Who was once young

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While I don’t personally own a television set like those rich people do, I’m well aware of the popularity of the Biggest Loser television program that chronicles the bodyweight loss journey of overweight people. Reality televison programs are popular, I suppose, because they allow viewers to vicariously live through the individuals being showcased.

The weight loss that some of those Biggest Loser participants accomplish is remarkable. Equally as remarkable is the eventual weight gained back for many of them. What’s that all about? Why would anyone intentionally sabotage their dietary and fitness success and go back to the fatso they were to begin with? I’ll tell you why.

The reason is that they didn't take their physical transformation to the mental level. By this I mean that they still saw themselves at a fat person who lost weight rather than a fit person who was once fat. That's a huge difference.

The same is true for others who make amazing and healthy changes in their lives only to eventually relapse to the old behavior or condition. I once talked to a person who identified himself as a former cigarette smoker. He told me of his repeated failures trying to permanently kick the habit, and that he didn’t achieve permanent success until he crossed the mental paradigm of identifying himself as a non-smoker who once smoked rather than someone who quit smoking.

I practice this mental imagery daily in my morning date with the bathroom mirror. Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Every man who looks in the mirror sees a 16-year old kid. Therefore, what I see is a 16-year old kid who has gotten a little older and wiser, not an older and wiser man who was once young.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum