3. Joe Talks with Frank

“I’m glad that you called.” Said Frank

Here’s the thing, said Jake. Joe and I have been trying to lose weight for years and years now. He wants to know how I have kept the weight off this time. I told him that we’ve been working together and that you’ve helped me change my mind.

“So Joe, are you ready to change your mind?”

“Why do I need to change my mind?”

“Let me explain. How much do you weigh?”

“I dunno… about 280 lbs.”

“Is that how much you’ve always weighed after you dieted, lost some weight and gained it back?”

“Yes… give or take a couple of pounds.”

“Here’s the thing. Right now your mind thinks that you are supposed to weigh 280 lbs. It’s been thinking that for a long time now. That’s why you are only successful at losing the weight. You are not successful at keeping it off. You might not know this but after you get to your goal weight since your mind thinks it’s supposed to weigh 280lbs. It starts reasoning with you. It tells you that you deserve to take a break from your diet, maybe take a break from your exercise your routine. It starts small. Maybe just once or twice a week. Then maybe every other day. Eventually, before you know it, you weigh 280 lbs again you haven’t been eating properly and you it’s been so long since you’ve exercised. Sound familiar?

Ya it does…. I’ve done that same thing over and for years now. So has Jake. How did you know that?

I know that cause I’ve done the same thing. Not just me bout countless others. Diets even if you combine them with exercise may work at the beginning and for a short while but they won’t work for the long term. The key is that you’ve got to change your mind.

Ok you’ve convinced me… How do I change my mind?

First you have to be very committed. Second no matter how weird, you have to follow my instructions. Deal?

Deal…..

Ok I’ll be back home instructing a yoga class this weekend. You come to my yoga class and we can talk afterward.

Yoga? I dunno about that.

I thought that we had a deal.

That’s right! I’ll be there. I’ll see you this weekend then. Bye

As Joe hung up the phone he had a new sense of confidence. This sounds like it’s actually going to work. If it works for Frank and Jake then why couldn’t it work for me?

Joe turned to Jake. “So… what should I expect this weekend?

“I’ll let you wait until tomorrow it’s better if Frank explains it to you. But he’s right. It’s kind of weird but it does work. I followed his instructions and I’ve kept the weight off.

Wow! I can’t wait. Your coming right?

Ya I’ll be there.

So… I guess I better get rid of all this junk food before I change my mind this weekend. Do you wanna have some dinner? I’ve got a couple of pot pies in the freezer and a couple gallons of ice cream. You wanna help me get rid of it?

I’ll have dinner with you but I’ll just stick to my diet. Don’t forget I’ve changed my mind.

Wow you got some real will power.I guess that it really does work huh?

Not really. It’s not about will power. I just changed my mind.

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 never eating carbs again? 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.

You see it’s easy to get on a diet. I know that you know that. We’ve been on dozens of diets through out the years. The problems is, not matter how much will power you have, you can’t stay on a diet. Here is the key, it’s not about diets… it’s about lifestyle.”

But we’ve both tried that in the past. Eat right and exercise. That’s what we did this time. How come it worked for you and not for me?

The reason why it worked for me is because I now believe that I’m a thinner and healthier person and that I deserve to stay that way. I changed my mind!

What are you talking about?

We should call Frank. He’s been helping me lose and keep the weight off. Why don’t I drop by your place tomorrow and we can give him a call.

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.”