Flat Food, Flat Stomach: The Law of Subtraction

By Paul Shavelson and Corinda Carfora

Discover how Flat Food can become the staple of mindful eating. Unlike conventional food diets, transforming the way you think about food is the first step to flatness. Take the journey of one man’s quest for washboard abs and learn the simple steps you can take for a more flattering you. With a shift in thinking, and with simple food choices and easy exercises, your body, mind and spirit will flat-out benefit from the experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Post Hill Press
• Release date: May 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781618689320

Paul Shavelson

Paul Shavelson is a multi-media story teller, a pioneer in television with a four-decade long career, and the executive producer of internationally acclaimed psychic John Edward’s wildly successful Crossing Over television program.  Paul has spent the last decade exploring the world of psychics and mystics in his quest to find answers to the unseen patterns and events that shape our world.

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INTRODUCTION

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FLATTERY WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE

If you are asking why I wrote this book, I have one simple answer: No one else has. I was inspired by the greatest discovery of all time: the world is not flat. How many thousands of years did it take for that to be realized? Explorers circumnavigated the planet not by design, but by accident. Even though spherical imagery of other planets had been documented much earlier than these navigations, we believed ours was still flat. Yes, in the minds of the world’s inhabitants, it was always flat.

Through molecular studies, it has been indicated that all matter—in its infinite cellular smallness—could be round, we still haven’t transitioned earlier beliefs into spherical thinking. When we play sports like soccer, football, and basketball, we play on fields that go end to end. These games were derived from ancient sports when the world was flat. But more recently baseball—a version of cricket, a much later past time—was developed after the earth became circular or at least triangular.

With the exception of a football, which is still considered spheroid, all the balls on the field are round, where the playing fields are the universe of these contrived situations.

Money makes the world go flat? No, round. It’s an interesting expression, because money is also a recent cultural development that has never circled back to its origin. What was bartered for product and services always had a lineage, a straight line. A plus B equals C. If you do [this], as a result, you get [that.] If things were round, A plus B would equal A. If you do [this] you get [this.] It’s a study in the semantics of symbols: the relationship between symbols and what they represent. But we’re talking flat here.

My belief system is extrapolated from a time when everything was thought of as flat, and then stepped up from there. Essentially I am a what goes-around, comes around guy, who is about to embark on the misunderstanding of flatness.

There was a time when everything was flat, flat, flat, and sometimes smacked down to make sure. When caveman clubbed a wild boar, they flattened it, he didn’t fluff it. It’s only many years later, when we started to add ingredients instead of reducing them to the bare essentials, that flatness began to exhibit ripples of compromise. So reader, my mission here is to return to our flat stomachs without having to club a wild boar or fluff it, for that matter.

My approach to eating has always been quirky. My mother swore by TV dinners. That was considered homemade because she put it in our oven. TV dinners singularly could be the genesis for flat servings of everything almost edible. It may very well have been the impetus to my obsession and life in alternative television.

Even though this book is filled with anecdotal stories of my inadvertent pursuit to a flat stomach, it’s more about you and the stories you will hold on to while flattening your belly. As I go through my journey in what sounds like sidebars you will begin to understand how they actually relate to fueling one’s system, at the table and getting to the table.

While Flat Food, Flat Stomach is a belief system, like other belief systems it is one that manifests in tangible benchmarks. Your waist line will shrink if you follow the recipes and exercises. Most importantly, you must flatten your food to the flattest denominator. It is here when belief turns into action. All action has a reaction, right? Your reaction will be tighter abs. How tight will be up to you. If you read this on a pool side lounge while drinking a Piña colada it might slow your results, but not eliminate them totally.

Let’s get to it: right here and now. You are about to order a very unflattening libation.

My wife and I loved drinking Piña coladas and frozen daiquiris for years. My evolution has me totally sober, even though virgin drinks are ok, I prefer not to waste my time. She doesn’t drink anymore either, but that’s an entirely different story that I wrote about in my first book, Beyond the Mayan Prophecy.

I am a to-the-point type of person. When I did enjoy drinking, I preferred cocktails over beer and wine. They were more effective and helped me achieve a buzz faster. I was schooled on fruity flavors and sugar which I’ll get into when discussing my father’s drug store soda fountain.

Frozen rum drinks worked and they worked fast for me. But they are not on anybody’s weight loss diet. In a normal glass, under seven ounces, you could easily consume over five hundred calories. Over a quarter of that drink can be measured as your prescribed daily total fat limit. If you are watching your carbohydrates, the story is just as bad. Be honest, on a summer’s afternoon, do you really drink just one? So let’s say you have consumed two for this early example. They are filling and bloating, and two is a good place for you to stop anyway.

There will be many meditations I will ask you to do, and this is as good as a place to start as any. Here’s how I prescribe your weekend Piña colada refreshment:

Picture yourself at a pool in a tropical themed resort. It is the very rare late afternoon cocktail, on your even rarer Miami Beach vacation. You find a lounge chair with your back to the sun, so you don’t have to squint while you howl with laughter as you read my book. You’re wearing a brimmed hat, and plenty of suntan lotion. I did experiment with burnt food, burnt stomach as a diet, but it didn’t work. So stay out of the sun for another reason, it doesn’t help in dieting.

A waiter wearing a Hawaiian shirt comes over and asks if he can get you anything from the Tiki bar on the far side of the pool. Automatically an image of a Piña colada flashes in your brain. Even though there are many options to satisfying your thought, the easiest answer is yes. You know you want it. But how you get it is the FFFS differential.

But here’s what I want you to do: Tell Pepe to make you one, and you want a pitcher of water and an empty glass as well. But you don’t want him to serve to you in your lounge chair. Ask to have it waiting for you at the Tiki bar, and that you will go and get your drink when you get thirsty.

Because we are discussing your mindful journey, I want to remind you of not what you just did, but what you didn’t do. You did not sit back like a bump on a log and say, yes. You did not ask Pepe to rub lotion on your back either, which I could argue flattens the abs just by holding your stomach in as he works your shoulders. Either way you did not take the easy route.

As the bartender mixes your drink, puts it into the blender--and the waiter does not give it to you--there is a lot of foreplay to be enjoyed. Uh, uh if this sounds like a seduction, you are correct. It all is; before, during, and after you consume anything, you must love doing it and yourself.

You just got to the pool, so what’s your hurry? We’ve already discussed that you have only two thirst quenchers. Why not linger over both of them? You need to get warm, as you turn the first couple of pages.

Now here is where the exercise part comes in: You have set the recliner back to at an angle where you can do slight leg lifts. Every time you turn a page, lift alternating legs, hold the position for five seconds, then return the leg to the chair. Easy and inconspicuous: simple leg lifts between the first five pages of your new favorite book. You should feel beads of sweat on your lower back when you have completed this.

Now stand and cover up for your first walk to the Tiki bar. Are people staring at you? I hope so. You are a wonderful sight and your frozen pineapple concoction has been waiting in front of an empty stool for a while. Drinks like that extend the moment. Even beer and wine change chemical properties while melding. On the flip side we don’t want it to spoil, but we are allowing things to breathe. Many people like getting the first one down the hatch right away, but you have stopped that and are mindfully taking it all in.

But wait! Don’t sit on the stool. If you have carried a towel, books, purse or other personal items, put them on the seat. Carrying things is good exercise, but so is detachment—later on we will discuss this. But for now, stand two feet behind the stool and with both hands grab the back of it. Bend over and stretch so your chin hits the back rest and your spine is straight. Do this as many times as you need to become relaxed. (Now you know why I recommended covering up.) We’ve all heard of bar and pub crawls. Think of this as bar or pub sprawl. I think of it as an exercise rep — a cocktail meditation tease.

Now take your frozen drink in one hand and pour the top liquor-latent third of it into the empty glass. Fill the rest of the glass with the water, and slowly mix it with the cocktail umbrella. Savor every sip, swallow with pleasure—you earned it. Tell Pepe’s friend, the bartender, that you will be back after you have had a great tasting. If you can, do your optimum reps for closure, before going back to my book. You can always jump in the pool to cool off.

So what happened here? Not only did you open yourself up for less of a drink, you opened yourself up for a larger experience. Do not let the chemistry dilution confuse the reality. What you did was spend more energy. Energy feeds energy. If you wait long enough, you will see other people do a version of your rep. It’s not just a drink; it’s you getting the most out of life while flattening it.

Everything has layers. The least tactile to peel off are layers of energy: energy in the universe and energy in our bodies. You know that they exist, but our nature is to see the totality of everything, instead of the layers.

Our bodies have seven energy layers. They are also known as chakras. As much as I hate to admit it, these layers are still hard for me to deal with individually, even though I have been aware of them for more than forty years. I get the concept of years. That is a time line—a flat one: starting at zero, or minus zero, heading north to infinity. The concept is so much easier to grasp then layers, so most people don’t deal with the depths of energy. I recently re-kindled my studying, by taking Kundalini Yoga exercises and meditations that a friend is teaching.

In the law of subtraction, we must peel away all the layers to flatness. Layers and flatness coincide with our seven energy centers. You don’t have to worry that I am suggesting you develop your Kundalini awakening. However, it is no accident that an inordinate amount of meditation is focused on the naval area of the body. In this practice, the common belief is that this is where our second brain lives. The rapid fire breathing while contracting your mid-section is the physical ultimate of all flattening exercises. But that energy center is engulfed by four other energy centers over it, so we have to start on the inside to work our way there.

To be clear, we are not going to spend a lot of time on Chakras only how they relate to flattening your stomach. I am obviously unqualified to speak about them in any other way, and am embarrassed by how little I know. Although I still must cross reference color charts. There are master teachers like Sandy Anastasi, who offers an on-line development course, that can help you if you want to go further into it.

The most inner core of our body energy stems from our hearts. It stands alone but vibrates within all other layers. It is not measured vertically but deeply. It is protected by our physical body’s energy level. Listening to it thump while looking at your magnificent skin and bones should allow you to close your eyes and focus on pure love. The heart should be cross-checked with each identification of levels of energy, listed below. Stay with me, I promise it will be easy to understand and you’ll be enlightened as you work toward your flatness.

Thinking in terms of an elevator, working our way up from the bottom is our root base. It is at the base of our spine where our physical body connects. The color associated with it is depicted in fire engine red. I like to think of it as an engine for survival and instinct.

On the next floor up, this chakra is where our emotional body is energized. It is located in our sexual organ area below the naval and is traditionally seen in a pumpkin-like orange hue. Here is where creativity is launched.

Moving higher, the third chakra is cast as yellow, and is located near our solar plexus. It powers our mental body (the second brain). It is where knowing one’s self is realized.

On the fourth floor, we have moved up to the heart level. It is seen as green and drives compassion and balance.

Up a level is deep blue and in our throats. It drives our self-confident communication energy.

Continuing upward to the forehead is a dark indigo energy. This is what is referred to as your third eye, driving intuition, premonition, and imagination.

On the very top of your head—say the roof—is the crown portrayed in violet. It symbolizes our spiritual connections and understanding.

Each person who works in energy will have his or her own abbreviated scale. This is mine. I derived it from some great teachers: John Edward and his teacher Sandi Anastasi. But they are on a different plane. They are spiritual teachers. My explanation is a basic crib sheet to explain how levels of understanding can drive you to a flatter tummy.

Now I would like to relive the Piña colada drinking meditation, moment to moment, with these cursory energy definitions. See if you agree that even the decadence of sipping a cocktail can be more mindfully spiritual, as it has already become more physical. I must remind you physical is good but it’s not merely about losing weight—we are really about something else. Weight loss is a good target, but finding thoughtful balance, with the calorie burn, will come into importance now.

Throughout the FFFS quirkiness I want to challenge you. Because this is such a ridiculous premise, or so you probably thought, I want to pose that you try and consider that a belief system is more defined then a non-belief system. My purpose is to illuminate you to tighter abs.Here is Take Two of the Piña Colada Meditation:

You find a lounge chair with your back to the sun...

Listen for your heart.

Connect with the earth.

Focus on where you are at this moment.

Decide on what would make you happiest.

Decide how you could make that happen.

Feel the love that would bring.

Telepathically tell the person of your choice about that love.

Say a prayer of protection for those you love and yourself.

Thank the universe for providing what you are about to order.

Now order the fucking Piña Colada, the way we discussed.

Break down other moments with levels whenever you can. Bending against the bar stool is a perfect opportunity. You have already taken a pause in the action for your body. Now apply the levels of energy again from the bottom up while you stretch. Sound a lot like yoga? Sure with a rum twist.

It is with this spiritual empowerment you will be able to enjoy every moment in between moments. You have now worked your energy levels in a very self-conscious mode. But sometimes that is the best reminder.

When you learned to drive, didn’t you talk to yourself before executing? Put the key in the ignition. Turn the blinker on. Take your foot off the brake pedal. Over the miles the voice in your head probably has gone away. You now are on auto-pilot when you drive.

When it comes to fueling with food you are also on auto-pilot. Rarely do we think about the process. We just do it. But now your awareness needs to be engaged. You must go deeply into the levels between the start and finish to appreciate what is really involved. FFFS mindfulness in not only about your diet, it’s about everything you do.

Besides the anatomy of energy levels, I need to discuss the anatomy of Michelangelo’s David. When you look at him we see chiseled abs. From five hundred years ago, I suppose that is where the expression came from. The artist was working from a humungous piece of marble that had to be chiseled. It is the quintessential Renaissance documentation of strength and human beauty. For the record, the artist did not use perfect proportions and enhanced some parts. Not the genitals (I hope), but the head and hands. Why this was done is up for interpretation. Most likely it was to illustrate the young boy’s physical strength and mental prowess as he prepared to fight Goliath.

What I noticed were the perfect abs David had. If you go behind the sculpture his ass ain’t bad either. David, King of the Jews, had one. I am convinced that the unleavened bread that his tribe baked while on the move was like matzo. But there were many different flat breads coming from that part of the world. There are several known varieties being made in Mesopotamia, pre-dating David.

I suggest if you want killer abs like David, knock out all yeast and risen breads. Here are just a few that I love. I try to use super market varieties as my first choice. But I have eaten so many wonderful ones:

Indian NAAN

Indian Puri

Italian FOCCACCIA

Turkish G

Gozleme (not only is this a bread substitute, it is also a substitute for flat ware. They scoop food from a communal bowel with it.)

Armenian Lavash

Spanish Torta

Mexican Tortillas

Chinese Scallion pancakes

French Crepes

The list goes on and on. In this world of FFFS, whenever you swap out risen dough, you win. I can correlate puffiness in the stomach to after I eat a puffy pastry or bread.

one

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″V″ IS FOR VICTORY OVER VOLUME

I woke up in the middle of the night with a dream about what I should write as the opening chapter. My process is one of inspiration; it is not at all mapped out. With all due respect I thought The Secret, The law of Intention but only got it half right. I wanted to make a huge correction by adding that the physical body is the icon of our intention. By working on our bodies in a much more simplistic way, our psyche will improve as well.

The Flat Food, Flat Stomach, The Law of Subtraction was derived from years of experimenting with other diets that I will explain later in the book. I knew that with this cynical claim that Flat Food will flatten your stomach there has to be validity. Equally important is that it needed to be amusing. Brow beating people about food doesn’t get results, and you’re more apt to keep people interested if you keep them entertained in the process.

The dream confirmed it. I grabbed my bedside pen and pad and wrote down the word volume. It is what this book is about; what everything is about. The volume of your eating and the volume of your abdomen are what these pages are about. But in our modern society, more and more, the desire of more and more has overrun every aspect of our lives. The excess of living, once an option to very few, has now become the norm for the masses. Excess and access are not only confused by spell check, but by our brains as well. Just because we have more access to excess than ever before, doesn’t mean that it is preferable. In the case of fueling our bodies, we can flood the engine, stall the machine, get rear-ended on the highway, and rust away.

As I relate anecdotes that inspired FFFS, I realize that I’ll be telling over-the-top memories which somehow relate to the subject at hand (at least they do in my mind). The volume is up high, so for that I apologize. My gut reactions will be huge. The subtleties on a lower volume are in here, but they will tend to get buried by the bravado. There will be other contradictions I’m sure, but hopefully, to make my point, flatness and fineness are one and the same.

Overindulgence is being spoon fed to us day and night. When sports weren’t adrenaline stimulating enough, along came extreme sports. It is everywhere; metal bands became heavy metal bands, shorts became hot pants, high heels became platforms, and on and on. Everything in America including meals has been supersized. Size matters, sometimes, sure. But nothing is as important as what you do with it.

The Secret’s law of intention became the law of over-attention. That is why this is the law of subtraction. Let’s regroup and re-define what the optimum capacity to run efficiently is. Let’s seek flat, as opposed to steep capacity, to seek optimum results.

The loudest person in the room always seems to get the focus. The squeaky wheel theory has morphed into the screeching wheel theory. We have managed to amplify this screech with our technology to unbearable levels. We have even made the squeak screech. Making your screech return to squeak is one of the missions here. Your intention will be rerouted back to the rightful path without derailing the train.

My cursory knowledge of yoga, cooking, and living has all been thrown into this book to crystallize the concept. My experiences producing different television subject matter have been my real classroom. I have recently evolved my self-awareness description of learning from the school of hard knocks to being video- autodidactic (self-taught-on the job training).

I have engaged in FFFS conversations and debates for more than a decade, but by writing it down I am declaring my sincerity once and for all. This started as a joke while in a television edit room. Every day to maximize productivity, lunch is sent into the post production suite. In those days the room rentals were in excess of one hundred fifty dollars per hour. To stop what you were doing to take a lunch hour was cost prohibitive. Today these rooms no longer exist. All of the technical execution can be done on a normal computer with extra memory. A room that used to cost a couple hundred-thousand dollars to build can be out-matched by ten thousand dollars of computer technology.

Right there this signifies the law of subtraction, because you get so much more for so much less. But back then, if you were fortunate enough to work on a long term project, you could go snow-blind from take-out menus.

The first two seasons of Crossing Over with John Edward had us working on the West side of Manhattan. We were the last show to shoot at Studio 55 before it became the Alvin Ailey Dance Center. We were also among the last shows to edit at Sony Studios. Both facilities, with fifty years of production in their discography, ceased being. Soon after we moved the show out to Kaufman Astoria in Queens. I don’t know if that is a statement on Crossing Over, or for technology improvements and real estate scarceness, but it was an end of an era of television production in New York City. Personally, it was tough to move on to another show as well. After you produce a talk show where all your guests are dead, where do you go from there?

In Astoria we had catered and flatter lunches brought to our under-one-roof production company. But when we were in the Manhattan facilities, we ordered from take-out menus. All the food came in tinfoil or plastic containers. Because of the repetition, after a while all I could taste was the packaging.

Soon enough, when asked what I wanted, I would give a flippant answer. I’ll have something red, and what is the least expensive? would be a typical response. Like millions of others I was just eating lunch because it was part of the routine. Finally, one day when I was asked what I wanted to order, What is the flattest? came out of my mouth.

Within moments I realized that flatness in food was more than a joke. A few of the editors, producers, and I got into discussions about it several times. Weeks would go by, and then someone would suggest Let’s go flat, today. I realized no matter what menu or cuisine, some foods were flatter than others. I also