76 the rice diet renewal
document your food intake in your Dieta Journal. You may want
to now circle these foods when you eat them, thus highlighting
the foods that you realize you are eating for emotional reasons or
motives other than hunger.
Favorite foods:
When and where you eat them:
First memory of eating these foods: when, where, and with
whom:
What feelings the foods inspire:Awakening to Healthier Actions:
Louise ’ s StoryOne Ricer, Louise, captured the essence of this mind - body - spirit
journey in a journalizing class during her fi rst week on the program,
after she was notifi ed that her home had been burglarized. Instead
of immediately racing home and chasing another drama, she
stopped herself. She saw for the fi rst time what she realized was a
major pattern in her life: when attempting to take care of herself,
she would quickly think that something else deserved her attention
more. She had already become aware enough to ask herself some
important questions: When I feel like I ’ ve been victimized, what
do I feel and how do I habitually react? When have I felt this way
before, and why am I suddenly hungry and desirous of running?
Can I feel these feelings and then choose to take full responsi-
bility for them and the choices I make? Can I delegate to others
back home, keep my commitment to my health, and create a win -
win situation? Louise got it almost instantaneously; she realized
that her food issue was not so much about the food but a deeper
worthiness issue. She stopped herself from panicking and rush-
ing home, called her daughter, then enrolled her trusted friends,
employees, police, and insurance agent to handle the situation while
maintaining her top priority — pursuing her health. In the ensuing
weeks, she took advantage of our program ’ s many inner healing