182 the rice diet renewal
going on the Rice Diet tomorrow! Our son said, “ Dad, no offense
or anything, but when you say that, I don ’ t believe you anymore. ”
Bob heard our son ’ s heartfelt words, and Bob ’ s desire to do what he
said he was going to do took a quantum leap. I think he was moti-
vated not only to achieve his optimal weight but also to set an
example for our son to be true to his word, to actually do what he
said — not to habitually say one thing and do another.
Maintaining his optimal weight had not previously eluded Bob
due to a lack of knowledge of, or experience with, needed lifestyle
changes for health promotion and disease prevention. In addition
to being at the top of his Andover class, a Yale University honors
graduate, and then a standout at Duke Medical School, he went
on to envision and develop the fi rst and largest cardiac data bank in
the world. His desire to create the cardiac data bank was primarily
inspired by his early belief that cardiac bypass surgery, although
relieving symptoms initially, would not necessarily prolong a
heart patient ’ s life or reduce his or her chance of having future heart
attacks. (Bob ’ s intuition continues to be proved true more than
three decades later, as is documented in numerous major studies
and review articles; note the 2008 Mayo Clinic Proceedings and
the 2009 American Journal of Cardiology articles in the reference
section.) Bob, inspired by a preventive approach over surgical inter-
vention, became the medical director of the largest cardiac rehabil-
itation center in the United States, then worked beside Dr. Walter
Kempner, the founder of the world - renowned Duke University Rice
Diet Program, for more than nine years before he was entrusted
with its direction in 1992. Bob and many other learned dieters have
come to realize that the business of weight loss and maintenance is
not solely a left - brained operation, as he explains below.
I have always said that losing weight and taking care of our-
selves is not an intellectual process. As far as weight loss is
concerned, we all know what to do. Eat less and exercise
more. We behave as we feel. In other words, our feelings are
what cause our behavior, not our intellects. If we repeat any
behavior over and over again, that behavior becomes us. We