When is Stopping more Important than Starting?

I recently started seeing a naturopath doctor. She decided to put me on a lectin free diet. She gave me a 3 page information packet to get me started, but I needed more details.

Really, what I needed was a plan, a how-to manual.

I joined a few lectin free Facebook groups, searched Pinterest, and started reading The Plant Paradox (which is probably the Bible for lectin free people). I feel like I’ve barely gotten a toe wet with all the information, but at least now I feel like it’s something I can do.

I’m not going to be talking about going lectin free, but I need to say all that to set the stage.

Dr. Gundry, the author of The Plant Paradox, has 4 rules to eating lectin free. The first was the most intriguing: What you stop eating is more important than what you start eating.

He explains the reasoning behind this rule in his book. It’s too much to go into here, but the basic idea is that removing certain foods from your diet quickly heals your gut. This is more powerful than eating good foods. It’s kind of like taking vitamin C but not washing your hands after using the bathroom. The good doesn’t overpower the bad.

I felt like there was a principle in the rule and I wondered if it could be applied elsewhere. When is it more important to focus on stopping something than starting something?

I asked around. These are some of the ideas I gathered.
–Knowing when you have too much on your plate. Stop saying yes to more activities and responsibilities. What you stop doing/what you remove is more important than what you start adding.
–Stop worrying. When the worry cycle starts, stop, take a step back and evaluate what you have control over and where you should invest your emotions. It’s more important to stop worrying than to feed into it.
–Stop judging others.
–Stop having such high expectations.
–It’s easier to say stop drinking soda than it is to say you are going to start eating a salad every day when you typically don’t eat veggies at all.
–Stopping smoking is more important that starting an exercise program.

Do you see a principle? What would you add to the list?