Roger's Story part 3

[LINDA RN]

A Pattern of Monday Morning "Fresh Starts" Kicked In
Then-play it again, Sam-I got sick of the way I looked, and almost every Monday I'd start dieting again. I tried desperately to duplicate what I had done in losing weight for Tyra's wedding. By Monday night, my mind was tormented with thoughts of food.

The Monday-morning resolve lasted sometimes a day, sometimes two or three days, and then I would offer Anita or our son, Ty, money to go get a family­ size pizza, lots of tacos and nachos with cheese, cashews, chocolate covered peanuts, chips and dip, cake, ice cream, chocolate bars-you name it and I bribed a member of my family to get it for me.

After gorging myself until I couldn't eat anymore, I would say to my wife, "Throw all the rest of this stuff away because I'm starting my diet tomorrow." Starting a diet the next day, of course, never happened. Anita got smart and refused to throw away the food. Instead, she would hide it from me so that when I asked for it again she would already have it and wouldn't have to spend additional money.

Anita tells me today that the reason she always went to the store to get what I wanted was simply that she couldn't stand for me to be unhappy.

In my later fat years, because of all my embarrassments and humiliations, I became a "closet eater." When eating out, I would eat just like everyone else, and when I got home, I would satiate myself with everything fattening I could get my hands on.

Why Am I Willing to Tell You All This?

Why am I willing to admit all of this to you? Because no matter where you are on the dieting treadmill-trying again and, again to lose weight, but instead of losing, you are gaining and gaining weight-there's a good chance I've "been there, done that." I know the pain, the humiliation, the temptations, and all the tricks of the dieting life.

But-and this is a huge, huge, huge turnaround statement for me-I'm not fat today. I haven't been fat for many years! What happened?

I came to a very simple decision. I cried out to my Father in heaven and asked for help, and He answered my prayer. I didn't hear God speak audibly to me, but I started waking in the middle of the night with an idea I couldn't escape. Night after night, God began showing me the puzzle pieces for the Let's Do Lunch approach! He gave me a plan that worked for me. I have spent several pages telling you what did not work for me, all to lead up to this point where I can tell you that I found something that did work for me. And since I'm something of an expert on what does not work, I hope you will see the wisdom in my sharing with you what does.

I developed a dieting plan that

• allows me to eat until I'm full
• allows me to eat foods we all love
• allows me to eat whenever I'm hungry
• does not require that I do anything I hate to do

Which means there's no exercising. There are no pills to take, no shakes to down, no counting of carbs, calories, fat grams, or points.

There are no math exercises-no converting grams to calories. There's no measuring or weighing food, and no portioning. There are no prescribed foods to buy, no chemicals to take, and no specific liquids to drink. There are no meetings to attend.

I lost 230 pounds by eating foods we all love until I was completely full and could not eat any more. And-to the best of my knowledge-I became the only formerly obese person in the world to have written a best-selling diet book and kept the weight off.

As I started losing weight, my wife couldn't believe I was losing while I was eating a great deal of food and not exercising. She actually thought there was something wrong with me. She thought I was physically sick. She eventually voiced her concern to me, but initially, she was so happy to see me happy that she said nothing.

For the First Time, I Loved the Side Effects of Weight Loss
Always in the past, I had hated the side effects of weight loss: I had no energy. I felt consumed with temptation to eat the wrong things. I was frustrated and depressed. This time, things were different. Almost immediately, I noticed major changes in my health-all of them positive.

My lower blood pressure number went from 90 and higher down to between 60 and 80. I got rid of my sleep apnea and snoring. My hips and feet stopped hurting. My acid indigestion left me. My face became thinner without any major sagging of the skin. My potassium level rose naturally. My skin stayed soft and smooth.

And most amazing to me, my waistline shrank even though I was eating until I was completely full. Because my cravings were eliminated, I didn't eat as much as I did before. I developed what I believe is the only way to speed up the body's metabolism naturally-without exercising, pills, and chemicals. I also found that it didn't matter where I ate my food. I ate lots of meals while lying on my bed, on my side.

As I mentioned before, Anita continued to fear that I was physically sick.

After I had lost approximately 190 pounds without exercising, she finally concluded that I must have cancer-or another major illness--as the reason for my weight loss. She insisted that I have a thorough physical exam. I went to our dear friend, Dr. Eli Farri of Fort Myers, Florida, and he pronounced that I was fine and sent me home to tell Anita that whatever I was doing, I should continue doing it.

Anita cried. Shortly after that, she said, "Honey, please don't lose any more weight; you look just perfect." I can't begin to tell you how proud I felt!

After I lost the 230 pounds I wanted to lose, Anita was astounded and insisted I have another physical. Dr. Farri had to call and assure her there was nothing wrong with me. I don't have to tell you how pleased she was at that news. She looked at me as if I were the most wonderful China doll she had ever seen.

Then a Most Amazing Thing Happened ...
And then a most amazing thing happened-Anita asked me if I thought she could lose eight pounds on the program I had started calling "Let's Do lunch." These eight pounds were ones she had not been able to lose all of her adult life. She didn't believe she could eat all the foods I told her she could eat and still lose weight, but she was willing to try. To make a long story short, Anita didn't lose eight pounds-she lost twenty-three pounds and became skinnier than she was at age eighteen!

After watching me eat to my heart's content one day, my mother said, "Honey, have you gone off your diet?" I told her that the way I was eating was the way I always ate on my diet, and I then asked if she was interested in losing any weight. She started doing the let's Do lunch plan and lost fifty pounds. She went from a dress size eighteen to a size ten, without exercise of any kind!

No, I'm Not a Movie Star-but Yes, I Am Your Cousin!

I told you about some of the most embarrassing experiences I had when I was heavy. Now I'd like to tell you about some of the fun experiences I've had as a thin man.

The foremost occasions that come to mind-some of them a little embarrassing and yet very gratifying for me-are the times people have thought I was a movie star or a TV personality. The first time this happened was in a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. Anita and I noticed everyone staring at us. Then the manager walked up, excused himself for interrupting, and said he recognized my face but couldn't remember my name. I told him I was sorry, but I didn't recall ever having met him. He said we'd never met, but he'd seen me in the movies and on television. I told him I was flattered, but I wasn't who he thought I was. He refused to hear my answer.

Then there was the episode at the jam-packed movie studio amusement park, when the casting director for their mock TV show selected our son, Ty, to be the announcer. Then, right after he went through the dressing room door to prepare for the skit that was to follow, the casting director selected me to be the "leading man, main guest."

As I entered the dressing room, Ty looked up at me in astonishment and said, "What are you doing here?" When I told him, he just shook his head in disbelief-and he has never heard the end of it.

I remember calling three of my old working buddies to arrange a luncheon.
I drove to downtown St. Paul, and as I was parking my car, I saw one of them doing the same. I didn't say a thing as we walked side by side into the restaurant. He had looked right at me and had no idea who I was! I turned toward him and asked if he had a match. Actually, I have no idea why I asked for a match, since I don't smoke. He replied that he did not. I said, "Well, you really ought to have a match for one of your old best buddies."

He looked at me again and stared. At last, he recognized me. His mouth dropped open. He was absolutely speechless. Finally, he threw his arms around me as he said, "I don't believe it!" It was all I could do to hold back the tears.