We all reach the sticking point by different paths. Mine arrived while I was watching a home video of my stepson's baseball game. A large woman in a blue sweat suit waddled across the background. When I realized that I was the large woman, the point stuck and drew blood.

Millions seek the Grail-like goal of an ideal weight-loss program. The dieting business has sky rocketed, creating markets that are still expanding. Obesity has become the darling of the medical media and a serious public health concern. Excessive weight contributes to the severity of hypertension, cancer, and heart disease, rampant in the industrialized society.

As with any business, repeat customers are the mainstay. Most dieters lose weight, resume normal eating patterns, and regain the original pounds and more. The authorities advise that only significant lifestyle changes can win the battle of the bulge, and the wisest and most successful diets reduce one's ample profile by slow steps.

This makes sense. The fat took years to accumulate, and it is reasonable to expect that a significant amount time will be required to lose it. So, by the millions, the over-weight nibble their carrots, drink protein chalk-tails, count calories, weigh portions, and attend meetings to discuss their progress because the experts say this is 'the way'.

What if the experts are wrong?

In one study, the participants of a bite-the-bullet approach to dieting seem to have blown this theory. In addition to rapid and considerable results, a large percentage has maintained their target weight - at a much higher rate than the more conventional programs. This suggests that slow and steady might be counterproductive. One reason for the success rate might lie in the galvanizing process of prolonged near starvation.

Throughout history, humans have used fasting as a means to induce visions, garner public sympathy, and unify the faithful. Several major religions use ritualized fasting to cleanse and purify. High-school students engage in fasting as an effort to understand or bring media awareness to the less fortunate in our society. Convicts fast to compel changes. New-age acolytes expand their consciousness by abstinence.

Long considered the tool of clerics and political dissidents, fasting has made a new splash in our lives, this time as a medically supervised weight loss regime.

Clinics and programs, specializing in fasting, are creeping into the mainstream and gaining adherents. But not all fasts - or fasting consultants - are created equal, and wise consumerism is recommended for the neophyte.

Fasting is perceived as difficult, debilitating, and controversial. In reality, fasting does not have to be any of those things.

People who fast at length often experience varying amounts of initial discomfort. During this settling-in period, hunger will reign. A copious amount of tepid water helps overcome pangs and cleanses the gastrointestinal tract. Some fasting programs allow small quantities of dilute unsweetened fruit juices in addition to unlimited water. Many people experience temporary but severe headaches and mild nausea.

Gradually, hunger recedes and the bowels quiet. The effects of heretofore-unknown food allergies lessen, cravings for sugar, salt, nicotine and caffeine dissipate, and any fluid accumulations - edema - in the joints and flesh drain. At some point, the participant achieves a euphoric state and gains a perspective about the importance of food as a control issue.

The first thing one notices when the fast reaches completion is the remarkable taste and texture of breakfast. An appreciation for the subtle flavors and natural wholesomeness of even the simplest of foods is restored.

As with any radical changes, a health professional should be consulted before initiating a fast. There are restrictions to fasting while pregnant or while on certain medications. Insulin dependent diabetics require constant medical monitoring and a knowledgeable nutritionist.

The doctor who supervised my weight loss over thirteen years ago initiated my own experience with fasts of short duration. After losing forty-eight pounds in less than four months, I asked about maintenance. He explained the benefits of a weekly fast. I beat the odds by following his advice.

Aside from a hiatus while pregnant and then nursing, I have fasted regularly for all these years. The trade-off works for me. I don't gain weight and I don't diet. I exercise will power for one day instead of seven. I eat sensibly but freely six days while denying hunger for twenty-four short hours.

If I can do it, you can. The first step is to question why we fail and then make the changes necessary to succeed.

By luck, I stumbled on a technique that, by a recent study, may be the magic bullet, the failsafe method, and 'the right way' to diet. By design, I will continue my Monday ritual and be in control of my weight and appetite.

'Why Mondays?' is a common question.

Simple. The weekend ends, work and school begin. The to-do list, magnet bound to the refrigerator, flutters in the breeze of frantic activity. The cross-offs, less prevalent as the yet-to-be-dones, taunt one with the unrealized goals of the flown-by hours. Tantrums and cereal bowl crises ensue at the change of pace. Unfinished homework, science projects forgotten, birthday cupcakes to be frosted and delivered. Fighting other commuters on the roadways and searching through the limited parking for an empty space before discovering the office is already overflowing. The weekend gremlins have invariably overachieved and the printer jams on every other report. The clients and one's coworkers have taken an extra dose of nasty pills.

Let's face it - Monday is already a rough day. How could fasting make it any worse?

Dr. Cinque - Hygienic Physician

Colonic Health

Health and Yoga

WebMD