If your life is one chaotic rush with no time for anything, that has to be sorted.
Once you know what you really want—a slim, healthy body—getting there takes resolve and commitment. If you have spent most of your life just moaning about what you don’t want— how you hate being fat, how you can’t stop eating—then simply making the commitment to be slim will seem unnatural.
Lose the ‘fat’ thoughts in your head and you © will lose the fat on your thighs.
Stop Lying
All bingers lie – to themselves and to others. Seventeen-stone clients swear to me that nothing passes their lips except lettuce and cottage cheese. Come on now, you know biscuits make you fat and you also know that one biscuit won’t do that. But taking the view that ‘one biscuit won’t make a difference’ leads to ‘just a few nuts/an ice cream/one slice of pizza/two squares of chocolate—won’t make a difference’. Individually, maybe not—if you are already slim. But collectively, every day, they do. So why are you surprised when this happens?
‘I’ll start again tomorrow.’ Why? What makes you think it will be easier tomorrow, especially if you are planning to activate your sugar-craving with an almighty binge for the rest of the day? Stop kidding yourself. Are you going to wait until you are another stone heavier before you start doing something about it? There is only one life; this is not a dress rehearsal for the slim life you should be living. Only you can bring that about.
As Professor Ben Fletcher of the Framework of Internal Transformation (FIT) says: ‘You get what you expect. If you are not getting what you want, you have to change your thinking slightly. Because we are such habitual creatures, we cocoon ourselves in the world that we had yesterday. We like the comfort of what we know. People have the illusion that they are flexible, and this is especially true of leaders, politicians and chief executives. In fact, many are prisoners of their habits.’
The simple, obvious premise outlined in the following pages will give you the knowledge and tools to change the habits that have kept you fat. It will enable you to live the rest of your life as a slim person. You can choose to use these tools at any time. Sometimes you may disregard them and put on a few pounds, but once this knowledge is firmly implanted in your head, you can use it to get back on track any time you choose.
Whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re right!
Conversation with Client
C: Will you just verify something for me: my hairdresser says that you need four tablespoons of olive oil every day to keep your hair strong and shiny and that a low-fat diet will cause dryness of the hair and scalp.
Me: I don’t think your hairdresser knows what he’s talking about. Even if you cut down drastically on your fat consumption, if you are eating a balanced diet you will still be getting more fat than you need to keep everything properly lubricated, including your hair and scalp.
C: Oh. He also says that to lose weight you should eat half a grapefruit before each meal. How does that work?
Me: It doesn’t—unless you don’t actually eat the meal after you’ve had the grapefruit! Which I don’t advise, by the way. What other gems does this font of all nutritional knowledge have to impart?
C: Well, apparently, to speed up weight loss you should eat negative-value foods like celery and radishes. He says this sort of food burns up more calories in the chewing and digesting than is actually contained in the food.
Me: That’s a load of rubbish. What else?
C: Come on, he’s really knowledgeable. Did you know that to make your nails grow stronger you should eat jelly or dip your hands in it because it contains gelatin?
Me: Well, if you want to sit with your hand in a bowl of jelly, then don’t let me stop you. Which nutritional academy did this genius graduate from?
C: The Morris School of Hairdressing.
Me: I thought so.
C: You are being very unkind. He knows a lot about nutrition. He told me that pineapples contain a special enzyme that burns up fat. Is that true?
Me: Wrong again. Pineapples do contain an enzyme called bromelin, which digests protein and is similar to an enzyme called papain in papayas. These are not found in any other fruits but, sadly, they do not burn up fat. There is no food yet invented that does. Even if there were, you wouldn’t be able to find it because I would have bought up the entire supply!
C: But surely he is right about some things?
Me: Well, he has cut one side of your hair shorter than the other. That should tell you something.
Chapter Two Who’s Conning Who?
‘In the year 500 BC (Before Conley—of the Sainted Rosemary), the Prophet Legawaxius declared (from the Book of Salon, App. 10.30, Bikini-Line 1): “If thou dost prevail and surrender thine body into the hands of practitioners well versed in the art of beautifying the flesh, be it encumbered upon you to preserve thy maidenly modesty by remaining clothed in thy garment of knicker—be it elephantipants or thong—at all times."
How the Diet Industry Gets Rich
As a dieter you are part of a very exploited group. An £80 million diet industry thrives on your failure. To the pharmaceutical industry, fat people represent a potentially unrivalled source of revenue. Having found a cure for impotence with Viagra, it now sees a remedy for obesity as its holy grail. Even the reputable slimming organizations would surely prefer that you fail so that you will keep coming back and paying your weekly dues. How else can they make money?
Slimming Aids
The same applies to the slimming aids you can buy over-the-counter in chemist or health-food shops. People keep buying these products then blaming themselves when they don’t work. The diet companies are making a fortune persuading you to buy these
