I am a person who found an entire new life in recovery and then in Christianity, and because of how those things impacted my life, three of my great “loves” are slogans that are meaningful, acronyms that are truly memorable, and short passages of wisdom that are life-changing. So, I pay a lot of attention to slogans, especially to slogans that appear in ads or promotional materials for so-called motivational programs—like Body for Life. One of those slogans that has deep significance is the one that titles this Blog. Here’s why.

In Body For Life [BFL], we are all called on to change our minds. That doesn’t mean, of course, changing our options as we commonly use it in conversation. Usually, when someone tells us, “I’ve changed my mind,” it simply means that they are no longer going to do what they said they’d do, or that they are now going to do what they said they weren’t. In BFL, changing your mind really means changing the way you think, the values you use to make your decisions, and your entire perspective on life. It also means strengthening your mind. Without mental strength, all the good intentions in the world won’t help you a darn bit.

Would an example help here? I think so, so here is a common one I see on the guestbook. Mom is worried—because she just started BFL and she is busily baking cookies and other Holiday goodies to feed to her children and other family members—and she is afraid she is going to be tempted by them! Really! This is a classic case of a person deciding to do a transformation challenge, but not really a mind change. She is absolutely oblivious of the fact that this is exactly how she became a sugar and sweets junkie herself, because her parents did the very same thing she is doing. Somehow, she allows her mind to assume that serving sweets to her own children is just fine, even though for her they are a deadly temptation, an invitation to descend back down into the uncontrollable eating problems that led her to BFL in the first place. In spite of the way she knows this works, she somehow just closes her mind and assumes that the kids will eat all this but will make up their own minds to eat healthy one day soon.

The bottom line is that a changed mindset in BFL is one which regards the way to live as beginning with the type of foods we eat. That mindset should be to eat the best foods we can, and to feed healthy foods to the kids who are too young to make good choices themselves. That mindset should also include making available some healthy choices for those who ARE old enough to choose by themselves, but who often will just eat whatever is placed in front of them.

If we don’t acquire that type of a mindset, then in reality our BFL experience is simply going to be another temporary diet and exercise program that affects only us, and a temporary effect at that. If we don’t care enough to change our entire outlook on healthy eating, it will indeed be a short time before we are again reaching into the candy dishes at work, or the pizza in the break room, or the birthday cake that someone brought home today. That’s no way to live, not for me anyway.

Now, don’t get too hung up on this example if it doesn’t apply to you or you think my theory is a bit off base. There are many other areas where you need to change your mind. Early morning cardio is a great one. I get up every morning at 5:30 to exercise, not because I want to, but because I regard that as part of my job. I never question whether I should get up and go to work—and you probably don’t either—but most of us wrestle with whether we should get up and exercise early. The mindset that “This is what I do” is not an easy one to acquire, but over time you will adapt to it, if you try.

Another area where most of us need a mind change is the universal law of reciprocation. At Christmas time we’re all sort of generous, looking for ways to bless others and help them a bit. How about making at least one day every week “Christmas day?” In other words, on Saturday, for example, live just as though it was Christmas day, joyfully, generously and extravagantly toward others!

How do you begin this “mind change?” Just like every other change—with a deep commitment in your heart. Write it down, in your journal, and make it a promise to yourself. Something like, “For the next 84 days I will furnish authorized foods only to myself and good foods to the rest of my family, except on free days.” Renew that little vow every morning by making that once again your goal for that day. A few successful checks on that goal at the end of your day, and you’ll be well on your way to truly “changing your mind.”