Column #114

When seeking better health and well-being with food rather than drugs and operations there’s an approach that can make it easier and even fun. Many people respond to fear, a great motivator, but that rarely lasts. On the other hand, positive visions are great motivators and far more sustainable.

Dave Pratt, owner of Ranch Management Consultants, teaches modern ranch management techniques. Usually his students discover that if they want to minimize loses and actually make money their management must change. That isn’t easy because that forces them out of their comfort zones. For many, ranching is more of a lifestyle than a business. So it’s as challenging for them to change their management as it is for most people to change their diet.

Dave says, “Research backs me up on this. In one study on this topic, doctors urged heart disease patients to change habits that increased their risk of recurring and worsening problems. When doctors tried to appeal to their patients’ fear of death, very few patients changed their behavior for more than a few weeks. When doctors appealed to their patients’ joy of life, most patients changed their behavior for good.

“Waking up each day with purpose, eager to take another step down the path toward your vision, is a great way to live. But just having vision isn’t enough. You must also have confidence in your plan to achieve it. If we have a vision and still resist change, it is either because our vision isn’t very exciting, in which case we need a new vision, or because we don’t have confidence in our plan to achieve it.”

A good way to initiate change is by visualizing the positive. From a positive vision, build a plan, and then monitor the plan. From our health-based food perspective, creating a vision starts with deciding what you want to accomplish. Do you want to lose weight, reduce pain, subdue a chronic disease, reduce medical expenses, etc.?

Executing the plan requires education. Inform yourself about the important nutritional questions such as why is the 1:1 balance of Omega-6 to Omega-3 important? How do bodies handle carbohydrates and sugar? Why does food chemistry trump other considerations? Which foods are low glycemic and nutrient dense with balanced essential fats? Understand how one’s tastes can adapt to new flavors.

Then based on your knowledge, just focus on the healthiest foods. Pretend the foods you shouldn’t eat don’t exist. Don’t fall into the trap of lamenting about what was, but focus on what will be.

Monitor plans with actual records. Log the foods consumed and any physical reactions. After a few weeks patterns should be detectable. After progress becomes more obvious, keeping track daily may be shifted to weekly and later monthly. Initially, take the Omega-3 test to find out your essential fat ratio. Then take the test every six months until the ratio is less than 2.5:1. Log weight on a weekly basis, not a daily basis. Track the symptoms of pain, sickness, and chronic diseases.

Having long-term goals for scoring touchdowns is great. But it’s more important to have numerous short-term goals, similar to first downs, for they give you opportunities to celebrate the journey. Setting short-term goals provides opportunities for accessing short comings as well as bolstering your enthusiasm. And I always recommend that people brag about the successes which is the flip side of the many people who brag about the diseases.

Dave Pratt concludes, “With an exciting vision, and confidence in your plan to achieve it, people won’t resist change. In fact, they will find change irresistible!”

That’s our goal. Let’s make change irresistible.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

Irresistible Change by Dave Pratt

Take This Omega-3 Test and put slanker in the code to lower cost to less than $100.

The Importance of the Ratio of Omega 6 Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids by Dr. Artemis Simopoulos
on file

Food Analysis at Slanker Grass-Feed Meat