There’s No Rush!
Diet Motivation Advice – Speed of Weight Loss

Gloria and Weight Loss

Gloria sat on a sofa in her big house and groaned. Her doctor had just told her she needed to lose 30 pounds. Rubbish, thought Gloria. What she needed was a good holiday. So she rang the travel agents and booked a two week holiday in the sun. That should do the trick, she thought, and instantly felt better.

Two weeks later, everything was ready and off she went. The hotel was lovely, the weather was hot and the food was gorgeous. There was just one problem. Everyone else was so much slimmer than her! They made her look like a sack of potatoes. It was so depressing! So one lunchtime, as she was having drinks by the pool, Gloria poured her heart out to another woman, called Lucy, who had one of the best figures she had seen.

It all started 15 months ago, said Lucy. She had just turned 40 and felt rotten. She was 220 pounds (16 stone) and each day was a struggle. Finally, she went to the doctor for a prescription but he explained to her that pills wouldn’t help. She had to lose weight.“I’m so fat and you’re so slim!” she said to Lucy. ” How do you do it?” Lucy laughed. In fact she laughed so much, she nearly fell off her bar-stool. “Oh, Gloria! If only you knew the full story, you wouldn’t be half as impressed!” But this only made Gloria more curious. She begged Lucy to tell her the story. So she did.

But this wasn’t what Lucy wanted to hear. In fact it made her so depressed that she went home and ate a whole packet of cookies. However, that evening she talked it over with her husband. She told him how depressed she was about her weight and how bad she felt. So he came up with an idea. If Lucy started a diet and managed to lose 40 pounds (3 stone), he’d treat her to a luxury holiday in the sun!

Lucy wasn’t sure. She’d never dieted successfully before. What if she tried and failed? Don’t worry about that, replied her husband. The worst that will happen is that you stay the same. Besides, what have you got to lose? Lucy had no answer to this, so reluctantly she agreed.

Well, the first month was a disaster. She couldn’t get into her diet at all. She was jumping on the scales at every opportunity and losing nothing. When she told her husband how difficult it was, he smiled and said: “Relax, it’s not a race. Take all the time you want.” And at that very moment, the penny dropped!

Why? Because Lucy suddenly realized that she was free! She was free to lose weight as fast or as slow as she pleased. So there was no need to feel bad about how long it was taking. The truth was, it didn’t matter how long it took, as long as she got there in the end.

To cut a long story short, Lucy carried on dieting and very slowly the weight came off. And as it did she felt better and better. In all, she lost a total of 70 pounds (5 stone), at an average of a pound and a quarter a week. It took her just over 12 months but it was the best 12 months she ever spent. Because for the first time in ages, she enjoyed being herself. No more tiredness, no more guilt and no more heavy weight to carry around.

By the time Lucy finished her story, Gloria was ready to hang herself! For years, she had been telling herself that she couldn’t lose weight. But now she knew she was just kidding herself. And it’s true, she thought, it doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as I get there in the end. Right, no more excuses, she thought. I’m going to do it. Now all I need is an incentive.

Just then, a dark-haired Spaniard with big brown eyes and a lean athletic body brushed against her on his way to the bar. Gloria watched him closely. Hmm, she thought. Exactly the sort of incentive I was looking for!