Living off the fat of the land

On the local morning news I saw a contestant from The Biggest Loser TV show (sorry, I didn't catch her name), answer questions from viewers about the Biggest Loser Ranch. I don't watch the show but am aware of it so I watched her with some interest. According to her interviewer, the lady is within 19 pounds of her goal. She told the viewers that when she was at the Biggest Loser Ranch they work out six hours a day, three with the trainers, and do a lot of walking. She's now off the show, but still does four hours a day working out, and runs for two hours! Whew. I grew exhausted just listening to that.

If you need to lose weight, the old tried-and-true is the best way: eat less, exercise more.

For many years, and to the delight of many purveyors of weight loss methods, diets, pills and nostrums, most people opt to take an easy way. I don't think anyone ever lost money marketing quick weight loss, based on the number of companies that have used that in their advertising. Notice the headlines in these ads from the early 1950s. One promises you'll CHEW CHEWING GUM, REDUCE. It's Kelpidine gum, made of fucus (sounds like mucus but it's a seaweed). Some people still swear by this product. Read this testimonial by a doctor in India My Unforgettable Cases. He helped an overweight young woman find love and a husband! Doc, you rock.

The other ad is the old "eat something before a meal and curb your hunger." For some people that would mean eating a double cheeseburger before dinner, but here it's a product called Meltabs. My personal feeling about that is why not skip the Meltab, have a glass of water instead? It does the same thing.


An article from The Philadelphia Inquirer October 18, 2010 was headlined, "At 79, he nibbles and noshes his way to health." It tells of Bob Kay, who eats up to 20 times a day, but he's foresworn traditional meals, and does what he calls nibbling or grazing, where he may eat some nuts or a fruit. As the article states, "Actually, Kay is more than surviving: he's thriving. Since becoming a nibbler, Kay has shed 25 pounds, His current weight: a trim 152 (maintained in part by four or five half-hour sessions at the gym each week). The article goes on to explain that Bob's blood pressure has dropped, then gives his regimen of "nibbling, noshing and grazing."

If you'd like to read more about Bob's great diet, see nibbling and noshing. I did notice that part about "four or five half-hour sessions at the gym each week," which means just what I said above, "eat less, exercise more."

If it wasn't bad enough that people feel bad about being overweight, some also feel bad about being underweight.

Can't everybody just accept themselves? Apparently not, and it makes the supplement manufacturers happy. I think we should all just think of the old saying: "For skinny people: don't eat fast. For fat people: don't eat...fast!"