Warning: Weight loss plans don’t work!

21Aug08

At  the moment I am in a coffee shop in Trier, Germany.
Or rather, when I wrote this article I was in a coffee shop in Trier, Germany. As there was no wifi connection there I was not able to post until now.

The coffee shop, it is really a cafe/restaurant but as most of the regulars only go there for coffee and cake I will keep calling it a coffee shop, is located in a beautiful building on the town square. It is a great place to spend a sunny afternoon on the terrace.

Unfortunately it was raining but I was perfectly happy sitting inside and writing while I enjoyed my “milch kaffee”. Milch kaffee is similar to cappuccino but they use a regular cup of coffee rather than an espresso to make it. All of that is irrelevant though unless you plan on visiting Germany any time soon.

As you might have guessed when I said that most people come here for cake and coffee, this particular coffee shop is especially well known for it’s cakes. Even though they do a wonderful brunch, and I am sure the rest of their food is good as well, the cakes are the main reason that the regulars come back.

So why am I posting this on a blog related to weight loss?

Because of a conversation I overheard.

At the table behind me 2 couples were enjoying their coffee and cake. It seemed like they had not seen each other in a while and they were having a great time catching up. One of the things they talked about was how wonderful the cake was.

I have to admit, I do not like cake anymore. I never thought I would say this but my taste has changed over the last year. Cake is now to sweet for me.

The people behind me were raving about it though and, even though I do not like it anymore, I know what they mean. I used to love it as well.

Then the topic of conversation changed, as it does. They spoke about Trier, the weather and eventually about losing weight.

I am still overweight myself but things are going in the right direction. I still need to lose about 10 kilos (22lbs) though and I know trying to lose weight can be difficult. I have been there.

These people were more overweight than I am so I was not surprised that they started talking about weight loss as well.

They discussed several weight loss plans that they had tried and what they thought of those plans. Then one of the ladies said:”I am going to have to try something else. I have been doing Atkins for months now and it just does not work. I have not lost any weight at all”.

By this time I got curious. I have done Atkins for a year and had very good results doing it. But I did not remember Atkins recommending cake.

I realize this could have been just one day in months when she decided to have a piece of cake as her plan did not work anyway. But I come here regularly and so does the lady I am talking about. She is here at least twice a week and has been coming that often for as long as I can remember.

The other lady who had not tried Atkins agreed that if the plan did not work for her she should definitely try something else instead. She was still curious though so she asked what Atkins was about, what you could eat, what you could not eat, etc.

To my surprise she explained that cake was allowed in moderation and then went on to say a couple of other things that were completely wrong as well. In the end I just could not resist so I decided to ask her the question that had been on my mind for the last 10 minutes.

“Excuse me, I could not help but overhear your conversation. Do you mind telling me where you found out about Atkins and where you found the plans guidelines?”.

She was very friendly and spent the next 10 minutes explaining that her daughter had heard about it from somebody else and recommended it. Then she had found out how to do Atkins by asking other people. Most of them, she admitted, said that they had never tried Atkins but had heard somebody say that, etc.

When she was done explaining I told her that unfortunately she had been misinformed and that, if she spoke English, I would gladly give her my copy of Atkins New Diet Revolution.

This is not the first time I have come across misconceptions like this though. I find it actually happens quite a lot. Ok, in this case it was very extreme. More extreme than what I usually come across.

However, I also often visit weight loss forums. And whenever I do there are always people that say ‘I have been doing Plan X for Y months now. I have not bought the book yet though and I have some questions”.

The rest of their post usually indicates that they have been doing things that go completely against the ‘rules’ of their chosen plan.

Part of me is proud of these people.

They are trying to take control of their weight problem and are making an effort at solving it. The other part of me wants to go out, buy the book for whatever plan they are doing and smack them around the head with it.

Yes, take control of your life. And yes, if you are overweight and unhappy about it then by all means, do something about it. But keep in mind, these plans work for a reason.

They have been fine tuned. Balanced to get results. You will have to stick to the rules though to succeed. Sure, you may be able to bend the rules a bit from time to time but if you only follow half of them you will not get the results that you are looking for.

And not only will you be disappointed when you do not lose weight, you will also start spreading lies without even being aware of it. You will tell other people that Plan X does not work when you really do not know whether it works or not. After all, you have not tried it properly yet.

Now I realize that not everybody can afford to invest in books. I’ve been close to bankruptcy at one point in my life and I know what it’s like to struggle to pay your rent. To wonder whether or not you will have enough money to buy food that month.

When you are in a situation like that there is absolutely no way that you are even going to consider spending money on a book. Feeding yourself/your family is a lot more important so naturally that is what you will spend your money on.

If you are in a similar situation then I recommend the following.

Start by reading the website for the plan of your choice. They usually have the basic information published there for free. After you have read everything on the website find a support forum for the specific plan.

Start reading some of the older post on the forum. See which members have been around for a long time (their number of posts is usually a good indicator) and look up their posts.

Then, when you have read the information on the support forum, start posting.
Introduce yourself in the part of the forum that has been set aside for introductions.
And be honest. Say something like:

“Hi, I am Walter*. I am here because I want to lose weight. I heard about Plan X and decided to read up on it. Unfortunately I can not get the book right now so I have to rely on information I found on their web site and in the wonderful posts that I have found here (it never hurts to tell people their posts are great . I am ready to start now but I would like to make sure that I am doing everything right.

What I have understood so far is that …”

Then start describing how you interpret the plan and see what other people have to say about your interpretation.

If you have followed the steps that I described above they will probably say that you have got it right and encourage you to start. They might suggest some minor tweaks but that will be all.

You will find that, when put in the effort to find information on your own first, other people will gladly help you.

Finally, keep posting on the support forum. Post your meal plan every day and ask for feedback. Others will see that you are motivated and are invested time in your weight loss plan. In turn they will not mind to investing time in answering your questions and giving you feedback.

And to end this post, when you start seeing results, start putting aside some money every week. It does not matter whether it is $0.10, $1.00 or any other amount. Just put it aside every week until you have saved enough money to buy the book. By this time you probably will not need it anymore but buying the book is a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the author.

Besides, you may find somebody else who is in the same situation as you were when you started out. Give them the book and you will be able to help them a lot. Not only will they be grateful but you will feel good knowing that you have helped somebody else get control of their weight problem.

That reminds me, I have to send my old copy of Atkins New Diet Revolution to the lady in the coffee shop and order a new one.

* do not forget to change ‘Walter’ to your chosen name on that forum

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Tags: Atkins, cake, diet, loss, weight, weightloss