DR. RADER'S NO-DIET PROGRAM FOR PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 1980

Of course, it's not really a ""no-diet"" program; you have to stop eating those harmful goodies, plain and simple. But the emphasis here is on personal contact: grab yourself a partner and meet twice a week to explore the emotional and psychological issues involved in your overeating (Dr. Rader seems to feel we will be astounded that questions of self-esteem are involved). In addition, you and your pal should talk daily on the phone to establish your menu (committing yourself in this fashion may prevent deviation from scheduled eating). There are exercises in both the traditional and psychological veins: body-benders combined with such mind-benders as the play-your-spouse-while-your-partner-plays-you psychodrama approach. Foods are treated primarily as basic nutritional groups, though an appendix also offers typical menus from Overeaters Anonymous. The recommended program lasts ten weeks (with provision for extension); and weight is actually measured only twice during that time, to free participants from the tyranny of the scale: if you've lost, you reward yourself; if you haven't, depression can lead to backsliding. Dr. Rader is a former chief psychiatrist in the Navy's alcoholism program, which may explain his tendency to treat overeating as a disease (even, once, referring to the reader as a ""recovering polymorph""); but he never comes to grips with the fact that he is replacing one ""addiction"" (for food) with another (calling the partner every time you're tempted by a box of chocolates). For a better bet on psychological compulsions, try Such a Pretty Face (p. 52).

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tarcher--dist. by Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION