UNITED STATES—You know how Mom said, “Don’t eat that ice cream before dinner—you’ll spoil your appetite.” She was really saying you’ll be disqualified from having the meal, unable to appreciate the love and time she put into it, unable to feel the pit of your stomach and meet with gratitude the things she has made, even if she wasn’t Julia Child.
Well, mom was right. You’ll be on the good path, sticking to mealtimes, and maybe those hardly worn pants are finally ready to be worn because you have slimmed, although psychologically, the pants remain in your too-tight category.
Sure, there are the more dogmatic nutritional issues, which the diet industrial complex thrives on, and this dogma bark: “Stay away from dairy, hold the bread, don’t drink beverages during meals.” These are a few of my very own cherished pet dogma.
But food itself is largely neutral and functions greatly in terms of what beliefs and feelings WE bring to the table. A lot like money, it can serve for good or ill. There is a remarkable correlation between money attitudes and attitudes toward food. It’s largely how you handle it. When we delay partaking of food between meals, for example, we are investing in a future pleasure. Likewise when we decide to wait until finishing a couple hours work and then rewarding ourselves with a break.
Let’s take Maggioni’s “Little Italy”—they send home diners with an entrée of fettuccine Alfredo that must contain Alfredo’s head, it’s so heavy. This pasta off the 30-day plan, given its starchy cheesy nature, but imagine keeping it for just a few more days, when the 30-day plan culminates and fettuccine Alfredo will be permissible in the more moderate diet days ahead. You can enjoy it with a hefty portion of broccoli sprigs or zucchini, steamed or seared. And of course there’ll be enough to share.
See food as a chance to share. When things are off plan, like butter cookies your best bet is to share. As fast as possible. As is wise with money, the relationship is healed not when you save it all or shun it, but when you have some and leave some for later—to share or enjoy yourself, with renewed gratitude, after a couple of hours or a couple days (Delayed consumption is indeed a form of sharing with oneself).
If you go into a grocery or eatery there are inevitably moments that ride roughshod over both your pocketbook and long-term fitness plans. When on the accelerated plan to lose 30 pounds in 30 days, you will want to maintain your dignity when the dessert cart is rolled around. The swarm of impulses is not you; look at the exquisite creations of a master pastry chef and nod was your would at passing clouds. You are the sky, and the chef’s feelings won’t be hurt if you say no thanks.
Like a good investor, you should eat only what you need, and what you don’t eat, you can save for later.
After concluding the 30-day plan, continue to cultivate the mini-fast between mealtimes and from evening to morning and this will save you a lifetime of that aberration, the conventional ”diet.” These are adjustments, not punishments. You can rest assured that a moment of eating pleasure is never far away, and you can relax: they are a most-of-the-time proposition—nothing is all the time—and when we have our own braid of preferred habits, the good full life, seasoned with the spice of variety, is ours.
Tony Robbins had a great idea, going to a party or festivity, but simply leaving out the food component. See what it feels like, how fun you can have. This is a new additional option to exercise in the braid of habits and behaviors, that of choosing not to eat, especially when it unnecessary. And on those occasions when you do this experiment and come through with flying colors, the resulting pride really helps motivate and bind the braid of your habits.
As your near the end of this 30-day road, finally, master your fears and try on those pants you were afraid to throw out. You might be pleasantly surprised to see they DO fit. Celebrate, sing a song, go for a walk, have an apple. On the other hand, if the waist constricts, time to donate them to a thrift store. Be free of them and pass them on to somebody who will enjoy them. Celebrate, sing a song, go for a walk and half an apple. Getting rid of things we don’t use is a superlative way to lighten up.
Humorist Grady Miller is the author of “Lighten Up Now: The Grady Diet,” now on Amazon Kindle. He can be reached at grady.miller@canyon-news.com.
By Grady Miller
