Free The Zen Diet Revolution by Martin Faulks Page B

keys to detachment is to keep your mind on your aim. Many people suffer from aim confusion, and this destroys their chances of reaching their goals. Some people join a company because they want a stepping stone to another role, only to become competitive in their job and spend the rest of their life trying to get the most senior role. Some men work themselves to death trying to make lots of money and destroy their marriages in the process.
    With food, people get caught up in seeking pleasure, not feeding the body with the best fuel. If you find your aim wandering, let go of the other goal and focus on what you are trying to do here. When you choose your food, you want to feed your body with all it needs, but with fewer calories so that it burns fat. Any other motive needs to be dropped. I find this really helps with all goals.
Other benefits of detachment
    For most people, work is most of their life. It is something that takes up a huge amount of their energy and focus. When they get home, it is hard for them to leave work
at
work and it’s like a thorn in their side during spare time. Even when they lie in bed, they find it hard to stop thinking about deadlines and responsibilities. They need to learn to let go. Detachment gives us the capacity to be in the moment, to rid ourselves of worries about reports that haven’t been finished and emails that need response. That’s a very powerful stress-busting skill. A less stressed person is a better worker and a slimmer body!

Chapter Two

DIETARY CHANGES
Food routine – and how to take advantage of it
    Humans are creatures of habit. We naturally develop routines for everything we do – even if we don’t know it! Many diets take advantage of this by simply attempting to replace our existing food routine with another, normally one that is drastic and unsustainable. In the Zen Diet, we recommend that you work with the natural routine that you have already created and start to improve it. It’s time for a meal-time evolution, not a revolution.
    Take a few moments to look at your existing routine. If you get a piece of paper and write down meals you tend to cook regularly, you may be surprised to find there are only about 10 or so that you prepare on rotation. Perhapsa few more that you cook very rarely, but the main focus is on finding the ones you cook or eat almost every week. Include eating out and takeaways.
    Looking at your food routine is a powerful diet tool. Just being aware of it will encourage you to cut out that very high-calorie meal. If you have Chinese takeaway more often than you think, that may be the first thing to go.
    Now imagine how much of a difference to your weight it would make if you were to replace a high-calorie meal with a nice low-calorie one. It may not sound like much, but consider the long-term effect of this replacement
every week
. You could cut 1,000 calories a week just with that one small change.
    In Appendix Two, you will find a selection of amazing recipes that I have used myself. These are formulas I have used to improve my diet and cut away my body fat. They are all high in protein and bulk, but low in calories. That way, you feel nicely full and the meal lasts for a long time so you don’t feel hungry, but you cut your calories by eating these meals rather than most conventional dishes.
    While working through this chapter, the Zen change to your diet is simply to try a different meal from the ‘Recipe’ section each week. If you find one you like, it will naturally become part of your routine. You will notice that all recipes are quick, easy to prepare and can be varied. So if you do choose to go down the standardized diet route and only eat recipes from this book, it’s easy for you to vary your diet and keep it fresh and interesting!
Changing your food habits
    We only have to look at the TV, magazines and any adverts that are flashed at us on the Internet, at bus shelters and on the subway around New Year to know that the one BIG