Article December 11, 2000 Issue

What really needs losing?

There are some things that diets just can't do.

Name removed by request

Commercials are continually advertising weight-loss products. But the ongoing demand for new ones suggests that they may not be all that effective.

I once heard of a test for insanity that suggested to me why so many approaches to losing weight aren't always successful. People were placed in a sealed room with a faucet running. A mop and bucket were in a corner. If the subjects calmly shut off the faucet, they were considered sane. If they mopped up water to keep from drowning, they were judged insane.

In this case, what needed fixing was not an excess of water but an open faucet. When it comes to weight loss, the problem is commonly identified as an excess of flesh. But maybe that's only the symptom. Maybe the problem is really the flood of thoughts we have about our food and our bodies.

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