WW vs. Cold Turkey

I was listening to talk radio here in LA this weekend where a doctor takes
calls about medical subjects. There was a conversation about stopping
smoking in which the doctor opined that resolutions/plans/programs/promises
to quit smoking seldom work because if someone is truly going to quit,
he/she should be ready to do it NOW. He said the alternatives are simply
empty promises to maybe quit sometime in the future, which lack conviction.
That rang true for me, because that's how I quit smoking many years ago -
cold turkey.

Is the same true for weight loss?

George wrote:
I was listening to talk radio here in LA this weekend where a doctor takes
calls about medical subjects. There was a conversation about stopping
smoking in which the doctor opined that resolutions/plans/programs/promises
to quit smoking seldom work because if someone is truly going to quit,
he/she should be ready to do it NOW. He said the alternatives are simply
empty promises to maybe quit sometime in the future, which lack conviction.
That rang true for me, because that's how I quit smoking many years ago -
cold turkey.

Is the same true for weight loss?

You have to be ready and want to lose, but otherwise, no. You can't
quit eating altogether, unlike smoking or drinking alcohol. Help and
support (through either a program like WW and/or just by having and
educated and caring and supportive family and friend structure) is of
great benefit, not only in taking the weight off and re-educating
yourself to a healthy way of eating, but also in KEEPING the weight off
once it's gone. And with weight loss, slowly (1-2lbs a week) and
carefully, with exercise (again, starting slowly) is much better that a
big drop in a hurry on some mad diet that doesn't teach you how to eat
and manage food for life.

The nice thing about something like WW is that it teaches you how to
manage not JUST on a day-to-day basis, but also for special occasions. A
'diet' that regards cakes and ale as a sin rather than as nice stuff for
occasional treats and celebrations isn't much good in my book. When fun
comes along, you need to be able to join in without guilt and then step
straight back on the weight loss/maintenance program once the party is
over, without guilt.

For example: I was out for a day of Serious Shopping with a friend. I
indulged in a slice of Starbuck's passion cake, for 12 whole points!
For me, that left six points for the rest of the day's food! Lunch was
a huge plate of mixed salad with very little dressing, dinner a couple
of bowls of zero point soup, and I just watched what I ate a tad more
carefully the rest of the week while working at home... I really
enjoyed that slice of cake, and I evened up the points over the week.
Swimming gave me some bonus points, and by weigh-in I lost a pound that
week. Good!
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

I don't think so because you can live without cigs but you can't live without food. You'll always need to eat so it makes more sense to watch your portions and the nutrients of your food than quit 'cold turkey' eating the things you like.

On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 05:57:00 GMT, "George"
wrote:

I was listening to talk radio here in LA this weekend where a doctor takes
calls about medical subjects. There was a conversation about stopping
smoking in which the doctor opined that resolutions/plans/programs/promises
to quit smoking seldom work because if someone is truly going to quit,
he/she should be ready to do it NOW. He said the alternatives are simply
empty promises to maybe quit sometime in the future, which lack conviction.
That rang true for me, because that's how I quit smoking many years ago -
cold turkey.

Well, I quit smoking 3.5 years ago, with the help of Celexa and a
fantastic Usenet support group (alt.support.stop-smoking). That was
after a very miserable failed attempt to quit "cold turkey" 4 years
previous.

So what I'd say is that the most important thing for taming any
addiction is to pay attention to what works for you and to refuse to
give up just because what worked for someone else doesn't work for
you. Oh, and beware of ANYone touting the One True Way, especially
doctors on talk radio.

Is the same true for weight loss?

Why yes, I believe it is.

--
Kristen

I quit smoking cold turkey (on my first try YAY !) and that was much easier
than loosing weight..

You're branching out George !

Will~

"George" wrote in message
. com...
I was listening to talk radio here in LA this weekend where a doctor takes
calls about medical subjects. There was a conversation about stopping
smoking in which the doctor opined that resolutions/plans/programs/promises
to quit smoking seldom work because if someone is truly going to quit,
he/she should be ready to do it NOW. He said the alternatives are simply
empty promises to maybe quit sometime in the future, which lack conviction.
That rang true for me, because that's how I quit smoking many years ago -
cold turkey.

Is the same true for weight loss?

The replies above about not being able to "stop eating altogether" are
disingenuous and they illustrate the doctor's point. The point was about
quashing a love affair with cigarettes as compared to quashing a love affair
with (the wrong kind of) food.

Put another way, most of us know that you can't "cut down" on cigarettes as
a means to stopping smoking altogether. You can't consider having an extra
cigarette today as a "treat" that you'll punish yourself for indulging in by
reducing the number of cigarettes you have tomorrow. That behavior does
nothing to deal with the underlying love affair you have for cigarettes. In
fact, it would appear to reinforce it.

Isn't it the same with food? What good does any weight loss plan do if it
teaches that some unhealthful food choices are treats to be rationed, and
that the price for indulging in them is denying yourself other food later?

Seems to me that the way to kill a love affair with bad food choices is to
associate those food items with whatever is sufficient motivation - obesity,
stroke, heart disease, diabetes - to absolutely stay away from 'em, just as
most people would never consider ingesting poison. Or condition yourself to
automatically reach for a good alternative when those brownies try to jump
out at you from the grocer's shelf..

The solution, I think, is to make a clear and final lifetime decision about
foods that you will absolutely stay away from because they're as bad as
poison even in small quantities, and to feel totally right about that
decision. End of temptation (who is tempted to ingest poison?) and with it
the need to constantly monitor food intake.



"George" wrote in message
. com...
I was listening to talk radio here in LA this weekend where a doctor takes
calls about medical subjects. There was a conversation about stopping
smoking in which the doctor opined that
resolutions/plans/programs/promises
to quit smoking seldom work because if someone is truly going to quit,
he/she should be ready to do it NOW. He said the alternatives are simply
empty promises to maybe quit sometime in the future, which lack
conviction.
That rang true for me, because that's how I quit smoking many years ago -
cold turkey.

Is the same true for weight loss?

George wrote:

The replies above about not being able to "stop eating altogether" are
disingenuous and they illustrate the doctor's point. The point was about
quashing a love affair with cigarettes as compared to quashing a love affair
with (the wrong kind of) food.

Why should ANY food be regarded as 'wrong'? The thing about chocolate,
cakes, and deep fried stuff is that they were never intended to be the
staples so many of us have made them. They are 'treat' foods for
occasional consumption, and should be used as such.

Put another way, most of us know that you can't "cut down" on cigarettes as
a means to stopping smoking altogether. You can't consider having an extra
cigarette today as a "treat" that you'll punish yourself for indulging in by
reducing the number of cigarettes you have tomorrow. That behavior does
nothing to deal with the underlying love affair you have for cigarettes. In
fact, it would appear to reinforce it.

Isn't it the same with food? What good does any weight loss plan do if it
teaches that some unhealthful food choices are treats to be rationed, and
that the price for indulging in them is denying yourself other food later?

Not at all: a little extra food is easy to compensate for with an extra
walk, a longer swim, and a leaner but still delicious meal later in the
day, or for a day or two after.

Seems to me that the way to kill a love affair with bad food choices is to
associate those food items with whatever is sufficient motivation - obesity,
stroke, heart disease, diabetes - to absolutely stay away from 'em, just as
most people would never consider ingesting poison. Or condition yourself to
automatically reach for a good alternative when those brownies try to jump
out at you from the grocer's shelf..

In my case the foods that set off a severe gall bladder attack caused
huge amounts of pain - and some of them still do. BUT if I am careful
only to indulge very occasionally and in moderation, with compensations
elsewhere in the day/week, I *can* indulge in such things as Christmas
Pudding, birthday cake, and chocolate, steak and chips, and ice cream.
I wouldn't eat any of them all the time, and wouldn't indulge in all of
them in the same day, nor even the same week.

The solution, I think, is to make a clear and final lifetime decision about
foods that you will absolutely stay away from because they're as bad as
poison even in small quantities, and to feel totally right about that
decision. End of temptation (who is tempted to ingest poison?) and with it
the need to constantly monitor food intake.

Why should I give up the foods I like forever when a little occasionally
is a nice change? It does me no harm, and I never feel deprived: I
*choose* not to eat them rather than feeling deprived because they are
forbidden.

I choose non-food treats when I need a reward for something, but the
occasional food treat is good. And I'm not going to be a kill-joy and
refuse all treats just because 'I can't eat that', unless I develop
something really awful like coeleiac disease! (I have a friend so
afflicted, who also suffers with a yeast intolerance, and I make low fat
delicious gluten and yeast free foods for her. She loves the fact that
she *can* be indulgent in my house, and not suffer.) Many of us need to
be re-educated not to be ruled by or afraid of food, and forbidding
'dangerous' food seems to defeat the object of that. I find it far more
sensible to develop a sensible attitude towards it. AND to learn the
'occasional indulgence' does not mean out and out compulsory gluttony.

We have just had home made lasagna for tea. VERY indulgent tasting,
very satisfying, and a portion was a whopping 5.5 points.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

George wrote:

The solution, I think, is to make a clear and final lifetime decision about
foods that you will absolutely stay away from because they're as bad as
poison even in small quantities, and to feel totally right about that
decision. End of temptation (who is tempted to ingest poison?) and with it
the need to constantly monitor food intake.

In my case, I can say that I have *not* made a clear and final lifetime
decision to never eat cake again, because cake is fattening. If I knew
I could never have something bad-but-delicious again in my life, I might
as well just take the poison and be done with it.

My approach is that I've made a final, lifetime decision to never be
obese again. To never weigh more than 200lbs again. To never be larger
than a size whatever (I can't know that one yet, I haven't gotten down
there to find out) again. *That* decision feels right, and healthy, and
like it will serve me until I die of old age.

I'd say that in respect to making a firm committment to achieving a
goal, then yes, doing this is similar to quitting smoking. For that
matter, I have one friend who made a decision never to pick up another
cigarette, and has stuck with it, and one friend who tried the 'I think
maybe I'll quit over the weekend' approach, and is still puffing away.
However, they are right in that you cannot totally give up food. And I
wouldn't want to give up cake just because eating one piece every now
and then, *if* I was eating a bunch of other junk food along with it,
and *if* I was not getting any exercise, might add a pound or two onto
me. Heck, I'm losing weight *and* eating cake at the same time, it
can't be all that bad. But then, I also have self-control, and I can
*stop* after one piece of cake; it does not become a physical craving
that I give in to. Perhaps if I did not have the self-control, I might
have to look into giving up cake altogether. Thank goodness I don't
have to think about that, tho.

Anyway, my two cents, it's a question of committment to a goal, not a
question of seeing some things as bad and then giving them up. If
you're only gonna think about trying to lose weight or stop smoking, it
won't work, regardless of whether you have self-control. As Yoda said,
there is no try, only do.

-Tay

yes...you have to be willing to get hungry and stay that way...you have
to take one more step/set whatever to change your body from a fat
storage unit into a fat burning machine...you must never give up when
you do everything you can think of and the scale won't move

wrote:

yes...you have to be willing to get hungry and stay that way...you have
to take one more step/set whatever to change your body from a fat
storage unit into a fat burning machine...you must never give up when
you do everything you can think of and the scale won't move

Hehehehehehe...

With WW I NEVER need to STAY hungry! I eat three good meals a day, and
usually feel hungry again in time for the next one. In between I can
have a snack, and if, like tonight, I get the 9 o'clock nibbles, there
are always carrots, or a bowl of zero point soup.

Not giving up just because the scales don't move for a week or two, or
move in the wrong direction at certain times of the month is the
important thing. But I don't agonize about it, I just get on with the
rest of my interesting life.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!