THE PEACE PROCESS FORMULA: PHASE 3, CATHARSIS
WILL BE COMING ON MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013.
In the meantime, you might like to review:
The Peace Process Formula: A Step-By-Step Guide HERE.
and
The Peace Process Formula: Phase 2 HERE.
By Diane Gold.
The protein myth has to do with combining proteins so as to consume all essential amino acids (the 9 that the body does not produce), the building blocks of protein, in 1 sitting. This concept was promoted in the 70s but was repudiated 10 years later as false and misleading. Funny how habits stick with us so naturally. Think about before you knew how to ride a bike. Hard to recall because once we know, the steps to riding are ingrained in our head. For those of us who ride, there was a time when we didn’t. Now, it is second nature and never forgotten once learned. Take driving a car. The reflexes and reactions we use to accomplish safe driving are habits ingrained in that come back quickly if we put them down.So my habit of believing the protein myth – that it’s necessary to combine vegan proteins at every meal – is no exception. 42 years ago, I began a dairy vegetarian diet. 3 years, ago, I became vegan. Until just recently, I didn’t learn that it’s not important to count protein grams, that it wasn’t important to combine my tempeh with my quinoa to consume all the essential aminos together.
The media didn’t correct me. The meat and dairy industry certainly wasn’t going to correct me because they wanted the macho words “high quality protein” attached to their food for the purpose of making sales. And I was an educated eater, or so I thought. Imagine those who consume the “regular Western diet.” Most only know the words “high quality protein” meaning meat. fowl, fish, dairy, eggs. They certainly aren’t taught the ills of these foods or the majesty of plant-based nutrition.
WHY, THEN, DOES THE PROTEIN MYTH STILL EXIST, IF IT HAS BEEN DISPROVED OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR DECADES?
There are 3 reasons that I see. And these are hurting the American people as well as others around the world.
1) IGNORANCE
There are nebulous references all over current nutritional literature that talk about complete and incomplete protein. This is, in part, because many dieticians and nutritionists learn from books that still promote this combining idea or the superiority of a meat diet over a plant-based diet.“In the diet, protein sources are labeled according to how many of the essential amino acids they provide.”
This speaks to the failure of our labeling system, which I have been monitoring since the early 1970s. Not much has changed. The words complete and incomplete protein, high quality protein and low quality protein are obsolete words.
The CDC website goes on to say,
“Is it true that complementary proteins must be eaten together to count as a complete protein source?Quoted from the American Dietetic Assocation and Dietiticians of Canada, JADA, 2003; 103(6) 748-765, by the CDC, but demonstrated scientifically from many sources.
This quote should have flashing lights around it and be given more attention as to re-educate people to this fact. It is a conservative quote because many research studies have studied amino acids pool themselves over several days and make themselves available to create protein as needed.
2) PROFIT
The meat and dairy industries are quite anxious for this information to stay buried so that they can continue to thrive. Further, because money is such a powerful motivator, these industries work hard to hide knowledge that a non-plant-based diet causes heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study is a report of a 20+-year study that gives scientific support to this statement.
The industries that have the most advertising capital, meat and dairy, are the ones whose ads we see and hear. When was the last time we saw a billboard up saying how nutritionally sound spirulina was? Or kale juice from actual real, raw, unsprayed leaves?Bottom line, I haven’t seen these signs.
3) SOCIAL PROOF
Social proof is the concept that we are more likely to act the way others are acting or assume the same action in order to act correctly. It’s kind of a monkey see, monkey do pattern, a habit obtained through peer action, but, nonetheless, a habit.
Eating meat, fowl, fish, dairy, eggs are a habit we are taught. Most people are not raised on a plant-based diet. Most Americans eat meat. Many others want to be able to afford meat in their diets. The world has been seduced by meat and dairy media to think that having meat makes us healthy. Advertising would have us believe that the meat and dairy diet is more healthy than the plant-based diet.
There’s lots of evidence to the contrary. But, consumer advertising leaves people associating plentiful meat and dairy with affluence, keeping up with the Joneses, being in a position of power, being surrounded by the beautiful people.
Restauranteurs open restaurants and serve all kinds of meat, fish, dairy, egg dishes. They demonstrate how their best customers eat meat. They help perpetuate the myth that the plant-based diet is still for hippies.
CONCLUSION
When medical students get the pathetic total of 3 hours training in nutrition, while school lunches are subsidized by arrangements with the meat and dairy world, while the advertising we see subliminally and overtly affects our understanding of food and diet; how can we expect to understand that there are proteins in almost everything plant-based we eat?
ACTION STEPS
1) If we are so inclined, we can take a few minutes to dispel the protein myth. Tell a friend, have a discussion at work, do some research to confirm the scientific truth that protein combining is an out-dated lesson and that a whole plant foods have plenty of protein.
2) We can set people straight about the stories people tell about getting sick or weak on a plant-based diet. These stories are about poor eating, not about lack of protein. Processed foods and lack of variety may have been the cause.
3) 1 last thing we can do now that we know our protein supply is abundant is we can contemplate saving our natural resources by starting a plant-based diet. This will save on our medical bills from the ills of meat and dairy, on grazing land, animal feed, water for manufacturing, electric power, and, last, ethical dilemmas about animals (which should be first, not last).
The corn and oats we feed to our cattle would be enough to insure that not 1 person in the world would ever go hungry. If we changed our diets. But the protein myth is no longer on the table.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
It’s true that people can be vegans without eating whole living foods. Having been dairy vegetarian for so long and vegan for 3 years; I am only now eating on purpose, including lots of raw foods that are green and leafy. I am no longer counting protein grams because, for the first time in my life, I know the veggies, fruits, grains, seeds and nuts I eat balance the way my body works.
FEEDBACK
Please leave a comment and LIKE.
DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR
Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition.
She is extremely revved to have uncovered a flaw in her education about protein. She says,
“Like so many others, I was mistakenly hanging on to the old, unscientifically broadcast myth that was started in the book Diet For A Small Planet. The author, Francis Moore Lappe, critiques how hunger could be prevented by removing the need for feeding livestock if we switched to plant-based food. In her 1971 book, which has sold over 3,000,000 copies, she also mentions the need for protein combining for proper essential amino acids use. It turns out this was incorrect, but her words echo to this day since fewer have read her retraction and the industries she speaks about, meat and dairy, want this info hushed up.
“I am excited to know more about the great amino acid process where aminos are stored in a pool and called upon to recombine to make a particular protein as needed. Very spectacular, this human body. May we live long and prosper.”
By Diane Gold
Turning Habits Into Health is just another way of saying we are committing to nurturing ourselves and matching our behaviors with our current goals and game plan.
Habits, as we know if we think about them, are patterns of behavior reinforced through repetition until they are almost involuntary action. Here’s a short list of these responses: eating oily, salty or sugary snacks to satisfy a food craving; verbally reacting to a child because that’s how we were raised; using mind/body-altering substances (prescribed or not) because we are tired, bored, nervous or emotional; shutting down our emotions because it’s safer than experiencing pain; acting out anger when someone challenges us; eating processed, unhealthy foods to escape; meditating before breakfast; brushing our teeth; taking our shoes off before we enter a residence; swimming after work; prayingObviously, diverse behaviors serve us at various times in our lives. Most of the time, we aren’t even aware these habits are developing. And, usually, we don’t focus on them until our body, mind or spirit call out in despair. Weighing too much signals that our bodies are imbalanced. Pain in our teeth makes us examine our oral hygiene and diet. Emotional over-reaction makes us look at our stability. Our comfort level with the questions of our position in the universe arouses our spirit and calls for grand examination.
Because we are all so universally tied to habits and we all have them, WarriorsOfWeight.com now honors moms, daughters, fathers, sons, teen girls, teen boys, grandparents in focusing on and educating about Turning Habits Into Health and discussing all the astounding techniques to help each one of us along the way.Whether we speak about personal development techniques like tai chi, free dance techniques, music and its effects on balance, involvement in social change to get us personally where we want to be or the science of proper nutrition to maximize our bodies;
And we are focusing on solutions for all of us.
So what are the ways to make this miraculous change in habit? Do we have to turn ourselves inside out?The answer, of course, is no. The prospect of making the change may seem as if we have to climb a mountain. The actual journey, if approached step-by-step, is only as difficult as each individual step.
ACTION STEPS
1) Step 1 is to look as far as the first step. The first step is the beginning action step. It’s like the running a race. When we look at 1 more step, and only 1 more step, we get to continue without collapsing – for that 1 step only.
This step could be changing 1 meal to vegetable juice or overcoming the fear of crossing the street or drinking apple juice instead of wine. With all of these habits, there is a first step, the golden step, the one that will begin the habit change.
2) Step 2 is a repetition of step 1 except that we have actual experience doing step 1. We can note that the original habit began because we repeated the same action over and over again.
Therefore, changing the habit is going to require repeating the same action over and over again. Thus, we repeat step 1.
We know we have looked at step 1. We have also looked at step 2. They are the same. So are the next steps.
3) As we get used to this step, we can repeat it more easily each time. If we continue to take the step as a replacement for some negative action that is not supporting our goals, we will begin to replace the habit.
Our journey for change starts out as a cold mountain.
With repetition and confidence, as we begin to get familiarity and control with our new actions, our journey becomes a mountain of joy.
CONCLUSION
We can change a habit with 1 step. It is the way. There is nothing mysterious about it, and the technique is as straight forward as normal breathing. We always have our collection of habits, all of them. Whether we allow them to trigger depends on how well we have replaced them using any means necessary, but usually the 1-step plan.
If we follow each individual step on blind faith, we don’t get distracted with other thoughts. In time, we can take a look at what we’ve accomplished, but not while we are doing it.
ACTION STEPS: THE HABIT CHANGE PROCESS
This section overviews The Habit Change Process. The “snack” habit is chosen so that we can act out the process without getting stuck on which habit to change. The method of 1 step, then repetition of the same step, then repetition of the same step again and again can be used for all habits.
OBJECTIVE
Replacing 1 snack a day with healthy food instead of cookies, chips, soda, anything else. (If you only eat raw food, have an allergy to 1 of the foods; please substitute. If you don’t usually have a snack, please add it for 21 days, just to be part of this process.)
1) Buy veggies (the culinary term “veggies” which would include mushrooms): carrots, broccoli, onions, garlic, spinach, mushrooms.
2) 5 minutes ahead of the broccoli, steam sliced carrots. Then add broccoli and steam for another 7-10 minutes.
3) In another pot, use some water to brown sliced mushrooms, re-adding water several times as needed. so they don’t burn.
4) Once the steaming is complete, in a wok or saucepan, heat a small amount of olive oil, add garlic to cook, 30 seconds later, add onions.
5) In a couple minutes, add mushrooms, steamed carrots and broccoli.
6) Add low-sodium soy sauce or amino acid liquid, a few drops of sesame oil, black pepper, rice vinegar, if you like.
7) Stir fry until everything is tender.
8) Add spinach for 30 seconds.
9) Remove from the stove.
10) When cool, separate into 7 snack bags, 1 for each day of the week.
11) Refrigerate.
12) Now, you have a mid-afternoon snack for the next 7 days.
13) Set a phone/computer/clock alarm to facilitate this snack.
14) Do this for 7 days.
15) Repeat 1) through 14) for 2 additional weeks in a row.
16) Congratulations. You have gone through the steps to change a habit. Keep it up, and it is changed.
17) Grab your certificate below!
FEEDBACK
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DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR
Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition.
She is more excited about the idea of looking at 1-step until that 1 step is completed. She says,
“When the mind is focused on 1 thing, it is not focused on 2 things. Of course, we need to do a physical act to make the concentration happen, as opposed to intellectually thinking about it.
“When we want to take a step for our betterment, whatever it is, if we focus our attention only on this 1 step; we are less distracted. Imagine walking a tight rope, for example. Because the risk is so great that we would become injured with less than 100% concentration, we concentrate.
“If we don’t take the same care with changing a habit, we can get off track. Easily. So, concentrate on the physical action we have decided would be in our best interest. And we will be happy with the results.”
By Diane Gold
There is much evidence that plant-based nutrition helps rid us of a variety of modern-day ailments. However, major “Western” food manufacturers downplay it. After all, what would happen to their food consumption if even 50% of the people who now eat meat/fish/fowl/dairy/eggs changed their ways?. What would manufacturers do if people in the United States stopped eating processed foods?There are 3 factors that can make us healthy and affect our weight loss plan. They are relevant to every kind of food and every type of food plan. They are important.
MUCUS
We might think about mucus as toxins that we release when we are sick. But mucus is a substance produced to protect our membranes and is always present. Its overproduction is our body’s getting clogged from a variety of things: smoke, food, bacteria and dust.
Animal and dairy products are known to form excess mucus in our bodies because of their composition and the way it is absorbed into our body. Part of it, generally, is not useful to the body and turns into substance that turns into mucus.
Vegetables and fruits do not form mucus, except for sulphured fruits and gassed bananas. (Did you know that when bananas are brought to market, they are usually gas-ripened? That means they are picked green and gassed so that, by the time they come to market, they are yellow). This is why so many physicians realize the merits of the plant based diet and weight loss. These foods do not add excess bulk that makes the body work hard to digest it.
Additives, in general, cause excess mucus as a type of inflammation. This includes pesticides, which are prevalent in all fruits and veggies not so listed or home-grown. Although mucus is needed as a normal body secretion, too much mucus is not always visible and is often detected when we are already suffering from its effect.
Mucus forming foods are plaque forming foods. Over-production of plaque in our vessels causes clogging in the lungs and the intestines.
[True story:
One of the MDs in my health care world had a medical problem. What did he do to help himself? He went on a raw vegan diet and got rid of his medical issue.]
ACTION STEP
When choosing a food, think about how it would seem to digest in the body. If it is heavy and thick, chances are it is mucus forming. If it is light and it sways (I was thinking of lettuce in the breeze), it probably provides the roughage that the digestive system needs to smoothly process foods. Consider eating non-mucus forming foods exclusively.
FIBER
Dietary fiber is that indigestible part of plant foods, including whole grains, seeds, nuts, fruits and veggies. So, when eating meat/fish/fowl/dairy/eggs, there is no fiber.
There are 2 main components in fiber: soluble fiber ferments into helpful colon gases. Insoluble fiber keeps our elimination of food waste regular. They both have to do with digestive absorption and gastrointestinal activity.
ACTION STEP
Keeping the body fresh with fiber is usually healthy for most people diets. When we eat non-plant-based foods, we often stop up our plumbing with non-fibrous foods. When we eat plant-based nutrition, our bodies eliminate food easily and frequently. This is partially due to the high fiber content in the food. This helps with weight loss. Consider fiber when choosing food.
ACIDIC AND ALKALINE FOODS
Foods are labeled acid or alkaline for the effect they have on the body after ingestion. That’s why lemons and limes are considered alkaline-forming, since their properties result in the body’s becoming alkaline.
Acid-forming foods are: soda/energy drinks/coffee/alcohol, animal foods, soda, fried foods.
Alkaline foods are veggies, fruits, almonds, seeds, some whole grains and tofu.
Too acidic a body means the body has to work overtime to correct its pH level which should be around 7.5, just like a swimming pool. This means the breathing rate would have to increase to remove carbonic acid which would exhale as CO2; kidneys would have to increase the acid in the urine and minerals would be leached out of the body, using up Calcium, Magnesium, Iodine, Vitamin K and Sodium to balance the pH.
How many times do we hear about Acid Reflux and all the drug products we can take to control it? Increasing the body’s alkalinity intake should be looked at first.
Let’s look at soda, including diet-soda. The highest source of calories of any food in the United States is soda. It is an acid-forming food along with diet soda, which has no calories but is in the same acid category. Both regular and diet soda contain phosphoric acid, all the way over on the acid side of acid-forming foods.To balance the pH, the body is forced to leach calcium, which hurts bones, but it also leaches iodine which is necessary for proper function of the thyroid gland. When the thyroid gland does not work properly, the body’s metabolism fails and often slows down. When the metabolism is slow, the body can be sluggish, leading to weight gain from lack of movement. This is the main reason that soda, even diet soda with its “0 calories,” causes weight gain.
Did you know that saliva is alkaline and that if you chew more, you enable the digestive process? Many monks profess that we chew our food 50 times before swallowing. This will predigest the food and liquify it. It will provide a time for us to appreciate the food without rushing. Now, I know it will certainly combine well with alkaline saliva for body health.Acidosis
When the body is too acidic and cannot correct itself by leaching minerals, urine acid, it produces fat as a buffer for the acid. This fat can deposit itself in many places to protect the body for the effects of its acidity. This can make the weight increase.
ACTION STEP
Feel good, feel balanced. Consider eating plant-based nutrition for a proper pH level. Keep the body in the best position for losing weight, and learn which foods are alkaline and eat them.CONCLUSION
The very nature of plant-based nutrition gives the natural weight loss property to these foods themselves. They are physically lighter. They have a high content of water which makes them easier to digest. This, in turn requires less stomach acid to break them down for absorption into the intestines and they provide bioflavonoids, of which there are over 800, for medicinal uses.
There is also the ethical factor. This means that, by eating a plant-based diet, we can feel more responsible for caring for the lives of animals. This has to feel good, on behalf of these animals, even for a short while.
The more we study, the more data we compile. We will do more reporting on this topic since it seems to be the more healthy way to eat, to save manufacturing resources as well as the temples which are our bodies and minds.
FEEDBACK
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DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR
Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Moms For Healthy Daughters, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert and a dedicated mom.
She believes in the benefits of plant-based nutrition. She says,
“The body always feels better after eating greens, juicing veggies, ingesting plants. When I finish drinking fresh wheatgrass juice, I feel as strong as a truck. That must mean something biologically about the power of plants in the human body.
“There are 2 other important factors that go along with my relationship with plants. 1 is a personal philosophy to limit the amount of animal lives I use for my benefit. The other is that the processing of animals for food costs a great deal more than using non-processed (preferably non-pesticide sprayed) fruits and vegetables. So, the choice for plant-based nutrition helps the planet, the animals and the human body.”
By Diane Gold
Congratulations. The crossroads ahead is a grand opportunity.
The definition for crossroads is intersection, focal point, turning point. This means a crossroads is a time in life that is perpendicular to, yet entwined with, whatever is happening in life. It also means we are giving razor sharp attention to an issue. And, finally, it means we are going to evaluate the best direction we can take to efficiently support the most positive development of our lives.
When we decide we are going to change our weight to help ourselves, we are at a crossroads. This also holds true when we take time to decide to buy solar cars, LED lights, compost our food waste, forgive someone, go back to school, have a baby, or join a peace process. We will furnish this article with weight loss in mind, although our world, our humanity, currently, is at a major crossroads of what makes sense to sustain the human race well.
The weight loss goal is huge because it relates to almost every aspect of our everyday lives. Often times, we have to change many behaviors of our eating process in order to change 1: the way we move, the way we rest and the restaurant or food preparation routines we have grown to love.Fortunately and happily for us, we get to develop new and wonderful ways of acting in all these areas. Imagine finding the most delectable food at our new favorite restaurant or cooking healthier, lighter, more satisfying foods for ourselves and any others who are in our lives. And what about the prospect of developing new friends who also eat well and care for their bodies. This is a real treat.
Remember the story about the man in the flood who didn’t take a ride in his neighbor’s car because he said he was waiting for god to save him? And when the water rose and he fled to his second floor, he still wouldn’t take an escape ride from a fire truck because god was going to save him? And after the water rose and he fled to his roof, he still wouldn’t take a ride when a helicopter threw down a ladder because he was waiting for god to save him? And, when he reached heaven and asked god why he hadn’t saved him, and god said,
“I sent you a car, a fire truck and a helicopter; and wasn’t that enough?”
It’s a story about crossroads and opportunity. We have many throughout our time. Whether we see the right cues determines our outcome. Some people go with the flow automatically. Others fight the inevitable or refuse to be flexible.
I know it always takes me a few minutes to process the possibility of change, a few minutes to get used to the idea and another several minutes to accept the change. This usually takes a good 30 minutes. It’s very comforting to watch myself through this process. I usually laugh at myself during it, as I am so predictable to myself. Luckily for me, because of my mother’s bright attitude and the practicality for which my martial arts work has prepared me, I always, and I mean always, end up looking for the good in the crossroads.Certainly, it’s not always fun to shake ourselves up and make life changing decisions that will take us down new paths and throw us into a new direction that we might not have orchestrated entirely or at all. But, to see it as an opportunity, opens up great promise.
THE CHOICES
So what are the choices we have before us?
1) We can rebel and stomp our feet at our new situation. If we turn music on and stomp to it, we can turn our reaction into a totally therapeutic action. Verbalizing to the music helps us to accept the change, too, as is done in improv or rap.
2) We can resent our situation and turn our grudge inward. Obviously, this weighs us down and needs a replacement strategy.
3) We can remain calm, ask for help if we need it and look at the pros of our new situation. Of course, it’s always good to be balanced and positive. Not always easy and not always sensible. It always pays to stay aware and focused.
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Whichever direction we choose at our crossroads; the happier, healthier, more fulfilled we become, the better life we are creating for ourselves. So, we can agree that to give ourselves extra weight of any kind changes balance, confidence and peace of mind. That’s why no matter which crossroads are in front of us, the same action process applies.
ACTION STEPS
Pick 1)(a) or 1)(b) to start.1)(a) Pick a crossroads in front of you that has to do with replacing bad fat 1 time a week with good fat 1 time a week OR
1)(b) Pick a crossroads in front of you that has to do with moving to a town where you have to change schools or jobs and don’t know anyone.
2) Prepare to make a list of the pros and cons that come along with 1 of these crossroads. They will both affect the appetite. Also, feel free to substitute the crossroads.
3) Write 5 pros and 5 cons for the scenario you choose. Here’s an example of 1)(a), such as
PRO: “I want to lose weight and changing bad fat to good fat 1 time a week will start to cleanse my body.”
CON: “I won’t be able to use my beloved fat to calm down on the day I don’t use the bad fat. Can I handle it? Yes.”
4) Prioritize the pros and cons, eliminating the bottom 2.
5) Finally, pick the biggest pro and the biggest con and proceed in a way that will improve you.
6) To top it off, write a few sentences on how you will maximize the pro, including 3 action steps you would like to make happen. Send it to us, either just to declare it or if you would like to share it. If you are stuck at any point, let us know so we can help you.
CONCLUSION
Life is full of crossroads. They always show up, in our personal lives and in our lives as global citizens. Every time we make a life decision, we are at a crossroads. Every time we vote, we are at a crossroads. We can look at our choices as necessary steps leading us forward. We can also savor the opportunities they bring and use the pro and con method to ensure that we come to the most efficient understanding of our crossroads as they arrive.FEEDBACK
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DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR
Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Moms For Healthy Daughters, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert and a dedicated mom.
She likes to feel strong and very much enjoys using many body parts at the same time. She says,
“When we engage in an exercise that seems to use 1 part of the body alone, we are really accessing so many other body parts and body systems that we have an opportunity to rejuvenate ourselves each time. When we do 1 simple exercise correctly, it starts a chain reaction that manifests in other parts of our mind and body than the 1 whose name is in the title slot. It’s good to focus the attention on 1 body part with the understanding that each exercise affects many.”
By Diane Gold
Appetite is a tricky thing. It depends upon the interplay of hormones, insulin, activity, fatigue and our personal control.Leptin suppresses appetite. Lack of it causes us to crave food.
Ghrelin increases appetite. A lot of it signals the brain that we are hungry.
Adiponectin signals fat-burning. If we don’t have enough, our body won’t burn fat.
If we eat too many sweets, there’s too much sugar in our blood stream which can disrupt insulin production which leads to the body’s storing fat.
There is a lot of juicy research on all this stuff, but, for now, let’s state that these hormones are very complicated. There are some side effects from using leptin and ghrelin as medicine, so far, we can’t use those whenever we have the wrong urge.
Adiponectin, aside from weakening bone cells in older people, has positive research behind it as an aid for big overweight issues.
Researchers are currently working on developing the perfect relief from gaining weight.
Here’s where saving the planet comes in.
When we get involved in a cause, a project, a special job; we find spiritual nourishment. It is like food for the body as it is food for the mind. We may get obsessed. Certainly, our minds become busy with the project, so much so that we may forget our food urges.
When we are making a difference, be it helping impoverished communities to get drinking water or helping the homeless woman who sits on the bench; we like how we feel when we give of ourselves. We like it more than our favorite snack. It is a warm, internal satisfaction that increases our productivity (and our metabolism) which reduces our craving for food.
How often have we lost weight when we fell in love, had to care for our friend’s health condition, became mothers, did fundraising for orphans? These activities required selfless action on our part, and we do it wholeheartedly without taking time out to overeat.
I’ve seen people working on behalf of others where their work has taken away the urge to overeat, the urge to smoke, the urge to drug (although there are physical side effects when we change some habits). Saving Others And Our Planet is phenomenal.If I were building housing for abandoned cats, I would be nourishing myself through helping cats. I can remember 1 day when one of our cats had kittens. My children and I spent every free moment tending to the kitties (mostly looking for them) as soon as Momma Cat would let us near them. We were consumed.
Then there was teaching music. I spent lots of my free time working with these emotionally and developmentally challenged kids. And through my wonderful principal’s approval, I was able to buy turntables and teach them mixing. Increasing their self-esteem made me full (which I discuss below).
I always ended up getting spiritual nourishment from their success. What an opportunity working with kids whose parents either left them or abused them. And I was involved in their strengthening themselves through mixing records and words.
Before we look at the ways to get involved, let’s look at the 3 things that change us and, ultimately, change our relationship with our appetite.1)
FULLNESS FROM GETTING INVOLVED
It’s that feeling of joy, confidence, belonging, importance that goes along with the giving. This feeling, itself, can melt away our cravings. When we feel satisfied, whether it be from physical or mental pleasure; we feel balanced and full. It’s this fullness that we are looking for.
There is a similar but different feeling. It is a separate satisfaction that comes from stepping outside of our own world and getting involved in someone else’s. It happens when we successfully teach anything.
2)
INCREASE IN METABOLISM
When we do physical work, we fire up our metabolism. This reduces our appetite.
3)
THE SECRET: SELF-ESTEEM
There is a feeling that occurs after the fullness of joy and metabolic change. It is subtle but has everything to do with changing the habit of eating too much that is dissuaded by reduction in appetite. It is the tipping point.
Self-esteem created by the first 2 factors permeates one’s essence and is the driving force in changing a habit. We want to savor this feeling when it arrives.
LEVELS OF INVOLVEMENT: WE PICK THE ACTION STEP RIGHT FOR EACH OF US
Typically there are 7 ways in which to become involved in something other than ourselves. These examples are examples and represent the depth with which we are willing to go to contribute of ourselves.
We welcome all examples in the comment section.
1) MOBILE PHONE DONATION
We can donate $10 to a charity by mobile phone should we use a major carrier. I learned today that we can even pick a specific micro-loan project and donate once.2) AUTOMATICALLY DONATING MONEY MONTHLY
Donating money is fantastic. It allows us to become bigger than ourselves. The fact that we are doing it regularly connects us to the cause itself.Again, not many calories are burned, nor is there the physical workout that increases metabolism. Plus, giving money may not be an option.
3) REPAIRING 1 HOUSE AFTER A NATURAL DISASTER
Donating our time is huge. When we decide to give our precious time to others, we are giving up something big.
Fortunately, house repair requires physical work. Therefore, we will expend calories, learn something about construction and increase metabolism. This is 1 circumstance in which saving outside ourselves saves us as well.
4) REGULARLY VOLUNTEERING AT THE LITERACY PROGRAM
Giving of expertise is a wonderful thing. We pass on what we know.
The time it takes to be with someone is time away from eating. Helping someone’s lot in life feels good. However, we don’t expend many calories while we are reading, if it’s at the local library and we drive to the library. We could always opt to walk or bicycle to the library to do the volunteering. Or we could teach the lesson at the beach or on a mountain, both of which we could walk to in order to get there. Giving the skill of reading will change someone’s life forever. Walking to do it regulates our weight.
5) VOLUNTEERING FOR A WEEK TO HELP KIDS LEARN FARMING, FOOD GATHERING, BRIDGE BUILDING
1 week’s program can get us really motivated to take an active role in the particular project. 1 week might turn into 2 weeks.
6) VOLUNTEERING FOR A MONTH TO HELP KIDS LEARN FARMING, FOOD GATHERING, OR SOME TYPE OF CONSTRUCTING STRUCTURES
A month of involvement can turn into deeper involvement. This method of caring for others takes our time, consumes our free time and helps those who are less fortunate than we.
Should we be involved to this point, our self-esteem will be full on, and our habit of overeating will be replaced by our habit of our volunteering work.
7) MAKING YEAR-ROUND PROJECT WORK A PERMANENT PART OF OUR LIVES
This type of involvement would fortify us on a permanent basis. We could even opt to work with kids who were struggling with weight as long as we could keep the snacks to veggies.
CONCLUSION
It is quite accurate that our hormones regulate our appetite, that we are born predisposed to a certain way. What is also true is that we have the ability to take action, no matter what our hormones are doing. What can happen in that case is that our own efforts can supersede and change our biology. It happens all the time. This is the process of making a change through saving someone other than ourselves.
FEEDBACK
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DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR
Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Moms For Healthy Daughters, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert and a dedicated mom.
She is motivated by motivation. She says,
“We are small beings, but we have huge power, even the power to change our own biology. If we reach out and become absorbed in creativity, productivity, love of another; we change our hormones as well as our lives and the lives of others.”
By Diane Gold
In December 3rd’s article, The Peace Process: A Step-By-Step Formula, we talked about being able to understand conflicting views and really listening to the answers. Action steps were offered which included speaking with the 2 members of opposing geo-politico-religious sides and, by doing so, earning the trust of each.If you haven’t seen it, go here.
OVERVIEW OF PHASE 2
After conversing with both participants on opposite sides of a brutally large conflict (PHASE 1); we, at least, have a better understanding of the passions and the tensions that run so very deep, including the history that has transpired, the way each side was brought up to think about the other, the atrocities incurred from the eyes of either side.
We may even think, as I originally did before I started having these discussions, the process might be simple, if only we would begin. Very difficult if each sees the actions of the other as breaking the covenants of the rules of leading a reverent and noble life.
So Phase 2 has to be about creating a discussion between a neutral person and 2 participants on the same side, with 1 of those agreeing to role play a member of the opposite side: Phase 2 of the Peace Process Formula.There’s no rush to get to this phase, and the initial discussion must take as long as it takes for trust to develop between the original participant and the neutral party. And, then again, the trust may not be 100% because we, the neutral parties, are outsiders in the eyes of the participants whose lives have been engulfed in the conflict. And it is common to hear,
“You cannot understand. You are not from there.”
Thomas L. Friedman, former Jerusalem Bureau Chief of The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner, puts it this way in his Op-Ed column on December 8,
“…there is an unspoken question in the mind of virtually every [person who lives in a conflicted country] that you need to answer correctly: ‘Do you understand what neighborhood I’m living in?’ If [these country women and men] smell that you don’t, their ears will close to you.”
THE PEACE PROCESS FORMULA builds trust in the participants and the process.
I believe it is possible to help people achieve their goal of a peaceful community – even if we, the helpers, have limited knowledge of the others’ neighborhood or situation. This fact doesn’t dismiss how important the others’ situation is. It just bases its method upon our common human nature and not on our common neighborhood.
The Peace Process Formula goes for any goal. There is only 1 requirement: believe in people who honor unique situations with complicated agendas, but who believe we are similar to a precision with simple needs. It is this sameness of our humanity that allows us to supersede the objections that “we cannot be helped by strangers who do not know the neighborhood” so that this process can, inevitably, resolve conflict. Trust and sincerity are the keys.
MOVING TOWARD OUR OBJECTIVE
If a method, program or an infrastructure is created for people to progress forward in their lives; anyone can use it with the same success.
It is not necessary for the moderator (the neutral person in this process) to have been in the struggle personally.
It is necessary for each side of a conflict to trust the moderator, mediator, arbitrator, counselor.PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
Tensions that make geo-politico-religious conflict have taken years to develop.
These conflicts require delicate work since everyone on both sides has been offended many times.
In order to achieve peace, judgment on the part of the moderator is not part of the process. Listening and resolving are.
Trust must be acquired between the moderator and each person in the process.
PHASE 2 ROLE PLAY – THE RULES
1) 2 participants who take the same side who are willing to answer questions about the conflict in their country must be found. They should both be on the same side of a geo-politico-religious conflict.
2) 1 of the participants must be willing to play the role of the opposing view for this phase of the process.
3) Since the process will be extremely difficult, it must be established that there will be no voice raising and no disrespectful language and that a break from the discussion can be requested by asking the moderator if s/he can disengage the discussion.
4) Next, congratulate your participants for coming to the table in the first place.
ACTION STEPS
1) Participants will be asked to pretend to be a Leader for World Peace and peace for her (his) respective geographic area. This means each participant must consider the lives of everyone involved. 1 participant will be the leader for her (his) usual side. 1 participant will be a leader for her (his) usually opposing side.2) With peace in mind, participants shall be asked to make a list of 10 changes they would like to occur to achieve that.
3) Participants shall be asked to prioritize the 10 changes.
4) Participants shall be asked to eliminate the least important 5 changes.
5) Participants will be asked to alter each change and break it down to a smaller version of itself. Make sure to do this for all 5 changes.
Here are examples:
If the 5th change on the list were to raise the community flag in a particular location every day, you might be able to change that to raising the flag 1 day a week instead to begin.
If the 5th change on the list were to acquire 5 miles of land, you might be able to change this to 1 mile of land instead.
6) The moderator will have each participant read from the top of the list: first 1 person reads change 1. Then the other person reads her (his) change 1.7) This continues, alternating, 1, then the other, until the entire list is read.
8) A copy of each list will be given to each participant.
9) Each participant will be given no more than 15 minutes to comment next to each item. Of course, extra time (up to 30 minutes) can be given.
10) After each participant is finished, the moderator shall collect the lists.
11) The moderator will go over rule number 3 to temper speech and words.
12) The moderator will read the responses to the items on the list out loud and ask for 5 minutes of comment on each. The replies will be timed.
13) The moderator will thank both participants and ask if they would be willing to come back again after giving the ideas some thought or some research.
CONCLUSION
The Peace Process Formula has been developed to make small changes in a safe environment. It is easy to blow up and stop the process, as world peace issues show us every day. This method has been devised, in part, to create understanding of issues of conflict for outsiders, but mostly, to start to grow roots of peace that can lead to lasting peace.
Phase 3 of the Formula will be published soon. It is powerful and hopeful and on time.
If you would like to become involved in this process, as a participant or as a moderator, please let us know or leave a comment below. Becoming involved in this process can replace many less meaningful activities, including making poor food choices. It can also build the pride and joy that comes along with being involved in something bigger than ourselves.
FEEDBACK
Please leave a comment and LIKE.
DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR
Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert and a dedicated mom.
She is thrilled with The Peace Process Formula. She says,
“Small changes on a regular basis add up to medium changes and then large changes. Those of us whose duty it is to help, let’s do this. Those of us who would like to observe, we welcome it.
“Did you ever notice how there have been times when we are not correct about an outcome. It is my hope that the adversaries and the friends who use this process will grow from it, and, if so, grow the method of the process of peace that can contribute greatly to all our lives.”
OPEN GOV'T. ACT EXECUTIVE ORDER
May 9, 2013.
Within 3 mos., gov't. agencies will comply with the Open Data Policy written into the 2009 Act (finalized 2011). This order can be viewed by CLICKING HERE. Get the original plan by CLICKING HERE.
The "We, The People" section of the plan is for citizen petitions. Its source code will be published as "Open Source" so that all countries can use it.
The flag above signifies all nations together. The flag below signifies made in the USA for all of us.
