Real dieters dish practical tips in ‘How to Lose’
Sunday, December 11, 2005
‘Tis the season to start obsessing about our New Year’s weight-loss and fitness resolutions. And, to be sure, there’s no shortage of new diet and exercise books that promise to help us meet our goals — no matter how nebulous or superficial they may be.
Publishers everywhere know it’s not commitment but desperation that will get us post-holiday merrymakers to pilfer dollars from our already decimated budgets in hopes of hitting upon a secret for losing the pounds we inevitably pile on around this time of year.
Last week alone, three new tomes showed up in my mailbox, and I received e-mail promoting several other titles. Among the offerings are a diet book that claims our DNA makeup should determine what we eat and one that provides readers with such less-than-novel advice as, determine whether your food is “fuel or filler” and “write it (down), don’t bite it,” when you crave foods you know you should avoid.
As well-meaning as some of these weight-loss experts may be, any repeat dieter knows it’s not lack of knowledge, but lack of willpower that keeps most of us from achieving our weight-loss goals. That’s what makes one of the books I received, How to Lose 9,000 lbs. (or Less) ($13.95, Hundred of Heads Books, LLC) from editors Joan Buchbinder and Jennifer Bright Reich, an attention getter.
The book’s tongue-and-cheek cover, which features a Sumo wrestler ostensibly poised to fight fat, is itself an entertaining eye-catcher. But the fact that How to Lose . . . is published by the same press responsible for the popular Survival Guide series (it’s How to Survive Dating guide has provided me early exit strategies for more than a few nightmarish dates) provided even more motivation for me to give the book a good look.
How to Lose . . . will not tell you how to lose weight, however. It assumes with the plethora of information already out there, you’ve pretty much figured out that consistently eating smaller portions of healthy foods along with exercising to burn calories is the only weight-loss equation that works in the long run. Instead, it will help you figure out what it will take for you to stick to your weight-loss regimen.
How exactly does How to Lose . . . attempt to accomplish that monumental task? By getting advice from everyday people who, after years of failing, wrestled with and finally conquered their own weight-loss demons.
As the saying goes, necessity is the motherhood of invention, and these real people know real weight loss is down-and-dirty business. They aren’t above depriving, seducing, bribing or tricking themselves into long-term success. Take, for example, the woman who in winter uses her car trunk as a food freezer and shoe locker. That way, if she gets a craving for something she knows she shouldn’t have, she has to walk outside barefoot in the dead of winter to retrieve the diet-busting treat.
Or, how about the exerciser who employs his under-achiever inclinations to trick himself into working out. “The way I stick to my workouts it by keeping the expectations low each time I go in,” explains the advice giver. “If I tell myself beforehand that it will be a short workout, there’s much less dread involved. Once I’m there, I usually end up working out longer than I planned, thanks to the cycle of ritualistic self-deceit.”
Then there’s the dieter who shares the empowering admission that he has no qualms disregarding some of the absolutely ridiculous advice weight-loss experts give their clients. “I tried that diet where you’re not supposed to eat after 8 p.m., and it turned me into an insomniac because I was so hungry,” the dieter admits. “That’s just stupid. The guys who write those diet books don’t know you and your life.”
The book’s ingenuous, often hilarious, advice from real people (not expert types who sit on high and dish out advice that may be completely impractical for our individual lives and personalities) is a sampling of guerrilla tactics that sometimes conflict in their approach. But, as we all know, what works like a charm for one person can fail miserably for another when it comes to winning the weight-loss battle.
Better Living offers information and ideas for healthier living. The column appears on Sundays. Reach Shawn Rhea at (856) 486-2475 or srhea@courierpostonline. com.
