Have you ever gone on a diet and successfully lost a few pounds, only to regain them (and then some) a short time later? Well, don't feel alone. According to the Washington Post, only one out of every 20 people will reach his or her goal weight and maintain it for more than five years.
Well, if you're looking for a healthy solution, Rob Lewinsohn just may have the answer. Lewinsohn is president of Lighten Up America, a program that specializes in showing people how to lose weight and keep it off over the long term ... and he can attest to the benefits. The 5'9' Lewinsohn saw his weight skyrocket to 285 pounds; after immersing himself in the principle of living naturally thin, he lost 120 pounds and has kept them off.
Over the course of the next three months (specifically on April 26, May 17 and June 21), Lewinsohn will lead Lighten Up America seminars in the Lakeview area of Chicago. These classes are one day in length, during which seminar participants can hopefully change their lives for the better and do it forever.
Lewinsohn probes myths about dieting/ exercising and introduces the 'naturally thin' philosophy. Moreover, each course ends with attendees enjoying a meal; at this time, they learn to apply the teachings they have learned earlier in the day.
I had my own little 'session' with Lewinsohn and this is what he had to say:
Windy City Times: Could you give me a little background about the Lighten Up America program?
Rob Lewinsohn: Sure. What we do in the seminar is get people back in touch with their bodies and why they eat. You know, when we were all born, we certainly knew exactly when we had enough to eat. When your mother put the spoon up to your mouth, you would spit out the food or make a face. What we did was check in with our bodies. Well, we get a little bit older, your parents say 'Oh my gosh! Finish your plate.' They may have talked about starving children or they might have [threatened] you with no dessert. So, as children, we thought we had to keep our parents happy and then we changed our behavior about how we looked at food. [We looked at it] for reasons other than physical hunger.
WCT: So do you think it's entirely behavioral or do you think it's also partially genetic? Some people argue that [overeating] is partially based on genetics.
RL: Well, you know there's always that possibility. There's a small percentage [who's affected by genetics]. Regarding myself, I used to wonder if [being overweight] was genetic; I have a father and sister who are overweight. However, when it really came down to it, I realized that most of it was [a result of] learned behavior. If I wanted to learn something else, I could ... and that's what I did. I just learned something else. So, it's possible that it's [genetics], but most of the time we tend to look for things outside of us [regarding] our inability to lose weight. [The seminar] allows people to get back to the basics.
It's amazing what [people] are able to do when they think they can never lose weight. I really did get to that point. I did tell people to love me the way I am (and they did), but in the back of my mind I was always thinking 'I know I can do this.' I had a lot of other areas in my life where things were really working; I was successful in business and had a good relationship, and I always knew I could [lose weight].
I had always dieted to do it. That's what people know: You diet and exercise to lose weight. I finally realized that I'm not going to keep doing the same things over and over.
What dieting did was to make me fatter. I look back over my life and I thought that if I had dieted the very first time I said 'Oh my gosh, I have a weight problem' and stayed that weight I ...
WCT: Would've been happy?
RL: Would've been happy. I had to realize that not only did diets not work for me; they made me fatter.
WCT: Yeah ... that happens to a lot of people.
RL: And then people are left [thinking], 'What do I do?' We live in a world of diet and exercise. There are a lot of times when all I would do is just exercise. The truth is, although exercise is very important for our health and fitness, you'll never win the game of weight loss. It takes like 30 minutes of aerobic exercise to burn off 12 corn chips, so [winning] is impossible. You really have to start off with the behavior.
WCT: So basically people learn not to overeat through changing their behavior?
RL: Right. What we do is get people to what they knew originally, which was how not to overeat. It provides unbelievable freedom for people because they can have the food they enjoy. We believe that there is no bad food; it's just overeating [that's bad].
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The Lighten Up America seminars will be held April 26, May 17 and June 21 at Days Inn Lincoln Park North, 644 W. Diversey Parkway, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The cost to attend a seminar is $195. (You can pay via check or an online Paypal transaction.)
Dress is casual and you should bring food to eat during breaks. For more information, please either consult the Web site www.lightenupamerica.com or e-mail Lewinsohn at rob@lightenupamerica.com .
I'm at adavis@starmail.com .
