Gold book
Dr. Albert Chocron >>
Nutritionist, Paris, France
Dr. Edward Mason >>
Retired Professor of Surgery Developer of Obesity Surgery
University of Iowa Hospitals & ClinicsIowa City, Iowa
Dr. Ridha Mzabi >>
Former Professor at the Faculty of Medicine
Former Chief Physician in Hospitals
Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
Dr. Kémaïs Nagati >>
Former Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis
Former Chief Physician at the National Institute of Nutrition
Dr. Richard Dian >>
Cardiologist
Françoise Courvalin:
After having worked a long time, as a financial director of the group “Le bon Marché” in Paris,
Francoise Courvalin realizes that none the member of the personnel is at the work place which
is appropriate to him, on qualification, under-qualification, technical ignorance, misuse of the
human resources. This situation disturbs her and she melts CAPS AVENiR France. She is the
mother of the professional reconversion and the return to employment, but also of the assess-
ment of competence. builder for ANPE, of large projects of support and accompaniment, for
business Men and creators of innovating projects, Francoise also forms part of the commission
of the European Development Fund Francoise Courvalin coached and accompanied Sophie Reverdi, since the day n°1 and it is the uncontested godmother of Smart and Light.
An Open Letter to my friend Sophie Reverdi
Do we speak about the graver of Camille Claudel when we admire her sculptures?
Does one think of the book of schoolgirl and with the inkpot when one reads Colette?
Does one imagine the test-tubes when one considers work of Marie Curie?
Is there a thought for the ass of Alexandra David Neel when one recalls his voyages?
NO
And well, for me, speaking about Capes Future and my work, during the genesis of the
project of Sophie Reverdi concerns the same step: I was only one element facilitator,
catalyst and carrying reflexions and remarks to centre the project and to give him more
and more opportunity to exist.
Then, is it necessary to propose Caps Avenir and Francoise Courvalin, when one looks
at the way traversed by Sophie Reverdi and her realization?
It is with the image of all these women full with ideas, ideals, projects, enthusiasm, fer-
vour which are certain that they will bring to the others “small something” which will
make the life more liveable.
Sophie knows, now that she arrives at the concretization phase, that, among the crowd
of projects which lived inside her when she came to find me, almost 2 years ago, Smart
and Light was the good one. The work of gestation was not a long quiet river and how
much doubts emerged!!!
The way was not easy, but it is with her and only her that in cost all the merit.
This incredible adventure of the “small idea of a small end of woman” takes form today,
and I am proud to have been the “graver, ink, and the test-tube…”
It is her pugnacity, her persuasion, her quiet softness and her exaggerated will which
made that Smart and Light will be the innovating concept of better life quality, in charge
of hope for a great number of men and women and especially of children.
Then, if Caps Avenir Counseils and Francoise Courvalin remain in the shade, it is inten-
tional: the éminence grise is increasingly happier when she looks at by far opening the
chrysalis.
My presence and my last action do not have more importance than the ink which will
publish this e-mail.
But one thing is clear; it is that I am proud of Sophie and that she always will be a
ount on me for the perenniality of this project.
Currently, Smart and Light is born, the project is viable.
But, it will be necessary soon to give it all its radiation as regards employment, diffu-
sion, educational training. It will have to obtain a team, means and of anticipation.
Thank you TUNISIA to have accommodated this project.
Smart and Light, precursor in its field: obesity, will make become aware with our civili-
zation and our company that to be Obese is not a fate, nor a handicap.
For all those which will take again hope: THANK YOU SOPHIE
Yannick Arlabosse-Titz :
A relentless worker and especially, a humanistic without limits.
in 2003, she founded, an association bringing help and assistance to prisoners,
orphans and very poor people in an area of Africa. She listens to them and brings
benevolence, conveys goods of first necessity, opens libraries, because for her, freedom
passes primarily by knowledge and comprehension.
by supporting the Smart and Light program, her idea is to act in the same direction,
that of comprehension.
in her point of view, the fight for malnutrition is a single struggle.
our common objective is to be able to control this malnutrition, from starvation
(malnutrition) to obesity (overfeeding), plagues with equal shares, responsible for
the highest death rates in the world, by transferring part of the sales benefit of this
book to humane associations.
I dream of a new world, where words:
Hunger, wars, weapons, malnutrition, epidemics, rapes, prisons, humiliation
and injustice do not exist.
I dream of a world of equity, where no child dies of hunger, thirst, cold or
diseases.
I dream of a charitable world where the children do not believe themselves not
obliged to steal or to be sold, to be able to eat properly.
I dream of a world free and right where each one has the right to be informed,
to read and understand.
I dream of a world where the word “future” has the same direction for everyone
and where each man has the right to have his place.
I dream of a moral world where the small girls are respected in their physical
integrity, without being pushed to grow bigger so that she never attracts a
man.
I dream of a world of abundance where the Man respects the ground, whether
in his way of cultivating it or of managing its waste.
I dream of a responsible world where food industries choose to manufacture
only tasty and good products for health.
I dream of a world of tolerance where the last prisoners have what to eat
correctly and cultivate the ground to nourish the orphans.
I dream of a world where punitive justice is replaced by repairing justice.
I dream of a benevolent world where one experienced the joy of dividing
finally.
I dream of a world where the needs for each one are heard.
I dream of an alleviating world where the obese people and the anorexics people
like themselves enough in order to eat what is good for their health and their
pleasure.
I dream of a world of love where chocolate, alcohol and drug, do not replace a
lack of tenderness.
I dream of a grateful world where each mouthful of food is tasted like an
invaluable gift.
I dream of a world where each discernible word is an alleviating remedy for
oneself and for the others.
I dream of a world where generosity is not synonymous with sacrifice.
I dream of an objective world without a priori, compromise, jealousy, hatred
nor competition.
I dream of an attentive world where we relearns to be with the listening of his
satiety, and his body.
I dream of a conscious and wise world with people like Sophie who give their
love, their enthusiasm and their knowledge, with the service of the Life…
Edward E Mason , M.D., Ph. D.
Professor Emeritus of Surgery
Department of Surgery
University of iowa
Hospitals and Clinics
200 Hawkins Drive
iowa City, iowa 52242
Letter to my patient
Sophie thank you for your note. There are more people with operations now
and with inadequate knowledge of compatible eating. You should include those
people as customers for your one month education. I had a 19 year old who
could never stop vomiting because she overloaded her small capacity. At 12
years she had stretched her small pouch from 28 ml to over 400 ml and needed
another operation to reduce the capacity to 12 ml. After this she was able to eat
without anymore vomiting and she was able to eat small amounts of meat that
she chewed well and still she had no more vomiting. She had regained weight
before the second operation. She regained while she was vomiting. After the re-
vision she was not only able to eat without vomiting but she lost to a high nor-
mal weight. I interpreat this unusual experience to a long education in proper
eating forced by the small pouch. How much better it would be for a patient
having such problems to spend a month in a nice atmosphere learning how to
eat and learning how to stretch and become limber and to participate in at least
a half hour of exercise a day such as swimming a half mile. Keep up the good
work and tell those growing youngsters how great they are.
Doctor Eléna Hrbanova:
Chief of the pediatric unit at the kosice hospital
Her name is Jana Vitezova. When she was born she was a healthy 8 pounds
baby. At one year old, she was 23 pounds, which is medium weight for that age.
At three years old, she was 40 pounds, which became alarming. It’s however at
the age of nine that I started to worry. Jana was already 28% overweight so I
sent her to the endocrinology services of the clinic. They did not find anything
special there, but they advised her to follow a diet and to have a physical
activity. A year later, instead of losing weight, she had gained some. I sent Jana
to the thermal centre of Sarissky Stiavnik for seven weeks. She lost 17 pounds
there. Unfortunately, a year later, she gained them back and some more. At
15, Jana was 200 pounds. During her visits to my cabinet, I did everything to
convince her to think about herself and to show her the absolute necessity of
losing weight. She was always replying that her excess weight did not bother
her and that she was feeling good and not hurting. When Jana decided to react,
she was 270 pounds. She had started to have health problems, unavoidable
consequences of her obesity.
Her blood pressure was too high for her age. Thanks to her unexpected encounter
If I was allowed to give an advice to those who want to start the Smart and
Light program, I would say this: Trust them, follow all their advices, because
with those two girls, their experiences, their program that include all the
innovating techniques, you will be a winner!
As far as I am concerned, I admire their performances, their courage and the
efficiency of the method. I see so many obese children every day, I have such
a hard time healing them, that I have asked Jana to help me by giving me the
keys to that program. With patience, she has translated all the documents I
needed to set up this new approach with the children.
Doctor Brigitte Seroussi :
Research director at the CNRS
Good Morning Sophie,
What a journey in 20 years! I congratulate you for what you have already ac-
complished. Your project seems very tight and strategic (obesity is indeed a
world public health issue). The company you built seems like a good concept.
Regards.
Scientific conclusion generalized obisity :
Roger bessis, Emeritus Professor at the University of bourgogne.
Obesity is one of the curses that threaten our health. To each his own. We just have to take care of it. Not so easy. Our social organization which takes into account our bio- logical mechanism and our cultural aspirations, lead us to define right and wrong and thus, direct us. No one can escape from those tendencies, even those who want to believe that they belong some place else. Every choice im- plies a non choice. It’s either right or wrong. From the first step, one chooses to put a foot ahead. That polarity of life forces us to maintain its difference. Our social example is based on growth. In a society, whether capitalist or communist, the degree of success is measured by its growth and compared to its inseparable corollary, inflation. In our minds, growth and inflation are naturally linked to swelling, obesity, success. It’s the result of our activity. Of course, we are saying no to the American social model. The planet’s new born are not going to give us philosophical lectures! With their shock theories, they have taught us that big is beautiful. We absolutely reject that notion. However, the forces that led to those theories are within us. The path that we are following is the same as theirs, and it is only the last step that we refuse to make. Those forces are present are we are subject to their consequences: obesity is all fields. We are going to try that generalization. Biology, culture, psyche: the architecture of obesity Man is a human being among other human being, from bacteria to whales. He is submitted to his biological tendencies, included in all his philosophies: to grow an to multiply. Compared to other human beings, he has an ability allowing him to push the limits of biology and reach his goals. In our so called developed societies, man has been multiplying, raising his age, life standards, weight, energy and you now how priceless this energy that allows him to go beyond his muscular strength is. He increases his knowledge, in order to decrease the factors that limit his growth, his growths. There is only one thing that does not increase, and it’s his intellect. When one reads the writings of ancient thinkers and philosophers, dating back a thousand or two thousand years ago, one is surprised by their analysis ability, their perception of the lines of human and social forces, their way of having deductive reasoning. In one word, one is surprised by their fine tuned spirit, which is inherent to the human condition and which does not have anything to do with the current proliferation of knowledge. The division between an intelligence that allows choices in the world organisation, in the relationships between human beings and the knowledge that allows the growth and the weight of men on the world is more difficult to perceive for most of the world citizens. Obesity is watching us and it is hiding to come to us. Wherever you look, everything that deals with human aspirations is MORE. More kilometres on the roads, more highways, more communication of all kind, more television, more computers, more cars, bigger and bigger, more suv, not by necessity but by pleasure, more comfort, more energy. All of that leading to liberate in a few years what nature has accumulated during geological times. More, more and more food of course. An independent spirit would say: it is not because there is more food that we have to eat more. But where are those independent spirits? There are stubborn spirits, re- bellious spirits, non-conformist spirits, but there are no independent spirits. To write, one needs a tool made by someone else. The independent spirit would not have an entrance, nor an exit. It would be cold opposition to change. Here are mitigating circumstances for obesity. Everything leads us to it. The social models that surround us are growing and why not our weight? No, it is not a pitch for obesity but only a way of understanding. We are pushed and only our will can restrain us. That is where nutritionists can help us. Our social model pushes us ti gain weight and now, it tells us that we are responsible for our weight. It is incoherent and it explains a number of psychic disorders: we accept our weight but we become anti-conformist to hide our guilt, or we do not accept our weight and we live in pain, dissatisfaction and guilt. At the end of the road, there is the other extreme, anorexia. Our society being what it is, and external help would help us resolve a few problems. Like for everything important in modern medicine, the symptoms will be treated. As for the disease, that is not the way we are going. Balanced social models where the goal of growth has disappeared does not exist yet. Even the “obsidian” situation within Indian reservations is not enough. So why am I obese and what should I do? On an individual level, you have to follow your nutritionist advices, given that it is a good nutritionist. You will recognise him So why am I obese and what should I do? On an individual level, you have to follow your nutritionist advices, given that it is a good nutritionist. You will recognise him because he’ll give you the will to lose weight. Everything depends on your will and his ability to convince you. He is a good psychologist; he is going to ease the set up of eating habits unknown to your environment. No, you will not go hungry. Yes, you will eat as much as you want of this and that but be careful, the food associations you are used to are forbidden (see notes). One gets used to anything. After all, the fakir sleeps on a bed of nails right? We will show you how to handle pain. I said pain: It is because I am a bad nutritionist. In our society, consumption, consumerism, growth, more of everything, allow us to understand some patterns in our mind but we do not offer an acceptable solution to get out of it. Our current human system is based on two features: Globalisation, which is essential not to increase our commercial exchanges, but to the global understanding that it’ll allow (after how many wars?), with its outcome: how many men and with what life standards? Growth, which is our current pick but despite our gesticulations, it’ll have to stop some day. How do we go from the necessity of stopping the growth and then reversing it? Our society does not allow us to. Nutritionists will have to know how to slim it down. I said pain… And this is how there is obesity. (*see notes) This text is written voluntarily under an esoteric form so that anyone could refer to images of their choice. This is an example of how to express the idea of forbidding this or that food association:
- 1° exclusion of lipid and carbohydrates association
- 2° do not consume sugar and fat and the same time.
- 3° Do not mix oil and honey.
- 4° Crunchy and sugary are forbidden.
- 5° You should be ashamed of eating so much sweets.
- 6° You are ashamed, so stop!
You act like you do not understand and you are right. Let’s go back to symbols. Meditation feeds the light within the hermit, doddery and valetudinarian, living deep inside his humid cave.