The Greatest Fear In The World

[Dreamliner]

No, it's not the fear of having to tackle Tebow in the open field. It's not even the fear that you'll turn on the TV and find Will and Grace reruns on three separate channels. It's the fear of rebound weight gain after losing weight.

On first blush, the fear would appear to be well-founded. UCLA researches examined 31 separate studies and found that fully 80% of dieters had gained back MORE than what they'd lost withing five years. So, if rebound is inevitable, why even bother losing weight ?

Well, that's what some people are actually suggesting. A fairly well-known trainer I know is arguing that it would be a "better world" if we'd just stop haranguing obese people to lose their flab. He wants to see the rest of us adopt the recommendation of losing 10-15 pounds of weight ... and holding for six months, so as to stave off the probability of rebound weight gain.

After all, it has been shown that very modest weight loss tends to hold better than pronounced weight loss. By the same token I would argue that half-assed accomplishments are bound to be far more prevalent than whole-hearted accomplishments.

But, he's right in pointing out that significant health benefits can be had simply by losing a few pounds. That said, I don't have fat people beating down my door to pay me for taking 5-7% off their bodyweight. Rather, they don't want to be fat anymore. Personally, I think it would be a "better world" if lard-asses weren't taking up all our sitting space.

And it's not like the gurus are helping much. Used to be there were two categories of books in the diet section: (1) "Go on this diet to look like Lee Ann Rimes in a bikini" and (2) "Go on this diet, RIGHT NOW, or you're going to die."

But now there is a new kid on the block. The new manic preoccupation is with "satiety." In other words, there is a New Commandment: "Thou shalt not go hungry."

I may be off, but in my mind it is a HUGE mistake to apologize for hunger pangs. People who lose weight are GOING to experience hunger. As far as I'm concerned, you're just setting people up for disaster when you convey there is something abnormal or untoward about experiencing hunger pangs as they struggle to swim upstream in a society that so fears eating less and constantly acosts them to eat.

Your thoughts ?