I'm on a Diet Again



Went to the doctor earlier this week. Cringed when I saw my weight (don’t think it’s healthy to have a scale at home…)

Decided it’s time for a diet again.

It’s not the first time I’ve gone on this diet. And it works every time. No need to count calories or carbs. Or make yucky smoothies. Or really change that much.

After giving a long list of recommended and unrecommended foods, Maimonides wrote that “It’s better to eat the right amount of unhealthy food, than to eat too much healthy food.”

I’ve written about this diet before.

There are two parts to it:

  1. Saying blessings over the food properly- I always try to make blessings before I eat, but sometimes they become rote and I make blessings mindlessly. The proper way to make a blessing on food is:

    1. Deciding what you’re going to eat before eating- This is the key! We know what a normal portion looks like, but sometimes just keep eating and eating because it feels good. Have the end of the meal in mind at the beginning is crucial and once you reach the end, STOP! (From a halachic standpoint, if someone made a blessing on a certain amount of food, and then later decided to eat more, that would require a new blessing, because the blessing is limited to whatever you intended it to cover).

    2. Intention- The blessing is to thank G-d for creating this food as sustenance. Saying words like “I love you” or “thank you” are much more powerful when they are said with thought and intent. Having this intention while saying a blessing is a good reminder that the reason I’m eating is to have the energy to serve G-d. As much as I keep that in mind, it’s virtually impossible to overeat because the extra food has no purpose in serving G-d.

  2. Askafya- Chabad philosophy teaches a lot about “abstention”. Back in my yeshiva days it was impressed upon us in a major way at “farbrengens”.


    The basic premise is that each person has a G-dly soul and an animal soul. The more you feed the animal, the stronger it gets and the more it wants (The Talmud teaches that “there is one organ in the body that the more you feed it, the hungrier it gets and the more you starve it the more satiated it gets-- ask if you need clarification).

    Of course we’re careful to only eat kosher food, because this is a limitation that G-d put on us.

    But beyond that? Is there any reason not to indulge in a kosher all-you-can-eat buffet?

    Chassidus teaches, “What is forbidden you cannot do, what is permitted you should not do.”

    In other words, there is value in not indulging, just for the sake of beating the animal down!

    You can look at it like a little battle. My animal wants a candy, or chips or whatever, and if I deprive the animal, I won a battle and my animal is weaker.

    A weaker animal will help me in every area of life because my selfless, G-dly soul will be in more control.

    !!!Important!!! Of course, this exercise is not meant to deprive yourself of nutrition. It goes hand in hand with the first item on the list. Asking these questions: (1) Am I eating to indulge or to serve G-d? (2) If I have a choice of two foods, will I choose the healthier one or the tastier one?— These two questions will keep the body and soul in better health.

So that is my new diet that I need to get back on it. It’s been a while since I’ve consciously been in the fight. When life gets busy and stressful, it’s easy to let my guard down on these things. Thank G-d I’m still in the game and have another chance to get back into swing of Iskafya.

This whole diet thing may create a problem for the Purim party.

Who’s gonna eat all the food?

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