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Transitioning.
1) We get so excited
and dive head first into a completely different way of eating only to
last a couple weeks and then crash. After crashing we tend to get
depressed because we failed to follow through. Eventually after
eating some of the “forbidden” foods we were not going to eat on our
new diet, we end up just eating more and more of them until we just
say, “to heck with it” and eat anything we want. Or 2) Some people tend
to read a new diet plan and so much fear builds up inside that they say
or think things like, “There is no way I can live without my Dr.
Pepper!” or “I am a chocoholic and I just can’t live without my
chocolate.” These types of ideas you must stop saying and thinking or
you will actually believe these things to be real. Because in
reality you can live, much healthier and happier I might add, without
these junk foods. So, have no fear about gradually letting go of
these junk foods. To change into a
healthier diet there are a few things we can do to make this transition
easier.
You really should slowly and gradually change into a
healthier diet. Do this with
your end destination as being a diet that consists of simple meals with
no more than three different types of food at one meal. To reach
this goal with long lasting results give yourself at least 6 months to
a year slowly decreasing the amount of the junk foods consumed and
increasing the amounts of healthier foods. Don't try so hard for
the “all or nothing” idea. I think there are only a handful of those
people in the world who can totally change their diet from one day to
the next. When changing your dietary habits, it’s best to be like
the seasons of the year, gradually changing. Challenges
The next time you
eat a certain junk food try and recall the first time you ate that sort
of food. It was probably a time in your life when you were a
happy young child. If you can remember it, go back in time and be
there with those happy thoughts and enjoy the moment. Visualise
yourself hanging out with your younger self as you enjoy this food. When you are
finished just turn to your younger self and say, “Wow, this was really
good but, we are adults now and we really need to eat better foods as
we get older so that we are healthier and feel better.” It’s okay to
turn and meet your inner child every once in a while but try and make
it less and less as time goes on. Really pay attention
and see if there are any feelings of pain, irritation, or discomfort
after eating certain foods. This will really help you to pick
which foods agree best with you. Here are a few different ideas you can use to help you slide into better eating habits. Try different ones and see which one you feel more comfortable with. Sliding into better eating habits Learning good food combinations is the best place to start (see module 8). One of the most important changes you can make in the beginning is learning to change your carbohydrate source from white flour, white pasta, white rice, and other processed grain products into a better source such as whole grain products, brown rice, or sprouted grains. These complete grains will be more nutritious and will satisfy your hunger longer than processed white flour products. These foods will also help you to kick the sugar habit if you have a big sweet tooth. In the beginning, slowly letting go of the sugar habit is just as important as changing to a good grain source. By doing just these two things you will notice a large drop in excess body fat. If you don’t feel like learning to sprout your own grains right now the next best source is called Manna bread. It’s a sprouted bread that has been cooked at very low temperatures. You can find this in your local healthfood store. And don’t worry if you think you can’t eat wheat, there are a few different types of sprouted grains to choose from. Even if you choose to sprout your own there are also several different grains besides wheat. There is barley, millet, spelt, whole oats, quinoa, and kamut just to name a few. Add whatever you like Some people may say, “I just don’t like the taste.” And that’s ok! When you first start to eat these grains smother them with any type of topping you prefer. Most people do this anyway with refined processed grain products. Have you ever tried to eat just plain white bread or plain spaghetti with nothing on it? In fact, it taste quite gross, this is why so many people cover the taste with exotic condiments. So add whatever condiments you desire, even if it’s spaghetti or barbecue sauce, it doesn’t matter, just as long as you start eating your sprouted grains. Over time gradually lessen the amount of condiments you put on your healthier grains. As time goes by you will grow more fond of the natural taste. I used to cake on things like peanut butter and jelly, heavy pesto sauces, and thick layers of butter. But I’ve slowly cut back to where now I eat my grains with very, very, little condiments. Some days I don’t use anything at all. Over time I’ve just simply lost the taste for these heavy condiments. I recommend that the first time you try manna bread eat it plain first, just so you can taste the difference between real bread and chemically processed bread. It actually has a very slight natural sweetness to it that makes it good enough to eat plain. Healthier Condiments you can add to your Grains.
Try to lessen the amount of sugary condiments you use and lean more towards the saltier flavours. Remember, when sugar and grains are put in a warm dark place (the stomach) alcohol and fermentation start to occur. It’s OK to eat some processed foods in the beginning but gradually cut back on the amount. Maybe eat 4 or 5 junk meals one week; the next week plan to eat 3 or 4 junk meals; the week after 2 or 3 junk meals; and at the last week of the month have only 1 or 2. Then you can start over again the next month. Over time as your body becomes cleaner you will start to feel how heavy and hard to digest many of these commercial processed meals can be. Another thing I noticed, after not eating processed meals for a long time, is how annoying and time consuming it is to mix and cook many of these meals. In the beginning some people who are use to commercial junk foods think that healthier foods are not as tasty as the junk they are use to. Here's why: The tongue can be referred to as a mirror to the stomach. When you wake up in the morning take a look at your tongue. Most people have a white layer of film that covers the top. In a healthy mouth and stomach the tongue is a nice fleshy pink colour. This white film comes from sulphur producing bacteria which thrive in an acidic environment and grow when heavy protein foods are eaten such as dairy and meat products. This white film blocks several of your taste receptors. This is one of the reasons why many people cannot taste the goodness of simple whole foods. The other reason that many of us have a hard time enjoying the taste of simple pure meals is that many processed food products of today contain chemicals, high sugared syrups, and MSGs that artificially excite the taste buds. With this constant high stimulation our tongues become desensitized which results in the inability to enjoy the good taste of true simpler foods. Cleansing, fasting and wheatgrass is the fastest way to clean the stomach and that nasty film off of the tongue. After 2 to 3 days of fasting your taste buds become much more sensitive. Biting into a simple piece of fruit such as an apple, after fasting, taste like GOLD! Doing several short fast of 1 to 3 days, over a 6 month period will speed the process of simpler foods tasting better than anything else. The same thing will eventually happen as you continue to eat more whole food dishes, only it will just take longer. Once you calm your taste buds down by eating less processed food and eating more healthy simpler foods you will start to turn to fresh fruit as your dessert. It will taste much sweeter and much better after you have dropped the artificial sweets out of your diet. Also use fruit as snacks in between your meals instead of hitting the local snack machine in your office. You can transition as slow or as fast as you wish but keep in mind that your main goal for reaching superior health is trying to reduce the amounts and mixtures of heavy complicated meals into lighter and simpler meals. Through personal experimentation, you will learn exactly what foods agree and disagree with your body. Over time you will see and feel the difference in your body by eating better and simpler. How many times have you sat in a restaurant and just couldn’t decide what to eat? Following a diet more like the Essenes I never have to think much about what foods I’m going to eat. I basically know exactly what foods work for me, although, sometimes I do make slight variations. This is another bonus of eating a more simple diet, I don’t have sit and guess what I want to eat any more. I have learned what suits me and suits me well. I know our eyes have been constantly blasted with intense artificial colours and crazy in-your-face advertising from processed food packages but, from here on out, when you enter a grocery store, try and look away from these unhealthy products (out of sight out of mind) and look more to your fresh produce section, finding comfort in the beautiful natural colours given to us from our Earthly Mother.
Mental Calmness One of the most important things I’ve discovered about switching to a new diet is that it is much easier to eat simple healthy foods when we are more mentally calm and stress free. Many of us (including myself) have reached for junk foods/drinks when we are stressed out or depressed. These foods give us a short sense of pleasure momentarily taking our minds off of the problem that exists. When you are more calm and stress free it is easier to make healthier decisions and stick with them. What if we could live more stress and depress free without changing our jobs or moving out into the countryside? What if we could easily train our minds to become stress resistant and more care free? Now days this is easily possible. One of the best techniques I have noticed when transitioning to a healthier diet was listening to a CD from Holosync. With these CDs you can be put into a meditative trance at the push of a button. I know this sounds crazy but this is the latest cutting edge science of the new millennium. These CDs send out certain tones and frequencies that can easily set the brain into what is called the Delta state. This is a state of deep meditation. Scientist used special technology to look at what happens to the brain of an experienced Zen Monk under deep meditation. Using these Holosync CDs scientist found that the average person could easily reach this state of deep relaxation (actually deeper than the monk could) by introducing certain sound frequencies upon the brain. This type of technology also helps to re-balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain creating “whole-brain functioning.” On a purely mental level, many scientist believe that this increased communication between the two hemispheres of the brain is what separates the Einsteins, Edisons, and Mozarts from the rest of us (that is, until now!). I cannot rave enough about these CDs they truly can make your life more peaceful, more effective, more resistant to stress, more self-aware, and much, much happier. Everyone has a different threshold for what they can handle coming at them from the world. When that threshold is exceeded, we attempt to deal with being “pushed over the edge” with a variety of coping mechanisms, including anxiety, anger, depression, overwhelm, sadness, substance abuse, and many others. The main thing Holosync does is to provide a stimulus to the brain that pushes that threshold higher. This is a lot like a runner who begins with a certain physical threshold, but over time raises it by running everyday until what would have overwhelmed the person in the beginning becomes easy. I can personally attest that these are some of the best CDs that have really helped to keep me calm under more stressful situations. As my mind and body feel more calm, aware, and alert I find it much easier to eat healthy foods and the temptation to eat certain junk foods has drastically fallen away. Many times before I’ve had a lot of internal battles when trying to resist a certain food that I knew was not good for me. Now, those battles have turned into a simple peaceful “no thanks” in my mind, when I see or think of a certain junk food that I liked. I am truly amazed at the positive effect of these CDs. They will really help with the mental aspect of changing not only your diet but also your life. Click Here for a Free Sample Warning! As I mentioned before gradually work your way into a better diet. You don’t have to eat perfect 100% of the time. I find it more mentally comforting eating about 90% properly prepared foods and 10% of other foods. For example, if I go to a social gathering, whether friends or family, I will eat some things that are not part of my regular routine. You don’t want your new way of eating to separate you from your friends and family so just BE COOL, and eat some different things sometimes, even if they are not superior foods. The key here is, not to eat too much and don’t eat anything that will be too disagreeable with your stomach. When you’re at social gathering don’t start acting weird like you are superior to someone just because you may eat healthier foods. Everyone is on his or her own path. Just eat some things that are at the party (or maybe the dish you brought) and be happy, simply enjoying the people, the conversations, and the environment. Trying to eat perfect 100% of the time can put a lot stress on a person. So until you are absolutely comfortable and happy eating natural healthy foods, try and keep the 90% rule. You will take a lot of mental stress off yourself by doing this. Many of us want superior health, and diet is definitely a part of that equation. A healthier diet is suppose to help your life and not hinder it. Try and follow the dietary rules of the Master Essenes as much as possible but if you find yourself at a social gathering with friends or family it’s ok to eat something you normally wouldn’t. And if someone is nagging you why you are not eating a certain food, be honest, and say, “I just don’t feel like eating that right now.” or "I'm just not in the mood for it at the moment." |