Mirror, Mirror On The Wall…

I was out this weekend with a group of people when a strange thing happened. What transpired offered such an interesting weight loss tip that I knew I had to share it here for all the Reshapers to enjoy. I hope you find this bit of diet advice as helpful—or at least interesting—as I do.

We were celebrating a friend’s wedding, so you know what that means… a collection of people you know, half-know, and have never met nor will ever see again, and you’re somehow expected to mingle perfectly with all of them as you play dress-up for the night. We were at our table of about 10 people when one of the women asked if any of the other women at the table had a mirror. None did, which was, perhaps, in itself surprising. But even more surprising was that one of the men, Tom, did. I don’t mean to be overly sexist with this story, and am sorry if it appears that way. But we all have to admit, if we were forced to ask either a girl or a guy for a mirror, most of us would ask the girl. So the reaction at the table was some good-natured ribbing as Tom passed the girl a compact. He took the jokes in stride, and then went on to explain why he carried a compact with him.

“It’s not for the makeup,” he explained. “I actually used to be 200 pounds heavier, and that little mirror was a big part of how I lost all the weight.”

As a member of Chris Powell’s Reshape the Nation team, naturally, I wanted to know more. I’m always looking for great weight loss tips, and if that little mirror helped this guy lose 200 pounds, I wanted to know how. So I explained to him what I do, and about David Smith and Chris Powell and how we’re trying to Reshape the Nation, and he gladly agreed to share his story. And even better, he agreed to write it out for me. So instead of relating it secondhand, here’s the email he sent about how he used a little mirror to lose a lot of weight:

Hey Aaron,

As promised here’s the explanation of how my pocket mirror was a big help in helping me lose weight. I’m 6’2” and used to weight over 400 pounds. Now I’m around 220. I put on all that weight basically by eating a lot. I know that’s not how everyone puts on weight, but for me, it was just all about eating too much. I mean for other people they probably don’t eat too much but are unhealthy eaters or aren’t active. I’ve never been a junk food person. I just liked to eat tons and tons of everything. The key to losing weight for me wasn’t working out or eating healthier as much as it was training myself to stop eating, which is easier said than done. I just got into a habit of always having some food to put in my mouth.

I knew I had to stop eating so much, but I just couldn’t. And every time I looked into a mirror, I saw how large I’d gotten and hated myself even more. Which, of course, led to more eating. So one day I got the idea that maybe if I reminded myself about how much I hated what I was doing to my body before I did it, that could somehow end my cravings. So the next time I felt myself going to the office vending machine to buy a bag of chips, I stopped by the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. That changed my mind real quick, and I didn’t go get chips. So I tried it again the next time and the next time and the next time. Going into the bathroom every half hour or so obviously isn’t very practical at work, so one day I decided to pick up a little pocket mirror. That was probably the most embarrassing part because I felt weird buying a makeup kit, but after that, it made looking in the mirror a breeze. Any time I got hungry, I’d just take a quick look at myself and remind myself of why I shouldn’t be eating so much. And mind you, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes I would look at myself and decide I was still hungry, but I think that’s OK because it’s OK to be hungry. What it did was help me to stop eating when I was eating just to eat.

So I’ve been using that pocket mirror for three years now, I’m down about 200 pounds, and a lot has to do with that. I wouldn’t say everything has to do with it. As I started losing weight, I got motivated to go to the gym more and I started eating healthier, but the mirror was what inspired me to get going and what kept me going throughout. And now I use the mirror to remind myself of how much better I look and feel, and even though they come less often, when I have cravings to just eat for no good reason, I take a quick look at myself and remind myself of how great I’ve done and ask if it’s really worth giving that up just for a few minutes of sugar gratification.

It was nice meeting you this weekend, and I hope this helps your readers. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you. I know it’s a tough journey, but tell everyone to hang in there because it’s really worth all the hard work in the end!

-Tom