Anyone Remember Deal A Meal ???
 

Aaahhhh, what trip down memory lane!!! Wow, forgot all about Deal a Meal. Never ordered it myself but boy do I remember the commerical, moving the cards from one slot to the other. And Richard Simmons is still around. I'm convinced he has not one piece of 'normal' clothing cause he's still in those little shorts and tank tops. LOL

Suzanne Sommers gadget was the Thigh Master. Oh please, the name just cracks me up. :lol: Remember her sitting on the edge of the sofa or bed, squeezing away? I think I remember the guys liking the commerical though. Naturally!

AIDS diet candies -- OMG, I remember my mom had these. Totally forgot about them! Jane Fonda tape? Eeeek, I had a Jane Fonda exercise record. OY!! :rolleyes: On the cover she was in her leotard and stripped leg warmers. Leg warmers lol -- like we were all dancers or something.

Everytime I see the latest and greatest 'gadget' or whatever, I always think that this is it, they will never be able to come up w/anything else to top it. Amazingly, they always do. Maybe they work for some folks but most of them always seem 'gimmicky' to me.

Oh yes! I ordered the meal a deal set. It came with the cards and a little holder, two cookbooks and two of the Sweatin' to the Oldies VHS tapes. I got rid of the cards years and years ago, but I still have the two cookbooks. I still use some of the recipes!

My mom used to have the Ayds (Aids?) candies. I remember my sister and I dressing up my younger brother and my (male) cousin in wigs and makeup and having my cousin hold a sign which read "Before Ayds" and my brother - who was thinner - having a sign reading "After Ayds". Somewhere there are still pictures of them around.

I also had an aerobics record album with 1970s songs. Not a Jane Fonda one, but probably similar. It had a paper insert that showed pictures of the moves, and the instructor would tell you what to move next. :D I had the Jane Fonda book too!

Memories!!

what on earth are aids candies?? was this so long ago that a candy could share a name with a horrific virus??

But oh i LOVED my thighmaster!! I also loved when it snapped in half mid-squeeze -- my thighs were THAT strong (or the product was that cheap)! Who's the Thighmaster NOW??

And, while I may be exposing my youth (27 -- not that young!), while my mom was Sweatin' to the Oldies, I had a Mousercise tape...

S

Ayds candies dated from the 60s and 70s and were individually wrapped caramel candies. You were supposed to have two with a hot drink before a meal and supposedly they would curb your appetite, you'd eat less and -- voila! -- be thin. They worked about as well as any two candies before a meal would work, i.e. not at all. :lol:

Ayds candies obviously didn't survive the AIDS epidemic.

Who remembers Metrecal, the first liquid diet in a can?

I had that Jane Fonda record too! I did it faithfully and credit her and Charlene Prickett (I think it was called It Figures on PBS) with getting me into exercise.

I never did Deal a Meal but I really do think it was a great program. I did WW (when it was exchange-based) at that time and still believe exchanges to be the best approach to weight loss when calorie counting. That way your diet doesn't get too heavy or light in some areas (i.e. not enough fruits, too many starches, etc.).

Actually Deal A Meal is not a bad idea. It is all about planning and staying with your plan , similar to calorie counting or exchanges. Ayds candy was around many years before the Aids epidemic.

OMG . . . I think my Deal a Meal wallet is still around the house somewhere, although I haven't seen it in years -- and Bargoo is correct; it was a good plan. I still dig out Richard's Sweatin tapes on occasion.

Have to say I also agree with Madriver about exchange-based programs (I'm diabetic and really need to track everything).

I never did the Ayds thing.

Anybody remember the Susan Powter craze -- It's Fat; your Fat (get the connection). I liked her for a while; during my totally fat-phobic phase.

What ever happened to Susan Powter , haven't seen her in years ?

Apparently she's still in business as a motivational speaker and personal trainer. She has her own website @ susanpowteronline.com.

I remember the Ayds candy too when I was in high school. Couldn't believe my mom even bought them. I think maybe it gave me a placebo effect of not being hungry.

Ayds contained a substance that was supposed to reduce the sense of taste and therefore appetitie (although anyone with a cold knows that numbing the sense of taste doesn't always reduce appetite). Since you were supposed to take them with a full hot cup of liquid (like tea or coffee or even hot water), before eating, the liquid no doubt helped to curb appetite more than the candy itself.

When I was about 5, I got into my grandmother's box, and had eaten half dozen of them or more before I was found. My mother called the doctor and she was told there was nothing to worry about. When I used them the "right way" as a teenager that was always in the back of my mind - if they were safe for a child to eat in bulk, how effective could they be.

Hey . . . Susan Powter has hair now . . . :lol:

I was going to mention that. Precursor to SlimFast. I remember my mother bought them by the case. She also had Ayds candy, Metrecal cookies -- for a while there we used to get her sugarfree treats for presents. Ick. Those cookies were like rocks, most of them.

When AIDS came to be known in the late 70s, the name being the same as those weight loss candies, seemed a particularly cruel irony. Most people had never heard of the candies, though.

When I was Sweatin' to the Oldies and doing Jane Fonda tapes, I had an exercise tape for my DD that was very cute and came from a children's clothing mfr, Hanna Andersson. Something to do with "Swenson the Pig"; it was fun for an adult to do with a small child.

I loved Sweatin to the Oldies. I think Richard Simmons is great. All is videos were just released in a DVD collection. However, I have a postage stamp size living room so I couldn't do them at home.

Sorry to start the Aids/Ayds confusion.. totally my fault.. Was Susan Powter the Stop the Insanity lady ???

Oh the thighmaster brings back memories of another exercise thing my mom used to have in the early to mid '70s. It was pink, and was the precursor to the thighmaster. It was made of two pieces of plastic joined together with a spring, and it was sold to build "muscles" in the breasts and make your breasts larger. :) The instruction sheet also showed how you could use it between your thighs. Apparently it would make your thighs smaller and your breasts bigger.


Yes Susan Powter was the Stop the Insanity lady.

Anyone remember this?

We must, we must, we must
We must improve our bust
The bigger the better
The tighter the sweater
The boys are depending on us.


Yeah, I am that old. :D :lol:

Yeah, I'm old enough to remember Ayds and Metrecal. Metrecal was big enough that the Flintstones could do a takeoff on it: remember the episode where Fred was puttering round in the garage and invented "Fred-o-cal", but instead of losing weight he shrunk down to 6 inches high?

oreo
I love Richard Simmons and sweating to the oldies. I still do them from time to time.

Deal a meal. The thing really worked. I just gave my old set ( friend gave it to me to give to a friend that doesn't want to bother counting calories ) She is eating great and has lost all kinds of weight. Basically, as I recall, it takes the required amounts of the four basic food groups and breaks them down for you. Gives you different sets of cards. You set up what you should be eating and when the cards are gone you are done eating for the day.

My mother drank Tab pop. Oh my gosh, she sure had NO worries any of us kids would try to steal it lol. Except my one girlfriend, she loved the taste of the stuff. I always knew she was a little nuts.

Tab???? Egad, :barf: Satan's pee! Most vile-tasting stuff that ever existed! How did they ever decide that was fit for human consumption???

Yaaaay, my 350th post!

The TOPS website has exchange cards you can print out (though you'd have to make your own wallet).

I printed some out and took them to my TOPS group for a presentation a couple months ago. I used an old checkbook and two plastic credit card inserts to hold the cards. (two so that one side would be the before eaten, and one side the after eaten).

I use exchanges alot, even now that I am eating lower carb. I just replaced most of my starch servings with protein servings. Sometimes I use the cards, but mostly I use a checklist that I created and print out.

My mother had the Ayds, and I used to sneak them thinking they were candy LOL!

Anyone remember Figurines??

Deal a meal is what helped me lose 150 lbs ..... I love Richard Simmons.

I gained weight with the Susan Powter diet :rofl: and so many others.


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OMG . . . Tab was the most terrible taste.

Before Diabetes I could lose nicely on a low fat, high carb kind of diet and did pretty good with Susan Powter -- not now. :no:

Yep . . . I love Richard Simmons too . . . as annoying as he can get, he comes across as really, really caring about other people rather than so many others who seem to just want to show off and make money.

I agree Meow... he's really got a passion for people.

I just went to Susan Powter's website and just like back in the 1990's... there are very little pictures of her being over weight (can't even see her face in 1/2 of them) but a ton of pictures of her now/skinny. :shrug: The one picture where she (if its her) is heavy sitting with her legs extended looks like a preggy picture to me. Just seems so phony.

Adys were yummy.... never lost weight with them but it was a good treat LOL

Tab ... bleeech

I remember the grapefruit diet OMG BLEEECH !!! I still get goose bumps thinking about it.

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I was in my early twenties when I used Deal-A-Meal to lose about 60 pounds. It worked great for me.

After awhile, though, I got tired of having to keep track of all those cards, the weekly menu planning while sitting down with the cards, etc.

And now I need to lose those 60 pounds again. Sigh.


I remember when Richard Simmons had his TV show. At the end of his show he always had some encouraging words for anyone watching. My Mom (who was obese at the time) loved him because he was always so sympathetic, encouraging, and passionate about inspiring people to be healthy.

He also had some health-clubs in the late 70's or early 80's. My Mom was a member and went regularly. She loved it, because she said the classes were taught by instructors of all sizes and most of the people who went were not size-2 gym bunnies, so she didn't feel awkward about being obese in a room full of other people who all looked like her.

She also liked how some instructors were overweight too, and they were also in the process of losing weight. I remember her raving about one woman who was still pretty heavy after losing a lot of weight, but who also taught an aerobics class and would work them all up into a good sweat. My Mom could see how the pounds were coming off that woman over time, and it was inspiring.

My Mom used to tell me that those clubs were great because she could identify better with everyone there, from students to instructors, and there was a lot of encouragement and support for her there.

She lost a lot of weight at the club, but stopped going when Richard sold his clubs to a big chain (I think it was Bally's) and it all changed.

Ahahahaha! Way to show that Thighmaster who's boss!

Oh! Richard Simmons! We had a Home Ec./Health class in middle school and every Wednesday we had to do an aerobics tape. Half the time it was Sweatin' to the Oldies. I still can't hear that song "Wendy" (I think that's it?) without seeing Richard in his little shorts and tank top waving his hands above his head!

The boys always like "Buns of Steel" day. Some of the exercises were very funny to them!

Drank Tab and Fresca. Tried Metrical and Ayds. And the little wheel with handles to exercise the abs. And the nylon rope thingie that attached to the doorknob. I still do "Sweatin' to the Oldies" once in a while - it IS a good workout and I like the music ;)
Other odities I had - a digital chew counter - you pressed a button every time you took a bite and it blinked every second for 30 times (just TRY chewing the same mouthful for 30 seconds). The Octagym - worked great, but you spent half of the time changing the contraption from one setup to the next. An airwalker (forerunner to the Gazelle).

And - I was the leg warmer QUEEN! I knitted my own and had a pair for every outfit. Little hearts up the sides, stripes, zig-zags, polka dots, I think I knit at least 30 pair. I even gave them as Christmas gifts (egad!)

you and me both :) my mom taught me that!

I'm pretty sure between my mother and two overweight grandmothers (not to mention the aunties as well) everything you guys have mentioned has been tried.

My mother - Tab and Fresca drinker, made it VERY clear those were not for our consumption (I remember even being maybe 10 years old and the laundromat and my mother bringing her Tab with her). Weight Watchers member (also from around the age of 10, pretty sure she's joined about 10,000 times by now).

Dad's mom - Ayds gallore! Deal-a-meal user. Oh and I remember when chocolate became off limits and we started getting Carob bars from the Heath Food Shop (even if it tastes good, I have such bad memories now I don't even think I could try it again). Have to give her kudos though, she did get slim and become the oldest "new" aerobics instructor in town (boy the older ladies LOVED her).

Mom's mom - Richard Simmons follower, Ayds user, ALBA shake drinker, Weight Watcher.


It's funny, but in a way it's also sad... see how many decades it's been since the diet industry became big business? Sadly this too was my example and probably part of the reason why I have a distorted image of myself. ALL of the women in my life despised their bodies. What kind of example is that for a young girl?

Whatever happened to Alba shakes by the way? My mom drank those too. Man would she be p.o'd if I would drink her shakes!!

Fresca is still around, in fact they have it in 3 different flavors now. Tab is (or was: I think I still see it around some places, I hope they reformulated it but I don't intend to try it again) vile, but Fresca is delicious

I have an aunt that drinks Tab still religiously and keeps several cases in her office. I remember they used to keep it stocked in the vending machine at work for her, but that was several years ago. I wonder if they still do... hahah.

I actually am starting the food mover by Richard Simmons.

You all should check out this: Belly Laughs at Early Fad Diets :lol3:

OMG - what memories!!! LOL. I was just a kid when Richard Simmons was big on TV - but my mother was really into him and ordered almost everything he ever had!

My mom and I were always sweatin' to the oldies after school! So much fun!

But yeah - those deal a meals were crazy! I remember my mom trying to show me how to use them. I was never that interested...lol.

God bless Richard Simmons! LOL

My mom had one of those little supermarket check-out aisle books - "The 555 calorie-a-day diet". She used to go on that a few times a year - can you imagine? 555 calories?!?!? All of us would steer way clear of her when she was on that.

I remember that - it came from Are you there God, it's me Margaret...one of my favorite books. Ahhh to be a kid again.

Someone also mentioned Figurines, I loved them! I looked for them for years and found out they were discontinued.

Does anyone remember the exercise machine from the late 80s/early 90s that you used for sit-ups? It had a spring and two stirrups for your feet at the bottom.

oh my gosh, my mom had that sit-up thing with the stirrups and spring! i used to play with it when i was young and then occasionally dig it out when i got older and started to want to firm up my tummy.

does fresca have some sort of weight loss significance?

OMG, I am 22. Never heard of it. I SO copied it and put it on my board. :hyper:

Fresca was first sold in 1963, it was one of the first diet sodas.

I looove Fresca :) But I now limit my diet sodas to probably 1 a week it is hard for me to find in a 20 ounce bottle. If I got it in can I would drink the case it a day or 2