I won’t repeat all that, as you can go back and re-read those sections, but I will go further now to
present a helpful expanded context for switching to this mindset, and a way to work your way up to
greater and great expertise—ease, facility, skill, strength—in this eating style and lifestyle.
When you make the switch from a nutrient-poor to a nutrient-rich healthy eating style, you are
taking the way you eat to a whole new level of food quality and optimization. How can we usefully
think about and apply the concept of “going to a whole new level?”
Most moms, dads, uncles and grandparents, even sisters and brothers have probably taken their
kids or loved ones to karate schools, or have heard their friends talking about Tae Kwon Do and the
like, even if they haven’t practiced martial arts themselves. So I am guessing that most people
understand at least the basic idea of starting out as a White Belt and progressing to a Yellow Belt, a
Green Belt, a Brown Belt and a Black Belt—all as a result of practice, skill building, and skill
assessments.
The best way to master a style in anything is to take the same approach that we see in martial arts.
Just as a martial artist learns a “style” and seeks to become a Black Belt, you too can become a Black
Belt in the Nutrient Rich® healthy eating style. You can learn a style, practice it, and become
increasingly skilled through experience and learning.
A “Black Belt” is a symbol for being competent in the basic skills of a particular discipline, whether
it’s karate or healthy eating, once you become a Black Belt, you can go even further beyond basic
skills.
Eating is a set of skills. When you master them, you will really know how to take care of your body,
and your expertise will spill over into other disciplines, which you can learn more about as well
through the Performance Lifestyle® for Resilient Living program at NutrientRich.com.
The reason this “belt” approach is so effective is because doing anything successfully takes practice,
and we need to be able measure our level of mastery. That’s why your Nutrient Rich® Score is
associated with a “belt.”
I challenge and encourage you to take the same approach and care you would take in rising up the
ranks of a martial art by practicing and getting grounded in experience with everything you learn in
the Nutrient Rich® Health Eating Plan.
Skills Mastery: Becoming an Expert
There are many reasons people don’t change. In addition to food addictions, detoxification
discomfort, outmoded beliefs, lack of support, the Pleasure trap, the change process, and many
others we’ve examined throughout the book, some people don’t change simply because they don’t
know the correct skills for change or mastery.