From foodnavigator-usa.com: "One ingredient that could have potential in the weight management market was Dow Chemical Co.'s Satisfit, a soluble, low temperature gelling methyl cellulose [emphasis added] which formed a gel mass in the stomach that lingered for more than two hours, unlike conventional methylcellulose, which cleared the stomach rapidly.

I’ve gained weight recently. In overweight/obese America, that’s certainly not unusual, and the circumstance can provoke reactions ranging from klaxons and self-hatred to cluelessness and denial.

For today, I don’t have any of those, and I’m delighted. Even though I weigh myself only a handful of times of year, almost exclusively in doctors’ offices, I became aware that my bod was burgeoning by the feel of my clothing. So that’s how I avoided cluelessness.

The problem with studies, especially around food and nutrition, is that so many have contradicted other studies from over the years that no one knows what to believe.

I misunderstood when I heard about this story, or the person telling me about it did. It speaks of a diet, and of course that usually means a temporary change in food regimen, but in this case, the reference to diet is about clothing.

The way it was explained to me, people who'd lost weight had chosen to stick with six garments only until their weight had stabilized, so that they didn't end up with a range of sizes for the long run.

I see now that this makes no sense, but what it recalled for me were the days when I was dropping from 365 to about 200, where I remain today 20 years later. Except for a couple of size 64 sweatpants that I bought (slightly oversized for what I needed) — while I was in rehab, I got rid of every stitch I owned, and eventually disposed of everything I'd bought to replace it on the way down, because that stuff no longer fit, either.

I recently ran across the Shrinking Mama blog, telling the story of Melissa, a 31-year-old mom of two who is, or was, up near 400 pounds. 'Least, I think that's right; in her bio, she declines to say how much, though she does keep a running weekly total of her weight loss, which stands around 60 pounds since March 18. She says she needs to drop 150 to be healthy.

I can relate a lot to what she says, of course, such as this passage from her bio: