If you ever get a history book, flip through it and take special note of the body sizes that seemed to be the norm for each time period. Body weight and ideal have changed over the years, just as they continue to do now. What is in style can be dictated by the type of clothing that is in style; some styles just require a thinner frame to look good. Some cultures will worship the largest members because it is a sign of prosperity; after all, only the rich can be fat. Americans have that backwards: only the rich here are the super skinny.

Why is that? Is it because the rich are being fed some “magical” food that allows them to stay ultra-thin? In reality, the rich stay that way because they are being fed tiny meals designed by personal chefs and have trainers, nutritionists and others working around the clock to keep them that way. There is no magic involved.

Thin and fat have been knocking each other off the top of the popularity charts for hundreds of years. See the creation of some of the world’s most renowned artists; look at the models they plan to work with. The art community would laugh at Ruben if he were alive today and kept choosing the same models. The plump, juicy girls of his were definitely not the skinny, undernourished girls they pass off as models these days, were they?

Now, take a look at another era. Take the Flappers for example. Knee high, flat chested and very thin, the Flappers were ideal for that time. Of course, there were also probably Rubenesque women who yearned to don a sheath dress, but history certainly doesn’t show them. Even then, it was the body type that typifies the standard of the day that gets the spotlight while others are ignored or, worse, ridiculed.

When skinny was in style, dieting became the norm. The most extreme diet then is the most extreme diet now: fasting. Religious leaders and their devoted followers would fast for days and experience weight loss (of course), as well as the possibility of visions. If the fast went on too long, weight loss would be followed by death, so the fasters began putting two and two together. Not eating equals weight loss, but it could also equal death. The aha moment is quickly followed by the adaptation of the fast: a modified fast.

Sometime during fasting and modified fasting and starvation and death, science discovered calories and the diet industry was born. Now both the doctors and the snake oil salesman had a word to shout at you and a number to recommend. No one fully understood the diet nor had the daily requirements been discovered yet, so no one knew how many calories a person needed or what foods those calories should come from.

The first dieters realized that starving yourself didn’t work because it led to death. Eating less worked to keep them on an extremely low calorie count; around 1000 calories. The problem with staying so low is that it is impossible to keep the body healthy, whole and well. What they found then is the same as what a dieter trying to make ends meet on that calorie count would find now: you can’t survive on it.

As more studies were conducted and science began to reveal the concept of metabolism and the body’s own processes, the smart dieter put a twist on the 1000 calorie diet to avoid self-destruction by the body. body. They would stick to the magic number, but all those calories would come from protein, and the first extreme protein diet fad was born. The problem here was the same as the next protein diet and the next, as well as the problem with all other extreme diets in general: any diet that allows, forces, or encourages you to eat only one food group or type and forbids, limits, or ignores all others is unhealthy and doomed to eventual failure.

Remember a few years ago when the protein diet reared its head again? Suddenly everyone is eating hamburgers, but no buns. You could have a pan full of bacon, but you couldn’t have toast to soak up the fat. Eat a pound of beef at every meal, but don’t you dare let a potato touch your lips. The list of vegetables that were on the no-no list for this diet was unrealistic and even worse, fruit was as off-limits as a slice of Death by Chocolate cake. Fruit was prohibited on the protein diet and was as reviled as any dessert. All fruit. All the time.

But, extreme protein diets, modified fasts, and other weight loss efforts are not easy, and even back then, humans were looking for the easiest way to lose weight. Before anyone thinks that modern man has the corner in the market for weight loss gadgets and gimmicks, know this: one of the first weight loss pills was developed in the 1900s, along with tonics, elixirs, and other products. , all designed to tone up and lose weight. without the tedium of having to watch what he ate or exercise. Among those early pills was one that contained benzocaine, which would not only dull the taste buds, but also produce a strange tingling sensation in the mouth that would make it harder to enjoy food and hopefully lead the user to eat less. Well yes, that would work since most people don’t eat if they can’t feel their mouth, but the side effect would be chewing on your tongue every day. Of course, there are still people who make a modified version of this concept to this day. They brush their teeth after every meal or when they feel hungry. The concept is that no one wants to ruin that clean mouthfeel, and besides, who wants fresh mint fries?

Each person wants us to believe something different about weight loss. The doctor wants us to believe that we are in dire need of metabolic help so that he can prescribe us the newest prescription drugs. Gym gurus and gadget gods want us to work out, but only with their equipment. The infomercials want us to use their pill, powder, potion, cream, or whatever. Authors who have become experts or vice versa want us to buy their books. Watch my video, listen to my inspirational tapes; buy buy buy In the end, the only thing that makes you lose weight is your wallet and all the equipment and goods in the world won’t help you if you don’t learn the basics of weight loss. You have to exercise. You need the right amount of calories, and you need to understand what a calorie is, where it comes from, and how it works in your body. The next chapter will help you get started with that knowledge.