    end of her rope or are you at the end of her rope.  Is she really
    ready to do something about her weight? If not, no amount of support
    you can give her will help.  I am probably more overweight than
    she is as I am currently 117 overweight down from 150 overweight.
    If SHE is really ready, then here's are two suggestions:
    
    1.  Have her read the notes here on various programs and see what
        meets her needs/desires the most.
    
    2.  Have her enter what she is looking for in a diet and have the
        noters here state pros and cons of programs they feel suit her
        needs.
    
    I hope she is ready and that she has great luck.  I think I can
    speak for all of us in the file here and offer any support she needs.
    
    Denise
    

	Denise has a good point about your wife's readiness, but at the 
	same time, an external "happy face" often hides internal despair.
	Supporting an addict can be very difficult; I commend you for
	your concern.

	A lot of people in this conference and in EATING_DISORDERS have
	gotten a lot of help from Overeaters Anonymous, which deals
	with food addiction as a disease.  I've never gone (though I've
	been giving it a lot of thought lately), but for someone who
	has trouble walking through the kitchen, it could be ideal.
	Meetings are free, so there's no commitment to go back if she
	finds it's not for her.

	Please send me mail if you'd like membership in E_D.

	Beverly

    
    No, your not being harsh by any stretch.  She really lacks the
    motivationbecause she has tried sop hard for so long and it jus
    keeps yo-yoing. We both have learned to "accept" that if it is it
    is and if it doesn't that's ok too.  I feel that she has just tried
    for too long and she should just "forget about it" for a while;
    regroup and then really stick with it.  I know and she knows she
    can get there but we haven't really found what works for her yet.
    Yes, we all get frustrated and confused, so we keep up our spirits
    and keep trying.  I did watch that Diet thing last night and I was
    amazed at how "superficial" the whole thing was.  For every man
    on the street the persentors had a method to explain away that persons
    problem without really answering the questions.  My wife also said
    that no one spoke aboout the "expese" of buying all this stuff.
     She suggested the following;  If I bought a TV dinner or entree'
    off the shelf and compared it to what these people were selling
    it would most likely be pretty close to the same in nutrients. 
    The way she approached this was interesting.  She really implied
    what the famale commentator stated at the end of the program.  Relearn
    how to eat and then stay with it.  Gee, took a whole hour to make
    that one line!
    	The other thing I noticed in watching it was that somewhere
    along the "life line", all of these people had an experience where
    there was a negative comment or feedback about them that SERIOUSLY
    affected the way they viewed themselves ( i.e. low esteem).  It
    seemed that everyone thaey talked to on that show had a "crises"
    about someone who thought they should have been someone or something
    else instead of themselves.  It's a shame that people should only
    see what they expect or wnat to see in a person rather than who
    that person really is.  It almost made it sound like that to be
    normal I have to be viewed in a certain way.  People are people
    and if you know them then it really doesn't matter what they look
    (physically) like.
    
    		Have a good weekend all!
    				Thom Terriffic
    

    Hi Thom.
    
    Did we work together in Chelmsford a few years back?  Your name sounds
    familiar. 
    
    Do you know anything about OA?  I have almost 90 days of back to back
    abstinence from sugar, flour, refined carbohydrates and compulsive
    overeating through the OA program.  I have lost 45 pounds in that time,
    and I have another 65 (at least!) to go. 
    
    The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating
    compulsively.   The first step of the program sounds a lot like
    what you describe your wife feeling:
    
    	We admitted that we were powerless over food and that our lives
    	had become unmanageable.
        
    I tried everything before OA, and I really resented paying so much
    money to try to lose weight.  I didn't do a very good job of keeping
    it off in all the usual diet clubs and programs.   What I like about
    OA best is hearing people get up and talk who have lost 50-300 pounds
    who who have kept it off 1-3-6-10 or more *years*!
                                                    
    OA costs nothing, although a hat is passed for a small donation to
    cover renting the room.  OA stresses the use of 7 tools: abstinence
    from compulsive overeating, attending meetings, using the telephone to
    call other members, getting a sponsor who is abstinent, reading the OA
    and AA literature, developing a relationship with a higher power -- God
    as you understand God, or the group itself, and service -- sharing (not
    pushing!) the program with other compulsive overeaters. 
                                                      
    A lot of people get turned off by the spiritual part of the program.
    I did too, because I don't have traditional religious beliefs. 
    For me the higher power is the group itself, and the support and
    encouragement I get there.
                                                           
    I have a sponsor whom I talk with every morning.  She has lost 50
    pounds, and she is maintaining her weight loss.  She calls *her* sponsor
    every morning, too.  We talk about what food we are going to eat that
    day, and about feelings, and about any tricky situations that are
    coming up for me.  I get so much support and encouragement from
    her.
                                             
    My sponsor and my other program friends are helping me learn a lot
    about my tendency to isolate myself and eat.  Through program people,
    I am learning to reach out when the munchies hit.

    People in the program suggest trying 6 meetings before deciding
    whether OA is for you or not.  I would never have gone back afte
    just one meeting, and I agree with this.  Meetings are very different,
    and people in the program say that you have to find the ones that
    work for you.
        
    I have been very lucky -- I got abstinent right away in the program.
    For me, the sugar and flour act like alcohol does for alcoholics.
    At first I really had to fight the cravings, and now I don't have
    them at all anymore.  Sometimes my head thinks "that cookie would
    be tasty", but I don't have physical cravings.  They say it takes
    21 days to get the sugar and flour out of your system if you are
    sensitive to refined carbohydrates.  I can't do a diet in yo-yo
    mode!  I have to get off that stuff and stay away from it, or every
    day will be plagued with food obsessions.   
    
    I am also a recovering bulimic.
    
    I have never felt so free in my life.  I never dreamed that I could
    live a life that didn't revolve around food, but I am -- one day
    at a time.
    
    Contact me for more information about OA if you are interested.
    
    Best to you.
    
    Holly

    
    	Hello HOLLY.  You're right!  I left beloved ICO in January of
    1989 and am now working in the Mill in EMAS with Don Davis.  Where
    are you these days?  
    
    	I'm gald to hear about your success. KEEP IT UP!!!  My wife's
    cousin went into this and she is now has varying styles od "itises".
    (i.s. colyitis (?) and that kind of stuff).  Appearently she didn't
    do something right.  Don't really know where my SO is heading right
    now.  She was real good this weekend.  Ate everything I put in front
    of her and nothing else.  Just wish I could do it for her during
    the week as well.  We do havew an OA chapter in our area but its
    the same ol' story.  Always gonna do it but never get there route.
    
    		Stay in touch ...
    			Thom Terriffic
    

>>She was real good this weekend.  
    			Thom Terriffic
    


Thom,  I'm sure your intentions are the very best (that's obvious from
your notes).  However, I truely believe we (about all of us) need to
stop equating "good" and "bad" with the way we eat.  The reason I believe
this is that I think self-esteem suffers when we think we are "bad" for
making a particular choice about eating.  Instead, I think we need to
look at it as making more or less appropriate choices.

Holly, thanks so much for sharing your story, it really helps keep 
me going.

Liz

    
    	I didn't mean good and bad in a behavorial sense.  I meant good
    and bad in the terms of the amount of caloric intake.  
    			Thom
    

    Hi Thom.  And thanks Liz!
    
    To answer your question, Thom, I work at Spitbrook in Ed Services
    as a Software Course Developer these days.  I really love what I
    do here.
    
    In terms of your wife's cousin -- there is no food plan in OA. 
    There was at one time, but the program now says that your food plan
    is between you, your doctor, and your sponsor in the program.  
    
    Some people do an older OA program called "gray sheet".  Other people
    in OA do their old weight watcher program, especially if they aren't
    oversensitive to flour and sugar.  Other people like me do high
    protein/low carbohydrates/moderate quantities/no sugar or flour.
    
    Don't let what you've heard about a  particular food plan keep you
    or your wife away from OA -- there is no one food plan!  You could
    even bring in a doctor's diet and follow it. 
    
    It is suggested that since many people are sensitive to sugar and
    flour that they try abstinence from those substances, but some people
    find that they can eat some flour products as long as there is no
    sugar in the product.  One woman I know can eat flour and even sugar
    but can't handle fats.  You get honest in the program, and you find
    out what you need to be abstinent from.  And abstinence from sugar
    and flour will not cause colitis!
    
    Good luck.  I hope you find what you need.  My experience is that
    you have to find something that you can make a way of life -- that
    has a built in support system that will maintain you when the novelty
    of the "latest diet" wears off.
    
    Holly

    Holly is absolutely right!  Abstaining from flour and sugar made
    the difference in success and failure for me too! It only took me
    about 10 days to 2 weeks to get that stuff out of my system.  I
    have lost 50 lbs and call it a miracle thanks to OA.  I never could
    have done it any other way.  Have tried all the other diet clubs
    i.e. diet workshop, physician's weight loss, weightloss clinic,
    WW (5 times) slim-fast, cambridge diet, all the books on diets,
    hypnosis, etc, etc, etc. Always got discouraged and felt very deprived
    on all of them and the weight came back quickly + more.  Since joining
    OA I finally understand how AA works for the alcoholic.  One day
    at a time.  It is sad that the majority of us who joined OA had
    to try all the others and had no way out but to try and follow the
    suggestions.    What have you got to lose except weight and gaining
    and wonderful feeling of serenity?  
    
    Like Holly, I thought it was some type of cult talking about one's
    higher power and God etc but your higher power can be anyone you
    choose.   None of this counting calories and watching the #'s on
    the scale all the time. (get weighed only once a month is all that
    is necessary and recommended)
    
    Well enough of this rattling on.  Hope that anyone out there who
    is sick and tired of the yo-yo syndrom will find an OA meeting and
    discover the joy of losing weight the easy and free way!
    
    
    Barbara