I have had four meetings with Alok, not counting my initial consultation, and my life has changed. The change has been subtle, but empowering. It all started with gaining a better understanding of what I have been consuming and how it effects me.

I’ve never really been attached to particular foods. Of course I’ve used food for more than just nourishing myself – to alleviate boredom, to find comfort on a blue day, to reward myself for just making it through the day. But what amazes me now is that I don’t use food like that anymore. I eat food when I am hungry and when I am full I stop eating. I don’t crave particular foods, and I almost never need to snack during the day. My big indulgence has become a glass of soymilk at the end of the day.

It started by evaluating my relationship with Diet Coke and soft drinks. Why do I drink it, how do I feel when I drink it and how do I feel afterwards? You don’t need to be a cert! ified health counselor to know that brown bubbly liquid isn’t healthy for you-but having Alok ask me to examine my relationship with this beverage group was enough for me to not only evaluate my relationship, but to “break up” with all soft drinks. Then I gave up caffeine and artificial sweetener in my decaf coffee, you know, coffee tastes pretty good without sweetener. Then I replaced milk in my coffee with soymilk. It was easy and I felt good psychologically that I was treating myself better.

Slowly my lunch choices stopped including breads and animal products and started consisting of veggies, brown rice, salads-there are at least four restaurants in my work neighborhood that deliver this stuff to me. I never cook at home, but lately I’ve mastered kale and grains (quinoa and buckwheat).

I try to eat things that I would recognize in their natural state of growth or harvest: fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, eggs. It is how I have guided my food choices. When I’m ! in the airport and I’m starving, instead of pretzels or a bagel, I get nuts or dried fruit. The hardest part of eating for me was deciding what to eat when I was hungry-I don’t really have that problem anymore.

Alok’s approach is not intimidating, it is easy. It is not militant. If I wanted Diet Coke, I would have it. I still eat chicken and fish and on special occasions have cake and ice cream and I don’t think twice about it-but I don’t eat as much of it as I used to. I can’t. I don’t want to. Without thinking about it I’ve lost inches and my old clothes fit, my mood is more stable and I am interested in my inner self, my organs and my blood and my intestines and helping them keep me feeling good. I also go to the bathroom regularly now-and everyone knows that’s how we “monitor” our health. Thank you Alok! This program is the best investment I’ve ever made in myself, for now and for the future.