The Lighter Side

Friday, Jan. 2, 2004 | 5:45 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

January 3 - 4, 2004

More than 40 years ago a woman from Queens rode the subway to Manhattan, walked into the office for the New York Board of Health, picked up a diet plan and headed home.

Her pounds came off. Word spread among her friends and neighbors. Soon she was in kitchens in New Jersey and Ohio, professing to other dieters, "You can lose weight."

Jean Nidetch's efforts proved fruitful. Weight Watchers, the business she founded in 1963, is in 30 countries and Nidetch, 80, has helped millions of members lose weight.

In time for New Year's resolutions, Nidetch, who moved to Las Vegas in 1991, talked with the Sun about her experience with the program that offers emotional support and tools for eating in moderation.

Las Vegas Sun: Did you have any idea your trip to the Board of Health would turn into this?

Jean Nidetch: It's beyond what I thought it could be. It just spread like wildfire.

Sun: Any idea why?

JN: It's been compared to Alcoholics Anonymous because people can speak to other people openly and honestly.

People need to know they're not the only one in the world. If you're an overweight compulsive eater, you'd eat everything, anything around. If you were celebrating, you ate cookies. If you were saddened, you ate cookies. Here, you felt comfortable.

Sun: Have you always had a weight problem?

JN: As a child I was called chubby. As a teenager I fasted all the time. Most people who are overweight try every method. I tried every method. I tried hypnosis, starvation. Nothing worked.

I weighed 214 pounds and all my friends were overweight. We used to say we were big-boned or that it was hereditary. But we were eating the wrong food at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.

Sun: When did this change?

JN: I went to the Board of Health. They gave you a printed paper. It began with, "You must eat the following."

I was amazed. Most diets start out, "Do not eat ..." It seemed so strange to me that it was so positive.

Sun: How did you spread the word?

JN: The local church allowed me to use their copy machine. I had six friends come to my house and I showed it to them. Word went around like wildfire.

Then I had whoever I wanted to come to my house on Thursdays. The only admittance was "bring your own chair."

Before you knew it, my little three-bedroom apartment was filled with people. People would say to my husband, "Is your wife crazy? People are coming over to your house with chairs."

Sun: What did you tell them when they arrived?

JN: "You must eat. You must eat breakfast, you must eat dinner."

People would say, "I skip breakfast, but I'm not losing weight." But if you skip breakfast, by 10 o'clock you were hungry and would eat anything.

If you're hungry, you cannot be selective. Your body requires nourishment. No question about it. You should eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and it should be a plan of action. There's a million crash diets. But it's got to be something you can live with all your life.

Sun: What reasons did dieters give for not losing weight?

JN: They'd say, "My mother, my grandmother were overweight." I said, "So what, it's a curse?"

It's not a curse, it's just that you're eating wrong.

Sun: What were you doing before Weight Watchers?

JN: I was selling eggs.

Sun: Eggs?

JN: Eggs.

I started telling my neighbors that I get fresh eggs from my aunt in Lakewood, N.J. Soon they were asking, "Can I buy some?" We loaded my Studebaker with cases of eggs. I was married. My husband was a bus driver. But I wanted to do something.

Sun: So that too was a success?

JN: Yes. But what happened with the egg business is it got so big. Everyone started telling their friends. I couldn't handle it alone. I had to quit.

I couldn't handle Weight Watchers alone. Anyone who reached their weight, I'd ask if they'd work for me.

Sun: Then it moved out of the apartments?

JN: Our first meeting was in Littleneck Theater in Queens. I talked for two hours. I charged $2. It was the price of a movie ticket.

In my pocket I had a 25-cent piece. I went to a local jeweler and said, "I want a pin the size of this quarter with (the number) 10 in it (specifying 10 pounds)." People would wear that pin with such pride. It was success.

Sun: And you lost weight?

JN: I lost 72 pounds in the interim. I was a walking claim to fame. I had fat pictures I carried around.

Sun: You must feel good about all of this.

JN: Weight Watchers is in 30 countries. I realized it had nothing to do with where you lived. It's the same addiction. It's just different foods.

People think going on a diet is so hard to do. It's not. Everybody has an excuse. People who say, "I can't lose weight" are wrong. The comment is "I won't lose weight."

You have to do something about it. All my life I wanted blond hair. I'm an 80-year-old woman with blond hair. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. It's annoying. It costs a lot. But I choose to have blond hair. So if you choose to be thin, you have to do something.

Sun: Being who you are, have you felt pressure to continue with the diet?

JN: I follow it because I love it. If you want to live good, you can. I never ate a piece of cake I didn't like, even if it was three days old. You can eat desserts, but you can't overdo it. Don't do it every day.

Candy tastes good, but it's going to put the weight on.

Sun: What do you think of the Atkins Diet?

JN: I don't criticize anybody else. My theory is simple: If you lose weight, if your doctor says you're healthy and you can stay on the method, then it's OK.

Sun: Have you ever tackled the psychology of obesity?

JN: I'm not a doctor. So I've kept it rather simple. If you want it, do it. If you don't want it, don't do it. I'll love you just the same.