OK, so I admit it. I've never had a weight problem... I've never struggled with yo-yo dieting... I've never had much concern about my body image... And I've never been told that I'm fat... so should I really be writing this article? The way I see it, however, HUGS has helped me in ways I never realized it would.

When I was introduced to the HUGS program, by a fellow dietitian at the American Dietetic Association Annual meeting in San Antonio in 1996, I was definitely in the market for a weight management program. My facility was looking for some kind of comprehensive program to offer, and it was my job to spend 1996-97 researching options.

Needless to say I felt a bit uneasy about undertaking such an important decision... I was determined to stay clear of any programs that promoted liquid diets (which unfortunately is the answer many hospitals and other health care facilities offer, and was the approach taken by my very own facility years back). I wasn't sure of which direction to go, but I figured that the ADA Annual meeting was as good as any place to start my research.

But then I was introduced to HUGS, and it all became so clear. This was it! I came to realize that my uneasiness about choosing the "right" program had less to do with a fear of finding no other options to liquid diets, but more to do with my fear that I may not be able to get all these motivated, yet often directionless individuals, to lose the weight that the program would guarantee! It didn't take me long to admit that my years of "weight loss counseling" had failed miserably, and what I really did best was to teach people how to be healthy.

I was able to convince my administrators with relative ease that HUGS was the program for us, and got special budget approval to start the program in mid-1997. However, and not to my surprise, I continue to struggle with some doctors and colleagues in convincing them that "a healthy lifestyle" does not necessarily mean "diet and weight loss." I was slowly realizing that although much lip service is given to "living healthy" and to the HUGS philosophies, most people find themselves thick in the middle of the "diet mentality."

And it wasn't until I began teaching my first HUGS class (last summer) that I realized how many aspects of my own life have been based on the "diet mentality." And none of it was really related to diet and fitness...

In December of 1996 my marriage of 3-1/2 years (a relationship of 6 years total) came to a sad close. Although I was devastated by this loss, I knew the change in life direction was best for both of us given the circumstances that broke us up. Most of of all, however, I was frightened by the fact that at just 27 years of age, I was faced with an independence that I wasn't quite sure how to approach.

The philosophies of HUGS that I was teaching others about hit home for me, by helping me focus on the positives in my present life, as well as the happiness I enjoyed in my past, and how all of it has led me to who I am today. The healthy lifestyle reaches far beyond food and fitness (two areas in my life I've always had a fairly good handle on), and deep into the core of how I really view and care for myself. I found that teaching others to feel better about themselves, their relationships, their family lives, their careers, their body images, etc., helped me focus on what was most important for me, as well.

I often spend time in class each week just sharing experiences I'd had, often unrelated to food and fitness, and how I could relate it to the nondiet mentality in my life. One "nondiet" approach I've taken is to view the end of my marriage not as a failure, but rather as a successful marriage that came time to end. The same goes for the individual who completes a
10-week healthy living program without weight loss - she didn't "fail" because the number on the scale didn't change, but rather she succeeded because of her new approach to healthy living.

I am now coming to the end of my third HUGS class, and I continue to get a lot of personal satisfaction in teaching others how to live and think healthy. My classes have scored high on the post lifestyle quizzes, and this I attribute to their ability to view all aspects of their lives to a healthier way of living - in mind, body and spirit. I know I'll continue with a healthier outlook as long as I continue to give HUGS to others.

Contact Karen at

Platte Valley Medical Center
1850 Egbert St
Brighton, CO 80601
(303) 637 1066
fax (303) 659 1357
email / karen.payne@cwix.com