Should Big Losers Wait Before Writing The Diet Memoir or How To Lose Book?

Read an interesting article just now about people who lose weight and are looked at as role models or inspirations, then have a hard time keeping it off. And I'm not just talking about The Biggest Loser contestants. The article includes folks who lost weight and wrote books, WW meeting leaders, etc, who regained after "doing it!"

I can understand how this would be a shame-inducing and stressful thing. Way back when, there was a lady named Neva Coyle who wrote a Christian-message diet book: Free to Be Thin. It was very popular in religious circles. She wrote other books that had to do with this topic, and she started Overeaters Victorious (at least I think that was the name of the diet group she founded). I had three of her books, including FTBT and its workbook, and another that came out years later that she co-authored with a dietitian.

Turns out, Neva regained the weight. Had bariatric surgery, but kept it secret. Had health issues and had to reverse the surgery. Regained. Came clean. And her career as a religious diet leader was kaput. (Heck, even I felt like it was major cheating to have surgery and not own up to it.) I think she went on to write inspirational and fiction type books. I have no idea what she's up to these days. You just don't hear about her.

Regaining is a spotlight problem. We've seen it with Carnie Wilson, Kirstie Alley, Randy Jackson, Oprah, Janet Jackson, even Al Roker is not looking as sleek as his peak loss post-baratric surgery days. Richard Simmons is plumper than his peak slender days. (And this week, Jessica Simpson's being blasted for gaining, what, ten pounds, fifteen, after having gotten Daisy Duke superskinny? Puhlease, people. She's not fat. She's just not a size 2.)

We know about Matt and Suzy regaining chunks of fat post TBL. And the first winner, Ryan, regaining it ALL. The article features one TBL contestant who lost 100 lbs after leaving the show, but wouldn't accept an invitation to the reunion show, cause she was back up to 200 lbs.

Happens. Has to hurt. Has to hurt more if you're a role model.

And this came to mind to me today after reading a blog by a gal named Rosy in Canada who lost an amazing amount of weight in 12 months and totally remade her physique with exercise and dieting. She looks fabulous, and her slideshow of month-to-month changes is astounding. And she now is promoting her book (self-published) about her transformation from a flabby 275 to a muscular 125, called Breakin' Free.

I wish Rosy the best. I really do. But note on her blog that there is an entry when you scroll down where she related gaining back some weight. (She may have lost it since, but I didn't see any mention of it on the blog.)The book may be obsolete in a year or more, unless she can maintain her fabulous achievement. When you sell your weight loss story, it becomes uninspiring if you get fat again, right?

Maintenance is all after you've written the inspiring tale: And that's a whole other journey--that doesn't end.

And we've all seen bloggers who struggle, regain, struggle more, maybe lose, maybe don't. I've lost some, then got stuck, then regained, then lost a bit, gained, got stuck. I'm no inspiration to anyone, I can tell you. I'm just trying to keep my head above water until I can unstick again. I just don't want to go back to the big 300.

It just goes to show that while losing weight is supertough, what happens after reaching goal weight: It's not easy either. It stays crazy hard. It may be harder, cause you don't see the number go down as a sort of ongoing encouragement. You're working to keep it THE SAME. Less of a carrot, more of a "stick"--as in stick that scale on a numeral.

So, what about those books?

Well, I can understand wanting to take advantage of The Moment--the achievement, the offers, the opportunity to share and make some moolah. Who wouldn't want a nice cash advance? And the diet industry is always coming out with the new book and new hook. Yesterday's memoir or how-to is forgotten (unless the authors manage to make a real company out of it that stokes the phenomenon of it with products, like the South Beach or Zone or Suzanne Somers or Atkins or workshops and cruises and spa weekends, etc). A following that keeps the diet machine going makes for very wealthy diet creators and spokespersons. Can we blame them for wanting to keep it going?

But, generally, a lot of those less-than-ginormous diet books become remainders and end up being out-of-printers sold for a buck on ebay or amazon.com.

Remember Neva Coyle? Bet you don't. Yeah. All those diet books of hers are out of print and irrelevant to the ongoing diet book industry. She could not maintain the weight loss mojo. She could not...maintain.

I do wonder who among the current crop of fatfighting bloggers will get the weight off and will keep it off, maybe even become the Diet Divas of the future. Interesting to consider. Frankly, I'd love it to be ME. :) Not the diva part. Just the lose it all and keep it all off part. Honestly, we could have a breakthrough star in the making, destined to be seen on TV and have their imprimatur on diet products and exercise gear, with a huge site on the internet a la TBL or Dr. Oz. (Let's hope not a neo-Kimkins.)

I hope we all manage to lose and get healthy. Even if we never make it to Divahood or the ideal weight. If we can keep 50 lbs off, or 30, or 70, even if not ALL the weight, we'll do ourselves a favor and be winners.

As the article says, it's a greater achievement to lose 30 and keep it off for ten years, than lose 80 and only keep it off for seven month.

But it's still so exciting to see a transformation like Rosy's. See those pounds go and muscles come in month-to-month installments.

A life has a lot of months (well, if we're fortunate). If you lose 2 pounds this month, and you keep it off, you've won something a lot of folks don't. So, if you get discouraged about only losing 1 or 2 or 4 pounds in a month, concentrate on them not coming back (and Lordy, is that hard). Cause that's the sort of training that you'll need for life. Not losing 10 in a month to get it back in six months. No, just keep those 4 pounds off and you're making huge progress.

It's what I have to learn. I keep my eye on that "by and by" number I long for, and then I lose ground by regaining the five or six or more pounds I worked so hard to lose. That's how we end up failing, all 98% of us regainers. We just think about the far off ideal, and forget that today, it's all about NOT gaining at minimum and losing at maximum. That holding still is a type of victory, and it takes work, doesn't it? Yes, it's not nothing, it's something, even if it doesn't look or feel like it.

Dang, I'm rambling. Sorry.

But do read the article.

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