M E R I D I A N M A G A Z I N E

DR BRIDELL'S logical and rational & poetic and beautiful & completely guaranteed DIET
Bridling Your Appetites through Autumn and Beyond
By the Mysterious Dr Bridell

Editor’s note: Today's article is September's regular monthly update of a column that ran in Meridian for 45 straight weeks, exploring a new diet based on mental and spiritual rather than physical paradigms. A sampling of those installments is still available in the Bridell archive. Besides reviewing them for yourself, you can send them to friends whom you think might need this new and dramatic (and remarkably simple) diet. Dr Bridell's promise to you who follow the diet is that you will lose a substantial amount of weight — and that this weight loss will actually be the least important of the ways in which you will benefit!

If you don't have the Bridell diet book yet, order your copy today by clicking here! Notice at the bottom of today's column that Dr Bridell extends the offer to personalize and sign copies of the book that are ordered during September.

You know the standard rap on diets: "Yes, I lost some weight initially, but I have gained it all back!"

Is it so with Dr Bridell’s logical and rational, beautiful and poetic, and fully guaranteed diet?

I have had so many letters expressing joy in the fact that, since Bridell is a way of life, and a controller of all appetites, not only does the weight stay off, but the diet also actually becomes easier and more natural until it literally becomes a part of us.

But rather than quote from others, let me make this update very personal, and tell you of my own experience through this past summer. Let me start with a little history:

My History

True confession: I (Dr Bridell) have had a "target weight" that I have wanted to reach for years. It is a sort of magic number for me, a weight that I felt was ideal, one where I thought I would look and perform my best.

I had reached that weight before, but never stayed there! I would try some diet, it would seem to be working, and I would lose some weight and get all excited (although I usually didn't feel very good because the diets were extreme in some way or other, and I was missing some nutrients and my energy level would be down).

I just always felt there was something artificial or "quick-fix" or temporary about whatever diet I was on. And, sure enough, it was temporary, because as the newness of it wore off, and regular life settled back in, my appetite would start winning again, and the pounds would come back just as surely and just as predictably as the changing of the seasons.

Then I became Dr Bridell. I was doing a lot of horse riding at the time, and became intrigued with the metaphor of a horse being the appetite, strong and powerful and capable of being either a beautiful thing that thrills us and serves us, or a dangerous and damaging thing that destroys us.

As I developed the Bridell diet, I began to understand that all appetites or passions — not just the one for food — are like the horse. They all can turn into obsessions and then addictions and ruin us, or they all can be bridled and increase our joy.

Learning to bridle, ride, and enjoy a horse properly takes time, and it takes correct techniques. Learning to bridle, use, and enjoy appetites is something that also takes time and requires good techniques. As I developed those techniques for the Bridell diet, it began to change me. It changed the shape and size of my body, but it also changed my mind and my spirit and my soul. It even did what Alma promised his son Shiblon if he would bridle his passions: It "filled me with love."

Along the way, I learned an amazing thing about my body. Once I consistently controlled the amount (the quantity) of the food I put into it (by bridling my intake to half), my appetite began to change from a desire for quantity to a desire for quality. Once my body believed that it was only going to get half of the quantity it was used to (and this took time), it essentially concluded that if it was only going to get half, it had better start demanding better stuff with more nutrients in it. My appetite changed, my bridle worked, and the weight came off and stayed off!

My target weight — my magic number — became a reality, and most importantly, it has stayed a reality. The summer wasn't easy, though. Let me tell you about it.

This Past Summer

Summers can be tough for diets. There are all those cookouts, picnics, and outings. And there is so much good food around, just looking at you. And the days are long, and there just seems to be more time to eat!

For me, it was a time to "toughen up" on all of the principles and techniques of the Bridell diet. Let me review what I concentrated on:

1. Water. I had to really work on drinking the full glass before each meal, and on drinking more in general to stay hydrated and to keep that old tummy full enough of water that there wasn't too much room for food. I got a new, 2-liter water bottle that I liked, and carried it around, and I made myself drink a full glass before eating even a bite of my half-breakfast or half-lunch or half-dinner.
   
2. Small bites. Something about summer is kind of "big", and I had to really fight myself to stay with the very small bites, with setting my fork down between bites, and making my half meal take as long to eat as the old full meals used to. The slow eating, deliberate chewing, and really savoring each bite continued to be the most joyful way of consuming, and it kept working for me. "Sip, savor and smell" really is vastly superior to "gulp, gorge, and guzzle."
   
3. No fourth meal. It's so easy in summer (and even now as fall approaches) to want that fourth meal about 9 or 10 o clock. Just don't do it. When dinner is done, be done! Let your body take its time digesting that dinner and don't dump anything else in on top of it. You will sleep better and feel better in the morning, I promise.
   
4. Exercise. The Bridell challenge is "five per fortnight" or a good aerobic "something" every two or three days. But I have to tell you, making that challenge is easier than keeping it, and I had so many travel and family commitments this summer that I wondered if it was possible. I love tennis, and during the school year, I have regular matches scheduled three times a week, so I get (and enjoy) my five per fortnight. But during the summer, I had to get the exercise either by running or going on an elliptical machine in some gym on the road. But I did it, and it worked.
   
5. Fasting. I always fast on the first Sunday, but during the summer, with all the traveling, reunions, and "eating occasions" I felt like I needed more. I have a Hindu friend who always fasts on the new moon, claiming that it brings harmony with the natural cycles and phases of the earth and moon. I don't know about all that, but I did fast on each new moon, missing two meals, and I think the two-a-month fasts helped me get through the summer without adding back any weight.
   
6. "Repair the Breach" (give away the half you don't eat). I simply increased the fast offering I pay, figuring that with two fasts and with all meals being at half quantity, I had consumed less and thus could afford to give more.
   
7. Poetry. I know that some consider this the most "wacky" part of the Bridell diet, but I also know that just trying to write a poem once or twice a week makes me more observant, more aware, and more aesthetic in how I see the world around me. And I swear that this added sensitivity carries over to eating better food in smaller, more appreciated portions.

The Benefits

I'm somewhat proud of myself, since my magic number, my ideal weight, was not only reached by the Bridell diet, but maintained by the Bridell diet. Because of the diet, I do enjoy food more now, and enjoy life more.

But the bigger picture really is bigger! I reaffirm my promise that the weight loss you incur will be the least important thing the Bridell diet does for you. I am more observant and aware because of it. I feel lighter in insight and attitude as well as in weight. I have more perspective. I don't feel heavy or bloated — physically or mentally or spiritually. The way I eat is affecting the way I live. I slow down, I see more, I appreciate more, and I sip and savor life more.

The Book — Let Me Personalize it For You

Last month, in August, I offered to send personalized and "signed" copies of the book to anyone who ordered before September 1. People seem to appreciate this extra touch, and perhaps to feel more connected to the diet (and to me) when they have an inscribed copy. That being the case, we will extend the offer throughout September. If you order one or more books before Sept. 30, you will be sent personalized and signed copies. Click here to order.

Click here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates.