Weight Reduction: the Sensible Solution

Want to know the secret to losing weight: eat less fat and calories. Not particularly earth-shaking in the news department, but it's simple common sense that people wowed by the promise of faddish diets tend to forget. Weight management consultant Jerry Sutkamp, M.D. offers general tips for shopping (don't go when you're hungry, don't go down the Twinkies aisle, etc.), 30 days worth of 3-meals-a-day menus (which is covered more in-depth in the booklet which accompanies the video), testimonials from Sutkamp's patients who have lost weight, suggestions for controlling binges, ideas for exercising, and how to eat low-fat when you're dining out. It's a fairly low-budget production with a lot of script reading both from the doctor and the patients (testimonials from cue cards tend to sound fake and forced). The menus are a little on the unadventurous side, and even a mite strange, health-wise (over a four day period, for instance, one has beef stew for dinner, hamburgers for dinner, and a hamburger for breakfast; too, ingredients are often show without directions for preparation). An optional purchase, though Body Trust (VL-7/94) is a better choice here. (R. Pitman)