I’ve been thinking about how to be most successful in my weight loss efforts using the skills I use to be successful in other areas of my life.
One of my major skills is reverse engineering via a particular style of statistical analysis. In my career, I reverse engineered computer processors, military equipment of other countries (for the military of my country) and even applied those same techniques to the human body in the field of microbiology and hematology (search for Jim Brausch at uspto.gov to see my patents).
I also used these skills to form my own extremely profitable internet business. You can read about that on my other blog here:
I’ve been thinking about how to use those skills to come up with the perfect weight loss plan.
Have you ever thought about that? There are hundreds of diets out there. I assume that most of them work for some people or they wouldn’t exist. I don’t think most are fraudulent. Which ones are the best though?
There are some studies of diets against a control (an average diet). I don’t know of any studies of doing a juice fast against Atkins style low-carb diets… or of low fat dieting vs. eating all organic foods. They don’t seem to exist.
My recent experience with juice fasting though and slowing coming off that fast were fairly dramatic. They roughly compare to my experience with the carbohydrate addict’s diet which had been the most effective diet I had ever tried (except methamphetamine addiction which I don’t count).
They are almost opposite diets. The axioms used as the reasoning for each are totally contradictory. Interesting huh?
As I was considering the solution to finding the very best diet for weight loss and how I could use statistical analysis skills, I had an idea.
The first problem I faced was how to get enough people involved to get enough data. That’s a simple solution for me. I’ll create a product giving people a shopping list and menu/recipes for each week. Each week they will be given a different diet to try as reflected by the shopping list and menu. They will be asked to enter their weight each day on a web-site… the same web-site where they get their shopping list and menu for the week.
To make the service valuable to them, the diet selected for each week will be randomly chosen… but with a bias toward diets that have worked the very best for them in the past. In the case they don’t have a past with us yet, the bias will be based on the best diets for the overall group. Best will be expressed simply as number of pounds lost in a week on that diet.
When friends ask you what diet you are on, you can answer… all of them!
I will become a member of the plan as well. In fact, it will be my personal data that will start off the database, so if you join, you will be given diets that have been most successful for me personally more often.
Over time, the data will become statistically significant (something that we don’t need for reverse engineering and getting results, but something you do need to make declarative statements about data). I’ll be able to look at the data and say that ____ particular menu is the most effective overall diet losing an average of ___ pounds per week.
As I pondered that, it occurred to me that the overall plan will probably be more effective than that winning diet (the overall plan being swapping diets every week to a new diet). Why? Think about your weight loss efforts in the past. Have you ever heard the term plateau? Have you ever experienced it? Have you noticed that it disappears when you swap to a new diet? Interesting; huh?
If you haven’t noticed the “plateau syndrome”, have you noticed that you lose weight the first week on every single diet you have ever tried? Think about that.
The solution is obvious. If you lose weight the first week on every single diet you have ever tried… why not try a new diet every week?!?
After we have statistically significant data, I’ll test the winning diet against the overall “swap diet” plan. If the winning diet wins over swapping diets every week, I’ll become an advocate of that diet. I doubt it will though. I think swapping diets weekly with a bias toward the most effective diets will win hands down.
It also solves another problem that I have been perplexed about. During the juice fast (and to a lesser extent coming off of the juice fast), I didn’t feel very good. The proponents of juice fasting claim that feeling is due to the elimination of toxins. I wasn’t so sure. I wondered if the problem was that I wasn’t getting enough of some vital nutrients. That same problem exists in many extreme diets. How do you know that a particular diet is giving you everything your body needs?
By swapping diets every week, this point becomes almost moot. Your body can handle complete starvation for a week with very few problems. It can certainly handle missing some particular nutrients for a week if those nutrients are then given the following week!
Consider this hypothetical. Let’s say my headaches while juice fasting were due to a lack of protein in my diet. Let’s say I had a very simple swap technique where in all odd numbered weeks I did a juice fast. In all even number weeks I did an “all meat” diet. Both diets work. I know from experience. You lose weight with both.
However, if you try to combine them (all the juice and all the meat you want this week), I doubt that would work. I haven’t tried it, but the axioms behind each of those diets are contradictory. The all meat diet works (at least according to it’s advocates) because it is very low carb. It would not be low carb if fruit and carrot juices were added to it. The juice diet works (at least according to it’s advocates) because the nutrients are freed from the fibers in the fruits and vegetables making it very easy for your body to digest the nutrients. If meat were added, that benefit would disappear and that diet wouldn’t work.
I’ll be working on the software to implement the “swap diet” over the next couple of weeks. Let me know by leaving a comment if this is something you would be willing to try for say $35/month.
-James D. Brausch
41 Comments
That sounds like a great idea James; I look forward to signing up!
Your idea certainly makes sense. I’ve never thought of dieting that way. It’s true that you tend to lose weight on the first week of a diet plan and then something happens to the body. If you don’t rev up the diet volume, you just stop losing or lose more slowly. The frustration then builds and many just give up.
I believe exercise helps, but it’s hard to keep up when you’re tired or busy or (enter whatever excuse you comes to mind). It’s a habit that you have to pursue. Once you give up, you quickly go back to where you were and sometimes worse.
I’d check out your idea of dieting for at least a month to see where it takes me. It certainly sounds interesting.
First off, I am one of the people that love
Statistical Analysis so yes I think it would fly very high. I have also wonder if You would ever do some work in the area of the Stock Market…?
I am reading “The Four Hour Work Week” it appears that the money is certainly there in diet and body building field.
I don’t believe in luck. You do your usual best and you will get your exceptional results.
Floyd
Thanks Jason and Elizabeth! I appreciate the feedback.
Elizabeth: I’m considering another product to deal with exercise in exactly the same way. I agree that both diet and exercise are crucial for health and weight loss.
In the case of exercise, the same thing happens. People get bored with the same exercise plan each week. Benefits of the exercise diminish over time. People stop seeing results and stop exercising. The situation is very similar to what happens when dieting.
I can only work on one project at a time though and know that there are people who have to start with a change of diet because they simply aren’t capable of exercise until they lose some weight. I was there once and can empathize, so I’ll start with the diet program and do a similar exercise program later.
-James D. Brausch
Sorry, but no. The key to losing extra weight and maintaining your optimum weight (barring metabolic problems) is calories and exercise, accompanied by whatever lifestyle changes you need to make to implement your “plan”.
If you eat more calories than you need, you’ll gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you need, you’ll lose weight. Exercise will help keep your matabolism going, and will aid in burning the extra calories.
And the best way is to do it over time, so your body gets used to it, and it slowly becomes a lifestyle change that you can maintain.
It’s biology, math, and physics. Any other “program” that seems to work does so by ultimately reducing calories. And any “program” that continues to work over the long haul does so because it’s become a lifestyle change, not because it’s any sort of magic.
To the person who left a comment asking if I didn’t think changing diet every week would be unhealthy… sorry… I don’t know what happened to your comment. The system seems to have eaten it.
That thought is ludicrous though. Remember that “diet” means what you eat. Don’t you eat different things every week? If not, I would think that would be much more likely to be unhealthy than changing what you eat weekly. Don’t you?
-James D. Brausch
I’m in.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your feedback, but most folks who have every tried what you propose (which is the standard FDA crap that made us all fat to begin with) knows those aren’t the facts.
I have lost weight on extremely high calorie diets and gained weight on low calorie diets. I have lost weight with no exercise other than just the standard moving around every day and I have gained weight with quite a bit of exercise. In fact, every successful bodybuilder would tell you from experience that your advice is exactly backwards from reality. Also the reality that America is fat despite trying your advice (which is the FDA advice) for the last fourty years shows that it doesn’t work.
Even cattle producers know the opposite is true. They fatten up cattle without changing their caloric intake or changing how much they move at all.
-James D. Brausch
I think it’s an interesting idea James but I wouldn’t be willing to pay a membership that is based upon theory. For what it’s worth I am looking for an online diet to follow right now. I guess I’d want to see some testimonials that it works before I sign up. That being said, if you want to use me as a lab rat in exchange for a testimonial I’d be game.
Most diets will work. Rotating will keep it interesting. Real proof, however, is when the diet stops and long term maintenance begins. That’s where failure sets in.
If you’re saying that at the end of the rotation experiment, there will be a statistically valid maintenance program, that would be very worthwhile.
Here’s a link to someone who seems to have figured it out (no relationship to me) that you might find interesting as he’s all science based - xxxxxx
I think that sounds like an interesting idea worth pursuing although I would probably not join personally.
There are so many overweight people in the world in general and in America in particular that weight loss products sell like crazy. The problem I see not from experience but from observation is that diets might be effective short-term, in the long run say 12 or 24 months down the road, the people are overweight again.
The definition of the term diet means different things to different people. To most it seems to mean some short-term crash type of diet but losing weight and keeping it off is a long-term challenge so a short-term solution isn’t going to work. I only say that because it might be necessary to train people that diet is really more of a long-term thing which pertains to a lifelong philosophy of eating at least that’s what it means to me.
The thing that struck me was the “plateau” idea. I’ve heard that often mentioned in relation to weight training and exercise programs but not in terms of diets. But plateau probably does apply to diets too and that may even be one of the reasons diets tend to fail in the long-term because people plateau then discontinue the diet and then proceed to gain the weight back. Providing more flexibility would be a good selling point.
As for why I wouldn’t join right away is because I don’t have a weight problem. I also tend to eat whatever I want whenever I’m hungry so I don’t think I would follow menus very well. But even though I tend to eat a lot I have always eaten pretty healthy too. Lots of fruits and vegetables and lean meat. I hate fast food and don’t eat out at restaurants very often either. I also like to exercise.
I think it’s an idea worth pursuing. Have you considered adding an exercise component to the program? I know some will disagree but I think diet & exercise are interrelated.
Hi Floyd,
I have implemented this method in the stock market (stock options on the Chicago board to be exact).
Why would I ever share that information though?
If you want to do the research, here is the answer in terminology that will only make sense after you do the research:
Nineteen days of average volatility is a more accurate predictor of the future underlying stock price than black scholes model.
That was discovered using the above techniques (kinda like we might know the most effective diet for weight loss at the end of this exercise).
Use strategic options investing to make the most use of it (pyramiding buying calls and puts only).
That information earned me $8.7 million in around 8 months with an initial investment of about $85,000.
If you are looking for a quick way to make money in the stock market without adding any value to society, then you will never do the research it takes to do the above anyway… so there isn’t much harm in sharing that much.
-James D. Brausch
Hi James,
Funny you should mention this…
I recently wrote a report on this subject. The problem with my report is it focuses on the practical side where a lot of folks problems are emotional.
If you only address the statistical side of the issue you stand overlook a large share of the market.
Andy
Hm. Since I have a history of eating disorders (fad-diet swapping being one manifestation of them), I shrudder at the thought of measuring the effectiveness of a diet as a matter of weight, and weight only.
I know it’s harder (and a bit more philosophical) to find a “common currency” for *health*.
But just weight vs a diet… Hm.
What about BMI?
Waist measurement? — since there seems to be a direct correlation between tummy fat and cardio trouble? (I’d sign up in an instant!)
Or percentage of body fat?
Or headache days vs clear-headed days
Sounds like at least a good start.
I might recommend a longer lead time for knowing about what diet you’ve got next, some of us only shop weekly or less often
On the other hand, having other food in the cupboard might be an impedient to progress.
A simple question: how do you prevent people from lying on your website?
Your idea is something new and sounds good. The problem is people following the idea… Making sure they are disciplined enough to follow the new diets every week. Making sure they don’t fake their results.
But maybe you can control for things like that with more participation?
I unfortunately won’t be joining the website because I don’t need to lose weight. I guess I’m one of those 15%.
Hi Ankesh,
You can’t stop people from lying.
Any inaccurate data entered will simply cause the system to give them slightly less effective diets. Over time, if they lie fairly consistently, the noise level will be distributed fairly consistently across all of the menus they’ve been assigned and it will simply cause an even bias.
It does affect any statement that can be made when the data is statistically significant. One can not make any statement about the actual diets. The statement would have to be something like…
“Given _____ people who were assigned a variety of diets as attached in appendix a, those who were assigned diet 172 in appendix a lost an average of ___ pounds in the week they were assigned that menu.”
No statement can be made about the actual diet, only the results of the participants being assigned that diet. What actually happens after the diet is assigned is anybody’s guess.
In fact, because there will be medical problems that prohibit certain foods, religious beliefs that limit certain foods and the inability to procure certain foods in some localities, the instructions will always say something like “Perform this diet to the best of your ability given your medical limitations, religious beliefs and ability to purchase the items on the shopping list.”
I worked on medical devices and on human substances (plasma, blood and urine) in a clinical environment. I am well versed in the inability to get fully accurate information from human beings. That happens whenever someone does research on the behavior of the human body. The techniques I use allow that inaccuracy to be present as noise, but still to get results.
-James D. Brausch
It is great you idea, to focus on a
new systen.But I am wondering how many people are willing to change their diets every week.Would it be better every two weeks in other to see any changes.
What do you thibk about ‘Boot Camp,where there ……is supervision and teaching.
James… Will you be putting weight loss supplements in the mix?
It may give value to the monthly Fee.
Thank about it.
And let me know.
Casey
Dittos on the interesting aspect of this approach…but everything you do qualifies and different and interesting. I’m 51. Struggled for many years with up and down weight. Since I’ve started and run my landscaping business I don’t have that problem any more. Will your approach work? Of course it will..IF the person is motivated. The only diet that will work is the one that has a motivated person attached to it. By the way, you’ve just supplied my next blog entry. Thanks!
I would be interested in how I can/should support a partner that is involved in diets.
Andrew
Hi James,
Wow! I’m surprised no one thought of this before (atleast not that I’ve heard of).
I think it’s a great idea for getting the initial weight off. But to keep it off, I believe there has to be a major lifestyle change. At least there had to be for me.
Without the lifestyle change, as soon as I reached my goal weight (or before), I’d go right back to eating the way I did before the diet. And of course everything else went right back to the way it was too (or worse).
I ended up using The Program to change my eating habits.
I had already used it to quit alcohol (09/85), drugs(09/85), and cigarettes (01/87), so it was a logical step to use it to quit overeating (1993) as well.
Now after reading your article (a number of times) on how you used The Program to become successful, I’ve been working on using it for that. It’s a little different because I’ve always used the Program to stop doing things, to move away from things. This involves using it to move toward something.
I’m not there yet, but I can see it working in my life.
I won’t be joining, as I don’t currently have a weight problem.
Good luck, I think there’s a huge potential here.
Another friend of Bill’s,
Tim
Will you be able to account for other significant factors such as:
- exercise
- water intake
- other beverages
- supplements
- cheating
- other factors
It is indeed an interesting exercise! But, we must always go back to fundamentals. I don’t think changing diets alone would work. It’s always about reducing calories intake and increasing calories burn. In other words, watch what you eat and exercise the right way. You may wish to consider combining diet with proper exercise programs, and perhaps, throw in some supplements to ensure sufficient intake of vitamins and minerals during the program. Cheers!
Do you think the diameter of plates used at each meal would be worth including in the program as a variable?
I say that because I have become so used to seeing and eating from a greater number of small plates at a typical Japanese-style meal over the years.
When we take a trip to Hawaii it’s a massive culture shock to see the amount of food served on one plate. The starters looks and feel like a main course
May be as much a cultural challenge as a practical one!
No rut to get stuck in here. Even if you absolutely hated a particular diet it would be over before you knew it.
Kind of reminds me of your blog post where you talked about how windows systems degrade over time. Unless one chooses not to allow it. Success via perpetual renewal seems to be the underlying theme here again. I am grateful for the lesson.
I am as skinny as a greyhound so personally its not for me but could appeal to the right people.
retaining subscribers will be the problem.
i want you to do some stat analysis on horse racesI
Cheers
Very interesting. I love the way you think.
Exercise has the same effect also. You tend to plateau in wahtever you are trying to achieve, if you keep doing the same exercises. So a change every now and then is recommended.
I wonder though if swapping frequency is important in the analysis. I wonder if the plateauing effect is dependent on the frequency and what is the dependency function.
These are my thoughts. I hope they are helpful.
I would pay the money if I needed to lose weight.
Mustafa
I’d be willing to go with your plan for at least several months and see what the results are. My weight detracts from my health more than anything else. Until I was 26, I never weighed more than 125 no matter how much I ate. At 57, I weigh over 230.
I like your ideas of statistical analysis and varying the diet. Plateaus seem to be a human phenomenon in exercise and other aspects of life. Your idea sounds reasonable and makes more sense than anything else I know of.
I’m especially interested to see what proves most effective in maintaining a desired weight after losing significant pounds.
One thing that has played a huge role for me is my emotional state. Six months ago I was going through some emotional challenges and lost weight without even trying. My life has perked up and I’ve gained 20 pounds. Will your statistical analyses filter these factors out as noice, or do they need to be dealt with in your analysis? If emotional states do affect eating and weight significantly, it seems that this might require special attention. You’re the stats dude, so I’ll be interested to see what you think about this.
Overall, doing something different than I’ve been doing has a chance of getting me better results.
Thanks for continuing to look for ways to help various aspects of our lives!
I have to laugh - forgive me - when I hear about another new proprietary diet plan.
Not at you, mind you. Your experience… and connection to diet… certainly qualifies you as an expert; and if your product can truly inspire and genuinely help even one other person… it most certainly is worth doing.
My credo is that EVERYONE is an expert about the food they like - even if too many of us give short shrift to overall diet.
Something you’ve no doubt discovered up-close-and-personal yourself.
I’ve been in the hospitality biz for 35 years, and was a professional chef for more than 20 of those years.
The #1 reason for me to engage myself in such a brutal industry is the importance I placed on nourishment - from a purely philosophical and scientific perspective.
The #2 reason was the importance I placed on everyday communion… in a hurry-up world… with so many lives spinning out of control - running around, as they were, on empty - the lack of which is the cause of much suffering, and the bane of human existence.
#3 was for the honest motivation for the giving of pleasure.
Modern societal life, with its emphasis on survival and successful adaptation - not to mention speed, multi-tasking, and convenience - has skewed its values system in such a way as to essentially dehumanize us all.
We are amazingly talented creatures when we take measured stock of our lives and realize our inherent greatness as individuals.
As to food, the simple fact is it begins with procurement of the very best raw foodstuffs available.
Then it evolves to systematic menu planning… which does not necessarily means one has to have special skills as a cook.
As a tribal hunter-gatherer… prehistoric man somehow nourished himself… before his discovery of fire.
If a remedial diet is in order… modern superfoods must be incorporated to bring one back to homeostasis.
The paramount nourishment source worthy of more serious investigation though… is water.
Non-weight-bearing aerobic exercise such as swimming or isometrics… in a toxin-free environment is also in order.
The simplicity of this formula is second-to-none. Much embellishment and fact-finding can easily extend this actionable program from there.
Because variety is the spice of life - and we are all one-of-a-kind.
For an interesting overview about diet and nutrition that stands the test of time I recommend the writings of Dr. Royal Lee and Dr. Weston A. Price - both of them, ground-breaking DENTISTS.
Going back even further in time, haven’t we heard anecdotal evidence of people living long active lives with but a fraction of the knowledge we possess to have today?
The few times I’ve seen and experienced the finest foods and water the world has to offer has filled me with the most profound and wondrous humility - just enough to inform this comment now.
James, I’m happy to help you free of charge if I can lend just a little to your effort.
You’re a natural… so go for it!
It works because the body is an efficiency machine. It’s constantly working at conserving energy, whether eating or exercise. That’s why continually throwing it curves means it always must adapt and adjust. There’s a guy out of Seattle, Dr Eric Cobb, who I’ve heard explain this many times.
James,
1. I think you may be missing a component here. It all depends on your short term and long term goals. Your plan would be great for short term weight loss. People would loose the weight as long as they follow their menus. What I have a problem with is the long term lifestyle change.
When I listened to and decided to follow your “Life Management 101″ program I didn’t do it for just a few weeks. I implemented it with an intention of doing it and improving on it from now on. That way I will keep getting the benefits for the rest of my life.
My question is; What happens when the weight goal is reached? How do people keep the weight down and stay healthy?
Maybe it’s not important to you. I don’t know. For me it would be the first thing I would look for in any “life-style change” product.
2. My guess is that a few diet changes will make people feel real bad. (Going from Diet A to Diet B will feel OK. But changing from Diet A to Diet C will make you feel ill.) I would make sure I had a way to track that.
Good luck, James.
Brilliant James!
I’m a medical doctor, and I’ve seen the devastation of the diet-after-diet cycle that so many people put themselves through.
Many of these diets would be ruled as inhumane if you ran it past a research ethics committee, rather than a magazine editorial board.
Effectively people have been doing to themselves what you are doing anyway, except…
1. They try too few variations too slowly.
OR, they do 1. but they don’t…
2. Measure, record and use the information to set up a kaizen self-improvement system.
Because if they did 1. and 2. alone, they would likely succeed, but they still wouldn’t…
3. Gather data from enough other people to be useful to anyone else. Instead they use “This is my theory of what worked for me, so this will work for you”.
Yes your system will have quirks such as weight loss v energy levels, the so-called “detox effects” you mention, what to do when you get to “healthy weight”/”goal weight”, time-frames for defining lasting results, what happens if you randomly get given a “menu” of fasting 10 weeks in a row, etc, etc
I’m sure you will sort those out with time, or you already have your plans.
Still, I’m curious what your “Nothingness” variable will be.
Starvation?
Water only?
No email sent that week?
Eat what you want?
Eat what you usually eat?
Mix-and-match from all the diet plans so far?
Or just…
“Sorry we’ve run out of diet ideas for you this week?”
So to answer your question - no I would not be willing to try it since I am happy with my current arrangements. And unfortunately that seems to be the case with most people replying here.
However I look forward to being able to refer patients and others to your system.
As for my mostly-non-statistically-minded peers, I look forward to sending them your data.
Dr Martin Russell
Personally think the problem with diet hopping is huge. The situation is people on diets are mainly people looking for a quick fix and that is the battle you are constantly up against when providing any diet solution (that actually works-most don’t).
I have a 2 week program for those who look for a quick weight loss (for a special occasion for example which is at xxxxxxx)which is popular as results are safe rapid weight loss.
But I personally favor a 12-24 week program with much less rapid results but invokes a sustainable life style change rather than radical dieting which once you get the right mind set is easier. (xxxxxxx.
I think if it was possible to get people do what you suggest it would be effective.I would be intrested in working with you in this area.
In addition I think you should be aware that you have to take into consideration more than just effectiveness of diet, for example you could not do Atkins (starter plan) for weeks on end.As you would long term lack various nutritional elements which is why so many medical experts have been so quick to condone low carb diets or other radical diet regime’s Few people can stick to Atkins maintenance program as the results are far less spectacular.
Dieting effectively comes down to seeing constant improvement other wise the temptation is to change diets or quit which is why so many people never hit their desired goals. It’s a bit like making money people want it but they don’t want to change anything or do any work to get it.
Graham Waite
I went from 168lbs at 22% bodyfat to 147 pounds at 12% bodyfat in under a year. I just won my division at the Canadian National Jui Jitsu tournament last month at age 39.
Diets don’t work longterm. Only lifestyle changes that originate in modifications to internal belief systems sustained by non-vocal inner dialogue.
The same identity shifting mechanism that empowers a broke person to become a millionaire, or a drug addict to become clean creates lasting change in body composition.
I refer you to the landmark works by Dr. Albert Bandura and recently Lou Tice in sustainable peak performance behavior change.
The easy path in making money in weight loss is selling the magic pill approach. The high integrity path is in personal development, coaching and behavioral change.
There is no bigger market in the next 20 years than the deterioration of the North American baby-boomers and their offspring.
Hi David,
Your words don’t even make any sense.
You claim that diets don’t work longterm. A diet is what you eat. Your statement can be rewritten to say “Eating doesn’t work longterm.”
You are wrong. Not eating causes death. You are just repeating the nonsense talk of those who fail.
I don’t believe you won your division by eliminating eating. It’s just not possible.
Read the latest post about how you are misusing words. Words mean things. It’s useless to write if you don’t accept that fact.
-James D. Brausch
Interesting comments James … I think what David is trying to say but maybe not very eloqunetly is that any ‘diet plan’ will generally not work over the longer term as dieters generally don’t stick to them.
Which is not the same thing as eating doesn’t work long term. I think the problem with a diet (or if you prefer a diet plan) is people don’t stick to them if they did they wouldn’t need to buy everyone going under the sun.
People are predisposed to fail otherwise they would not have been fat in the first place.Humans do not NEED excess food to live so there has to be an explanation it could be education but I doubt it.
Smokers know smoking kills but it does not stop new smokers starting every day or those almost dying continuing once we uncover the answer to this type of underlying question we have no need for crazy fad diets anymore.
I am very anti the pill way to lose weight since eating was the way of getting fat not taking pills. (I noted your comment on WD that only fat people drink diet soda’s a interesting observation and pretty much true).
Problem is people try and cheat nature and will always buy into the pop a pill zero effort solution before the exercise and diet option.Once again looking for a pianless solution. They have one which is don’t eat to much in the first place and exercise more.
It seems people never learn there has never been a pill or drug that does not have a side effect it might be that these are still yet to manifest for those that take them. Or is it they are now addicted to the pills rather than the food.
As David suggests coaching and support are the really effective, if you like the ethical solutions to lose weight accompanied with education which is why Weight Watchers works (it I am sure has very little to do with the unbelievably complex way they calculate what you can eat)
But take away the support network and 90% of dieters would slip back in a matter of weeks.
You once told the story of Rodney King and how he managed to lose not one but two fortunes (he was predisposed to be poor and did not make the mindset change to be rich).
With most people who try and lose weight they think it is about cutting carbs (which works short term) but unless the new way of eating becomes a comfortable part of their lifestyle and is not seen as a temporary action the weight loss is only ever likely to be temporary.
Dear James:
I think the idea of your program is very good, although I agree with one of the other comments stating that I don’t know that I would be willing to pay for something on a monthly basis that hasn’t yet been proven. But since you asked for comments…here are my thoughts..after being in the bariatric side of the healthcare business for well over 10 years I have seen MANY bariatric patients (the biggest weighing in at 975lbs.) searching for that “magic pill” to make them suddenly skinny! I have seen gastric bypass surgery work for some and I’ve seen it fail for others, simply because those that failed suddenly thought that they could continue to eat and gorge themselves even though their stomach had been reduced to the size of a small medicine cup! People today want results NOW and tend to forget that they didn’t suddenly wake up one day and they were fat..it took them time to get that way and it takes time to take the weight off! Rapid weight loss throws the body into a panic attack thinking that it’s starving, in turn slowing the metabolism. I honestly believe that weight loss can be a state of mind for some! You have to want it bad enough, resist over indulgence, and see your end result, even if it is 6 months, a year, 2 years, in the making! Although I am not a big TV fan I can tell you that I have seen some amazing weight loss programs/success stories on Discovery Health, actually given to us as an in-service at work. You can even catch some of them on the internet, an amazing one was called “the 700lb. man”, I can get you a copy if you like. Lastly, I can tell you that I was once at 220lbs. and am now sitting at 140lbs. But after battling back and forth ultimately I had to realize that I will NEVER be able to eat what I want, when I want, how much I want like some people! Believe it or not THAT was almost the hardest thing to swallow!
I think this is an interesting idea but I wouldn’t personally join the membership. I have lost almost 50 pounds and lowered my bodyfat from 23% to about 12% over the last 9 months or so by following a particular plan. I wouldn’t be interested in changing something that is already working for me.
The “diet” market is an active group of buyers, but many (most?) of the people buying weight-loss products are looking for a magic bullet that will let them lose weight while sitting in front of the TV every night. I don’t think there is such a thing as a magic bullet for weight loss so you would probably have a lot of attrition.
You’ll also probably have to tell people they’re being stupid about as often as you do on your jamesbrausch.com blog
The internet marketing and diet markets are similar in many ways.
Hello James, A fasinating idea. I think that the overall science would be worth investigating. However I feel that the problem may be more than education of food going into the body. The factors that have been poinetd out above are all parts of the jigsaw puzzel.
I think that the main factor would be to keep people on the designed diet when they feel that either they no longer need it as much or are feeling mentally low and return to food for comfort.
When I was at college doing nutrition, my lab partner and I made a small breatherliser machine that showed that the body had started to change metabolism even though the weight loss was not yet happening.
The idea was to keep people motivated with the diet and not just for the first few days or so ( most people can loss weight here relatively easily even without changing the diet, by reducing just some of the extras that they know they are eating.)but for the time taken to see the metabolic changes and see real results.
If you could put a complete package together for people including the diets,easy steps to start the change. ( not empty your cupboards today and go shopping for things that you have never heard of or don’t even know what they look like) other true results (good and bad), exercise programs that are achievable for everyone, communication forums so people don’t feel alone, programs and information to increase self esteem.
Information on why we should stay in shape etc.
I think that it is well worth trying to tackle this issue as it has a totally devistating effect for both the individuals and their entire families.
If I were to sign up, and I may even though my weight OK. I think $35 would be acceptable.
Only 3 things control weight gain or loss… carbohydrate intake, exercise and temperature. I proved it a thousand times with my greyhounds, cattle and my own body.
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