"Don't be silly. You can't go all cold turkey like that. It'll only make it harder for you to lose weight. You can even gain some more doing that!"
"Really? Wow, I had no idea. So what should I do then?"
"Well, I can schedule an appointment with the family doctor as soon as I can. Until then I want you to eat just like you have been doing. You don't want risk making any wrong changes to your diet, right?"
"Yeah, you're right. I guess my health is the most important part. Thanks mom!"
"So, why don't you go have some cake while I call the doctor. I just brought some. I didn't know if you would prefer chocolate or strawberry, so I got both."
As soon as Claire got far enough, Jen called her old friend Dr. Susan. She wasn't a diet specialist, but being a doctor should be enough to convince her daughter, Jen thought. Also, Susan was fat positive, so it shouldn't be hard convincing her to help trick Claire. Jen could notice her friend got excited from the idea and, after a brief talk regarding their plan, they had a visit scheduled two weeks from then. Susan had plenty of availability before that, but they wanted to keep Claire eating normally a little longer.
When the visit day came, Claire was visibly fatter. Her clothes were showing her belly most of the time, and she was starting to get a bit conscious about it. Claire greeted Dr. Susan, who proceeded with the usual formalities and some measurement taking. Claire was now 167 pounds.
"Okay, Claire. So you have told me that you have gained some weight and that you wanted to slim down a bit, right? I have to say, your current weight doesn't sound that much high to me. What you may be experiencing is some body dysmorphia caused by you being unused to recent changes, and that's perfectly normal. If you really do want to lose some weight, I can still help you."
"Great. I'm already a little relieved to hear that it isn't as bad as I thought. But I'm listening."
"Well, you can start by tricking your brain into changing how it perceives your own body. Before your weight gain you were used to wearing clothes that were too small, so now they feel to tight, and this puts additional mental stress on you. The way to address this, is renewing your wardrobe, so as to negate the feeling of your old small clothes, so buying clothes a size or two bigger than your current size should do it."
Claire was writing down the instructions intently.
"Now, the thing people get wrong the most about diets is that simply by reducing your caloric intake you will lose weight. You won't. It all has to do with your metabolism. Right now, your body knows that you weigh 167 pounds, and it wants to stay like that. If you start eating less, your body will do whatever it can to keep your weight up. Conversely, if you rapidly eat more, your metabolism will rise. The more you increase your diet, the easier it will be to lose weight."
"Wow, I'm amazed I've seen so much misinformation about diet."
"Yes, this is why it is so important to check with a professional. Last, but not least, I want you to throw your scales away. Checking your progress too closely may hinder your motivation because most changes are more gradual than what we've been conditioned to expect. Plus, you wouldn't have the adequate equipment and the necessary control you will have checking your progress here with me. And remember, more important than meaningless numbers, is how you feel about your body."
"Thanks, Dr. Susan. This has been very informative."
Susan finally let her devilish smile out, as Claire exited the office. She wondered how she would look when she got back.
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author