I first read this book over a decade ago, and almost cried after I read the first chapter. I know of other women who upon reading it threw the book across the room and, after reading the first chapter the rest was read with incredulity. It is hard to digest at first (har har...food pun intended). So after my first reading of this book I started to change the way I viewed my life, and after every consecutive read I have used the book as a yardstick to let me know how I have been doing in the interim. It makes sense, it has that ring of truth about it, and it really is possible. I highly recommend this book, and have lent it to women, and sent it to my best friend in Australia (because it is what I consider to be a powerful gift of love). I have earnt a few merit badges since the beginning (it seems like every chapter is a challenge after which you earn your reward on completion). But it is not only that, this book shows me how I have changed since the beginning and that it really is possible to do the things that Geneen suggests we do, and it isn't as hard as you think it is.
My plan is to discuss different chapters (badges if you like) that I have come to believe and have achieved/earnt and would like to share with you, because when you don't have anyone to share these things with, your life gets very small. And I am ready to share.
Merit Badge #1 Whatever you do, don't diet.
The fourth law of the universe is that for every diet there is an equal and opposite binge. This is very true. Even when you don't mean to diet, somewhere deep inside you always knows and responds in kind. That I have earnt this badge or not isn't absolutely certain as I always feel like I am on a tightrope which is very hard to balance on (but it's not always like this... there are months when I don't think about it at all). Even when I don't mean to it just happens, like for instance, a few weeks ago I was testing recipes for a raw food cookbook. I really wanted to give this a wholehearted genuine try and it seemed like lots of fun and a challenge to try this way of life (especialy during winter when all I want is to be warm). But after a few days some deeper urges expressed themselves and for a day or so I ate lots of food, hot, cooked food, and I couldn't seem to regulate my hunger. I got bloated, heartburn and a bad nights sleep, as my body was still busy digesting all of the food I had consumed.
Which is when I took out this book (to do a little self diagnostic). I knew what had happened (even though I didn't mean it to happen) and, after reading a few chapters felt better. I had been on a diet. I had only ate raw food, and I had skipped my morning coffee. And while I felt good, light, had extra energy and decent rest, I was feeling deprived and I had ignored this feeling in the interest of seeing how my body would respond to this new regimen. This feeling of deprivation is an important feeling, and should never be ignored, ever!
So since that incident I have been re-thinking the way I eat, and trying to add new ways of eating (in the raw) without having that feel of a diet, and absolutely NO sense of deprivation. Like I said, it feels like a tightrope which I have trouble balancing on sometimes. What I took from this experience is that, for me, there is a delicate balance which I shouldn't take such drastic steps on, as I will fall off the tightrope. So baby steps is the way to go...and my large cup of coffee every morning, no matter what!
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