You may wonder why Bernard focuses so much on food in a spiritual course like this.
One time I came to realise that I had become a stodgeaholic. I was eating stodgy food and I was thinking stodgy thoughts. As I began eating less stodgy food and eating more alive food, my thinking changed too. My thinking become more vibrant and more creative as my diet improved. It became easier for me to know what I wanted and easier to achieve it.
As Bernard points out, it is important to make changes gradually. It can be too much for our system if we make changes too quickly and we end up with a “detox headache” (a headache which people can sometimes get if detoxing too fast) or a gassy stomach. Our digestive system has billions of small organisms inside it to cope with the foods we eat. The mix of these organisms matches the types of food we commonly consume. If we make too radical a change too quickly it throws our system out of balance. Give your system time to grow more of the organisms it needs to cope with the types of foods you now want to consume. Change the foods you eat gradually and your system will get a chance to adapt.
It could be you want to change your diet as a way of losing weight. I suggest not thinking of it this way, as it is usually better to think in terms of what you want to get; not what you want to lose. I suggest that you think of what you are gaining. Think of it as a way of gaining fitness and health. If doing a physical exercise routine, notice that you can do it better. Notice that you can walk further and more easily. Notice, that you are more flexible, feel better and more alive. Notice what you are adding to your life and think about what you are adding to your life span. Think about how you feel when you have the kind of shape you want to have. Think of the benefits this will bring you.
An important part of weight-loss is letting go of all the heavy thoughts which can weigh us down. Old stodgy thoughts can clog our thinking till we learn to let them go. Eating life-giving food brings new life to our thinking, because our body and mind are closely connected. Our physical habits match our mental habits. Change one for the better and the other must change too.
Blessings,
William M.
P.S. I am achieving very good results with the Atkins diet (am now the slimmest I have been in over 20 years and meanwhile enjoying lots of yummy food). However, it is good to read up about it properly first (New Atkins, New You is a good book on it) as there is some erroneous information around about what it really is. For example, it is not a high protein diet as many assume.