Worried about her weight, a determined woman finally mustered the courage to visit her doctor. After a brief exam, he laid out a simple plan:
“Eat normally for two days. Then, on the third day, skip meals entirely. Repeat this cycle for two weeks. You should lose at least five pounds.”

She nodded enthusiastically, ready to commit. Over the next two weeks, she followed the schedule to the letter—two days of eating, one day of skipping. It wasn’t easy, but she stayed focused.

When she returned for her follow-up, the doctor was stunned.
“You didn’t just lose five pounds—you lost nearly twenty! That’s incredible. Did you follow my instructions exactly?”

She beamed. “Every single detail.”

Impressed, the doctor leaned in. “That third day—wasn’t it hard going without food?”

She sighed, exhausted. “Oh, doctor… I thought I was going to collapse. Not from hunger,” she paused, “but from all the skipping.”

The doctor blinked. Then burst out laughing.

Turns out, she had taken his advice quite literally—spending every third day hopping and skipping around instead of eating, convinced that was the key to success.

Her innocent misunderstanding became one of his favorite stories—a reminder that even the simplest instructions can be hilariously misinterpreted. And for her, it was proof that a little determination (and a lot of cardio) can go a long way.