2. Jake shares his secret.

Jake took a seat beside Joe at the ice cream parlor. He had in his hand a mini scoop of orange sherbet ice cream. “Joe… I didn’t want to tell you that I’ve been doing other things besides diet and exercise because it made me feel silly. I’m only telling you now because it’s actually working! You see we’ve been through so many fad diets and we’ve lost weight together but we always ended up gaining it back. I just took an honest look at things and I realized that there are people out there that eat right and excercise on a regular basis that don’t use fad diets but they are in shape. They are healthy. If they aren’t using fad diets then why should I? ”

“Those people that you are talking about, they have better will power than us. I could never eat what they eat all the time. That’s impossible. I like food too much. So do you. Eventually you’ll break down and you’ll start eating like you used to. It’s happened before. Look at me. Just about 6 months ago when we were dieting I would have never had this ice cream but look. I ‘m having one now. I had one yesterday and I’ll probably have one tomorrow. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Joe do you remember Frank?”

“You mean Fat Frank? He moved away. I heard that he’s a Yoga trainer or something. I heard that he lost a lot of weight. Some people say that he had liposuction or that he had his stomach stapled or something. Is that what you did? I heard that surgeries are expensive and I can’t afford that.”

“No Joe it’s nothing like that. Frank did lose the weight. He looks great now. I had a talk with him just before we started our last diet and he’s been working with me ever since. He hasn’t gained the weight back and neither will I. It has nothing to do with will power or surgery.”

“Then what is it!?” wonder Joe a loud.

“I changed my mind.”

What?

I changed my mind. All of those fad diets that we were on. They were unrealistic. Could you imagine have one of those shakes as a meal twice a day everyday? Or that cabbage soup?

Ya you’re right. That soup was terrible. To think that’s all I ate for a week! So how do I get on realistic diet and stay on it.

Good question.

1: Joe Gives Up

“This will never work for me!” shouted Joe out loud. “How will I ever lose weight and keep it off?” Joe looked in the mirror. There he was wearing them again. His fat pants. Eight months ago Joe was at 50 lbs lighter. He was working out 5-6 days a week. He was eating properly and he was wearing cooler instyle clothes. He was happier and he smiled more. But now with tears in his eyes he thought to himself, “I don’t even know why I even try.”Joe had gone through years of losing weight and feeling great shortly after he was gaining it all back. He did it over and over again and he didn’t know why he could just shed that weight and keep it off.
“This is it! This is the last time. I should just accept the fact I’m fat and I’ll stay like this forever.”
Joe gathered up all of his thin clothes and put them in a box. “I guess I’ll never need these again.” He decided that he was going to donate the clothes to charity but on the way he was going to the ice cream parlor and get an ice cream sundae. “If I’m going to be fat then I might as well enjoy the foods that fat people like.”
Joe’s sundae was huge: chocolate sauce, sprinkles, nuts, chocolate chips, marmallows, whipped cream and a cherry on top. As Joe was enjoying his sundae, Jake walked in. Jake had gone through the same weight roller coaster that Joe had gone through in the past. The often dieted together and worked out together. This time however Jake didn’t put the weight back on like Joe did.
“It’s good to see you Joe! What’s with the box of clothes?” said Jake.
“Oh these… um these are just some clothes that I’m giving away.”
“But you just bought these 3 months ago. I was there when you bought them. Why?”
“They don’t fit me anymore. I’ve decided to stop trying to lose weight and just accept the fact that I’m fat. I keep losing the weight and gaining it back over and over again. I just figure why bother. You know you’ve been through the same thing. Why don’t you join me? You’ll probably just gain all the weight back too in a month or so.”
Jake took a big sigh and turned to Joe. “Listen, I know that you’ve gained the weight back but I am not going to. I’ve already thrown away my fat clothes. I found something out and we need to talk.”