Читать книгу Steve Miller's Slimming Secrets - Steve Miller - Страница 16

In early 2008, I had an urgent request from a new a client called David. He explained that his weight had spiralled out of control and that he was, as he put it, ‘at his wits’ end’. I agreed to see him and we set the date for our first session. At 35, David wanted to lose weight so that he stood more of a chance of finding a partner and to improve his career prospects, too. Before meeting David, he sounded convincing and from our telephone conversation he seemed to have a good idea about what he needed to do to lose weight. How wrong I was! When David arrived, he offered me a half-hearted handshake and looked angry and fed up. Thinking it might be nerves, I invited him to sit down and we started to chat. David suddenly went into a sermon on how he had tried all the diets out there and had seen several weight-loss specialists, but they had failed to help him lose weight. In his mind, it was all about how other people had failed him and the fact that they had been useless. Where have I heard this before? I pondered as I continued to listen to him blaming others for his downfall.

Around 30 minutes passed by until I decided to interrupt him and kindly asked why he had failed. Shocked and horrified, his jaw nearly hit the floor – no one had ever spoken to him like that before. ‘Me, failed?’ he asked. ‘Yes, you,’ I replied. No one had ever challenged his thought processes before and for a moment he paused and looked at me, not really knowing what to say. I then went on to tell David that all he’d done was blame other people and call them failures, but he’d forgotten to include himself.

Following this, I explained to him that if all he was going to do was blame others and call them failures, he wouldn’t move forward and working together would be an absolute waste of time. I asked him to think about the advice he had previously been given – which, to be fair, sounded reasonable, with the exception of a few diets that were restrictive in nature. As our conversation continued, David began to realise that he had to look at himself and his reactions closely. Blaming others would leave him lame, he wouldn’t be able to move forward and this would ultimately keep him fat.

As the message sunk in, he acknowledged I had a point and agreed to move forward and accept his responsibility to losing weight. It was David’s acceptance of responsibility that was his catalyst to lose weight and in doing so he went on to drop several stone. I am sure he reflects on that message each time he hears people blaming others for their weight. Ultimately, David realised that only he could lose weight for himself; saying that others failed him was actually the perfect excuse and ultimately, one that would have kept him fat.