marks@yogi.DEC (10/28/85)
>There are no known effective weight loss programs (if "effective" >means that the weight is not regained within a few months or years). Unfortunately, despite the opinions of some netters to the contrary, this is basically true. Most people who have weight to lose can successfully lose at least part of that weight through an effective weight loss plan (invariably the ones that work involve a decrease in caloric intake in one way or another, and some include increased physical activity as well, although this has not been shown to speed up weight loss greatly in most people with weight problems). Unfortunately, most (the latest figures come in at around 95 - 97%) of those who lose the weight are unsuccessful in keeping it off for more than 6 months. And unfortunately, since obesity is considered by experts a progressive disease, those who gain their weight back generally gain back more than they lost. Overweight is a condition that encompasses a great many factors. It is not simply a matter of poor eating habits (although they contribute), it is not simply a matter of lack of self control (many overweight people have been found to have less neurosis and mental illness than the general population, and their only deviation from that is in their inability to control their eating), and whatever other factors are involved in it are numerous. The newest research indicates that the only way to keep lost weight off is to increase physical activity after that weight has been lost (as well as keeping food intack down). Overweight people are thought to have a greater number of fat cells than normal weight people, and the reasons why are simply in the theory stage. Also, there is a new theory about brown fat and ability to burn calories, and there is some evidence that humans evolved from different types of tribes, some of whom were able to eat vast amounts of food (meat eaters) and had extremely efficient burners, so that the food would remain in their body until they could find another animal to eat (perhaps weeks later), and some of whom (vegetable eaters) nibbled on and on throughout the day in small amounts, whose bodies were not nearly as efficient burners as the meat eaters, and who might be today's naturally thin people because their bodies burn up everything as it goes through rather than storing nourishment in the form of fat. Some experts say it is more healthy to stay at a certain level of obesity or overweight rather than gaining and losing and gaining and losing in yoyo fashion. The flip side to this, however, is a society that simply does not like and often will not tolerate a fat person. There is always that motivation to lose weight. Hopefully, some day the experts will figure out this unfortunate disease and be able to treat it. For those who have to suffer with it, it provides constant misery. Bottom line is, fad diets are probably no better or worse for losing weight than a sensible, balanced 1,000 calorie per day diet. Fad diets can be harmful to the organism, however, and any "miracle" new diet should be thoroughly checked out and approved by a doctor or a nutritionist before you try it.