's motd Sunday June 29, 2008

[Guest guest]

PLEASE CALL MY SISTER

Sunday, 29 June 2008

While I was on the road last week, I met a pilot with Northwest Airlines. He even looked the part of a pilot. He was tall, distinguished and had a really welcoming smile. And it was obvious that he worked out because he was in top physical shape. When he saw me, he had to stop and have a talk with me about something.

"," he said to me, "can you call my sister? I really don't have any idea how much she weighs but she's got to be over 300 pounds And I'm really worried about her."I told him that I'd be glad to and yesterday, I did finally speak with his sister. See, it took several attempts because when I'd called before, I kept getting her answering machine. But I did get her live on the phone yesterday."My bother told me that you were going to call me but I really didn't believe him. Thank You! And how are you, ?"I was more interested in how she was doing, though. Her name was Carol and she told me that she had been very overweight all of her life. She told me how she had been teased about her size for all of those years and the teasing and making fun of her only made her eat even more. She talked about the divorce she'd been through and how she'd lost her job of 20 years as a result of her company downsizing and cutting back on employees.

She asked me how was she to even start at losing weight. Well, to help her get started, I sent her a copy of my Lighten Up program which I send to guests of my radio show of the same name. I do hope that she'll put my program to work and get to work getting a grip on her obesity and create a healthier life for herself.All day long, people send me E-mails asking me to call an overweight sister, brother, father, mother, cousin or close friend. And I do call as many of them as I possibly can. All of the people I call really want to lose the weight, for a while anyway but, sadly, in time, many of them allow their addictions to take over, all over again.Is there someone in your family or circle of friends who desperately needs to be saved from themselves? Yes? Well, don't just write me for help. You and that person's family must be ready to help. (And that includes the person you're writing about, too.) Remember, you all watched as this person you love went from 200 to 300, 400 or even more pounds. I know and you know that they didn't gain the weight overnight. It took time. As they continued to gain weight, some of you even brought them food and did everything for them as they simply lay in their beds.And I know you worry about them. But worrying is not enough. Let's be honest. These people are going to die...unless there is an intervention to save their lives.

There are not enough rehab centers in the United States to care for all of the overweight and obese individuals who need help. I only wish there were but, like I said, that's not the case. If you are fortunate enough to get someone you love into one of these centers then, by all means, get them there.But if the work they need to do to lose weight has to be done in their homes, then you need to get all of that person's loved ones together and work out a plan to help him or her. All of us working together can help solve the problem of your loved one's weight.I hope I'm still alive to witness the day this country's obesity epidemic is defeated and disappears, once and for all. But like I said, in the meantime, it's going to take all of us working together to make that happen, one loved one at a time.Love,