5-minutes can change the path of your life forever. 30 YEARS AGO TODAY (May 1, 1993), this man changed mine… and the lives of hundreds or thousands I’ve taught over the last decade. When Paul opened his concert with a 5-minute clip about the brutality of slaughter houses, furriers, etc., I watched, horrified.

My values, my identity, habits, EVERYTHING changed in an instant—I haven’t touched meat since. I immediately went back to college in a small rural town of NC with no idea “how to do this veggie thing.” I at least had skills of being scrappy from a rough upbringing, so making cheap meals was pretty easy. How to make them meatless back in 1993 took some brainstorming. (Kinda like walking uphill both ways in the snow, like your grandparents did. 🤣) A HUGE thank you to Janet, for being the best roomie and figuring it out with me… Hamburger Helper, anyone!?🧡

I recently touched on this story in one of my cooking classes before moving on to the recipes While I don’t believe it’s the video he showed in ’93, I mention “Glass Walls” in a few different classes… I didn’t realize the effect it would have on one of my students, but she explained it during a different class I taught. Give it a quick listen here: https://youtu.be/tdmH_o_kIxE.

Her feedback re “Glass Walls”: “It didn’t feel good at all… I know it’s not all like that, but that was something that just stuck with me this week—it’s not really good for me, anyway. So, as hard as that was to watch, thank you for sharing that with me. It was really a big influencer.” She then swapped her usual weekly fare of grab-n-go ham sandwiches for a sweet potato topped with kale salad and chickpeas.

If she wants treats, food, fresh water, attention, or wants to be covered with a blanket, she lets us know. This cat communicates better than most humans, I tell ya…

When we’re busy and miss or ignore her cues, she gets louder and louder. Eventually, you can’t ignore the “I want it MEOW!” And that’s when it hit me…

In nutrition school, we recently studied neurotransmitters, the nervous system, and how stress and environment affect health and obesity. We learned how food cues are how our brain processes images, sounds, smells—using memory and emotion to “tag” foods for pleasure. This is a VERY basic description of a complicated process-I outline it further in point #4 below. It’s also extremely fascinating and necessary to understand if you want to help yourself or others permanently achieve health or other lifestyle goals.

As I stared at Doodles bitching for her latest treat, I told her, “no, you’re too fat!” She didn’t care, literally huffed at me, and continued to beg. “ah yes, of course this rationalizing won’t work! You don’t care and you don’t have the complex part of the brain we have, where we make decisions and work through complicated problems.”

A 12-year-old boy weighs about 87 pounds on average. When Rob and I analyzed how our bathtime feels different, something struck me… we’ve lost a combined weight of 112 pounds total, in the last year. It’s the equivalent of a 14-year-old child. Remove that from a bathtub, and it’s bound to feel different.

He’s lost 87 pounds to date, with about 10 to go. He’s no longer diabetic, doesn’t get hangry if he misses a regular meal time occasionally, and no longer desires “those” foods. He’s lost the equivalent to a 6th grade child. He was carrying around another human, 24-hours a day. In hindsight, that’s mind-boggling.

He reflects on the journey a lot, as I recommend anyone doing, when they’ve accomplished something amazing.

“When I think about it, it comes down to 3 things:

1. The knowledge of what to eat (that’s where you come into the picture as my wife and expert),
2. Willpower, because the 1^st 3 months are a detox from all those foods, and
3. It took me 20 years to put on all that weight, but only a year to lose it.”

I’m going to emphasize his 3^rd point again: “It only took a year to lose it.”

That’s a tremendous shift in mindset.

So often, we hear people complain about how difficult it is to lose weight (been there, so I get it!). But that’s simply not true. We gain, on average, 10 pounds a year, unconsciously. Yet we LOSE 25 in a year, when we’re conscious. 

 

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The difference is simply where we’re focused… we rarely focus on the scale when we’re gaining, yet obsess over it when we want to lose.

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It’s not that it’s harder to lose weight than it is to gain it, despite what EVERYONE says. It’s just that we’re focused on losing weight, so it APPEARS to be harder. Where’s your attention/intention? Because as my Transformational coach says, “You are where your attention is.” If you’re focused on the scale, the clock ticks away. When you’re focused on everything BUT the scale (or you have a Dr. who tells you the scale is a useless tool), time flies by.

 

Anyone ever looked in the mirror and said, “how’d I get here?” If so, you understand that your attention wasn’t on fat loss.

 

Why is no one discussing this, especially when the mental aspect of health is critical to success? It’s SIMPLE to be healthy… but it’s not easy. Until you get your brainset right…

 

Here’s an example of the deep programming we live with:

It was late July when I finally identified the Coopers Hawk in the woods behind our apartment. Through the subtle messages Nature gives, I ended up nurturing 21 Swallowtails. The backstory is here: How Nature Guides – Pandorable Wellness (pandorasproducts.net).

 

That was just the beginning of the journey, which I knew immediately…

 

As I said there, “My friends, THESE are the gifts Nature gives you daily. Words, images, and insights, if we’re only open to receiving… this is Ancient Wisdom.

 

Sometimes the answer isn’t a straight path and requires questions and patience. And especially silence. Who knew a hawk would lead me to butterflies!?”

 I had a suspicion there was more, based on my experience with Nature and leaning into the power of Ancient Wisdom. (Part of Ancient Wisdom is working with Nature and Her messages.)

 

With each new brood of larvae, each shift in the metamorphosis process, or the culmination towards their escape from the safe cocoon, something also shifted in my life. It became clear with each stage of transformation that I was going through my own. As the hawk had told me, “what am I not seeing? How do I use my abilities? Do I have power I’m not using? Magic imbues the Power to overcome currently stressful or difficult situations.”

 

Like my job. A now stressful and difficult situation.

 

I saw what I hadn’t wanted to admit—