Led by Laurel Mellin

Welcome to Spirituality & Health magazine's online weight loss group.

Your group leader is Laurel Mellin, author of The Solution and associate clinical professor of family and community medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.

Our goal is to help you lose weight by learning the skills that turn off the drive to overeat. Participation in the program is free. However, for our protection and yours, you must read and agree to the following terms:

Participation in this on-line Solution Group, like other exercise, diet or other health programs, involves risks. Participants may experience physical, physiological, emotional, or psychological harm. I knowingly and willingly assume all risks associated with participating in this online program, and waive all claims I may have or acquire against Spirituality & Health Publishing, Inc., The Institute for Health Solutions, and Laurel Mellin from any and all risks, including the consequences of any negligence by any of them in the provision of The Solution online program or website. I further agree this Release shall be governed and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of New York, and any dispute regarding this Release and its impact shall be resolved in a court of competent jurisdiction in Manhattan County, New York.

This program serves as an introduction to this method. Most people take more training to truly master these skills; however, there are things that you can do to help make this experience a success.

Read Laurel Mellin’s feature in the spring issue of Spirituality & Health or on our website

Take the self test on our site

Take the self test on Laurel's site

Read Laurel's book, use her journals and listen to her tapes. All are available on her site, at Amazon.com, or at your local bookstore.

Keep track of your experiences and let us know so that we can make this better.

If you stick with us, we think you'll find that losing weight is a spiritual journey.

Thanks for joining!

--The Editors of Spirituality & Health

P.S. We want this to be a positive and spiritually uplifting journey for everyone in our group. And part of that means recognizing and accepting what we can and cannot change. With that in mind, here is a bit more information than was in the magazine article:

Factors that can make us fat

It's a classic good news/bad news story: The good news is that percentage of fat in American diets is taking a healthy drop. The bad news is that the total number of calories we eat is rising -- up more than 12% since 1969 -- and so the amount of fat we eat has climbed as well (from 709 calories per day in 1978 to 748 calories in 1990). In other words, the main reason we're getting fatter is that we eat more and more.

Learning to be self nurturing and to set effective limits can push back this rising tide of calories, but it is also true that some individuals face a much easier task than others. Here, for example, is a quick test to gauge whether your excess weight is in your genes.

Check all characteristics that are true for you:

overweight at ages 5 to 7
one parent overweight
the other parent also overweight
can't sense hunger or fullness
stay overweight even when habits are healthy

Scoring: Score 1 point for each check mark.

0 very low
1 low
2 moderate
3 high
4-5 very high

Even if you don't score high on this genetics test, your body may be working against you, especially if you carry your weight in the middle or high on your body. Here are some other possibilities to consider.

Diabetes: You might want to ask your doctor for a fasting glucose test to screen for diabetes. If you have diabetes, the good news is that it may go away when you lose weight.

Insulin Resistance: Insulin is a hormone that regulates how food is metabolized and also seems to help regulate appetite. Unfortunately, when many people gain weight, they also gain a resistance to insulin. The net effect is that the fatter they get, the hungrier they feel. There is no test for insulin resistance. The good news is that insulin resistance is reduced or disappears when you lose weight.

Slow Metabolism: If you think your metabolic rate is abnormally low you might consider a thyroid test, but weight gain caused by thyroid disease is low and, unfortunately, the medication for it will cause large losses in muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is the best fat burner. So the best solution to a slow metabolism is strength training.

Low Sensitivity to Appetite Signals: Starting an exercise program will often make you better able to accurately gauge when you're hungry or full. If that doesn't work, use external signals such as the bathroom scale to tell you if you're eating the right amount. Failing that, consider drugs to control your appetite.

Differences in fat Cells: You may have more fat cells than other people, either from gaining weight early in life or perhaps from pregnancy. These cells may not go away and may only shrink so small. If that is your situation, you must learn to honor and accept the body you have.

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