Wow. Even in the question you sound scornful. "latest fad diet and then quitting" "at least trying". It's a good thing this is the internet because if this was real life... maybe, as Thor has done, maybe it's just good to step back and count to 10 and let cooler heads prevail.
But for your information, what my organization preaches is the same thing as what you would recommend for the other addition you mentioned - spending. If you overspend, you need to start tracking your spending, make a budget, make a plan, sit with a financial advisor, find where you can cut spending or find ways of making more money. Which, if you read my newspaper article is exactly what I did. I wrote down everything that I was eating. Looked at where I could cut back. Increased my exercise.
I said earlier in this thread that the most common question I get when out visiting chapters is about the loose skin. Second most common question is "What diet did you use?", expecting an answer like "South Beach", "Grapefruit", "Atkins"... and I say I used the only one that works: "Eat Less, Move More". And then I show them this video (though I concede that it is pretty insulting itself):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKs0oEIVOck
I think you and I agree on the mechanics of the whole thing. People need to (a) get off their butts and (b) really look at what they are eating. But the scorn you throw at them does absolutely NOTHING to motivate people to do that. As BV stated,
SUPPORTING people that wish to improve their health is far more motivating. Now that I have lost the weight, I'm still with the organization, but my role is now more as an example of how the program works and as a cheerleader for those that are progressing and losing weight. But it's constantly a fight to keep morale up when people are constantly putting them down.