Hi Owl! We had a book discussion on Rethinking Thin last year and actually have a subforum devoted to it: Rethinking Thin. Please feel free to post to any of the discussion threads and maybe we can revive the discussion again. There's lots to talk about, isn't there?
I read it - I found it depressing as ****. The author basically said "it's too hard to maintain a weight loss, just accept being heavy" which from my perspective is complete claptrap. She cited numerous studies of people who dieted, stopped dieting and regained weight.
Duh. Don't stop. Find a healthy plan that you can stick to for the rest of your life. Start, keep going.
She didn't write about successful maintainers except to say how HARD it was.
yes. the last thing we need when trying to lose weight is pessimistic attitudes and falling into a depression. some interesting ideas, although I'd agree a more positive attitude generally lead to greater results.
The "pessimistic" research cited in the book, and similar research actually had the opposite effect on me. So many times I gave up, because I found weight loss so difficult - I thought I was failing because there was something wrong with me. Knowing how difficult the journey is, and that no one finds it easy, and that the odds of success are poor without a lifelong commitment and intense effort - all of that made me feel less guilty for having a difficult time, and less guilt made me a lot more patient with myself.
I also have learned that every success is something to celebrate and acknowledge, no matter how small. In the past, a small weight loss (and during many times in my life, anything under 5 lb loss in a week was a small loss to me) was cause for disappointment. Every slip was proof that I was weak, stupid, lazy, or bad.
Now, I realize that with every bit of progress I make, no matter how small, I'm "beating the odds." My doctor told me once when I was complaining that the weight was coming off so slowly compared to previous attempts, and he pointed out that even losing 1 lb a month, if I kept it up, would soon be more than most people do (even people my size), because most people end up giving up and gaining it back.
I think alot of people think they're failing at weight loss, when they're not only succeeding, they're at the head of the pack doing better than most people do. But because of unrealistic expectations, and what they think they've learned about weight loss makes them think they're trailing behind everyone else. How many times have we seen it here, when someone asks why they can't consistently lose more than 2 lbs or 5 lbs or whatever a week, like everyone else is (where are these mythical people, and why do we think they're everywhere, when they're really so rare, at least outside of reality tv)?
Even when we read and believe that it's not safe to lose more than a couple pounds or 1% of our body weight weekly - why do many of us assume that it therefore is true that this is the typical weight loss that we should expect?
I think one of the reasons that the statistics are so poor is that the way most of us believe we're supposed to go about weight loss (because of what we've read, seen, and heard about weight loss and the role models we've observed) is mostly wrong. A good number of us have had to unlearn what we thought we knew about weight loss, in order to succeed.
For me, learning that was a very positive experience. It doesn't make the process easier, but it does become more doable when I realize how hard it is.
I guess it's like if you were handed a musical instrument, and were told that playing it beautifully took most people 15 minutes to learn - and another person was told that it took most people 10 years. Who do you think would give up first?
I think when we think we're doing alot worse than everyone else, we give up sooner, assuming we're just idiots or just can't do it. But when we know a task is difficult, it can be easier to put the effort in that is required, because we expected it to be difficult in the first place.
I thought it was a very interesting book. Pessimistic for sure, and yet it sort of cemented for me that I would need to work on fitness and weight maintenance for life, and not just temporarily.
I finished the book, which got mildly hopeful near the end, but it was tough to get through. I'm on a diet book binge right now, trying to get all the info I can. (Now i'm reading French Women Don't Get Fat.) I'm a researcher at heart!
Is it Rethinking Thin or Thin for Life? I'm confused,
There are two books. THin for Life is by Anne Fletcher, and was done by interviewing a lot of maintainers. Rethinking Thin is by Gina Kolata, a journalist who writes on various topics. She also wrote a book on exercise which challenged the HR theory of measuring how hard you're working. She really got into spinning while researching the book, as well.
I'm reading Kolata's "Ultimate Fitness: The Quest for the Truth About Exercise and Health." This must be the book WaterRat refers to, because its central storyline is Kolata's participation in a four-hour spinning event called Climbing Mt. Everest. So far, I'm really enjoying it. Most books on health & exercise are advocating something, a particular program or diet -- this book seems more exploratory & questioning.
I read "Rethinking Thin" but remember few of the details except her account of the study of the starving men. Maybe I'm self-protectively forgetting its central message.
Anyone read "Rethinking Thin?"
