by Dianne Goettler, MSc, RD
Dianne is the licensed HUGS facilitator for Perth County area and London, Ontario.

When I first heard about the HUGS program, I was in hospital following the birth of our second child. The director of the hospital's nutrition department came to visit me, and to see if I was intending to open a private practice in nutrition counseling, as we had discussed in the past. She described the HUGS program to me, and said that she thought it would be worth investigating as a group weight management program. This was the first time that I had heard about the "non-dieting" movement, and although I was attracted to the emphasis on "lifestyle" changes, I could not imagine such a program without some form of calorie counting or dietary restrictions. I was stuck in the traditional dieting approach that we had been taught in school, which was almost entirely focused on "calories in, calories out". I recall commenting to her that "it sounds like an interesting concept, but I'm afraid that they may be throwing the baby out with the bath water!"

For the previous six years I had been working in London, Ontario (a 60 minute commute from my home) as the Director of Clinical Nutrition and Research at the London Regional Cancer Centre. My work was extremely enjoyable and fulfilling, however, the commuting was starting to make it difficult to achieve that ever-elusive "balance" in the life of a working mom! I eventually decided to return to the cancer centre, however, when number 3 was born (3 children under the age of 5), I decided that enough was enough! I could no longer cope with 2 hours of commuting per day. In addition, I had worked in oncology for 10 years, and I felt the need to change direction professionally as well as personally. By opening a private practice, I could work part-time and control my hours, as well as enjoy the tremendous variety of counseling and consultation work that is involved in the practice. I also retained my position at the Cancer Centre as Research Associate, so that my research on diet and breast cancer could continue.

Anticipating that weight management would probably represent a large proportion of my referrals, I began to think about providing group classes in our area, which would provide a lower cost alternative to private counseling. In reviewing the literature on weight management to update myself, I became increasingly perplexed by the lack of long-term effectiveness of nutrition counseling which utilized calorie restricted diets. The term "non-dieting" was also starting to appear in some of the journals, and that's when I remembered "HUGS". I borrowed the book, You Count, Calories Don't from the local Public Health Unit, and couldn't put it down! From a professional point of view, it explained for me why dieting doesn't work, in a scientifically credible manner. On a personal level, it also helped me to understand my own battle with diets and weight.

As a young child, I was always "chunky", until I reached my teens and grew in height very quickly. At several times during my teens and early 20's I was extremely thin (5 feet, 10 inches and 120 pounds!) My low body weight was not due to dieting; I was very physically active and had very healthy eating habits. My weight eventually stabilized, until the birth of our first child. I gained a lot of weight with the pregnancy and dieted with great vigour to get back to normal.

One year later I was within my goal weight when I became pregnant again. Because of the drop in my metabolic rate due to a year of significant caloric restriction, I gained weight very quickly when I had to go off the diet to eat properly to maintain a healthy pregnancy and fetus. Even though I was eating healthy, low-fat food, the increase in caloric intake was enough to cause a disproportionate (in my mind, anyway) weight gain.

This cycle was repeated after the birth of our second child, with rigid dieting, exercise and weight loss, until my third pregnancy, when I ballooned once again! This time, however, I began to see the folly in my thinking. I decided to throw away my diet, eat sensibly and start exercising regularly. With three small children, you cannot always get out for a brisk walk, so I purchased one of those ski machines that you see advertised, and I fell in love with it. I discovered the sheer joy that you get from exercise that you truly enjoy, and the energy that you feel after such exercise.

Exercise in the past had always been a form of torture for me, that I endured in order to regain my figure. Now I look forward to my skiing time, which I alternate with an exercise video that I also enjoy. It was actually after this change in my attitude and lifestyle that I started looking into the HUGS program, and the book explained for me the reasons behind the success that I was experiencing. My own experience with the failure of dieting had opened my mind to the HUGS philosophy, and thus I was converted from a skeptic to a disciple of the non-dieting movement.

I became a facilitator for the HUGS program in December 1994 and will soon be starting my third session of classes held at the YMCA in Stratford, Ontario. Seeing the participants grow and develop throughout the 10 weeks, freed from the oppressive bonds of the diet mentality, has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I come back from each class on a "high", to the point that it is difficult to sleep! This fall, I will also be running classes in London, Ontario in conjunction with Victoria Hospital Corporation, whose nutrition department has just discontinued all weight loss counseling, and is putting their full support behind HUGS! My challenge is to bring to each participant's life the rewards and enrichment that HUGS has brought to mine!

Taken from HUGS Club News #6.