Diets are everywhere today! Blogs, influencers, everybody has something to say. People are more food-conscious and health-conscious than ever before. And the old saying, “you are what you eat”, is proving to be literally true! What you eat today will stay in your bloodstream until it is used as building blocks by your body.

This is true of physical diets and dieting, but what about a different, deeper type of dieting? Something we can call, “mental dieting”? Let’s talk about what could be one of the most important factors for your health: the mental diet you live on!

In the same way the food you eat can determine your physical health, the thoughts you think, and the things you dwell on mentally can determine your mental health and mentality.

In fact, your “mental diet” actually determines BOTH your physical AND mental health. Everything you experience, your relationships, your finances, your overall health, is conditioned by your thoughts and emotions. This is true for your past and your future.

Your thoughts matter! Every thought you either think, or allow yourself to think, really does matter. You can’t just think one way and then expect the opposite outcome, that’s not how it works!

So, what does this mean? If you want to change, you have to start with changing your mind. “We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.”

We all know this is true, but then why is it so hard for us to actually change?

Here’s why: we’re in our own heads all day! We are so close to our own thoughts, it’s hard to take a step back and really regulate our thinking.

But that’s exactly what we have to do.

We have to get in the habit of choosing what you’re going to think about. If your thoughts are tearing you down, or preventing you from going where you need to go, you have to be able to turn that around.

One way you can do that is by actively choosing the subject of your thinking, and also choosing what is called the “emotional tone” or “mood” of your thinking.

By carefully selecting your “moods”, that can turn into habits, which can turn into change.

Basically, if you want a healthy and whole life, the life God wants for you, you have to control your thoughts!

Now, this is going to be HARD at first! But, if you stay committed, and stay consistent, you’ll start developing habits, and it will start getting easier. And you’ll be amazed by the results!

To get started, you have to pick a time. Start with one week. Choose one week to start building new mental habits, and during that week, make it your top priority!

This is what we call the Seven Day Mental Diet, and if you follow through on it, you will change your life!

Here are the instructions: “For seven days you must not allow yourself to dwell for a single moment on any kind of negative thought. You must watch yourself for a whole week as a cat watches a mouse, and you must not allow your mind to dwell on any thought that is not positive, constructive, optimistic, or kind.”

A week should be enough, because after that, a habit will have formed!

Now let me be clear, it is NOT going to be easy! Don’t just dive into it either, take a day or two to prepare, pray about it, and know your plan going in. There are no cheat days either! You have to be all or nothing for 7 days straight.

Now, let’s quickly go over some potential challenges of the 7-Day Mental Diet:

First, let’s define negative thinking. Negative thoughts include thoughts of failure, disappointment, trouble, criticism, spite, jealousy, judging others, pessimistic thoughts, etc. Basically, any thoughts that are not constructive or positive, whether they are about you or someone else.

Here’s an example: let’s say you’re browsing on social media and you see pictures from a friend’s vacation and notice yourself getting jealous. Stop, note what you were thinking, and then kick those thoughts out!

Secondly, you are committing to not “entertain” or “dwell on” negative thoughts. This doesn’t mean you won’t ever HAVE negative thoughts, just that you are choosing not to entertain and dwell on them.

When a negative thought comes to you, throw it right back out! Immediately throw out those kinds of thoughts and think of something else. In fact, your best bet is to think of God and think on His thoughts.

But what if you are around someone who is just negative all the time? Someone who is just always talking about something negative? Here’s what you can do: let them talk, but DO NOT

accept what they are saying. You don’t need to try to lecture them, but also don’t dwell on their words.

Negative thoughts and things will happen. If fact, when you are paying closer attention, you might notice them more than ever before. But if you truly want to change, it is your job to bind your thoughts, and reset your thinking!