We live in a world where the McDonalds sign is more recognizable than the Christian cross, where more and more people suffer from obesity and malnutritiona world where thousands of people die from preventable lifestyle diseases. Indeed, many of us are unwittingly exposed to foods that affect our physical and mental health, from weight gain and cardiovascular disease to depression and anxiety, which can make us feel like our life is spiraling out of control.
As I discussed in my book Think and Eat Yourself Smart , we are facing a global food crisissomething that affects us all . Notwithstanding the many ways we have advanced as a civilization, we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to what we put on our plates and how we treat our environment.
But we cannot change the way we eat if we do not change our thinking. It is important to acknowledge that what we think affects what we eat, and what we eat affects what we think. To fix our global food crisis, we need to think and eat ourselves smart!
I created this workbook as a guide to help you understand and apply the principles of thinking and eating I outlined in Think and Eat Yourself Smart . Each key follows the main themes of the three parts of the book, with a series of questions that will help you understand and apply the information found in the book. Some questions may be repeated or asked in different waysthis is not an error! Repetition and the process of asking, answering, and discussing are integral to cognitive development; it is always important to ask a lot of questions from a variety of perspectives!
How to Use This Workbook
This workbook is part of a three-part curriculum:
- The Think and Eat Yourself Smart book
- The Think and Eat Yourself Smart DVD
- The Think and Eat Yourself Smart workbook
The DVD and workbook are organized around nine keys for a nine-week study. That is sixty-three days, although you can work through the study in more or less time if desired. It takes around twenty-one days to rewire neural pathways and begin building a new way of thinking about your life. It takes an additional forty-two days (two sets of twenty-one days), for a total of sixty-three days, to establish a new habit. Thus, this workbook is designed to help you establish a habit of thinking and learning that will lay the foundation for a healthy life, both mentally and physically.
As you work through the questions in each key, be as specific and honest as you can. Research shows change happens when we use our minds to develop our understanding. Each question will have a section where you can write your answers. If you need more space, you are more than welcome to use a separate journal or notebookwriting down what you think about is essential to learning, so write away!
Once you have completed the questions, there is a discussion section at the end of each key that will draw on different Scripture verses to help you see the connection between science and belief. I would recommend working through the questions and Scripture discussions a second time, after you have completed the workbook, which will help you better understand and apply the principles in Think and Eat Yourself Smart . I have used the New Revised Standard Version, as it is a fairly accurate translation of the Bible, both in terms of language and in terms of cultural context. You are welcome to use other translations, or even translate the Scriptures yourself if desired. Shifting between translations will force you to analyze the Scriptures from a variety of different viewpoints, worldviews, and social nuances, which certainly increases mind health! I highly recommend The Kingdom New Testament by N. T. Wright, one of the leading New Testament scholars in our world today. Wrights translation pays close attention to the historical context of the New Testament Gospels and letters, allowing the reader to step into the world of the first century CE and truly experience the writings of the early followers of the Messiah. David Bentley Hart recently came out with an incredible, raw, and intimate translation of the New Testament that I highly recommend as well.
At the end of the workbook, there is a recommended reading list for those who wish to dig deeper into the key points I have written about in Think and Eat Yourself Smart and this workbook. Many of these sources can be found in the bibliography and notes in Think and Eat Yourself Smart , but I have highlighted the most important books and articles and added a few new sources I have researched since writing the book in 2016.
When you begin to follow the guidelines of Think and Eat Yourself Smart , your life will begin to change for the better. You will learn how to control what you allow into your head and on your plate, you will discover what is wrong with our current food system, you will learn how to quit this system, and you will learn how to beat it! You are more than capable of taking control of your physical and mental health. You can think and eat yourself smart!
KEY
Prologue
Read pages 1317 in Think and Eat Yourself Smart and watch the key 1 video.
1. We need to increase our knowledge about food and food practices. We need to improve our shopping and cooking skills. And, most importantly, we need to change our attitudes toward food, health, healing, and nutrition. Why is this important? How can you improve the way you eat and the way you think about food?
2. Thinking plays a dominant role in eating . How so? What role does thinking play in your food choices?
3. There is always someone new telling us they have the solution to everyones dietary and/or exercise habits, suggesting that if we dont follow their advice we will surely drop dead . Have you experienced this in your life? How does this make you feel? Do you think that there is just one way of eating that works for everyone?