Charles: Yeah, to be honest, it is not even about changing the diet. Because the thing is is we are not teaching anything new under the sun. We all know what we should be eating and what we shouldn't be. When we go through a drive through at McDonald's and we order that Big Mac with the large fries and the large Coke. We know we shouldn't be eating that, right? We know we should be headed home to make some vegetables and bake chicken and things like that. It's not about teaching them how to change their diet. We may give them tips as far as how to improve a diet or implement certain things in the diet. But, once again it is about encouraging that willpower.
Encouraging that mental or emotional state that says, "You know what? Today is the day that I stop doing this and I start doing this." Is it more important to walk? Of course, it is. Is it more important to not eat after a certain time? Is it more important to have portion control and not over eat? All of those things come from emotional states. In saying that, you know this is the willpower I have, that I am not going to overeat, that I am going to stop eating at 5 o'clock and don't eat anything until bed. Then I am going to cut back on my portion sizes. I'm going to not do the fast food thing. So, it is really about the emotional part. That's why we actually had about three different psychologists on the show and maybe only one nutritional person. Because we all know what we shouldn't do. For these people the results were tremendous. You had people who have lost upwards of sixty-six pounds. Jerome actually came off of medication. He was insulin dependent and he came off
insulin. One also on the show came off of medication. The only person that didn't do well was the person who didn't take this seriously as soon as they got there. Was at the airport smoking cigarettes and was a little bit combative in many different ways and because of his habits, it led to him passing away about three months after the show. Because that is what diabetes does. It is a killer.
Anzzia: Oh wow! Wow. Okay so, you take them to Jamaica and you
give them this emotional experience. In that time I am sure you see people reveal all kinds of things to you about themselves and their lifestyles. How exactly are you helping them on that journey? Why Jamaica, one?
Charles: Well, one I am from Jamaica and I thought that it would be a good setting to go, to take them somewhere out of their comfort zone. A lot of times we may be in a situation where the people around us are our worse stumbling block. If you are married to someone and that person doesn't respect or understand what you are going through and they're coming home with the fried chicken from Popeye's and they're putting that little extra butter or if they're
INTERVIEW