Today I need to talk about how our diet affects not just our health, but our Spirituality, our relationship with the Spirit, and our relationship with those around us. Before I begin, let me preface this by saying that I’ve been on both sides – the unhealthy side, and the healthy side. And there is a monumental difference.
First, changing our health is not just about what we eat. It’s really about changing our thought processes. To start off with, I don’t ever use the word “diet”, at least not when talking about losing weight. Your diet is simply what you eat. You have have a healthy diet, or an unhealthy diet, or somewhere in between. My impression is that the concept of dieting to lose weight has created a whole series of negative connotations with the word that have made it more difficult for people to truly lose weight and keep it off. Anytime there is an idea built around something, it creates a barrier to achieving the desired effect. So your diet is what you eat, not what you do.
Second, understand that the way we think about food was designed by the people selling us the food. There’s an old adage, “Follow the money trail.” If someone is making money from you purchasing it, you should always question the information they are telling you. Plus, being personally involved with growing or making what you are eating creates an emotional and Spiritual connection to the food, and the process, rather than the manufactured ideas we have been told all our lives.
Next, we need to stop putting barriers in our own way. Even as little as 10 years ago, I was drinking up to 3 large cups of coffee a day, plus a couple of sodas. Not to mention all the snacks, junk food, etc that I could handle. I held onto the viewpoint of “I can’t”. I can’t give up my coffee, I can’t go without my …. “, or “I don’t like this ….” My biggest problem to overcoming my health issues was not the food – it was the idea I had in my head that I had to have the food, or that I would never eat it.
One of the biggest issues in overcoming unhealthy eating is learning to understand that the reason why we eat unhealthy is because the unhealthy diet perpetuates itself, partly because the ingredients used in the manufacturing are often addictive and designed to create the craving for more. but also because the diet itself is causing the emotional issues that we use as our excuse for eating the junk food in the first place. In other words, we pig out on junk food because we are depressed, but we’re not acknowledging that the junk food is creating the depression.
Once we start dealing with the thoughts and ideas behind why we are eating the way we are, then we can begin to change the how and what we eat. Once we begin those changes, that’s when we start keeping the weight off, we can stop taking medications. We also find that we have a much more positive viewpoint, less stress and we have a closer connection with the Spirit. But it all starts with us.
The Warriors Den 