Melinda has lost more than 75 pounds in the last 2 years. I pretty much control what she eats, although not when she eats it. I give her enough food, packed in boxes labeled by the day, for a week or so at a time. She gets breakfast, lunch, dinner, a dessert, a fruit, a yogurt, a bag of popcorn, and a couple of snacks such as a fruit bar or peanut butter crackers. She drinks light chocolate soy milk, and she gets one diet Coke per day. More and more frequently Melinda lets me know that she is out of food. Here's how it goes:
"Hi, Melanie, I don't have any food for tomorrow."
"I gave you enough food to last through Saturday. It's only Thursday."
"No, I didn't have food through Saturday. I'm out of food."
"The only way you would be out of food is if you ate out of the other boxes. Did you eat out of the other boxes?"
"No."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Melinda, I have your menu right here. Where's your copy?"
"I don't know."
"It should be in your notebook. I put it in there when I delivered your food."
"Oh."
"So, you ate out of the other boxes, didn't you?"
"No."
"That's the only way you could have run out of food."
"You didn't give me enough snacks for every day, and so I had to eat some from another day."
"That's not true. I put snacks into every box. You can see that on your menu. You just ate extra didn't you?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do."
"Okay, I cheated."
"I know."
"I'm still out of food."
