they wanted her to lose weight. She begged me to help her. They gave her a deadline to lose a certain amount of weight or the record deal would be off. Monique was devastated and heart broken. Her big dream became a nightmare.
Now, Monique was by no means a large woman or overweight in any way. She was a healthy size 8, active, vivacious, with sparkling eyes and a gorgeous womanly shape. She was very attractive and always drew attention and admiring looks wherever she went. When I saw her on TV as a backup singer she was always in a trio and she was the thinnest of the three. As a backup singer, the spotlight was on the star musician, and she blended into the background and didn’t get a lot of pressure about how she looked. Monique had a good dose of self confidence, she felt good about her body and would often say appreciative things about her looks. The news that her body was “unmarketable" was a big blow, and totally shook the foundations of her confidence.
She came over. I listened to her cry. I saw the hurt in her eyes. She told me: “I know what you’re going to say, but this is my dream, please help me.” I would usually turn down a
client who wanted a quick weight
loss fix but I agreed to
help her reach her
weight loss deadline
because she was
my friend and I
didn’t want her
to do it in an
unhealthy way.
I was mad. Mad
at an industry
that reduces
women to
shadows and
objects. Mad
that my beautiful
and confident
friend was
made to feel
so bad about
herself and
her lovely body.
Monique
followed my
program, it
included foods
that were dense
in nutrients, smoothies, juices and power salads. She gave up drinking, desserts and bread. She stopped eating out. She was strict and the weight was coming off quickly. But Monique wasn’t happy with her weight loss. Something about her seemed turned off, her once sparkling eyes grew dim, her bubbly laughter was replaced with sad smiles and she grew serious and reflective. In her eagerness and desperation to get her dream fulfilled, she was losing herself. I could no longer be quiet.
During our consultations, I asked Monique empowering questions about her life, her goals, her vision, her boundaries and her beliefs. We talked about what kind of career she wanted, what she was willing and not willing to do for it, and how she could live her life on her own terms. Monique came to the following realizations:
~ The career she really wanted.
Monique thought about her role models in the music industry, they were all women who were in charge of their own careers, wrote their own material, were outspoken and opinionated, were not afraid to not be popular and stand up