DEVELOPMENT of the CUPS diet®.
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In December, 2003, after several unsuccessful attempts at losing
weight by trying a variety of diet schemes, I realized that I had only
been successful in losing my patience and not in losing my weight.
This personal experience of being unable to lose weight through
the use of methods devised by others convinced me that it was
time to develop an easier and more effective way to achieve weight
loss. As I had battled weight problems since my youth and had
evaluated many of the so-called road maps to the land of “thin”,
I was already aware of the fact that many diets have inherent flaws.
These flaws make many diet plans unacceptable as effective tools
for sustained and healthy weight loss. Among these weaknesses
and shortcomings are:
Many diets ……
… are not beneficial to overall health
… do not consider psychological aspects
… may call for investment in costly foods
… ask that you purchase supplements
… won't let you enjoy favorite foods
… often require extensive meal planning
… are not family-friendly
… will not allow for dining out
… involve tedious measuring of food
… may require complex food counting
… often use complicated record keeping
… are too restrictive to follow long-term
It became clear to me that an effective and sustainable diet would
allow me to eat foods I enjoyed without imposing unreasonable
restrictions. I felt that a very simple method of monitoring food intake
was necessary. This would make it possible to eat foods in
reasonable portions while still achieving weight loss in a healthy
fashion.
At the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, I observed
the dietary habits not only of patients, but also of the staff and the
visitors to the hospital cafeteria. I noted that in the Eating Disorders
Unit, those with anorexia nervosa had a distorted view of what a proper
serving of food should be, and, as a result, limited their portion sizes
considerably. There was a strong relationship between portion and
food selection and physical appearance.
In my previous attempts to lose weight, I had commonly used the
measurement units of ¼ cup, ½ cup, ¾ cup, and 1 cup to estimate my
portion sizes. I then considered the possibility of basing what I would
eat in a day simply on food volume, as determined by measuring cup
increments. This concept became the basis for the CUPS diet®.
And it worked!
Thus, as you can see, the creation and development of the CUPS diet®
was not only due to my personal desire to lose weight, but also a direct
result of my training, experience and knowledge as a physician and
psychiatrist.
The Latin word obesus describes a condition related to the behavior of
overeating, where one has “eaten himself stout, plump, or fat.”It is here
that my experience as a psychiatrist helped immensely in addressing
weight loss. To lose weight, behavior itself must be addressed and
controlled.
Today we are less likely to perceive excess weight or obesity merely as
a cosmetic problem. There is increasing public awareness of the
numerous health associated problems, emotional issues, and
psychosocial consequences often caused by this condition. On many
occasions my patients discussed the problems that centered around their
burden of excess weight: low energy, decreased motivation, and poor
self-image.
This lack of energy and decreased motivation causes difficulties at home,
school, work and at leisure. At home, individuals tend to participate less
frequently in social activities and in developing satisfying personal
relationships, which further drives poor self-esteem. At work, low energy
and reduced motivation can produce a downward spiral of under
performance that often leads to poor evaluations and eventually a derailed
career. Many of my patients also described binge or emotional eating,
which, while it may produce feelings of satisfaction in the short-term,
almost invariably leads to further weight gain and problems with mood
symptoms, such as depression and anxiety.
During my development of the CUPS diet® it became clear to me that one
of the major hurdles any weight loss plan must overcome results from the
fact that many people, while they genuinely desire to lose weight, are
unable to commit to a diet. I concluded that the most prevalent reason
was that most dieters simply do not want to drastically change foods they
have been eating and enjoying in order to comply with the food
restrictions found in many of the popular diet plans available today.
My research also showed that many of the popular diets either restrict or
limit foods by counting, sorting, weighing or calculating a wide of
assortment of different variables such as calories, fat grams,
carbohydrates,and the like. Many of the diet books I reviewed were based
on limiting calories or food intake by specifying what could and could not
be eaten. Also, a significant number of such diets specialized in selling
pre-packaged meals, which for the most part, are not appetizing and are
usually rather expensive. the CUPS diet® is different.
The unique approach of the CUPS diet® to losing weight is scientifically
based. It is an ideal tool for sustained and healthy weight loss and yields
many benefits. Remember the list of flaws of previous weight loss plans
at the start of this chapter? the CUPS diet® has been specifically
developed without the flaws seen in many other diets. As a result the
CUPS diet® has numerous advantages over other weight loss methods
thus making it a very attractive option for those wanting to lose weight.
the CUPS diet® …...
… is very easy to start and use
… is a healthy approach in losing weight
… considers psychological aspects
… does not require costly foods
… does not require supplements
… lets you enjoy your favorite foods
… allows for easy meal planning
… is family-friendly
… easily allows for dining out
… uses simple estimating of food intake
… is very easy to follow in the long-term
This new approach to losing weight is hopefully just what you have been
looking for. However, remember that there is no magical road to weight
loss. There are only tools to help manage weight. the CUPS diet® is one
of the most effective of those tools. It is up to you to use it and start
shaping your life.