Marissa frowned. Actually, she was spending five hours a week maintaining her muscles. She was here because it wasn’t getting her anywhere with losing the fat.

“Everywhere you go you’re looking at advertising that says it’s okay to spend time at the coffee bar or shopping or talking to our friends or whipping up a weekly home facial. But there’s no money for anyone in telling you that an hour’s walk five times a week is not just okay, it’s great for you.” She turned another page on the flip chart.

“And women. Oh we women are multitaskers. We take care of everyone else and the time to take care of us is always at the end of the day. Who can take a walk at ten p.m. when the kids are finally asleep? Who feels selfish for letting the kids make their own breakfasts so you can get some exercise?”

There were nods all around Marissa.

“Here’s the last thing I’m going to tell you that you don’t want to hear. You’re going to have to change. Not just what you eat and how you get exercise. You are going to have to change how you look at yourself. If you don’t think that is true then I simply can’t help you.”

“Okay,” the woman next to Marissa said. “I can really use something I want to hear now.”

Helena grinned. “Fair enough. How about this? Unless you are one of the rare people with a bona fide physical problem, you can control your weight. You can lose the fat, you can eat the foods you like. It’s up to you.”

“That’s better,” the woman muttered.

“Here’s the bad news.” Helena paused to laugh as many in the room groaned. “You have to do all the work by yourself. I can only guide. Your friends can only encourage. Gyms can only provide equipment. The work is yours.”

“I’m already working hard.” Marissa couldn’t contain herself any longer. “I exercise five hours a week and I’m eating like a bird. I should have lost twenty-three pounds according to the math but I’ve only lost nine.”

“I understand and it sounds like some analysis of what you’re doing might help you find something that works smarter. But that does bring me to an important point about reasonable expectations. How long did it take you to gain the weight you want to lose now?”

“Ten, fifteen years.”

“Some of the diet gurus will tell you that it’ll all come back off in three months.”

“I get that they’re being unrealistic.” Abruptly, Marissa had tears in her eyes. “I know it’s going to take time. I’m willing to invest the time. I just don’t want it to take ten years to get it back off. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life working this hard just to stay even.”

“What about two years?”

Marissa found a half-smile. “I don’t want it to take that long, either.”

“But you’d spend two years getting a degree that might be a lifetime investment in your career, wouldn’t you?” Helena spread her hands in appeal.