I would never guess by her images on Google that Laura Wellington used to struggle with her weight. But she uses diet-talk to describe her former mindset when she says, “I’m just in my self-destructive mode, but I can always go back on a diet.” Eventually, Laura does change her perspective in many small ways that add up to a critical mass when she becomes fundamentally changed. Exactly how she did it is not the point. Laura is simply writing about the lessons she learned for living a meaningful life along the way.
Somehow, Laura, a young widow, mother of four, owner of a TV show and brand, turned it all around. In trying to explain how she did it, she was inspired by a presentation, A Leadership Primer, on victory in business and life made by General Colin Powell. She applied Powell’s twenty principles for business to a weight-controlled life, and she sprinkled her new book, The Four Star Diet, with personal anecdotes and advice from inspirational leaders like Gandhi and Einstein. The book has only 136 pages and you don’t have to read it in order.
Laura Wellington believes that weight control is about taking personal responsibility for choices in less than optimum circumstances. As a result, she asks you to “reflect daily,” “look below the surface,” and “live fearlessly!” When General Powell asserts, “Endeavors succeed and fail because of the people involved,” Laura interprets it as, “Birds of a feather flock together,” and then explains how positive role models provide invaluable visual lessons, while toxic people in your life must change or perish. She takes no prisoners, in the best possible way.
As for food-related advice, General Powell says, “The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the mission.” Laura translates, “Mold your diet to what works best for you.” She challenges you to base your diet on truth, wisdom and good old-fashioned common sense. Because eating and losing weight is a complex and individualized ordeal, she urges you to focus on “emotional wholeness” as a prerequisite of maintenance. Laura never tells you what to eat except to recommend “making peace with your sweet tooth.” Give yourself permission to indulge and make nutritional corrections later in the day. I admit that works for me.
The Four-Star Diet is not a book for people who are attracted to fad diets; it is a book for emotionally aware folks who have committed to change or are already acting upon that commitment. Her method requires a high level of maturity, a lot of impulse control, a dedication to personal growth control, but I can honestly say that I do most of what Laura recommends and that way of thinking has worked for me.
The Four Star Diet: Based Upon the Wisdom of General Colin Powell & Other Ridiculously Brilliant Leaders is currently available in paperback.
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