The Art of Losing Weight: The Igen Process, a Survival Skill for the 21St Century

By R.C. Cooley

This book attempts to validate the famous line We have met the enemy, and he is us. When I retired, I decided to lose fifty pounds in excess weight. I began exercising and watching what I ate. After two months and ten pounds less, I read Dr. Kesslers book, The End of Overeating. After applying his concepts to my weight loss efforts, I lost another fifteen pounds in two months without any exercise! I was surprised and amazed! I felt that if I could build a template that any individual could follow to achieve the immediate results that I did, I could change the downward spiral in health for many. The purpose of this book is to shift our paradigm from losing weight to stopping and reversing weight gain.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543425901

Book preview

The Present

For 40 years, weight loss has been an elusive goal for millions of people. The weight loss industry promises quick solutions to our long-term problems with weight. We are told that exercising and eating healthy will solve our excess weight problem. The fact that 75% of the US population is either overweight or obese is troubling. Even more troubling are statistics that show an increase in these numbers every single year for the last 40 years. Last year, 60 Billion dollars were spent on weight loss products and services. Experts write books, and make claims that cannot be contradicted because there is no data or the data is old or inconclusive. Weight loss strategies have been led by private industry where the bottom line is profit and advertisements are based on their own research.

Weight loss should have been identified as a public health concern back in the 70’s, and its treatment led by government researchers, not corporations for profit. They could have outlawed the use of high fructose corn sugar for direct consumption citing its health consequences yet allow it for its industrial uses. At this point, government can no longer intervene because it would impact the earnings of corporations. It’s role in food health is limited to suggesting voluntary changes to corporations.

I believe it is fair to ask why, after 35 years, is the problem not only worse but also still growing? One answer is that there is too much confusion about how to lose weight. We have been focusing on the end result rather than on the process that will get us to the end result.

The real problem for most humans are the small, ¼ oz. daily weight increases that we let happen over the years. In 10 years, depending on your lifestyle, you will accumulate between 10 to 40 pounds in excess weight. We call it a problem after 30 years of accumulation, but it really started very early with the first 5 to 10 extra pounds.

Chronic Weight Gain

Chronic weight gain is one of the most insidious threats to our personal wellbeing. The problem has grown so large that being overweight is considered the new normal. It affects so many of us that the average lifespan of newer generations is expected to be shorter than previous ones due to the continued increase in conditions associated with excess weight. Diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease etc. are more prevalent among overweight and obese persons. 75% of our population is overweight or obese, and there are no indicators to suggest a trend reversal. Chronic weight gain affects our quality of life and drives much of our healthcare system costs.

In 2013, the American Medical Association classified obesity as a disease not so much for its pathology, there are many healthy obese people, but rather for its positive correlation with so many diseases and conditions. The message from the AMA in classifying it as a disease is to encourage the healing profession to eliminate (treat) excess weight in order to increase the likelihood that we stay healthier for longer. It is truly heartening to see the AMA taking this preventive stance.

The solution to chronic weight gain lies in consciously regulating our food intake to prevent the accumulation of excess weight rather than trying to burn it once accumulated. Too