I always thought a team approach with respect to weight loss referred to personal support, as opposed to a "dream team" of highly trained people. And we've all seen that those with such teams are no more or less able to maintain a loss (hello, Oprah?) because at the end of the day, it is UP TO YOU.
YOU are your own best guardian of your health, your choices and your life decisions. Decision by committee rarely works for an individual, IMHO...
NOTE: I am NOT dismissing the value of a team approach when determining treatment plans for medical disease processes such as cancer, diabetes, or for those with co-morbidities. I just don't believe that obesity falls into this category because it IS possible to "cure" this disease on your own, without medication, without surgery, and even without external support. Sometimes all you can count on is YOU, in life.
NOTE: I am NOT dismissing the value of a team approach when determining treatment plans for medical disease processes such as cancer, diabetes, or for those with co-morbidities. I just don't believe that obesity falls into this category because it IS possible to "cure" this disease on your own, without medication, without surgery, and even without external support. Sometimes all you can count on is YOU, in life.
Kira
The ability to "cure" oneself doesn't seem to make a team approach (or dream team approach) any less (or more) helpful than for medical disease processes. Substance abuse is also "self-cureable," but a team approach has been proven to be far more effective than a person doing it on their own.
As a probation officer, we encouraged probationees to develop their own support system - and often it wasn't just encouraged, it was court mandated (sometimes even dream-team style), the rationale being that the statistics show that the larger the support system, the lower the recidivism rates.
I think that often being able to do it on ones own, without any help is seen as somehow more virtuous, than seeking or needing help. But the research shows that when you're talking about behavior change, regardless of the type of change whether it be in relation to substance abuse, mental illness, obesity, smoking cessation, illegal behavior.... the wider the variety and the larger the support system, the greater the chance of long-term success. Instead of encouraging anyone to "do it on their own, without help," the more responsible choice is to encourage folks to build their own dream team and social networks.
If a person has the resources to build a dream team of medical, nutritional, exercise physiology and mental health professionals, as well as getting family and friends involved, I would encourage them to do so, because (statistically) having those resources is associated with greater success.
Yes, you can choose to do it on your own, but why would you not take advantage of tools that are known to improve your chances of success and reduce chances of relapse.
I do not believe that white-knuckling it solo is the more virtuous choice - it just makes the challenges more difficult than they have to be, which isn't virtuous, it's foolish.
I agree - the drawl is tough to listen to - I've only gotten to the show a few times. I liked the episode where she went camping - doing something she was always afraid to do (personally I hate camping - I'd rather be poked in the eye with a sharp stick).
She says she doesn't work - is she on disability? How does she afford her home and if she wasn't on the show, her program?
What did you all think about the exercise "gooooruuuu"? I thought he had some valid points but not to build muscle made no sense. Muscle burns more calories than fat, no?
I think that often being able to do it on ones own, without any help is seen as somehow more virtuous, than seeking or needing help. But the research shows that when you're talking about behavior change, regardless of the type of change whether it be in relation to substance abuse, mental illness, obesity, smoking cessation, illegal behavior.... the wider the variety and the larger the support system, the greater the chance of long-term success. Instead of encouraging anyone to "do it on their own, without help," the more responsible choice is to encourage folks to build their own dream team and social networks.
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I do not believe that white-knuckling it solo is the more virtuous choice - it just makes the challenges more difficult than they have to be, which isn't virtuous, it's foolish.
Yes, these, times one million. Where's the point in making things harder for yourself than they have to be? Weight loss is hard enough as it is! And I agree that a team approach, combined with a strong personal commitment, is really statistically the most likely to yield results. You're not going to get anywhere WITHOUT the strong personal commitment, with or without a team. But if you have that commitment, a team is going to increase your chances of success, if those people are well chosen, well-educated, etc.
In fact, that's what I think is great about 3FC...it's essentially a large, cheaper version of a "dream team" to answer questions, give you guidance, make suggestions. It's not that the other posters here are responsible for the weight loss of others. It's that everyone here has a place to go to get answers, get suggestions, and talk about issues.
Now, if you thought that just going to 3FC was going to cause pounds to drop off, obviously, that's not going to work out, and Ruby won't have success without making that commitment either. But once the commitment is made, isn't it good to have extra resources and support? If not, why would we post here?
Okay, I just watched this week's episode. Ruby is looking for a part time job, and is having trouble doing physical parts of some job.
But the part of the show that bugged me is when she was going to the gynecologist for the first time in years. She would not call body parts the proper names--she nicknamed them silly things (she called the vagina "Christmas" because "it's nicer to say and it is like a gift!", and breasts were "breasticles."
I'm trying to be sympathetic, but she is REALLY bugging!!!
I watched Ruby for the first time yesterday afternoon. The voice was annoying as heck, but then again I'm southern and no doubt sound just like her, so I won't judge too harshly.
I saw the episode with the NY guru. I liked the guy and thought he had some valid points to make. Ruby definitely shouldn't be on the treadmill if it hurts her knees that much. I just had to give up the treadmill until my groin pull heals and now use the bike, which I hate! Ruby should of course walk as much as possible, but she really does need to do what will give her the optimum cardio workout. I agree that weights aren't as important (at this time in her weight-loss) as doing sustained cardio where she will burn more calories.
I might watch again if I can remember when it's on.
I don't think "curing" obesity on one's own is more virtuous -- in fact, I haven't made ANY moralistic judgements about the path that each of us chooses. I think it is possible to do it on your own moreso than, say, addressing congestive heart failure, and those who are successful at weight loss and maintenance have realized that this issue can't be solved by anyone other than themselves. It isn't up to your MD to solve; it isn't up to a trainer to solve; it is up to YOU.
My only point is this: not everyone is fortunate enough to have 2 trainers, 1 sports medicine physician, a nutritionist, a bariatric physician, a psychiatrist, and a meal delivery service at one's beck and call. And I don't think it is particularly helpful in the long run as it becomes easy to download one's problem onto others to solve. "tell me what to think, tell me how to move, make me something to eat" isn't a life-long solution. Because if you don't learn to manage your new lifestyle right off the bat, you are going to have difficulty when the cameras are off and the team is no longer together. I don't think THIS degree of support is any more or less successful than those who have other support networks in place (you see it all the time in celebrity weight loss stories -- more money/trainers/personal gyms/mds at hand does NOT predict an increase in WL maintenance).
In life, we only have a team of ONE at the end of the day. We find our support and resources where we can, because this IS something that IS in our power to control. For some, this is in the form of WW meetings, or 3FC, or extended family, or OA. I'm not suggesting that one doesn't benefit from some sort of support. However, there IS a distinction between a network of support and OVERRELIANCE on others to carry you through the journey. It seems to me that Ruby actually enjoys the attention of all of these people -- that for her, it isn't about their help with her journey to lose the weight. It is about having many, many, many people around to stroke and massage her efforts continually. She comes across as being extremely high maintenance, as though she craves the constant attention. Which, IMHO, isn't helpful in the long run because it becomes easy to deflect her issues onto others for resolution and when the external support isn't there and when the cameras are off to another reality series, the internal resilience one needs to sustain the effort hasn't been developed.
And if one relies so heavily on a sustained team effort, and the team doesn't "come through", it is easy to download the reason for not succeeding onto someone else. How easy is it to say "well, my meal delivery service didn't give me meals I enjoyed, so I ate something else" (we heard this last season, I believe), or "my therapist isn't really "there" for me so I self-medicated" or "my trainer makes me confused so I stayed away from the gym today". And I believe we've already heard the latter excuse from her last week, which doesn't bode well for the future, IMHO.
Virtue has nothing to do with it. DETERMINATION, GUTS, INDEPENDANCE AND PERSONAL ACTION has everything to do with it. And these are personal attributes which can't be downloaded to a team. And if you don't accept the simple fact that this is a PERSONAL journey with PERSONAL responsibilities and that INDIVIDUAL ACTION above ALL will lead to success, then you are probably not going to be at the weight you would like to be at any time soon.
I think the team approach is wonderful, but eventually, the team needs to move on to someone else. You need to learn from the team and be able to stand on your own. That was my problem with Weight Watchers - I looked at it like a race. Once I met goal, I stopped and I got sloppy with the program. I put back on double the weight.
I've seen so much criticism of Ruby, particularly questioning her ability to lose weight without the cameras, and the extensive support system, and I wonder if people realize that she lost over 216 lbs before the first episode was ever taped (without any team of professionals). So far, she's lost over 365 lbs, so she's still lost more "off camera," without the team of professionals, than she has with them.
I think those of us who do need team support find a way to get it, and there's nothing inherently "weak" in that. The team doesn't eventually have to leave or move on, if you have the money to keep paying them OR if you find no-cost team members.
3FC, Weight Watcher's, TOPS, our family doctors, our family and friends - gyms and health clubs.... they're available to everyone to some degree. No one can afford all of the expensive services, but for every component of weight loss/good health you can build a team to suit your needs. There's no reason to go it alone.
The stats are, that the larger the team, and social network, the more success a person has in behavior change. So it doesn't necessarily boil down to only self-determination, or more people without support systems would succeed. It's part of the puzzle, but it isn't the entire puzzle.
I think the need for the social aspect of weight loss is often overlooked and underestimated, largely because we do it without even realizing we're doing so. We may even think that we're doing it "all on our own" without appreciating how much help we're really getting from others. Very few people have no team or support system at all. We all, to some degree, want and need a little attention and approval for all of our efforts. Some folks have a higher need for the attention and approval of others. I would argue that ANYONE who makes their lives public - whether on a television show or on their own blog, has a greater than average need for attention.
Will Ruby be able to keep the weight off with no team? Maybe not, but that doesn't even mean that she won't keep it off. Rather when her life is no longer of interest to the Style network, she may find other ways to meet her attention-getting needs. She may have to build her own team from her family, friends, and anyone else she can keep in her life to help her.
at Christmas. I do consider my vajajay a great present! 
By the time I let it get unwrapped again, it'll be worth millions!! 
