Allen Carr. I am disappointed.

The BBQ Pit
1

I’ve turned my computer on to get this off my chest so that I may get some sleep.

I read Allen Carr’s “Easyway to control Alcohol” over two months ago. And haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since.

When I read it there was a short section of it where Allen tries to make the point that we were created and our creator didn’t intend us to put poison into our bodies. This didn’t sit well with me as I’m an Atheist and I strongly believe there is/was no intelligent creator. I really wanted/needed to stop drinking so I persevered with the book, and forced myself to suspend my natural scepticism and believe “It will work” because it has done for most people.

Well recently, on the strength of believing that the first Allen Carr book I’d read seemed to do the trick (albeit, with the help of some difficult choices on my part) I bought Easyweigh (sic) to lose weight.

Well my first feeling of disappointment comes from knowing that I seem to be reading more or less the same book.

Then comes the bit where Allen points out that there are no overweight animals, and when given an abundance of food, they won’t overeat.
Firstly this probably isn’t true. It may be true of his example given - the squirell. But the squirell has an evolved thing about storing food for the winter.

Secondly, Allen, aren’t you aware of natural selection??? All the Animals that DID over-eat didn’t survive. And so we are left with anmials that evolved not-over-eating. That’s why Animals don’t over eat, not because they were ‘designed’ that way by a creator.

OK, I’m starting to worry at this point. Is Allen really the clever person I previously thought he must be (to be able to take on smoking, and drinking and win)?
Then comes the bit that sends my confidence in this man Plummeting through the floor. He begins to go into his beliefs about a creator. Only this time, against the advice of his ‘helpers’ (wise people) he elaborates in great detail To cut a long story short he…

[ul]
[li]Belittles the theory of evolution[/li][li]Completely misunderstands the viewpoint of evolutionists - Stating that they/we believe life came about by huge coincidence (this couldn’t be further from the truth)[/li][li]Is a creationist. (He believes in a non-anthropomorphic non-egotistic imperfect Creator. A creator none the less)[/li][/ul]

I believe our existence is not coincidence at all. I beleive it only seems that way because of the Anthropic principle
I may be hopeless at articulating what I understand to be true, but I can see that I apparently understand things better than Allen Carr did. I would be betraying and insulting own intelligence if I was to try to trust what the book will go on to say, using the idea that we were created/designed as a basis.

It’s late and I wanted to get this off my chest so it’s far from perfect in it’s construction.

2

If he inspired you, even by accident, that is good enough. I think you were ready to conquer booze and the time was now.

3

Huh. And he has never seen an overweight spoiled cat or dog? :dubious: If he only uses the squirrel as an example, I bet there’s a reason for that. I realise that I am talking about pet animals and he has conveniently chosen a lively run-and-jump thing BUT a domestic animal, even if offered too much food, is not FORCED to eat it, but some do.

How disappointing. He’s the fella whose name always comes up in terms of people stopping smoking, isn’t he? Hmm, I’ll leave him off my list any time I want a “live more healthily” book, I think.

4

You know, I read that whole post thinking you were talking about Alan Carr. :smack:

5

To be fair, he does acknowledge that Animals who’s diets are controlled by humans (pets) do get overweight.

And I suppose I shouldn’t dismiss his methods entirely just because he doesn’t happen to be an Atheist. He’s made the mistake of ‘blurting out’ his true beliefs and it’s ruined that particular book (for me) but the first book I read did work, because it allowed me to put that awkward bit to one side and take on board the rest of the book.

6

The first book did help me. But it requires you to believe that will power doesn’t work, and his method does. If I now have less faith in him, can I still prefer his method to will power?

I sure hope so.

7

So did I! And I was willing to defend him, too, because it’s Justin Lee Collins people ought to be disappointed about.

8

I’m not cramming the food down my cats’ throats, nor am I stopping them from zipping around the house and burning all the calories they want.

Yet my oldest cat is often mistaken for a raccoon.

And speaking of raccoons, it looks like most of them could stand to spend some time at the gym too.

9

A lot of people cite it as the book that changed their lives, but it ain’t all that and a bag of chips. His advice is basically to go cold turkey and tough it out without any aids such as gum or patches: it seems almost a moral or a religious approach, as if you’ve sinned by smoking and must go through the rigours of withdrawal in order to atone, and any form of nicotine substitution is “cheating”. I have a certain amount of personal experience with substance addictions, smoking included, and tobacco is an addiction which needs to be approached like any other: any help or substitute you need to gradually wean you off is just fine with me if it improves your long-term chances of success, and doing it tough just may cause you a lot of unnecessary suffering.

10

Not to be snarky, but what method of quitting smoking doesn’t involve will power on the part of the tobacco user? Do you mean Carr’s method involves will power and whatever else he prescribes?

11

No, Carr’s pretty big on pure will power and telling yourself “these things will kill me, I’m much better off without them”: he’s against nicotine replacement therapies. Which is all well and good when you’ve just finished the book and are bursting with zeal to stub out your last smoke and embark on your new cleaner healthier life, but not so good when you’re 48 hours in, and your lungs are hanging out, the rasp of the teabag against the edge of the teacup is driving you nuts and you’re all ready to throw the vacuum cleaner at your loved ones. Will power is certainly a the main component in quitting, but sometimes you need a little something to take the edge off the cravings enough to get far enough through them that they subside on their own.

12

Heheheh, you realise this “chips and turkey” approach isn’t going to help our Lobsang lose weight, eh? :smiley:

Other than that, it sounds to me as if Scissorjack would write a better book.
Best of luck, Lobsang

13

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/no-to-da-cheezburger-full-now-tx.jpg
Chubby!
The important thing here is that your problem can be conquered. Even by someone with his head up his ass. If he can do it, you can too. You can see the end of the road, right? You know it’s there. It’s ugly, but you can reach it.

14

I’d rather they didn’t, they never wipe down the equipment when they’re done. But they’re so cute when they “wash” their PowerBars in the nearby stream!

The original author would probably rub me the wrong way if I read his stuff, too, but if it gets people to stop drinking or overeating, I’m inclined to look the other way.

15

Extended remote wilderness canoe trips – can’t smoke what you don’t have.

16

I gave up using the technique taught by an Englishwoman, Gillian Riley. She wrote a really thin book How to Stop Smoking and Stay Stopped for Good that I had sitting around for years before I read it. She is an addiction counsellor and her technique is like no-one else’s.

Basically she explains that you smoke because you get a buzz out of it. You may have forgotten this and built up lots of myths about smoking but that is why you smoke.

Giving up involved accepting this and dealing with it. No aids are used. I carried a packet of cigarettes and my lighter with me at all times. I took cigarette breaks at work, stood around with the smokers and didn’t smoke. I kept going out to drink with friends who smoked. I told no-one I was giving up. When watching TV I would sit there with an ashtray, my packet of smokes and my lighter and during the ads pull out a cigarette to play with - to stimulate my craving.

It was actually fun giving up. I learned a lot about how my brain works and the system enhanced my sense of self control. Rather than feeling that I had to resist some urge, I learned that I could deal with it and choose what I want to do.

17

This is the reason That I’ve avoided reading Eckhardt Tolle’s 2nd book.

Some average Joe Normal has a life-changing epiphany, tells a few friends about it, the word spreads like wildfire, and he soon has a best-selling book, and indeed does touch the lives of millions. Next thing you know, some publishing house touts him as a guru, he gets some guest spots on Oprah, and soon he’s outgrown his wisdom. Soon he’s got a book empire, and he’s giving advice on everything from personal hygiene to international politics. And the impact from his original epiphany is watered down to the point of being meaningless.

I swear, when I become the next guru on living a simple life of poverty, I’m stopping after I’ve purchased my third yacht.