130 the rice diet renewal
the pleasure principle), the demands of the environment, and the
standards of the superego (which enforces moral responses). ”
Although our culture ’ s ego - dominated approach to thinking and
reacting has gotten us this far, we do have a choice to awaken to
the deeper truth of why we do what we do and why we habitually
do what we don ’ t want to do and to change our thinking to co - create
what we really want to do with our lives. A long and tiring battle
with overeating or, frankly, any painful condition that we exhaust
ourselves with fi ghting can pivot us into a new realm of thinking.
Many people have described to me the moment when they realized
that they would do anything rather than continue on their inef-
fective path of hopelessness or desperation, and when they relin-
quished the illusion that they were actually in control or “ right ”
about whatever. It was only then that they awakened to their minds ’
role in contributing to it, as well as their power to change their minds
and their future prognoses. This is often described as a paradigm
shift, the moment when we fi rst realize we can choose to perceive
things differently and then almost instantly and effortlessly do so.
One of the most motivating participants whom we ’ ve had the
pleasure of pursuing health with is Jan, who is now practically
everyone ’ s coach. Jan, like many Ricers, had a life fi lled with
professional accomplishments. She conducted chemistry research
and lectured in German for Swiss agricultural and chemical com-
panies, then excelled in selling residential and commercial real
estate. But as many of you know, being brilliant and competent
doesn ’ t always mean that you remember to prioritize a healthy
lifestyle. The excessive hours she devoted to her real estate work,
along with her new fast - food habits, led to Jan ’ s overweight status
in her forties. In 2002, when she was sixty - two, Jan walked into
the Rice Diet Program weighing 216 pounds. She had tried almost
every diet in the country and was desperately seeking something
that would help her lose her excess weight and fi nally keep it off.
But that was before her cancer. Much to her surprise, Jan was diag-
nosed with breast cancer only two days into her stay. “ I remember
going to Dr. Rosati and telling him that I had to drop out, ” refl ects