There are many strategies for peak performance. We've been learning how to organize, visualize, optimize, and finally, self-actualize. We've been given a glimpse of what aligning ourselves with the natural laws of the universe can do for our success and peace of mind and we've discovered how we can create whatever miracle we want in our lives if we just make the decision to do so.

Are we all healthy, vital, and full of energy? If not, then how are we going to enjoy our new-found success? Besides, perfect health is also the recipe for peace of mind. When we're healthy and happy, the mind is clear and bright and we have the necessary energy to move ahead.

So let's get started!

The most important thing to realize is that the human body is incredibly intelligent and self-correcting. It has within it everything necessary to keep us in perfect health at all times. The reason we get sick is that instead of allowing the body to "do its own thing", we fill it full of all kinds of chemicals and pollutants . We stuff it with processed foods, sweets and empty calories, cook all the vitamins and minerals out of everything we eat and generally have no awareness whatsoever about what we're putting into our bodies.

Fortunately, as soon as we realize this we can change this process - and incredibly, once you have made the decision to change, it's much easier than you think. You see, what we're about to suggest to you is not a reducing diet - in fact, if you need to GAIN weight, you can use the same process.

What we are recommending here is a EATING LIFESTYLE change. Much of what I am repeating here comes from Harvey and Marylin Diamond's book "Fit For Life" with some personal preferences and additions. Since as human beings we tend not to follow through with something unless we can both enjoy it as well as see results, I have taken what I feel is easiest to implement and appears to work best. I have personally seen some dramatic results, both in greatly increased energy and vitality as well as weight loss using the following guidelines:

THE ENERGY AND VITALITY DIET

Cooperating with the natural cycles of the body frees up all the excess energy required to lose or normalize weight and feel GREAT! So we try to maintain our ingestion of food to cooperate with our natural body cycles, which are roughly:

Ingestion (taking in foods) - from 12:00 noon to 8:00 PM (8 hours) during which we eat our 2 main meals - Lunch and dinner.

Assimilation (using those foods in our body) from 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM (8 hours) during which we eat only fresh fruit and fluids.  

Elimination (preparing our bodies to eliminate the foods from our bodies) 4:00 AM to Noon (8 hours) during which we eat only fresh fruit( including breakfast) and fluids.

PROPER FOOD COMBINING:

PROTEINS (meats, cheese, eggs, nuts, etc.) and CARBOHYDRATES (breads, potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. are not eaten at the same meal. They each require a different stomach acid to digest - acid or alkali, thereby neutralizing each other if eaten together by takes a great deal of energy which instead can be used for other things, including weight loss.  Vegetables and greens, raw or cooked, fresh, or frozen, can be eaten with either carbohydrates or proteins at any meal.

Fruit can only be eaten on an empty stomach.  Raw greens, i.e. tomatoes, green onions, celery, green pepper and cukes, can be eaten with fruit or anytime as a snack.

PROPER FRUIT CONSUMPTION:

Fruit is always eaten on an empty stomach.  Following a Meat meal, wait 2 1/2 hours before eating fruit. After a Carbohydrate meal, wait 2 hours.  After a Vegetable meal, 1 hour. Eat as much fresh fruit, including bananas, as you want for breakfast and throughout the morning.Eat fresh fruit and fluids only, from bedtime to lunchtime the next day.

OTHER GUIDELINES:

Snack on fresh fruits anytime your stomach is empty of other food. 

Snack on celery, lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, etc. anytime.

Peas, beets and corn are high starch vegetables and are eaten only occasionally.Use butter, but use it sparingly. The same goes for salt. Use enough for taste, but not enough to cause your body to hold on to its fluids. This defeats your purpose.

Avoid sugars, highly processed foods, and foods loaded with chemicals.

Try to reduce your ingestion of red meat, especially, marbled with fat and replace it with leaner cuts and with poultry and fish.

Try to avoid hard fats, and hydrogenated fatty foods.

Enjoy your food and treat this diet as a guideline for proper eating as a lifestyle, rather than as a reducing diet.

Treat yourself occasionally, then come back to proper eating.

Even if you only use one of the principles for now, you'll benefit from it. The better you internalize the guidelines and follow them automatically, the more weight you'll lose (or gain, if that's your goal) because this diet allows your body to take care of itself properly. That means normal weight and great energy.

And finally, ENJOY your food and proper eating and your body will reward you with more energy and vitality than you can possibly imagine! YOU'LL FEEL PHENOMENAL!!