The Latest Dieting Craze Is Weight Gain

This Everett, Washington-based Daily Herald story can be added to the literal avalanche of columns released over the past month about what the next big dieting craze is going to be. I've blogged about these stories here, here, here, and here, just to name a few examples of how desperate the media is to make the terms "Atkins" and "low-carb" go away forever from the lexicon of American culture.

Guess what? As we say in the South, it ain't gonna happen!!! Not as long as this way of eating works it won't.

In his article today entitled "Atkins fizzled, low-carb lags ... so what's next on diet front?," Associated Press journalist Michael Hill exclaimed the people trying to lose weight are "ditching counting carbs" and have gone back to their old ways of eating again or trying one of a variety of "fad" diets on the market today.

Hill writes that the Atkins bankruptcy from last month "provides fresh evidence of the low-carb diet's demise" and expresses his dissatisfaction that nothing has "filled the void."

Can't these members of the media come up with something (ANYTHING!) different to say about how the financial and business woes of ONE company has affected the future of low-carb? It's the same old thing over and over and over. But that's what you do when you don't have anything substantive to say on a subject that isn't true.

Hill's column is a perfect example of this. Their motto is to keep repeating the lies about the "low-carb diet's demise" and hope that people start believing it at some point. But I think most people are too smart to be fooled by this nonsense and the general consensus is that livin' la vida low-carb is a great way to lose weight. But we do have some convincing to do regarding making this a lifestyle change which is why I champion my own story as evidence of how it can work for others.

Interestingly, when the editor-in-chief of Shape magazine Anne Russell was asked in this story what she thought would be the next "big thing" in the dieting craze, she wasn't very optimistic.

"There isn't one single strong contender," she said.

But I about fell out of my chair when I read what she thought was the latest dieting craze right now.

"If you look at what the single largest trend is, it's weight gain," Russell remarked.

Oh THAT is just too priceless. Even in the midst of all these great and wonderful weight loss books and programs, weight gain is still the most popular trend in dieting right now. While we may grin at this (and I did) and nod our head in affirmation of that truth, it means we have a lot of work to do to educate people about how they can find help and hope in the battle against the bulge through various means, including low-carb.

If those other diets aren't working for people and the dieting craze is weight gain, then why not try it? The only thing you have to lose is pounds. I got rid of 180 of them by livin' la vida low-carb! If people try low-carb and get into the routine of eating this way, then it's really not as hard as some people have made it out to be. It's not easy at first, but it gets a lot better the longer you are on the low-carb lifestyle. Isn't a temporary period of struggle worth a lifetime of overcoming that albatross known as obesity in your life?

One food market analyst in the story claims that the Atkins diet was "demanding" and just "ran its course, going from fad to fade" because of ridiculous marketing efforts by food companies.

"I'll try that bunless burger once. I might even try it twice," this analyst said in the story. "But boy, that ketchup just doesn't stay on lettuce like it does on bread."

I must admit I tried that bunless Whopper ONCE and was sorely disappointed. it was a meat patty inside of the container they put the salads in with a leaf of lettuce inside another one of the containers. I paid $1.99 for THIS? I almost went back to ask for my money back because that was just plain stupid. Now the Low-Carb Thickburger at Hardee's was good, but it was prohibitively expensive. If this is people's idea of eating low-carb, then no wonder Atkins gets a bad rap. Real low-carbers know there is so much more than bunless burgers to whet our appetites and satisfy our desires.

American Dietetic Association representative Dr. Christine Gerbstadt describes the current dieting industry as in a "slump," but acknowledges low-carb is still sticking around. Although she cites the NPD poll that finds only 2 percent of adults are on a low-carb regimen right now (that still millions upon millions of people!), the latest Opinion Dynamics poll shows that number is 13 percent. Regardless, the point is a lot of people are still looking to low-carb to help them manage their weight problem. That is a very good trend that should not be so quickly dismissed.

If our goal is to encourage people to lose weight the best way possible for them, then let's stop slamming the door shut and putting the nails in the coffin of a lifestyle change that is STILL producing results for so many people. Tell them the truth about this wonderful way of eating so they can start livin' la vida low-carb!

Prevention magazine deputy editor Amy O'Connor concluded at the end of the article that she thinks "another version of low-fat" will be the next wave of dieting that hits the United States.

God help us all if that happens! :-)