Under Accumulators of Health

In my last post I talked about the Maudsley Method and how I thought that I might be applicable to weight loss and not just weight gain. I can’t get this idea off of my mind and everything that I do seems to come back to it! Even books that I’ve read a long time ago seem to fit into this almost opposite application of the Maudsley Method. For example, if you’ve ever read the book The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko you’ve heard the terms ” Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth” or PAWs and “Under Accumulators of Wealth” or UAWs. In their book PAWs are those who have behaviors that help them become and stay wealthy and those who are UAWs struggle financially because their behaviors make it very difficult for them to save money and increase their overall financial net worth. What if instead of wealth, we used these terms to describe health?

In this book those who accumulate wealth tend to rely on good financial advice and they are willing to pay for it to ensure that they handle their money in an appropriate way. On the other hand, those who are under accumulators of wealth live the way they envision a millionaire should live. Many times in an extreme case of UAW a financial planner will take control of their clients spending to get it back on track. This means that the UAW is put on a major financial diet in which they can spend only what they are allowed by their financial planner.

You’re probably thinking that this is all well and good, but what on earth does it have to do with obesity or weight loss? Well in the case of finances, when someone puts their financial well-being in danger control is taken out of their hands and placed into those who know best. This is similar to the Maudsley Method in that those who put their physical well-being in danger turn control of their eating over to someone outside their situation who can help them. What if we applied this to obesity? What if when someone put their physical health in danger by overeating they were able to give up control to someone who knows better and could help put them on the right track?

Let me be clear I”m not talking about a forced plan here (I really believe that unless someone truly wants something that no amount of pushing can change that), but giving people the option. So, weigh in America, what do you think? Would something like this help? Help me think this through, what are the flaws, what are the strengths?