Summary

In Chapter 1: Metabolic Workmen, Richard Sifkitz’s doctor compared the body’s metabolic process to a group of workmen as he encouraged Sifkitz to lose weight and lower his cholesterol level. It was the jobs of those workmen to dispose of what Sifkitz ate. The doctor explained it was difficult for the workers to keep up with the amount of food Sifkitz ate and they would eventually slow down because they were being worked too hard. At that point, he would gain weight more quickly and have a harder time keeping it off.

Sifkitz worked as a freelance painter. Though it had been years since he had done any work for which he did not receive a commission, he started a painting of four workmen standing by the side of a country road the evening of his doctor’s appointment. The foreman was...