Weight Loss Lessons From A Kid Who Couldn’t Do Math
When I hear from desperate dieters — the ones who’ve tried just about everything and nothing works — I’m reminded of the kids I once tutored in reading and math.
I often got the hardest cases, the ones no one else wanted.
The kids had given up. They just couldn’t do it.
I don’t think I was assigned those kids because I was so much smarter than anyone else. I was just too shy to complain. The other tutors weren’t.
These kids ultimately taught me much more than I taught them. And I believe some of those lessons can be applied to weight loss.
It begins and ends with self-image.
I saw it a lot with kids who were learning long division. Even if they’d been pretty good with math up until that point, if they had problems with long division, suddenly they believed they couldn’t do math. Especially if the division involved decimal points.
Their teachers, their parents and other kids just reinforced that image. And these poor kids believed it.
The more they bought into that self-image, the quicker they gave up.
Just like dieters who’ve had trouble losing weight. Especially if it’s been a lifelong battle.
No one ever considers that maybe the problem is how we’re taught to do things.
Let me go back to the long division example. Because sometimes, it’s easier to see things on other people in other situations.
I don’t remember all the details. But I remember a young boy I’ll call Jimmy. And it went something like this.
He was supposed to divide 12343 by 5. Jimmy swore to me that he’d tried, but he couldn’t do it. And he could never get the decimals right.
His teachers taught him to do it the hard way — like this:
I told him I could teach him how to do it in seconds. The easy way.
And with a little practice, he might even be able to do it in his head. I told him he was about to become a math whiz.
He thought I was nuts.
Then I let him in on a little trick I learned years earlier. But the teachers never taught this.
When you divide by 5, just double the number you’re dividing and move the decimal point to the left by one place.
So if you’re dividing 12343, you double it to 24686 and move the decimal point to the left by one place to 2468.6
That’s exactly the same answer as above. But it’s a heck of a lot easier than how his teachers were making him do it.
If you divide by 50, you double it and move the decimal to the left by two places. So the answer becomes 246.86
Basically, you just look at how many digits you’re dividing by and move the decimal left by that many places.
I showed him some more tricks and sure enough, with some practice, he could do it in his head.
Jimmy was starting to become a math whiz.
Not only to the outside world, but in his own mind. Where it counted the most.
That’s why I get so frustrated when I see people making weight loss harder than it has to be.
Yes, it is hard in some ways. Because you have to learn to let go of a poor self-image that you’ve probably lived with for a long time. Sometimes, there are deeper issues involved.
And unlike long division, weight loss doesn’t take only a few seconds — even when you’re taught to do it the easy way.
But that’s no reason to make it harder than it has to be.
So if you’re having trouble losing weight… even if diet after diet has failed you… keep looking until you find the diet that works for YOU. Mix and match if you have to.
Of course, you have to make an effort. But sometimes, the difference between success and failure is just someone showing you some tips and tricks to make the process easier.
Now let me tell you the end of the long division story. Because I think this applies to weight loss, too.
Jimmy practiced long division as I’d taught him. And he was doing incredibly well.
Then it came time for his first test.
He finished more quickly than anyone else. He was the only one who got all the answers right.
But he got the lowest grade in the class.
Why?
Because his teacher wanted him to “show his work.” You know, the long process up above in handwriting that most teachers insist is the way to do long division.
She didn’t care that he got the right answer. She didn’t care that he’d become a math whiz who could do a lot of complex problems in his head.
She refused to accept the shortcuts I showed him. Even though I had explained to him why they worked. And showed him how to do every other type of problem he could encounter.
The teacher couldn’t shake her own rigid way of thinking — that there was only one right way to solve the problem.
So if you’re having trouble losing weight, don’t let anyone tell you there’s only one right way.
Those people are just as rigid as the teacher who failed Jimmy. Even when he got it right.
Don’t give up until you find the weight loss method that works for you. And don’t be afraid to lose weight the easy way.
I’m not talking about pills and surgery. I think they’re too dangerous in most cases.
But you don’t have to follow a “perfect” diet in order to lose weight. You just have to believe in yourself.
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