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Jewish World Review Sept. 23, 2002 / 17 Tishrei 5763
Steve Young
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | It's time we admit it. Quick fixes don't...fix. Lower fat french fries at McDonalds won't take off the inches. Slimming down at Subway? C'mon. Exercise? Overrated, thank Heaven. Ab slimmer/hardeners? Looking at the commercials...great. But actually working for us? Puh-lease. And a new study by the Federal Trade Commission says that all those quickie-weight-loss commercials are as phoney as a, well, most commercials. Nothing really seems to work. Why? Because, as very expensive therapists will tell you, if we ever want to look better and feel healthier, it's never about dieting and exercise. It's about attitude. The better we feel, the less the necessity for food to fill up that empty place. If we feel good about who we are today, we will be more excited about changing our tomorrows. We need a place to start, but how do we feel good about ourselves in the middle of feeling lousy? Especially when everything we have done to date hasn't seemed to work? The answer is: A NEW PERSPECTIVE. In my book, "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful: Mistakes, Adversity, Failure and Other Stepping Stones to Success", icons from many different fields tell how they took failures and turned them into extraordinary positives. When Norm Pattiz was fired from a sales job where he dealt with television syndication, he was left broke and disheartened. But instead of accepting defeat, he found a new angle. He took the knowledge he had accumulated from his failure and applied it to a different arena, creating an entirely new business...radio syndication. Today, Norm Pattiz, the mastermind behind the unparalleled success of Westwood One is known by many as the Father of Radio Syndication.
I submit: Within every problem lies the resolution to the problem. So, budding entrepreneurs, listen up. Here is an opportunity for those who have failed to keep off the pounds to throw away all those quickie-weight loss plans and create something new from what you have learned from your own diet failures. You can help us feel good about ourselves so that the inches will just melt away, and you might become the Father (or Mother) of Weight-Loss Syndication. Here's some starter ideas for weight-loss businesses success drawn from my own weight-challenged problems: 1. PROBLEM: I hate the large sizes I had to wear . NEW BUSINESS: Manufacturer Measurement Modification. Dresses, pants, belts. Not too much. You don't want to make it obvious. People are overweight, not idiots. We're just looking for a way to get people started, create an incentive, to do it on their own. Tags for a 40" waist, should read "38"; a size "14" should read as "12" yet still be a wee bit loose to make people feel that with a little work, they could get down to the next size. For those who really care about their mates, this could take a little more work. It's up to you to change the tags in your companion's clothing already in the closet. Note: It is of the upmost importance that you do not snicker when your partner gloats about how much weight they seem to be losing. 2. PROBLEM: I never like the way I look in the mirror. NEW BUSINESS: Better Mirrors. A modicum of glass manipulation should reveal to the weight watcher a rather svelte image. Why Bloomingdales or Kmart have ignored this obvious means to selling their clothing is beyond me. So what if it distorts the suit or dress style. It's been a long time since I looked in a mirror and let fashion overshadow "Hey, this makes me look thinner!" I'd wear a black Nehru suit if it takes off the pounds. 3. PROBLEM: Scales - Yikes!: NEW BUSINESS: Scaled Back Scales. Manufacturers need to roll back the pounds indicaters about three pounds. Is that enough? Tell me a loss of three pounds doesn't start the day fabulously. We'll believe that. Any more and we'd smell a rat. A fat one. I'd say that this is one we could do ourselves but even extra weight doesn't dull our memory so much that we'd forget that we did it. Besides it's a lot easier to have others fool us than having us fool ourselves. Why not? We've always trusted others' judgements more than our own. That's what this is all about. Doctors, hospitals and gyms (for those foolhardy enough to exercise) would need to comply on this one as there will be a few doubters who will find any weight loss dubious enough to run off to their local general practitioner to verify the unimaginable. I encourage you to come up with solutions from your own issues, but until these businesses begin in earnest, remember two things that worked for me: Don't eat when you're hungry and NEVER weigh yourself until right after you get your hair cut.
09/17/02: Earth to Florida: No more elections
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