I know, but she's got this avid, cult-like following. I guess in some ways, people who (think they) can't lose any weight at all look up to her despite the overall yo-yo-iness of it all.

I would HATE to struggle like that--down, up, down again. There is a group of yo-yo dieters at my work and each one goes down by maybe 20-40# by the time each summer rolls along. They're generally unhappy with their weight (to them, it's about appearance/clothes) except for the few months each summer when they fit into smaller clothes. I've been watching them do it for a bunch of years and now, after maybe 10-15 years of this, they're complaining that they can't lose any fat (or it's maybe a pound or two here/there). Their response to that: doing a cleansing/starvation thing: they're going three days with only liquids because, according to the one, that'll "jump start" the metabolism.

In a way, it's right.

Often, what trips us up is mindset. The people who fail often don't see themselves as successful, lean people. It's a matter of mindset.

However, taken at face value, that author is a dork.

That much is true, Cynic. There is a huge mind/body connection that is getting more and more recognized. I could see where focusing your thoughts on being lean and fit could actually help, but by no means is it going to be what actually gets you lean and fit, which seems to be what he is suggesting.

I agree with all of that as well. You set your thoughts to a thing and chances are that your actions will begin to glide along to support getting/being/doing that thing. It's a good practice. What I object to is the concept of ignoring <n> people just because they might interfere with your own mental images of beauty.

I imagine people walking down the street, thinking thin thoughts of themselves and then as a heavy person approaches, I hear the sound of a needle dragging across a record--putting an abrupt and unwelcome stop to that mental image. That's the way that excerpt of the book plays out for me. I just resent the implication that people should be disdained or ignored because they might interfere with your visualization.

Just seems like another attempt to divert responsibility for one's life/lifestyle away from the person living it into something else. Overweight? Not your fault - it's the fault of those overweight people you've been looking at. (I wonder if the same applies to race, or religion or anything else.) The answer as always lies inward, not outward, but that's a longer and more difficult road to follow.