A SAD DAY

My sister Louise Lawhon, your Diet Master and friend, died quietly yesterday afternoon from complications following a heart attack. She has devoted most of her adult life to helping people to reach and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, and was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother.

The loss of someone so seemingly youthful and vibrant should make us especially aware of how precious each day is, and how important it is for us to appreciate life and our love for each other.

IT HAS BEEN A LONG, LONG WAY SINCE 1925!!

I WAS READING AN ARTICLE THAT RATHER SHOCKED ME.  IT SAID THAT THE AVERAGE HOUSEWIFE IN 1925 NEEDED 2100 CALORIES A DAY TO RETAIN HER WEIGHT. IF WE WERE TO EAT THAT AMOUNT OF CALORIES NOWADAYS WE WOULD BE GAINING AT LEAST A POUND A WEEK.

                                            THE VERY SIMPLE ANSWER 

 
 1.  In 1925 the average family did not own a car and most people walked a mile or two when they went to work.  I remember walking that far in 1945 to go to the 'new place to grocery shop called a supermarket' for my mother.

Now many families of 4 own 4 cars

2.  There was no such thing as a lady who came every other week to help clean our houses.

Now, 3 out of 4 homes hire people to clean. 

3.  Most people used scrub boards that they put in a deep sink to wash their laundry.

Now, we would not know how to use one; and thankfully so.

4.  All of our clothes were dried outside on clothes lines. 

Now, I still own one that I use only for small rugs.

THE ONE PAGE AD THAT COST LISA $352

LISA, A DIET MASTERS MEMBER, LOST 16 POUNDS IN 10 WEEKS.  SHE WAS INVITED TO A WEDDING AND WAS EXCITED BY SOME MATERIAL THAT WAS SENT TO HER IN THE MAIL PROMISING HER A FAST WEIGHT LOSS.  THIS IS THE REST OF THE STORY.

                                           THE REST OF THE STORY 

She brought a full page ad that was sent to her through the mail and someone had written the following words on top of the upper right hand side: "Lisa, try this, it works." This material  looked like a friend sent it.

At the end of our meeting she took me aside and showed me that the ad promised an almost effortless way to lose 50 pounds in 3 months and told me that she had sent away for the material. She proposed to take some time off from classes and I wished her luck.

Lisa called me about one month later and confided that she had really 'been taken'.  She ended up spending $352 for shake drinks and pills that were said to reduce appetites .  The pills were dangerous.  They caused Lisa, who was a young woman, to have heart palpitations.In addition to this, she was expected to live on shakes alone. To ad insult to injury, she had stopped taking the shakes and  had regained the 5 pounds that she lost on this unhealthy diet.

1984: A VERY GOOD YEAR FOR DIETERS

I BEGAN A BUSINESS CALLED DIET MASTERS IN 1971, AND USED TO CALL NATIONAL COMPANIES TO LEARN THE CALORIES ON THEIR PRODUCTS.  SOON AFTER, THERE WAS A BOOK PUBLISHED CALLED, " THE BRAND NAME CALORIE COUNTER". ANOTHER GEM THAT I OWNED WAS "U.S. HANDBOOK NUMBER 8".

All of the information in the book was very helpful to me but many brands were not included and some of the companies that I called for calorie information were unable to help me. 

I wrote my first cook book in 1973:  "The Diet Lady's Cookbook".  There were only two diet recipe books at this time that had the calories listed at the bottom of each recipe, and I can proudly say that mine was one of them.  

                                             FAST FORWARD TO 1984 

My local newspaper and several magazines mentioned that all brands would be required to print the calorie information their products before the end of the year. This included printing the serving size on the packages and calories per serving plus.  If I recall correctly, it took a few more years for them to include the nutrition information. 

TWO POEMS ON THE 'LIGHT SIDE'

I HAD A FEW MORE REQUESTS FOR POEMS TO MAKE A RAINY DAY BRIGHT

                                           SONG OF THE DIET

Cry me a river
and sing me some blues
I've got to cut down
Got to learn to refuse. 
Got to shake my sad head
With a firm left and right
Whenever I'm offered
A fattening bite.

                                                          NOSTALGIA

 




Nostalgia's all the craze today
A fad that will not go away.
And I'm nostalgic, I might add.
About the figure I once had.

Oh, I can sigh and reminisce
And still remember my first kiss.
Nostalgia's got me in it's grip,
Though I'm now wider in the hip.

The waist that once was, is no more
Gone are the fitted things I wore.
Still here, alas, this irksome phrase,
"Give me back my yesterdays."

These two sad poems really would not make a rainy day bright, but I want anyone who reads this note to become hopeful. I gained and lost hundreds of pound during a 23 year period and I am FREE AT LAST.  In fact, anyone who reads the over 370 posts that I have written in less than 10 short months and makes notes will come with me to the land of thin...I HAVE TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE:  I WILL HELP YOU IN!!!

BLAMING EVERYDAY LIFE ON GOING OFF DIET

 SOME REASONS  PEOPLE GAVE IN CLASS FOR CHEATING ON THEIR DIETS AND GAINING WEIGHT.  

JUST EVERYDAY HAPPENINGS WE ALL HAVE TO COPE WITH FROM TIME TO TIME

                                           DON'T BE AN 'IF ONLY' PERSON.

1.  If only my car insurance didn't go up.
2.  If only gas prices would go down.
3.  If only we weren't invited to so many parties.
4.  If only the ladies' lunch yesterday was not so fattening.
5.  If only my husband did not insist on keeping ice cream
    and potato chips in the house.

WHY MY MANY DIETS FAILED FOR YEARS

MOST OF MY DIETS FAILED BEFORE I DISCOVERED DIET MASTERS BECAUSE THEY WERE CRASH DIETS AND NEVER INCLUDED FOODS THAT I ENJOYED. THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL INCLUDES SOME POSITIVE THOUGHTS AND SEVERAL HINTS.

1.  Practice these three words:  "No thank you"...NOT "I am on a diet." Even our close friends often try to coax us to eat the wrong foods that will sabotage us.  Just talk to yourself and say, "It looks wonderful, but I am really trying to lose weight and this will slow me down."

2.  Why my many diets failed:  I would often lose some weight but failed to get as trim as I wanted to, so I would tell myself,  "I don't look slim anyway, so I may as well eat this."

3.  I was always dreaming of my next feast.  I had no plans on how to keep the weight off.

4.  Serving food family style...Some of you might not know the definition of those words.  It means scooping  large amounts of of food into bowls on the table and helping ourselves  to what we want instead of putting each persons' food on a dinner plate. Many of us eat twice as much when they eat this way.