A blonde woman who was normally happy but secretly loathed how she looked was sick of feeling bad about herself. She didn’t want to look in mirrors anymore because her clothes were getting tighter and the stairs felt steeper. One day, she stepped on the scale and saw a number that scared her. She went to the doctor for help. She wanted to change, but she didn’t want to monitor every calorie or follow a rigorous diet.
The doctor, an older man who had been practicing for a long time and liked strange patients, sat her down and told her about a strategy he had tried with other people before.
“This is what I want you to do,” he scribbled on his notepad. “Eat every day for two days.” Don’t go crazy; simply eat what you usually do. Don’t consume anything on the third day. You shouldn’t eat for a whole day. Then, for two days, eat normally, and then skip again. Do that for two whole weeks.
He looked at her seriously and said, “You should lose at least five pounds if you follow this plan exactly.” It’s extremely likely that you’ll lose even more.
She gazed at him with wide eyes, nodded with excitement, and said, “I can do that.” She smiled politely, took the note, and went, determined to make things work.
Two weeks later, she went back to the clinic for her follow-up visit. The receptionist was even astonished when she came in. She seemed like a different person. She looked a little tired, but her clothing were looser, her face was thinner, and she walked with more vigor.
She went in to see the doctor, and when she stepped on the scale, he almost dropped his clipboard. She had shed 19 pounds in just two weeks.
He was shocked and raised his eyebrows. He shouted, “This is awesome!” “You’ve lost almost four times as much as I thought you would.” That’s incredible! Did you do everything the way it said to?
The blonde smiled and nodded, proud. “Yes, doctor, I did what you told me to do.”
“But that’s a lot of weight in such a short time,” he replied again, still shocked. “How did you do on the days of fasting?” Did you feel like you were about to throw up or that you were hungry?
The woman sighed and took a seat in the chair. “Doctor, I’ll be honest,” she murmured, wiping the sweat from her brow. “I thought I was going to die on the third day.”
The doctor moved in closer, looking alarmed. “Because you’re hungry?”
She stared at him with big, serious eyes and said, “No, from skipping.”
There was a break.
He blinked. “Skipping?”
She nodded. “Yes!” You told me to eat for two days and then not eat for the third day. I missed every third day, and I missed every third day. I wandered around in the kitchen. I walked up and down the hall for hours. In the street. For hours!
The doctor had to think for a second about what she meant before he started to giggle. It was a warm, deep, and unrestrained laugh. He couldn’t imagine that his patient would really forego meals during the fasting days. She not only got it wrong, but she was so serious about it that she worked out every third day.
And for some reason, it worked. It was clear that the result was due to a combination of things, such as eating fewer calories, doing aerobics when they weren’t expected, or just having a lot of willpower. She took a misunderstanding and made it into a weight-loss regimen that, surprisingly, worked better than anyone had expected it would.
The doctor grinned and remarked, “Well, I guess skipping has its benefits after all.” But next time, we’ll make it easy to grasp what to do.
The blonde grinned. “Honestly, I feel amazing. It was kind of fun to skip, even if I almost passed out a few times.
The doctor shook his head in bewilderment as she left the office. It was a pleasant reminder that being determined and not fully understanding something may sometimes lead to great things. And maybe the best thing of all is that she found happiness and laughter along the way, which is perhaps the best thing for her health.