Diet and Desert

Starting today, I began to look at dieting in a slightly different light. In the past there are three main ways I've tackled (and succeeded) at dieting...

(... I have failed at dieting in many different ways, of course... )

1) Raw willpower. This works only if I'm super-motivated, and only works for a few days. Usually only works the first time I try a diet; after that, the motivation (which comes from curiosity) fades a great deal.

2) Excarnation. What happens here is that I sort of disengage from what's going on, and keep my mind elsewhere, leaving my body to deal with the diet as best it can. This works for long periods of time, but I actually tend to lose less weight on these diets as the time goes on. This may be because I'm not mentally experiencing the diet. Also, I tend to get grumpy. This is what happened last September during my 10-day fast.

3) Gradually easing in. Since November or so, I've been gradually trying to increase the amount of raw fruit and stuff I've been eating, and that made it easier to step into an all-raw diet in February. Of course I still cheat most days, one way or another; and I take a day off every week and eat whatever I want. According to my records, I've been eating about 65% raw overall. This isn't great, but (a) my percentages are still improving, and (b) it's still meant 9 lb of weight loss (and 3% fat and and 9 inches) since we began Jan 31st.

However, reading the book "The Solace of Fierce Landscapes" has me thinking about a diet as a desert. What is going on here is a feeling of lack-as-fullness: the emptiness is so profound that it becomes a presence; and this nothing-as-something is an experience almost religious in character. I wonder to what extent this kind of attitude can help me with cravings?