The pudge war between my mother and I began at age 7, when a plate containing a single slice of whole-wheat toast was placed in front of me and the announcement, "You're going on a diet," was made.
Books began to appear in my house about weight loss as time went on and I didn't lose any weight. The books weren't new because Mom, to this day, doesn't buy anything new, except toilet paper and gasoline.
I was thinking this morning about those books, and remembering how absurd some of the suggestions in them were.
Maybe you have a wack-ass book you'd like to mention, and what it advocated!
Here's my short list:
"It's Square To Be Round" 1967.
I loved this book because it had cute line drawings and minimal text. The spiel was "250 calories for breakfast, 250 calories for lunch, and 500 calories for dinner." But I could not imagine, even at age 7, eating so few calories.
"Weight Watchers" Exact title unknown, date around 1977. Aimed at teenage weight loss.
It advocated "Five to ten minutes of exercise each morning" without mentioning what that entailed--weights? Swimming? Running? Yoga? Also, the book recommended using your imagination to prevent yourself from eating, like "Imagine spaghetti is a plate of bloody worms." That never worked for me. I'd eat the damned worms if I was hungry.
There were several profiles in this book of anonymous teenage girls who had successfully lost weight. One, Janice, who described her former life as a fat kid by saying she'd been given the nickname "Jiggly Janice" by her older sister.
I was 11 but even then, I wanted to meet Jiggly Janice! (If anyone wishes to cop that name and start a paysite, be my guest.
I didn't lose an ounce until I was sent to fat camp at age 11 for 8 weeks and came home minus 23 pounds. The books still appeared, and now the marketplace exploded with them. The Rice diet. The Grapefruit diet. The ice cream diet. Phen-phen.
What's your all-time favorite idiotic weight loss book?
View attachment It's Square To Be Round.jpg
Books began to appear in my house about weight loss as time went on and I didn't lose any weight. The books weren't new because Mom, to this day, doesn't buy anything new, except toilet paper and gasoline.
I was thinking this morning about those books, and remembering how absurd some of the suggestions in them were.
Maybe you have a wack-ass book you'd like to mention, and what it advocated!
Here's my short list:
"It's Square To Be Round" 1967.
I loved this book because it had cute line drawings and minimal text. The spiel was "250 calories for breakfast, 250 calories for lunch, and 500 calories for dinner." But I could not imagine, even at age 7, eating so few calories.
"Weight Watchers" Exact title unknown, date around 1977. Aimed at teenage weight loss.
It advocated "Five to ten minutes of exercise each morning" without mentioning what that entailed--weights? Swimming? Running? Yoga? Also, the book recommended using your imagination to prevent yourself from eating, like "Imagine spaghetti is a plate of bloody worms." That never worked for me. I'd eat the damned worms if I was hungry.
There were several profiles in this book of anonymous teenage girls who had successfully lost weight. One, Janice, who described her former life as a fat kid by saying she'd been given the nickname "Jiggly Janice" by her older sister.
I was 11 but even then, I wanted to meet Jiggly Janice! (If anyone wishes to cop that name and start a paysite, be my guest.
I didn't lose an ounce until I was sent to fat camp at age 11 for 8 weeks and came home minus 23 pounds. The books still appeared, and now the marketplace exploded with them. The Rice diet. The Grapefruit diet. The ice cream diet. Phen-phen.
What's your all-time favorite idiotic weight loss book?
View attachment It's Square To Be Round.jpg
