Who would eat that way? Actors prepping for roles in movies, that’s who.
In my ongoing relationship with Netflix and Amazon Prime, I rented two movies which starred men who literally transformed their bodies through rigid diets and intense workouts.
Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard, pushing his body to its extreme, chiseled himself into the hunkiest beefcake ever to leap and swing through a CGI jungle. He was described as “incredibly ripped” with not six-pack, but eight-pack abs for the film, The Legend of Tarzan.
Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts gained 50 to 60 pounds and, along with exhausting iron-pumping workout regimes, transformed himself for the lead role of Jacky in Bullhead, an academy-award nominated foreign film.
Jacky is a cattle farmer, part of the “bovine mafia” in Belgium who illegally shoot hormones and steroids into their cows to make them bigger. Because of a tragic childhood incident affecting his manhood, Jacky regularly shoots hormones and steroids into his own body until he is transformed -- looking a bit like the bulls he works with. Unlike Jacky, the actor transformed his body with food and intense exercise, as did the actor playing Tarzan.
Both films are fabulous examples of physical transformation. The actors struck me as men who had a strong desire, made a decision, developed a vision, set goals, and had the discipline and determination to manifest that vision.
They demonstrated what Ernest Holmes would call “a mental atmosphere”-- which is the result of all we have thought, said and done, and consciously or unconsciously perceived. They each had a very clear picture of what they wanted to achieve, and adhered to that picture, regardless of circumstances or conditions, with single-mindedness of purpose.
Although we might not want to transform our bodies as they did, we may seek other ways to transform ourselves, to move away from littleness, to develop a greater vision, to push the limits of our experience, to renew ourselves, and to bring greater health, wealth, creative expression or loving relationships into our lives.
The process is the same: change our thinking, change our lives. There’s a pragmatic side to affirmative prayer, also known as Spiritual Mind Treatment. "Treat and Use Your Feet" means be proactive: take action toward our goals. As we do that, Universal Spirit, the One Mind, responds and supports us.
If it’s health we seek, our bodies can be healed as we transform our inner mind with thoughts of radiant good health. We replace any negative thoughts of disease or failure with positive ones of health, harmony and success.
I was reminded recently of my own encounter with cancer some 22 years ago. I took the medical treatment, and then I decided to do everything I could to survive. I took vitamins, went to support groups, stayed for a week at the Optimal Health Institute, and lost 35 pounds on a special immune system enhancement diet.
One thing I did to change my mental atmosphere was to write a song, and sing it every time a negative or catastrophic thought came into my head. Although my voice is not ready for prime time, here it is.
I, Elizabeth, am radiantly healthy
Robust and strong, robust and strong
Free of all cancer, free of all dis-ease
Yes, yes, yes! Good health, health, health!
Yes, yes, yes! Long life, life, life! Yes!
Millions of white cells, created every day
Travel my body, searching for prey
They find and destroy, every cancer cell
To keep me strong and healthy, Yes!
To keep me strong and healthy.
And I’m still here...
And so it is.
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