Article September 8, 1997 Issue

Breaking the hypnotic grip of weight loss

Cheryl F. M. Petersen

During the last years of high school I started looking and feeling rather plump. Body weight, food, diets, exercise plans, and counting calories were popular topics, and I tended to follow the crowd because I didn't know what I really wanted to do and be.

Now that I look back on all the talk about the body and diets at the time, I realize that this is what weighed heavily on my thought and made me feel fat. And although I tried some diets, and lost weight, the pounds would return. "Oh well," I thought, "one day I'll find a good diet that will fit my needs." But I didn't.

When I went to college, body weight was still a significant topic. Instead of dieting, a vigorous exercise plan was suggested. Then the urge came to skip a meal a day. OK, I ignorantly agreed. And it worked. I dropped weight so fast it was scary. I had what one would call strong willpower. It wasn't a big deal to deny myself a meal a day, but the result turned out to be feebleness. Exercising willpower was a cheat, trying to trick me by promising good looks.

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