PRELIMINARY MESSAGE: PLEASE READ IT BEFORE REPLYING
One would have to be both deaf and illiterate not to realize that the West, and the USA in particular, are experiencing a frightening epidemic of too much abundance. Sixty percent of American adults are overweight and even many, many children are obese. This is costing the countries involved billions of dollars in both overt medical expenses and lost productivity. Any number of our friends here on C&F have occasionally mentioned that they are fighting weight issues.
A while back, Jessie tried to start a cooperative thread for C&F’ers who wanted to share and encourage one another in a mutual attempt to successfully diet. As so often happens, the thread digressed, first with a variety of diet-related epistles, then arguments, some of
which weren’t even marginally relevant. As a result, the thread died when those who were trying to use it for Jessie’s original purpose got discouraged or disgusted and walked away.
A couple of days ago, Jessie tried again. Within a couple of messages it was again driven off track and, rather than watch it happen again, Jessie abandoned the thread and Dale deleted it.
At Jessie’s request, and with Dale’s permission, I am trying this again, but this time we’re starting with a set of simple ground rules. This is not a free speech thread. If you can’t live with the rules, complain to or about me in another thread or privately, but I’ll let you know up front that I think this is so important that I really don’t care. To be fair, if you absolutely have to express approval, please don’t do that IN THIS THREAD either.
The rules are simple. This thread is FOR Chiffers [Chiffies, ocarinas that want to be whistles, smurfs (oops, sorry, that one’s already taken) ] who want to either lose weight or to encourage those who are trying to lose weight. Encouragement means attaboys, congratulatory messages, and buck-up messages for others who express discouragement. This thread IS NOT FOR propounding on theories of weight loss, expressing your views on how others should try to lose weight, arguing about competing weight loss plans/ideologies/faiths, or in any way criticizing others’ attempts, no matter how unsuccessful they might temporarily be. It is also not for preaching, demonstrating your superior knowledge of psychology, dietetics or human nature or offering unsolicited advice. If those for whom the thread is meant want to ask for advice, that’s one thing, but please remember that free advice is seldom worth what was paid for it. If you need to do that please feel free to start another thread.
Dale offered us the option of a separate forum, an invitation-only board to which I or Jessie or a designated moderator could restrict participation and presumably from which disrupters could be ejected. I won’t speak for Jessie but I don’t like the idea for several reasons. First, I don’t want to restrict participation by those who feel they need to participate. Second, I hope that you all will understand what we are trying to do and support the idea rather than obstruct it. Finally, so that those who do wish to share their successes and disappointments needn’t feel like they are being forced to do so behind a curtain or a closed door.
With the Tour de France currently going on, there is a bicycle term which is apt here. A “derailleur” is a little metal device that exists to kick a chain off track and on to a higher or lower gear. A badly adjusted one can kick the chain off the gears altogether, disabling the bike. Unfortunately, many of us, myself included, have occasionally served this function in other threads. I sincerely ask our members to refrain from doing so in this thread. While I specifically rejected control, please know up front that I will diligently work to keep this thread on track, publicly admonishing those who post off-track messages and, if need be, asking posters to either “help out or butt out”. I very much hope I won’t have to do so. This is a matter of your friends’ health, their emotional well-being, indeed their very lives.
Other than those above, there are no rules. The rest is common sense and common decency. Tell as much or as little as you like about your efforts, success or temporary setbacks. Share your weight if you want to, or do what I’ll do, which is to report only positive or (hopefully not) negative results from the starting point. Feel free to express your success or goals not in pounds or in kilograms but in inches or belt or dress sizes if you prefer that - or in non-specific satisfaction with how things are going if that is your preference. Don’t belittle or criticize - we get plenty of that already. I’ll post my own info in my next message.
