You may have noticed that Total Health Makeover® recipes include a color code under the title. These color codes are part of Marilu’s Rainbow Theory.

I realized that there had to be a way to describe the cycle I was continually finding myself going through in my quest to lose weight and get fit prior to adapting my current way of life. One day, I linked into this idea that all of the colors in a rainbow correlated perfectly to that vicious cycle.

Picture a rainbow in your mind. In my theory, each of the colors represents a different period and behavioral pattern in your life. You wake up one morning and you say to yourself, “That’s it! Today I am starting my new diet and fitness program and this time nothing can stop me!” You are in the Purple phase. When you’re in Purple, your attitude is come hell or high water, you’re going to stick to a program with pure perfection.

And then one day, you realize you’re starting to feel really good about your progress, and it might be okay to get out there again. You’re moving into the Blue phase. You’re feeling so good about your success in Purple, you want to show off a little bit in Blue.

A little later you find that everything in your life is in place. You’re feeling perfectly balanced, and you have reached the Green phase. You exercise regularly and can socialize without slipping up too much, and you feel really good about yourself. It’s hard to stay in the Green phase because it’s very hard to exist in the center.

Then you wake up one day and notice that you’re in the Yellow phase – you’ve integrated the program into your everyday life, but you don’t follow it 100% of the time. You’re bending the rules, without having to pay a huge price.

Beyond Yellow are two colors that are not part of THM® – Orange and Red are too far from where you should be aiming. The Orange phase is when your social life has started to consume any and all focus you once had on your physical well-being. You haven’t been to the gym in weeks, and you’re so bloated from eating and drinking that even your black jeans make you look fat! And Red! Well, in Red, you’re either lying on the floor with drool coming out of your mouth, or … you’re in Italy.

That’s when you wake up and realize you’re in the Purple phase again – ready to change.

Ideally, you will fluctuate between Green and Yellow all of the time. Purple and Blue get you back on track, and help you reclaim some order. When you get to Orange and Red, the remedy is in Purple and Blue.

Adapted from The 30-Day Total Health Makeover, by Marilu Henner

Become a member and take the 30-day class to find your Green-Yellow balance. Class starts every Monday, with personal coaching, recipes and menus, and motivational tips. Sign up now and start your own total health makeover!

Photo by Tom Lop

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Articles - Ten Steps and THM Basics, Rainbow categories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.