In the Spring of 1980, I graduated high school as excited as any 18 year old could be to head off to college in the Fall. I was scheduled to move into a Freshman dorm in late August. In July, I discovered I was pregnant. I was no longer in a relationship with the baby's father, although he has been a wonderful father to our daughter, Bonni, and a good friend to me all these years. Needless to say, I was not allowed to move into the dorm and had to cancel my classes. I did make it to OSU. I just started later than planned. My gorgeous and amazing daughter has been an incredible gift in my life and is the one with me in the picture of the 5K I ran last month. I don't regret having that baby for one second. But let me tell you, being completely single and pregnant at 18 is no picnic. Believe it or not, I was not "that" kind of girl but the stigma was certainly there.
Of course, none of the boys I hung around with were comfortable hanging around with me as they didn't want people to think it was their kid. There were two exceptions to that, John and Don. This post is about Don. Don was 21 and a student of my mother's. He was Mexican-American and very good-looking. We were only friends but he was always there for me. He didn't care if people thought it was his baby. When people assumed that he just went along with it and winked at me. Don had not had an easy life. He had been on his own, quite literally, since he was 12. He was really smart in the important ways but wasn't really "educated." He had gone to job corps to learn a trade and was an ideal student there. He made sure not to cause any trouble if he could help it because he was so appreciative of the chance he had to make his life better. He graduated job corps the same Spring that I graduated high school. He spent weekends and holidays at our house because he didn't have any family and Mom had become a mentor to him. He was like a brother to me.
We lived in Guthrie at this time and in the Summer, Don got a job in Oklahoma City. He stayed with us until he got his job and an apartment. He found a roommate to share expenses and was so proud that he had pulled himself up out of homelessness and was now earning a good living. I missed him so much that Fall but he would come for weekends and since I was babysitting a lot during that time, he would just hang out and help me babysit. He was fantastic with kids. I knew he would be a really wonderful "Uncle Don" to my baby and a wonderful father someday.
But none of that was meant to be.
My baby was due on my 19th birthday, Feb 11, 1981. She didn't come. Don was planning to spend Valentine's Day with me and be at the hospital with me when she was born but on the 13th, late in the evening, he went to the Emergency Room with severe abdominal pain. The doctors initially thought pancreatitis. As it turned out, Don had cancer in his liver. He was admitted to the hospital on Valentine's Day and I went into labor that day a few hours later. We didn't know his diagnosis at that point. I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl on February 15 and on the 16th I expected to go home. But they had me stay an extra day. My mom worked at this hospital and my doctor was my best friend, Patti's, dad. They had chosen to keep me an extra day pending Don's test results so they could tell me he had liver cancer before I was sent home. They were that worried about my reaction.
I went home with my baby, Bonni, on the 17th and was chomping at the bit to get to the hospital in the City to see Don. I had a birthday gift for him and he was dying to see the baby. We had talked on the phone several times and I could tell his spirits were low and I knew Bonni would cheer him right up. Did I mention that Valentine's Day was Don's birthday? He was 22.
When I finally got the okay from the doctors to visit him, it had only been a couple of weeks since I had seen him and yet he didn't even look like the same person. His abdomen was distended and the rest of him looked skeletal. They had already started him on chemotherapy and he was so sick he could barely sit up. When he held the baby, his face lit up and all I could think was that this was death saying farewell to life. I wasn't wrong.
People who know me often wonder why someone as pragmatic as I am absolutely hates Friday the 13th. I stay home with my family on any Friday the 13th if AT ALL possible. February 13, 1981 when Don was admitted to the hospital was a Friday. And on Friday, March 13, they told us (we were put down as his next of kin, much to the fury of him mother who had arrived from Mexico) that the cancer had metastacized throughout his entire body and he was beyond their help. They sent him home with us to die. Don died in April.
This was the first time I had ever seen cancer up close and personal. It happened during an already emotional time for me and left a deep, enduring scar. I become terrified of cancer. I lived in mortal fear of cancer touching the lives of my family again and viewed it as my ultimate worst nightmare. When I was diagnosed with Pagets disease less than 2 years ago, the doctor was concerned about the possibility of cancer and it sent me into an absolute tailspin. I always knew that if I ever got any kind of cancer that I would want them to treat it VERY aggressively to the bitter end.
My how time changes things. Over the past year of learning and changing my life, my diet, my health, my outlook, I have read more research, watched more documentaries, read more books concerning cancer than I ever would have thought possible. I always avoided anything that mentioned cancer. Some weird fear that if I thought about it, I would be inviting it in somehow. Nobody ever said phobias were rational. But I started hearing stories here and there about cancer being halted or healed with the diet I had chosen. (Actually, it chose me but that is another story.) So I gave in to my curiosity and watched "The Gerson Miracle." I was flabbergasted. Then I watched, "Crazy, Sexy Cancer." I looked around and started seeing story after story of cancer healed. Doctors saying, chemotherapy or die. But they refused chemotherapy and lived!
This week, thanks to referrals from the good people on my favorite facebook group, Let Food Be Thy Medicine, I watched two more amazing documentaries, "Eating" and "Healing Cancer from the Inside Out." The second one, my 18 year old watched with me growing more furious by the minute. She is becoming a regular warrior for Whole-Food, Plant-Based nutrition which makes me a very proud mama.
I have spoken many times about all the benefits I've gained from my new lifestyle but one I haven't mentioned because I couldn't think how to make you understand what it means to me, is that I no longer fear cancer. I could NEVER have said that a year ago. I would have felt that it was an absolutely certain way to make sure that I was diagnosed with it very soon. But it holds no terrors for me now. Don's body was so eaten up with aggressive cancer cells by the time it was discovered that it is entirely likely that no protocol on the planet would have saved him. But it sure would have been worth a try and I have NO doubt that it would have made his last weeks or months on this earth less horrific than the chemotherapy did. But the things that I have learned about cancer from these films has removed that horrible, nagging fear that was always there in the back of my mind placing a shadow over every day of my life.
Just a few of the things that I learned from these films.
1. Everyone has cancer cells in their body. The question is why does it grow and become deadly in some people and not others.
2. Animal protein is far and away cancer's favorite food, especially dairy.
3. Deny the human body animal protein and cancer cells stop growing. Yes. It really is that simple. Why hasn't the public been made aware of that fact with trumpets and whistles and dancing in the streets? Politics and money baby. Meat and dairy lobbies are HUGE in Washington, not to mention big pharma. Do you think the big 3 want people to know that giving up meat and dairy and NOT taking poison from the multi-billion dollar cancer drug industry is the real answer? Think that is "conspiracy theory?" Would you like to buy some ocean front property in Oklahoma? Seriously, does anyone out there still doubt that the big money industries pull the strings in Washington? Really?
4. Chemotherapy is poison. It is my personal belief that many of the people who supposedly die of cancer actually die with cancer but they die OF chemotherapy.
5. There is a reason that clinics like The Gerson Institute are in Mexico or Europe. In the good old U.S. of A, doctors will lose their license and go to jail if they even suggest there is an answer to cancer other than surgery or drug protocols.
6. The AMA is just as much a criminal organization as the FDA. When one of the ladies in Healing Cancer from the Inside Out said that her doctors informed her that if she refused chemotherapy, they would refuse her disability claim, I just about dropped the jug of juice I was making and I thought Harmoni (my 18 year old) was going to choke. "You have stage 4 cancer and mere months to live but if you refuse chemopoisoning, we will deny your disability claim." Yes. That happened.
There is SO much more but you just really really really owe it to yourself and your family to at least watch these videos. Be open-minded. Don't allow the crap that has been fed to us by the FDA and marketing experts over decades to stop you from at least thinking about what they have to say. Is it really scarier to think of giving up your barbecued ribs and milkshakes than it is to think of chemotherapy and radiation?
Cancer is a tricky thing. There are many, many carcinogenic agents in the world we live in today so nobody can say for certain that they will never get cancer. I'm not saying that I have suddenly become certain that I can never be diagnosed with cancer. I did pretty much everything wrong for 50 years so a year on a new diet lifestyle is not insurance. But I fully believe my risk factor goes down every day. I know that I am creating an environment in my body that facilitates it's ability to defeat cancer cells as all our bodies are meant to do. And I promise you, I will NEVER undergo chemotherapy. If I ever did have to battle cancer I would do it on my own terms with my dignity and quality of life as intact as possible. I'll take the Gerson protocol over chemo hands down. And the thought of the mere word cancer doesn't terrify me anymore now than the words car wreck. Sure those things happen but I am doing everything in my power to avoid them. I am giving my body the tools it needs to win that battle.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
ONE YEAR RESULTS ON JUICING and WHOLE, PLANT-BASED FOOD
So it's been a year. In some ways it seems that it can't possibly have been that long but mostly it just seems like it has to have been longer. Not in a bad way... in a "this is just how I live and completely normal" kinda way. I can't imagine not eating this way. Yesterday my 18 year old, Harmoni, saw some horrible food advertised on tv and said, "I sometimes wonder why we ever wanted to start eating like that to begin with. Now it feels like I should have always wanted to just surround myself with fruit and salad and juice. Why would I NOT?!" Made me a proud and happy mom, I'll tell you that. (You should hear her go OFF when pharmaceutical commercials come on. LOL)
So on my one year anniversary I completed a 5K with my gorgeous and amazing oldest daughter, Bonni. It was literally surreal. This was me, Natalie, at a 5K in the late August heat! I won't go all into just how sick and in pain I was one year ago, I described that pretty thoroughly in my early posts. We all know I was headed for a wheelchair and an amputation and not long for the world the way I was headed last year. This post is my victory song. This post is about JOY. But standing there in the heat, waiting in line for my packet for about 2 hours, the old Natalie couldn't have even been outside on a day like that much less on my feet the whole time. Here is a little vid I took while standing in line and a pic of the goofy gear we put on for this GlowRun. A year ago my main focus when out in public was to remain as invisible as possible. I didn't want to subject anyone to noticing me any more than necessary. As you can see, that doesn't exactly describe me now;)
The little glow tubes we made our glasses and necklaces out of came in our packets but they were duds. No glowing:( So I bought the dreads and the bracelet and got my face painted. We then had another hour to wait in 95 degree heat in a big park for them to start lining people up for the start of the race. So we go looking for someplace to get some water. Well, no luck. They only sold beer. At the 5K. In AUGUST. No joke. I am thinking of writing to them about that because that is dangerous. Most of us brought a bottle of water but only one. We assumed water would be available at a 5K! That is not only foolish but dangerous. Thankfully I am very conscientious about staying well hydrated. The only water available that entire hot afternoon and evening (nearly 5 hours altogether) was one 12 oz bottle at the halfway point and one at the finish line. And many people stayed for the after party as well so even longer for them with, I'm sure, plenty of beer:/ But enough griping about that. Once it got dark, they lined everyone up at the starting gate and boy were there a LOT of people! They had people start in waves and since I'm pretty slow compared to most of these youngsters, we joined the last wave - wave 6. So that means we stood in line for another half hour. LOL In my old life I was extremely claustrophobic and a bit agoraphobic and really, really needed my personal space. I couldn't stand to be in big crowds; couldn't stand to be bumped and jostled. I would have full blown panic attacks. But there I stood in the middle of the road with hundreds of people crowding up to the starting line and all I could do was thank God for bringing me there. For allowing me to fulfill the dream that began a couple of years ago when my Bonni took up running and, one day after watching the Biggest Loser, she said to me, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could do one together some day?" Inwardly I wept because I fully believed that it would never be possible. I knew how rapidly I was declining but I hadn't told my children. It would become obvious to them soon enough. But my God wasn't done with me yet. And when he placed the way before me, I took it without hesitation and guess what...
There you have it. My celebration of my rebirth. My declaration to the world that I am back. That August day in 2013 when Fat Sick and Nearly Dead popped up on my suggestions in Netflix, I knew immediately that everything was about to change. I NEVER EVER took pictures of myself. But I took one that day. I had my kids help me out to the yard and I took a picture. I knew I would need the proof one day of how far I had come. I knew I would need to remind myself from time to time of just how bad off I was. I usually didn't write doom and gloom in my journal but I had written very openly of my despair just the week before. God knew I would need to remember just how far I had sunk into that despair. The way was prepared before me in so many big and small ways. It is really amazing to look back on.
I still have a long way to go. Anyone want to put money on how far I will go by next August? I'll be riding horses again on a regular basis I can promise you that. I'll be completing more 5Ks with and even without my daughter and this time I will run them the whole way. Me with the tore up, bone-on-bone knees and the leg with damaged circulation that would need to be amputated and TWO crippling bone diseases in my back WILL be running 5K. Running is actually starting to feel good to me now so I know I'll get there. I feel like I have probably lost about half the weight I will eventually need to but I know that as long as I keep my tunnel vision locked on my health that the weight will take care of itself. Over the past few months there have been periods where I maintained my weight loss for a while and then got into "reboot mode" and lost some more and then maintained for a while again. How fantastic and liberating to know that I have the tools I need to do both. To lose and to maintain.
I knew I would need to put together a new progress picture when I hit one year. My last one was done at about 9 months I believe. I was a bit worried I would feel let down as would my friends and family since I haven't lost all that much weight in the last 3 months. I don't know exactly how much since my scale quit working and I'm not going to replace it for a while. I need to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and focus on health and joy instead of numbers on a scale. But I dutifully went into the bathroom to take my progress picture. As I was taking it I thought, "I should probably change into some nice tight jeans to hold that gut in.... except my jeans are all baggy so I'd have to borrow some from my daughter, Gini. ... Oh ugh that double chin is just never going to go away... Wow my hair has gotten long!" And then I looked at the picture. I pulled up the picture next to that one I took last year and I wept. I look like me again. I am excited about losing more weight, sure. Big time! But I really have to stop under-valuing what I have already done. A few observations... my hair has NEVER grown very fast. I couldn't believe how much it had grown in that year. And because of hypothyroidism, I didn't have any outer eyebrows at all and now they are coming back! And best of all... sorry if this is TMI, my boobs stick out further than my gut again! Been a long while for that!! LOL
So even though I had intended for that to be a test run and I would fix my hair and put on cuter clothes and then take the one I would share with people, I just used that one. It's real. It's me. And for today I'm 100% happy with that. Now bring on year number 2! Life is good on da juice!!!
So on my one year anniversary I completed a 5K with my gorgeous and amazing oldest daughter, Bonni. It was literally surreal. This was me, Natalie, at a 5K in the late August heat! I won't go all into just how sick and in pain I was one year ago, I described that pretty thoroughly in my early posts. We all know I was headed for a wheelchair and an amputation and not long for the world the way I was headed last year. This post is my victory song. This post is about JOY. But standing there in the heat, waiting in line for my packet for about 2 hours, the old Natalie couldn't have even been outside on a day like that much less on my feet the whole time. Here is a little vid I took while standing in line and a pic of the goofy gear we put on for this GlowRun. A year ago my main focus when out in public was to remain as invisible as possible. I didn't want to subject anyone to noticing me any more than necessary. As you can see, that doesn't exactly describe me now;)
The little glow tubes we made our glasses and necklaces out of came in our packets but they were duds. No glowing:( So I bought the dreads and the bracelet and got my face painted. We then had another hour to wait in 95 degree heat in a big park for them to start lining people up for the start of the race. So we go looking for someplace to get some water. Well, no luck. They only sold beer. At the 5K. In AUGUST. No joke. I am thinking of writing to them about that because that is dangerous. Most of us brought a bottle of water but only one. We assumed water would be available at a 5K! That is not only foolish but dangerous. Thankfully I am very conscientious about staying well hydrated. The only water available that entire hot afternoon and evening (nearly 5 hours altogether) was one 12 oz bottle at the halfway point and one at the finish line. And many people stayed for the after party as well so even longer for them with, I'm sure, plenty of beer:/ But enough griping about that. Once it got dark, they lined everyone up at the starting gate and boy were there a LOT of people! They had people start in waves and since I'm pretty slow compared to most of these youngsters, we joined the last wave - wave 6. So that means we stood in line for another half hour. LOL In my old life I was extremely claustrophobic and a bit agoraphobic and really, really needed my personal space. I couldn't stand to be in big crowds; couldn't stand to be bumped and jostled. I would have full blown panic attacks. But there I stood in the middle of the road with hundreds of people crowding up to the starting line and all I could do was thank God for bringing me there. For allowing me to fulfill the dream that began a couple of years ago when my Bonni took up running and, one day after watching the Biggest Loser, she said to me, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could do one together some day?" Inwardly I wept because I fully believed that it would never be possible. I knew how rapidly I was declining but I hadn't told my children. It would become obvious to them soon enough. But my God wasn't done with me yet. And when he placed the way before me, I took it without hesitation and guess what...
There you have it. My celebration of my rebirth. My declaration to the world that I am back. That August day in 2013 when Fat Sick and Nearly Dead popped up on my suggestions in Netflix, I knew immediately that everything was about to change. I NEVER EVER took pictures of myself. But I took one that day. I had my kids help me out to the yard and I took a picture. I knew I would need the proof one day of how far I had come. I knew I would need to remind myself from time to time of just how bad off I was. I usually didn't write doom and gloom in my journal but I had written very openly of my despair just the week before. God knew I would need to remember just how far I had sunk into that despair. The way was prepared before me in so many big and small ways. It is really amazing to look back on.
I still have a long way to go. Anyone want to put money on how far I will go by next August? I'll be riding horses again on a regular basis I can promise you that. I'll be completing more 5Ks with and even without my daughter and this time I will run them the whole way. Me with the tore up, bone-on-bone knees and the leg with damaged circulation that would need to be amputated and TWO crippling bone diseases in my back WILL be running 5K. Running is actually starting to feel good to me now so I know I'll get there. I feel like I have probably lost about half the weight I will eventually need to but I know that as long as I keep my tunnel vision locked on my health that the weight will take care of itself. Over the past few months there have been periods where I maintained my weight loss for a while and then got into "reboot mode" and lost some more and then maintained for a while again. How fantastic and liberating to know that I have the tools I need to do both. To lose and to maintain.
I knew I would need to put together a new progress picture when I hit one year. My last one was done at about 9 months I believe. I was a bit worried I would feel let down as would my friends and family since I haven't lost all that much weight in the last 3 months. I don't know exactly how much since my scale quit working and I'm not going to replace it for a while. I need to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and focus on health and joy instead of numbers on a scale. But I dutifully went into the bathroom to take my progress picture. As I was taking it I thought, "I should probably change into some nice tight jeans to hold that gut in.... except my jeans are all baggy so I'd have to borrow some from my daughter, Gini. ... Oh ugh that double chin is just never going to go away... Wow my hair has gotten long!" And then I looked at the picture. I pulled up the picture next to that one I took last year and I wept. I look like me again. I am excited about losing more weight, sure. Big time! But I really have to stop under-valuing what I have already done. A few observations... my hair has NEVER grown very fast. I couldn't believe how much it had grown in that year. And because of hypothyroidism, I didn't have any outer eyebrows at all and now they are coming back! And best of all... sorry if this is TMI, my boobs stick out further than my gut again! Been a long while for that!! LOL
So even though I had intended for that to be a test run and I would fix my hair and put on cuter clothes and then take the one I would share with people, I just used that one. It's real. It's me. And for today I'm 100% happy with that. Now bring on year number 2! Life is good on da juice!!!
Friday, August 1, 2014
YOU DON'T NEED THE CEREAL COMPANY TO ADD FOLATE TO YOUR FRUIT LOOPS TO BE HEALTHY!!
So I read this article this morning: Gluten-free for weight loss? You’re doing more harm than good: study
There is so much wrong here I almost didn't even try but here goes. Condescending claptrap. Just more of the medical establishment trying to convince people that if the doctor (is that spelled g.o.d?) didn't say it, it ain't so. Ordinary mortals are much too foolish and self-deluded to figure out what their own bodies need. Dumbing us down on a profound level. Ugh!
So they found that if you replace your white bread and doughnuts with gluten-free white bread and doughnuts you aren't helping anything? Genius. How about replace the gluten bearing grain with healthy, whole foods. And stop looking for science to "fortify" your foods and just go to foods that contain them *naturally.* Radical concept, I know. Me and my fads;o) My favorite part of this article (solely for the belly laugh it gave me) was, "If I’m a college student, and I want to lose weight, and I read on the Internet that a gluten-free diet is the way to go, I may start avoiding products that contain essential nutrients such as those found in cereal grains fortified with folic acid." If you need some folic acid eat some frickin' beans genius! Or some spinach or broccoli or a salad! Oy vey!!! You don't need the cereal companies to add folate to your fruit loops to be healthy!!!!!!!
Now I don't believe everyone needs to give up gluten but I think it is a good idea to cut back on it and be much more choosy about the gluten bearing foods you eat no matter who you are. First off, modern gluten 'ain't what it used to be.' The bread you are eating is far, far, far from the bread your grandparents ate. And even if your bread label says "Whole Wheat," chances are it is far from a true whole grain product. Just about everyone could benefit from switching their usual bread and cereal products to true whole grains. But true gluten sensitivity is brutal and pretty easy to diagnose even without a medical degree. If you cut out gluten-bearing foods for a week or two and you are feeling fine and then you eat a serving of gluten bearing food and get sick as a dog, it is a pretty good sign that gluten is a problem for you. Over the course of the last year, we found that my youngest daughter, Harmoni, was severely gluten-intolerant. I am actually considering getting her tested for actual celiac markers. It's bad. A tiny little bit of hidden gluten and she is curled up in the fetal position for hours - usually on the bathroom floor because she dares not get far from there... if you know what I mean. Both ends baby. It has happened a handful of times when I got just the tiniest bit careless about labels. (Seasoning packets and vanilla extract among many, many other things contain hidden gluten.) Or on one memorable occasion when we trusted a pizza company that said their product was gluten free. People who work at pizza places have since told me that while the product is gluten free, the employees are given NO training about the importance of handling gluten free products with care to avoid cross contamination.
Now, I do see the point that it is foolish of people to think that replacing one cookie mix with another cookie mix isn't going to help you lose weight just because one is gluten free. So teach people that where weight loss is concerned, the problem is that you are eating all your food from a box or food that is prepared by someone else and designed to survive sitting on a shelf for months or more. Teach people, spread the word, get the information in the hands of nutritionists and doctors that preparing your own food from whole, fresh products is the key to healthier bodies. Health and weight-loss doesn't come in a box! Gluten free or otherwise!! But don't try to convince people that their own intuition about their own body isn't to be trusted and that it requires a doctor to decide what you should eat. Read my lips people! Doctors are NOT taught nutrition!! And what little they are exposed to is promoted, backed and often even taught by big pharma, meat, dairy and fast-food representatives. As is the information taught to the average nutritionist. Don't believe me? Check this out: Nutritionists Annual Confab Sponsored by... McDonalds? Yes, seriously. "Andy Bellatti, a dietitian and member of AND, recalls his shock the first time he attended the organization's national conference, in 2008. "I could get continuing education credits for literally sitting in a room and listening to Frito-Lay tell me that Sun Chips are a good way to meet my fiber needs," he says. "I thought, 'No wonder Americans are overweight and diabetic. The gatekeepers for our information about food are getting their information from junk-food companies.'"
I went to doctor after doctor for 30 years trying to figure out why I was declining in health and expanding in size so drastically. Not one ever offered me any solid advice on what to eat or not eat. If and ONLY if I asked, they gave me those sheets about the healthy plate and the FDA's food pyramid. Yeah that worked. I followed the conventional wisdom on weight loss for years while I gained over 100lbs. When I would tell doctors what I ate, you could tell they thought I was lying. I couldn't be getting this fat if I really had given up soda and fried foods and was only eating "healthy, lean cuts of meat" and watching my portions. And even worse, not one single health professional ever even hinted that the medical conditions that were systematically trashing my quality of life could possibly have ANYTHING to do with what I was putting in my mouth. But I'm supposed to go pay for a test to prove what I have already found to be fact in my own experience and my child's about eating gluten and ask them to help me fill in the horrible, gaping void left by bread and pancakes and spaghetti? Thank you! I needed a good laugh today.
Now, there is the matter of that study they referenced. (Insert eye roll.) They said half the people were given standard cookies and chips and the other half were given gluten free cookies and chips. Gee, maybe the problem was that they were feeding these people COOKIES AND CHIPS!! "Participants were cycled through three diets: high-gluten, low-gluten and a control... Participants reported stomach pain and sensitivity even when they weren’t eating gluten. Each diet had patients reporting pain, bloating, nausea, and gas after their baseline treatment." Okay, what was the control? What was the "baseline treatment?" How long were they on this diet? And what did the rest of their diet look like? Lots of things can cause bloating, pain, gas, etc. And if none of these was completely gluten free, it tells you exactly nothing. And they didn't even mention the studies that have shown the effect of gluten on the thyroid.
So bottom line for me... I'm not saying everyone should go gluten free. Healthy, truly whole grain, preferably home-made, grains without artificial crap added are a great part of a healthy diet for many people if you haven't already developed a gut problem. My youngest daughter has SEVERE stomach issues, pain, diarrhea, gas and vomiting from even a whiff of gluten. I just get bloating, joint pain and gas. These can last a few hours to a few days. It is reliable as the sunrise. Eat gluten, this happens. Don't eat gluten and it doesn't. My middle daughter is on the same whole-food, plant-based diet as Harmoni and I, lives in the same home and eats the same food, but she can eat a truly healthy, whole-grain bread or pasta and not suffer any ill effects. She is losing weight right along with Harmoni and I and has stopped her acid reflux and horrible allergies and gotten off of the continuous need for medication for those conditions. I think I can save the money and time and skip the doctor on this one.
So no, I don't think everyone needs to go gluten free. But I'm beginning to wonder if we don't need to go doctor free:/ (Just kidding! Don't shoot me! But we seriously do need to take the time and effort to find a doctor who has a clue.) But I think if you are seeking your healthiest state that it is well worth trying an elimination diet to make sure gluten isn't creating a stumbling block for you. And make sure that whatever grains you include in your diet are really whole, as fresh as possible and not processed and messed with beyond the point of being healthy any longer. And above all, we need to stop spreading the idea that people are too stupid to know what their body needs without someone with a bunch of initials after their name to approve their decisions. And all the evidence out there that diet is the key to the huge health decline around us needs to be made available instead of covered up and ridiculed by people with lots of money to lose once people know the truth. And I really believe that those big money interests need to STOP being the ones funding the "studies." Has everyone forgotten what the term "conflict of interest" means?!
To quote Dan Miller, "Relax and enjoy, eat and drink plants." And of course, my favorite, JUICE ON YA'LL! WE GOT THIS!!
There is so much wrong here I almost didn't even try but here goes. Condescending claptrap. Just more of the medical establishment trying to convince people that if the doctor (is that spelled g.o.d?) didn't say it, it ain't so. Ordinary mortals are much too foolish and self-deluded to figure out what their own bodies need. Dumbing us down on a profound level. Ugh!
So they found that if you replace your white bread and doughnuts with gluten-free white bread and doughnuts you aren't helping anything? Genius. How about replace the gluten bearing grain with healthy, whole foods. And stop looking for science to "fortify" your foods and just go to foods that contain them *naturally.* Radical concept, I know. Me and my fads;o) My favorite part of this article (solely for the belly laugh it gave me) was, "If I’m a college student, and I want to lose weight, and I read on the Internet that a gluten-free diet is the way to go, I may start avoiding products that contain essential nutrients such as those found in cereal grains fortified with folic acid." If you need some folic acid eat some frickin' beans genius! Or some spinach or broccoli or a salad! Oy vey!!! You don't need the cereal companies to add folate to your fruit loops to be healthy!!!!!!!
Now I don't believe everyone needs to give up gluten but I think it is a good idea to cut back on it and be much more choosy about the gluten bearing foods you eat no matter who you are. First off, modern gluten 'ain't what it used to be.' The bread you are eating is far, far, far from the bread your grandparents ate. And even if your bread label says "Whole Wheat," chances are it is far from a true whole grain product. Just about everyone could benefit from switching their usual bread and cereal products to true whole grains. But true gluten sensitivity is brutal and pretty easy to diagnose even without a medical degree. If you cut out gluten-bearing foods for a week or two and you are feeling fine and then you eat a serving of gluten bearing food and get sick as a dog, it is a pretty good sign that gluten is a problem for you. Over the course of the last year, we found that my youngest daughter, Harmoni, was severely gluten-intolerant. I am actually considering getting her tested for actual celiac markers. It's bad. A tiny little bit of hidden gluten and she is curled up in the fetal position for hours - usually on the bathroom floor because she dares not get far from there... if you know what I mean. Both ends baby. It has happened a handful of times when I got just the tiniest bit careless about labels. (Seasoning packets and vanilla extract among many, many other things contain hidden gluten.) Or on one memorable occasion when we trusted a pizza company that said their product was gluten free. People who work at pizza places have since told me that while the product is gluten free, the employees are given NO training about the importance of handling gluten free products with care to avoid cross contamination.
Now, I do see the point that it is foolish of people to think that replacing one cookie mix with another cookie mix isn't going to help you lose weight just because one is gluten free. So teach people that where weight loss is concerned, the problem is that you are eating all your food from a box or food that is prepared by someone else and designed to survive sitting on a shelf for months or more. Teach people, spread the word, get the information in the hands of nutritionists and doctors that preparing your own food from whole, fresh products is the key to healthier bodies. Health and weight-loss doesn't come in a box! Gluten free or otherwise!! But don't try to convince people that their own intuition about their own body isn't to be trusted and that it requires a doctor to decide what you should eat. Read my lips people! Doctors are NOT taught nutrition!! And what little they are exposed to is promoted, backed and often even taught by big pharma, meat, dairy and fast-food representatives. As is the information taught to the average nutritionist. Don't believe me? Check this out: Nutritionists Annual Confab Sponsored by... McDonalds? Yes, seriously. "Andy Bellatti, a dietitian and member of AND, recalls his shock the first time he attended the organization's national conference, in 2008. "I could get continuing education credits for literally sitting in a room and listening to Frito-Lay tell me that Sun Chips are a good way to meet my fiber needs," he says. "I thought, 'No wonder Americans are overweight and diabetic. The gatekeepers for our information about food are getting their information from junk-food companies.'"
I went to doctor after doctor for 30 years trying to figure out why I was declining in health and expanding in size so drastically. Not one ever offered me any solid advice on what to eat or not eat. If and ONLY if I asked, they gave me those sheets about the healthy plate and the FDA's food pyramid. Yeah that worked. I followed the conventional wisdom on weight loss for years while I gained over 100lbs. When I would tell doctors what I ate, you could tell they thought I was lying. I couldn't be getting this fat if I really had given up soda and fried foods and was only eating "healthy, lean cuts of meat" and watching my portions. And even worse, not one single health professional ever even hinted that the medical conditions that were systematically trashing my quality of life could possibly have ANYTHING to do with what I was putting in my mouth. But I'm supposed to go pay for a test to prove what I have already found to be fact in my own experience and my child's about eating gluten and ask them to help me fill in the horrible, gaping void left by bread and pancakes and spaghetti? Thank you! I needed a good laugh today.
Now, there is the matter of that study they referenced. (Insert eye roll.) They said half the people were given standard cookies and chips and the other half were given gluten free cookies and chips. Gee, maybe the problem was that they were feeding these people COOKIES AND CHIPS!! "Participants were cycled through three diets: high-gluten, low-gluten and a control... Participants reported stomach pain and sensitivity even when they weren’t eating gluten. Each diet had patients reporting pain, bloating, nausea, and gas after their baseline treatment." Okay, what was the control? What was the "baseline treatment?" How long were they on this diet? And what did the rest of their diet look like? Lots of things can cause bloating, pain, gas, etc. And if none of these was completely gluten free, it tells you exactly nothing. And they didn't even mention the studies that have shown the effect of gluten on the thyroid.
So bottom line for me... I'm not saying everyone should go gluten free. Healthy, truly whole grain, preferably home-made, grains without artificial crap added are a great part of a healthy diet for many people if you haven't already developed a gut problem. My youngest daughter has SEVERE stomach issues, pain, diarrhea, gas and vomiting from even a whiff of gluten. I just get bloating, joint pain and gas. These can last a few hours to a few days. It is reliable as the sunrise. Eat gluten, this happens. Don't eat gluten and it doesn't. My middle daughter is on the same whole-food, plant-based diet as Harmoni and I, lives in the same home and eats the same food, but she can eat a truly healthy, whole-grain bread or pasta and not suffer any ill effects. She is losing weight right along with Harmoni and I and has stopped her acid reflux and horrible allergies and gotten off of the continuous need for medication for those conditions. I think I can save the money and time and skip the doctor on this one.
So no, I don't think everyone needs to go gluten free. But I'm beginning to wonder if we don't need to go doctor free:/ (Just kidding! Don't shoot me! But we seriously do need to take the time and effort to find a doctor who has a clue.) But I think if you are seeking your healthiest state that it is well worth trying an elimination diet to make sure gluten isn't creating a stumbling block for you. And make sure that whatever grains you include in your diet are really whole, as fresh as possible and not processed and messed with beyond the point of being healthy any longer. And above all, we need to stop spreading the idea that people are too stupid to know what their body needs without someone with a bunch of initials after their name to approve their decisions. And all the evidence out there that diet is the key to the huge health decline around us needs to be made available instead of covered up and ridiculed by people with lots of money to lose once people know the truth. And I really believe that those big money interests need to STOP being the ones funding the "studies." Has everyone forgotten what the term "conflict of interest" means?!
To quote Dan Miller, "Relax and enjoy, eat and drink plants." And of course, my favorite, JUICE ON YA'LL! WE GOT THIS!!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF... AND KILLED A GENERATION OF PEOPLE
First off, I am down to less than a month until my first ever 5K on my Rebirthday!!! Can I get a YEEHAW!! I am completing 5K on a fairly regular basis and walk a couple of miles on the days I don't do the 3.1. The only reason I'm not at least walking 3.1 miles every day is because my area has been under an "extreme heat advisory" lately. Since the Glow Run is held after dark, I try to do my walk/jog at dusk but lately I have been having to wait until around 10 at night or else it is still in the 90s! Come race day, if it is in the 90s after dark, I'll be able to do it, I just probably won't be able to run as much as I'd like. But even if I walk the whole thing and it takes me an hour, I will finish it. And I call this my "first" 5K because I have no doubt whatever that there will be more to come. I have my eye on a couple in September and October.
Now on to what is on my mind today. I just had to make a quick run to the nearest store for a couple of spices I was out of. I needed them for the soup I just put into the crock pot (navy beans, purple potatos, tomatos and squash). As I was checking out, I noticed the Woman's World Magazine. It's a weekly that I used to read all the time. I bought one for the first time in a long time last week because I suspected the diet touted no the cover might have something to do with juicing or smoothies. It said "CURE FOOD ADDICTION; END JUNK-FOOD CRAVINGS! LOSE 24lbs YOUR FIRST WEEK!" If you aren't familiar with this magazine, it has screaming headlines like that for a different diet every week. Dr. Oz is featured on a fairly regular basis. Here's a few recent covers to give you an idea:
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You get the idea. Just about every diet plan out there has been featured at least once in this magazine. They don't try to "take sides" or decide which is best but today, it just struck me, no wonder people are so skeptical when they hear people like me talking about what I've done!! We are bombarded every day with a different "miracle cure" for diabetes and obesity and thyroid problems and blood pressure! And they are all contradictory! "Fat is the bad guy; avoid fat!" NO! Fat is a healthy part of your diet; avoid sugar!" NO NO NO! "Moderation is the key!" And after all the extreme sounding, contradictory, complicated varieties thrown at us, boy does moderation just start to sound like common sense!? But then we try moderation. We try to just use portion control and take baby steps and just reduce our calories and increase our exercise and we fail and fail again. Some of us fail BIG!
So some of us (I'm talking about me here) give up. We begin to really believe that we are just meant to be fat and miserable all our lives. When we see it happening to our kids too, it's harder for us to accept that maybe they are meant to be fat and miserable but what else are we to do? We are hardened into skepticism or downright cynicism because of all the loud claims thrown at us every day. We are beaten down into hopelessness by all the headlines about how little chance we have statistically of really getting the weight off and keeping it off. Why bother?
The headline today said something about curing diabetes by drinking red wine on the new "Mediterranean Atkins" diet. I cringed because I have a pretty good idea of what any version of Atkins is going to do to a diabetic over time and it isn't pretty. But the thing about Atkins was that he got you some pretty impressive initial results and it just felt like he was thinking outside the box. Actually, IMHO the first ones in a long while to think outside the box and start really looking at how human beings were meant to thrive were the Paleo people. I admire them for that and I honestly think they are on the right track. Haven't reached the station yet but on the right tracke;o) I've written before about that so I won't go there again but I really do think they at least are headed in the right direction getting off of the processed, packaged food train and looking at lifestyle instead of just a temporary diet change to reach a specific goal.
It really is a big problem in this culture that we are so hardened to claims that dietary changes can have miraculous results. The "diet industry" has created a boy who cried wolf. We don't believe in any dietary changes because so many false claims have been thrown around. And that's a shame. Because dietary change really is the miracle we've all been looking for. I really hate to think that others will have to get as desperate and near to losing their battle altogether as I did before they take that one last shot at a miracle cure. And it just breaks my heart to think of all the people who will never grab hold of this life line and take their life back.
As for me, I am thankful every single day for the every day joys of living a normal life, free of pain and disease. I will continue to share my story whenever I get the chance because word of mouth, one person at a time is really our only hope for the time being. Eventually enough people will know someone personally who has experienced this kind of healing that enough doctors will get enough pressure to explain this etc etc. And eventually, the well-being of the population will become more of a priority than keeping Big Pharma... big.
Juice on ya'll. We got this. One person at a time if necessary.
Now on to what is on my mind today. I just had to make a quick run to the nearest store for a couple of spices I was out of. I needed them for the soup I just put into the crock pot (navy beans, purple potatos, tomatos and squash). As I was checking out, I noticed the Woman's World Magazine. It's a weekly that I used to read all the time. I bought one for the first time in a long time last week because I suspected the diet touted no the cover might have something to do with juicing or smoothies. It said "CURE FOOD ADDICTION; END JUNK-FOOD CRAVINGS! LOSE 24lbs YOUR FIRST WEEK!" If you aren't familiar with this magazine, it has screaming headlines like that for a different diet every week. Dr. Oz is featured on a fairly regular basis. Here's a few recent covers to give you an idea:
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You get the idea. Just about every diet plan out there has been featured at least once in this magazine. They don't try to "take sides" or decide which is best but today, it just struck me, no wonder people are so skeptical when they hear people like me talking about what I've done!! We are bombarded every day with a different "miracle cure" for diabetes and obesity and thyroid problems and blood pressure! And they are all contradictory! "Fat is the bad guy; avoid fat!" NO! Fat is a healthy part of your diet; avoid sugar!" NO NO NO! "Moderation is the key!" And after all the extreme sounding, contradictory, complicated varieties thrown at us, boy does moderation just start to sound like common sense!? But then we try moderation. We try to just use portion control and take baby steps and just reduce our calories and increase our exercise and we fail and fail again. Some of us fail BIG!
So some of us (I'm talking about me here) give up. We begin to really believe that we are just meant to be fat and miserable all our lives. When we see it happening to our kids too, it's harder for us to accept that maybe they are meant to be fat and miserable but what else are we to do? We are hardened into skepticism or downright cynicism because of all the loud claims thrown at us every day. We are beaten down into hopelessness by all the headlines about how little chance we have statistically of really getting the weight off and keeping it off. Why bother?
The headline today said something about curing diabetes by drinking red wine on the new "Mediterranean Atkins" diet. I cringed because I have a pretty good idea of what any version of Atkins is going to do to a diabetic over time and it isn't pretty. But the thing about Atkins was that he got you some pretty impressive initial results and it just felt like he was thinking outside the box. Actually, IMHO the first ones in a long while to think outside the box and start really looking at how human beings were meant to thrive were the Paleo people. I admire them for that and I honestly think they are on the right track. Haven't reached the station yet but on the right tracke;o) I've written before about that so I won't go there again but I really do think they at least are headed in the right direction getting off of the processed, packaged food train and looking at lifestyle instead of just a temporary diet change to reach a specific goal.
It really is a big problem in this culture that we are so hardened to claims that dietary changes can have miraculous results. The "diet industry" has created a boy who cried wolf. We don't believe in any dietary changes because so many false claims have been thrown around. And that's a shame. Because dietary change really is the miracle we've all been looking for. I really hate to think that others will have to get as desperate and near to losing their battle altogether as I did before they take that one last shot at a miracle cure. And it just breaks my heart to think of all the people who will never grab hold of this life line and take their life back.
As for me, I am thankful every single day for the every day joys of living a normal life, free of pain and disease. I will continue to share my story whenever I get the chance because word of mouth, one person at a time is really our only hope for the time being. Eventually enough people will know someone personally who has experienced this kind of healing that enough doctors will get enough pressure to explain this etc etc. And eventually, the well-being of the population will become more of a priority than keeping Big Pharma... big.
Juice on ya'll. We got this. One person at a time if necessary.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES
Lately, I have witnessed some bickering amongst people that I very much respect and admire who disagree about diet. All of them believe in the power of juicing and plant-based food but some of them also still believe that meat and/or dairy are a healthy part of their diet. It kind of seems that those who continue to eat meat and dairy end up feeling a bit on the defensive about it because so many juicers end up going vegetarian, vegan or even raw vegan. Heck I get a bit defensive and snappish myself if I'm around too many vegan purists (ethical vegans) or paleo fanatics who try to tell everyone that their way is the only "right" way. Anyone would. Basically none of us has the right or responsibility to tell everyone else what path to choose. We DO have a right to share what we *believe* to be the healthiest choice. And, in fact, I believe that we have a responsibility to spread the word about the healing nature of plants because so few people in our world know or understand how tremendous this power is or how much it can change their lives. I try very hard not to get caught up in defining the details of anyone's path but my own unless specifically asked because the important thing right now, in what is basically the early days of a very important movement, is to get people moving in the right direction and to be a fantastic living example of the power of WFPB eating. However, and this is a BIG however, I also don't believe that pulling punches or telling people that it will all be okay in the end if they just make a few little changes (baby steps - if I never hear the term baby steps again it will be too soon) because it's a lie. And people will make those little changes expecting big results and be disappointed and start believing and spreading it around to everyone who will listen that the whole WFPB lifestyle is a lie. And this will happen very frequently because too often when people try to make small changes, they neglect to consider a few key things about human nature as well as the nature of food. So here is me giving my opinion on this important issue for anyone that cares to know. This is a blog. My blog. So I can say EXACTLY what I think about the subject without pulling any punches. It doesn't mean I would be this tactless or blunt with everyone who is genuinely trying to implement positive change in their life. That will be my only disclaimer for this article. Read on only if you want my undiluted opinion.
I've been reading "The Pleasure Trap" by Douglas Lisle so what is rolling around in my noggin is colored by that, just so ya know;) I'm very early on in the book but all the talk in the early chapters about the fundamental motivations of living things got me thinking about Paleo. Now I have a daughter who believes in Paleo and a lot of friends who do as well so I'm not trying to paint them all as ignoramuses or anything, believe me. But it just strikes me as a very trendy, "cool kids club" kind of notion. We'll eat like our ancient ancestors ate. Now I think looking at how our ancestors ate can definitely have great value and it's fascinating that they can examine the stomach contents of a kagillion year old corpse and tell us what his last meal was. I think drawing conclusions about the healthiest diet for modern man from that is ludicrous. Dr. Lisle talks a lot about the primary motivations of pretty much all animals being to "seek pleasure, avoid pain and conserve energy" so as to survive to propagate the species. If you take a feral human who has not had any "socialization" whatsoever, what will his behavior reflect? He is going to find food, comfort and safety and, if at all possible, sex. So our topic today is the food no matter how interesting the others might be;) With no artificial or refined sugars, salts oils etc to screw with his taste buds, what food is going to be his first choice? I promise you, sharpening a stick and trying to kill a bear will not be top of his list. Come on! He is going for what is easiest to acquire and what tastes nicest, ie, sweet or savory. Fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, etc. And let's also consider that what the "paleo" diet consisted of would have been wildly different in every region of the world. They would have eaten what was most plentiful, tasty and easy to acquire in their particular habitat. Unfortunately, that pretty well describes what modern man does too. And what, to our completely raped and tortured taste buds, tastes most savory and is easiest to acquire (so that we may conserve energy to seek pleasure?) McDonalds. We also use our limitless human ingenuity to make foods literally addictive in order to make a buck. So now the unhealthy, easy target foods are also something akin to crack. Yay.
Let me just say that I knew quite a few "Paleo" advocates who really seem to me to be following a whole, clean food diet with lots and lots of fresh freggies but they just eat meat and dairy as well but they make sure their source for their meat and dairy is more natural and "clean." No factory farmed, processed, fast-food etc. Kind of like Joel Salatin promotes. Love that guy even if we aren't 100% on the same page. His book, "Folks, This Just Ain't Normal" is very thought provoking and entertaining. I got the audio book narrated by Joel himself and it is really a fun listen in addition to making you think. Good combination. My only advice to people on this version of paleo would be to at least try to keep the percentage of animal protein in your diet down to 20% or less as T. Colin Campbell revealed in his China Study that this was the threshold for promoting cancer growth.
Now, as for me and my own particular diet.... where does the rubber meet the road for Natshell? Yes, I occasionally eat animal protein. Usually it is fish or sea food. That's my particular weakness. I also occasionally add a BIT of feta cheese to a salad because my family loves it. And once in a while, that is a good enough reason. I also occasionally have a greek yogurt if I can't find any soy yogurt. The sum total of these indulgences is maybe 5 or 6 times per MONTH. And here is a key for me; these are *indulgences*. I do not try to kid myself that they are a necessity or even a part of the solution for me health and weight-wise. Some peope indulge in a bit of dark chocolate or (hello Joe Cross) ice cream or even a burger (ewwww) but me, I indulge in sushi or a boiled egg (from a local farmer only - NO factory farm crap for me.) I recognize it as a treat. I enjoy it and then move on to my wfpb diet that IS the solution. But these are very much occasional treats. I've said it before and I'll say it again; if you are having something every week or multiple times per week, it isn't a treat it's a regular part of your diet.
Lately, when this subject comes up amongst those of us who are into juice fasting, I am likely to hear someone (or a few someones) say, "Well, I still eat burgers sometimes because Joe Cross said it's okay." I knew the first time I heard Joe say this that it would become a big, ugly snowball rolling downhill. People LOVE to hear good news about their bad habits. Joe says it's okay to eat a burger so nobody get between me and the nearest drive-thru! Petal to the metal baby! I LOVE Joe Cross with a deep purple passion. He. Saved. My. Life. I respect him for his foresight, wisdom, strength and pragmatism. Do I think it's terrible that he has a burger or chocolate ice cream once in a while? Heck no! Do I wish he had kept it to himself? OH YES! Did your mama ever accuse you when you were a child of "If I give you an inch, you'll take a mile?" I suspect Joe's burgers are fairly rare occurrences. I also suspect (no solid proof but I'm pretty sure) that he also is human and puts his pants on one leg at a time just like you and me. If he has them more than a couple times a month, he is not doing himself any favors long term. That's my honest opinion. I doubt they happen more often than that truthfully. And I suspect that the quality of the meat on his burger isnt even from the same universe as the @#^% that McDonalds calls beef. But Joe says burgers are "the good stuff" and suddenly ten thousand people put McDonald's right back on the menu. And they may start with, "Well, we'll have it once a week." And it just sort of schmerges right into 2 or 3 times a week and before you know it they are saying, "Hey, why isn't this working?!"
So, bottom line for me (and any time I talk about subjects like this you will see/hear me say that a lot because that is all I have a right to - *for me*) meat/dairy is not going to promote my health or help me get to a healthy weight. Getting it OUT of my diet was the first thing in my life that got that ball truly rolling. If I have it, I recognize it as a treat and move on. If others ask me about my beliefs I tell them to get the meat and dairy out of their life if they want to see the big, dramatic changes I've experienced and if they want optimum health.
I really think that a lot of people who have experienced the incredible healing properties of juice fasting and wfpb diet really say the PC thing about meat/dairy out of a misguided attempt to attract more people to the lifestyle. In some instances, I am sure it is more likely to attract people if you don't try to tell them to give up the things they love all at once. I do understand that. But there are millions of sources out there telling people that they can have it all. That they can lose weight and be healthy without giving up any type of food. It's the party line these days. "Portion control, exercise your brains out and take a diet pill or supplement." Have cheesecake and cheese burgers! Just have chemically altered versions or wee little small servings and you too can starve your cells. I just don't care to try to promote BS anymore. I believe there are a LOT of people out there who can and would make huge, fundamental changes if they really understood the difference it would make for them. The end of fear of so many diseases that most of us have come to think of as inevitable. Weight coming off naturally and effortlessly and (SHOCK OF ALL SHOCKS) enjoying the foods that were put on this earth to sustain and heal us in their natural state. Finding out how exquisitely fine tuned our taste buds are when they aren't assaulted hourly with chemical additives. Finding out just how sweet and enjoyable a carrot is when you haven't deadened your tongue with high-fructose corn syrup every day. Getting off the 15-medical-specialists-and-a-surgeon merry-go-round and forgetting how to find the local pharmacy. A year ago I would have never believed I would have made the changes that I have. But I did because Joe Cross and Phil Staples as well as Dr. Esselstyn and T. Colin Campbell made it clear to me just how much better my life could be if I did. When we act as if our friends and family "could NEVER" make these changes, we are underestimating and insulting their intelligence. Those who won't make those changes need to come to that decision with ALL the information, all the truth, not more palatable half-truths.
JUICE ON YA'LL! WE GOT THIS!!!!
I've been reading "The Pleasure Trap" by Douglas Lisle so what is rolling around in my noggin is colored by that, just so ya know;) I'm very early on in the book but all the talk in the early chapters about the fundamental motivations of living things got me thinking about Paleo. Now I have a daughter who believes in Paleo and a lot of friends who do as well so I'm not trying to paint them all as ignoramuses or anything, believe me. But it just strikes me as a very trendy, "cool kids club" kind of notion. We'll eat like our ancient ancestors ate. Now I think looking at how our ancestors ate can definitely have great value and it's fascinating that they can examine the stomach contents of a kagillion year old corpse and tell us what his last meal was. I think drawing conclusions about the healthiest diet for modern man from that is ludicrous. Dr. Lisle talks a lot about the primary motivations of pretty much all animals being to "seek pleasure, avoid pain and conserve energy" so as to survive to propagate the species. If you take a feral human who has not had any "socialization" whatsoever, what will his behavior reflect? He is going to find food, comfort and safety and, if at all possible, sex. So our topic today is the food no matter how interesting the others might be;) With no artificial or refined sugars, salts oils etc to screw with his taste buds, what food is going to be his first choice? I promise you, sharpening a stick and trying to kill a bear will not be top of his list. Come on! He is going for what is easiest to acquire and what tastes nicest, ie, sweet or savory. Fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, etc. And let's also consider that what the "paleo" diet consisted of would have been wildly different in every region of the world. They would have eaten what was most plentiful, tasty and easy to acquire in their particular habitat. Unfortunately, that pretty well describes what modern man does too. And what, to our completely raped and tortured taste buds, tastes most savory and is easiest to acquire (so that we may conserve energy to seek pleasure?) McDonalds. We also use our limitless human ingenuity to make foods literally addictive in order to make a buck. So now the unhealthy, easy target foods are also something akin to crack. Yay.
Let me just say that I knew quite a few "Paleo" advocates who really seem to me to be following a whole, clean food diet with lots and lots of fresh freggies but they just eat meat and dairy as well but they make sure their source for their meat and dairy is more natural and "clean." No factory farmed, processed, fast-food etc. Kind of like Joel Salatin promotes. Love that guy even if we aren't 100% on the same page. His book, "Folks, This Just Ain't Normal" is very thought provoking and entertaining. I got the audio book narrated by Joel himself and it is really a fun listen in addition to making you think. Good combination. My only advice to people on this version of paleo would be to at least try to keep the percentage of animal protein in your diet down to 20% or less as T. Colin Campbell revealed in his China Study that this was the threshold for promoting cancer growth.
Now, as for me and my own particular diet.... where does the rubber meet the road for Natshell? Yes, I occasionally eat animal protein. Usually it is fish or sea food. That's my particular weakness. I also occasionally add a BIT of feta cheese to a salad because my family loves it. And once in a while, that is a good enough reason. I also occasionally have a greek yogurt if I can't find any soy yogurt. The sum total of these indulgences is maybe 5 or 6 times per MONTH. And here is a key for me; these are *indulgences*. I do not try to kid myself that they are a necessity or even a part of the solution for me health and weight-wise. Some peope indulge in a bit of dark chocolate or (hello Joe Cross) ice cream or even a burger (ewwww) but me, I indulge in sushi or a boiled egg (from a local farmer only - NO factory farm crap for me.) I recognize it as a treat. I enjoy it and then move on to my wfpb diet that IS the solution. But these are very much occasional treats. I've said it before and I'll say it again; if you are having something every week or multiple times per week, it isn't a treat it's a regular part of your diet.
Lately, when this subject comes up amongst those of us who are into juice fasting, I am likely to hear someone (or a few someones) say, "Well, I still eat burgers sometimes because Joe Cross said it's okay." I knew the first time I heard Joe say this that it would become a big, ugly snowball rolling downhill. People LOVE to hear good news about their bad habits. Joe says it's okay to eat a burger so nobody get between me and the nearest drive-thru! Petal to the metal baby! I LOVE Joe Cross with a deep purple passion. He. Saved. My. Life. I respect him for his foresight, wisdom, strength and pragmatism. Do I think it's terrible that he has a burger or chocolate ice cream once in a while? Heck no! Do I wish he had kept it to himself? OH YES! Did your mama ever accuse you when you were a child of "If I give you an inch, you'll take a mile?" I suspect Joe's burgers are fairly rare occurrences. I also suspect (no solid proof but I'm pretty sure) that he also is human and puts his pants on one leg at a time just like you and me. If he has them more than a couple times a month, he is not doing himself any favors long term. That's my honest opinion. I doubt they happen more often than that truthfully. And I suspect that the quality of the meat on his burger isnt even from the same universe as the @#^% that McDonalds calls beef. But Joe says burgers are "the good stuff" and suddenly ten thousand people put McDonald's right back on the menu. And they may start with, "Well, we'll have it once a week." And it just sort of schmerges right into 2 or 3 times a week and before you know it they are saying, "Hey, why isn't this working?!"
So, bottom line for me (and any time I talk about subjects like this you will see/hear me say that a lot because that is all I have a right to - *for me*) meat/dairy is not going to promote my health or help me get to a healthy weight. Getting it OUT of my diet was the first thing in my life that got that ball truly rolling. If I have it, I recognize it as a treat and move on. If others ask me about my beliefs I tell them to get the meat and dairy out of their life if they want to see the big, dramatic changes I've experienced and if they want optimum health.
I really think that a lot of people who have experienced the incredible healing properties of juice fasting and wfpb diet really say the PC thing about meat/dairy out of a misguided attempt to attract more people to the lifestyle. In some instances, I am sure it is more likely to attract people if you don't try to tell them to give up the things they love all at once. I do understand that. But there are millions of sources out there telling people that they can have it all. That they can lose weight and be healthy without giving up any type of food. It's the party line these days. "Portion control, exercise your brains out and take a diet pill or supplement." Have cheesecake and cheese burgers! Just have chemically altered versions or wee little small servings and you too can starve your cells. I just don't care to try to promote BS anymore. I believe there are a LOT of people out there who can and would make huge, fundamental changes if they really understood the difference it would make for them. The end of fear of so many diseases that most of us have come to think of as inevitable. Weight coming off naturally and effortlessly and (SHOCK OF ALL SHOCKS) enjoying the foods that were put on this earth to sustain and heal us in their natural state. Finding out how exquisitely fine tuned our taste buds are when they aren't assaulted hourly with chemical additives. Finding out just how sweet and enjoyable a carrot is when you haven't deadened your tongue with high-fructose corn syrup every day. Getting off the 15-medical-specialists-and-a-surgeon merry-go-round and forgetting how to find the local pharmacy. A year ago I would have never believed I would have made the changes that I have. But I did because Joe Cross and Phil Staples as well as Dr. Esselstyn and T. Colin Campbell made it clear to me just how much better my life could be if I did. When we act as if our friends and family "could NEVER" make these changes, we are underestimating and insulting their intelligence. Those who won't make those changes need to come to that decision with ALL the information, all the truth, not more palatable half-truths.
JUICE ON YA'LL! WE GOT THIS!!!!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Wheelchair OR 5K... I think I'll RUN!
So let's review. Last August, I was writing goodbye messages to my kids in my journal and challenging The Almighty to finish up anything he had for me to accomplish in this life because I was done. I was in constant debilitating pain. The doctors had long since let me know that there was nothing to be done to improve my lot, they could only treat the symptoms. Since I clearly didn't have the "willpower" to lose weight and I wasn't a candidate for weight loss surgery due to my history of blood clots, I would just have to try to manage the symptoms and accept that I would be in a wheelchair soon. There was talk of amputating my leg because of the damaged circulation from a massive blood clot 20 years ago. My knee had been a mess since 1982 when I shattered the knee cap and it was now bone-on-bone with bone spurs and arthritis and scar tissue. My right shoulder was also "permanently" compromised from multiple tears in the rotator cuff that they couldn't operate on so it also had scar tissue, bone spurs and arthritis. I had undergone physical therapy which helped a lot. I was able to effectively use my right arm again at least. Couldn't do overhead tasks with it and it caused me a great deal of pain but it was at least functional. The stated goal of the PT with my shoulder and knee were to give me enough mobility to perform basic personal tasks on my own. Like dressing myself and going to the bathroom.
I also had ruptured discs in my back twice and had others that were deteriorating. I was told I had "degenerative disc disease." And then, in early 2013 came Paget's. The pain in my back started becoming really unbearable over the 2012 holidays and I was afraid I had or was about to rupture another disc. It turns out I actually had developed a disease called Paget's disease of the bone. It was causing the bones in my pelvis and hip to become very soft and the combination of that with my severe obesity (I was about 320 at that point) was causing remodeling (deformities) in the bones. It caused excrutiating pain to even have to sit upright in a kitchen chair or the seat of a car. Walking was... torture. I had become effective house bound. Rarely left my bedroom.
I had other medical issues; autoimmune disorders - Hashimoto's thyroiditis, myasthenia gravis, fibromyalgia - high blood pressure, irritable bowel. Needless to say I took a number of perscription pills each day. In July of 2013 I was a serious mess and had also started having symptoms of congestive heart failure. I hid this and avoided my doctor as I had made the decision that I wasn't going to seek treatment. That I was, in fact, going to stop taking ALL the pills and let nature take it's course. I figured a stroke from the blood pressure would put me out of my, and everyone else's, misery quickly enough.
On August 17th, I was watching movies on Netflix and a movie came up in my "recommended for you" section called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and the rest is history! That was a Saturday. Thursdays were my husbands paydays so on the 22nd I cleared out every single thing in my house that couldn't be juiced and stocked up. I started my juice fast on August 23rd, 2013. I consider that my "rebirth-day." I don't live in pain anymore. I swim and walk for exercise and have no issues with sitting, standing, walking, getting up and down off my knees, squatting. But I haven't run yet. I haven't run on land in over 25 years, maybe closer to 30. I used to jog in the water, which I'm sure looked pretty crazy, because I didn't want my body to lose the muscle memory of HOW to run.
So yesterday I was on Facebook and my oldest daughter, Bonni, posted that she had set up a team for the Tulsa Glow Run. If anyone wanted to join her, it would be on August 23rd. It took about a nanosecond for me to say, "I'll do it." WHAT?!?!?! Nine months ago I could walk across my yard without my son or husband to lean on! Even when I was active in my teens and twenties, I was into horses and swimming. Never ran a race in my life! Was I crazy?! Well, maybe so. But just watch me run, baby. I have 100 days to train. I will be doing the Couch To 5K program 3 days a week and swimming 2-3 days.
JUICE ON YA'LL! I GOT THIS!!
I also had ruptured discs in my back twice and had others that were deteriorating. I was told I had "degenerative disc disease." And then, in early 2013 came Paget's. The pain in my back started becoming really unbearable over the 2012 holidays and I was afraid I had or was about to rupture another disc. It turns out I actually had developed a disease called Paget's disease of the bone. It was causing the bones in my pelvis and hip to become very soft and the combination of that with my severe obesity (I was about 320 at that point) was causing remodeling (deformities) in the bones. It caused excrutiating pain to even have to sit upright in a kitchen chair or the seat of a car. Walking was... torture. I had become effective house bound. Rarely left my bedroom.
I had other medical issues; autoimmune disorders - Hashimoto's thyroiditis, myasthenia gravis, fibromyalgia - high blood pressure, irritable bowel. Needless to say I took a number of perscription pills each day. In July of 2013 I was a serious mess and had also started having symptoms of congestive heart failure. I hid this and avoided my doctor as I had made the decision that I wasn't going to seek treatment. That I was, in fact, going to stop taking ALL the pills and let nature take it's course. I figured a stroke from the blood pressure would put me out of my, and everyone else's, misery quickly enough.
On August 17th, I was watching movies on Netflix and a movie came up in my "recommended for you" section called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and the rest is history! That was a Saturday. Thursdays were my husbands paydays so on the 22nd I cleared out every single thing in my house that couldn't be juiced and stocked up. I started my juice fast on August 23rd, 2013. I consider that my "rebirth-day." I don't live in pain anymore. I swim and walk for exercise and have no issues with sitting, standing, walking, getting up and down off my knees, squatting. But I haven't run yet. I haven't run on land in over 25 years, maybe closer to 30. I used to jog in the water, which I'm sure looked pretty crazy, because I didn't want my body to lose the muscle memory of HOW to run.
So yesterday I was on Facebook and my oldest daughter, Bonni, posted that she had set up a team for the Tulsa Glow Run. If anyone wanted to join her, it would be on August 23rd. It took about a nanosecond for me to say, "I'll do it." WHAT?!?!?! Nine months ago I could walk across my yard without my son or husband to lean on! Even when I was active in my teens and twenties, I was into horses and swimming. Never ran a race in my life! Was I crazy?! Well, maybe so. But just watch me run, baby. I have 100 days to train. I will be doing the Couch To 5K program 3 days a week and swimming 2-3 days.
JUICE ON YA'LL! I GOT THIS!!
Monday, May 12, 2014
Plateaus, Set Points and Other Boogeymen
I have said many times that even if I never lost another pound, I would continue to eat a plant-based diet and drink green juice because it has given me back my health. I would reassure others who hit weight plateaus for a week or two to just keep at it and the weight would start to go down again. Our bodies sometimes need time to adjust to this new way of being and doing, especially if we have been very overweight for a very long time. I had been from 280 to 340 for a couple of decades. So mid-March when I hit a plateau, I had to put my money where my mouth is so to speak. I hit a plateau. I hit 265 and my body froze, looked at me in horror and said, "Are you kidding me? We're melting like the wicked witch after she got watered down by Dorothy! This ain't right!!! Do you WANT to disappear? What if there's a famine? This is dangerous! You can't just go losing weight willy nilly I tell you!"
It didn't help that I had several extra-curricular stress activities pop up during this same time frame. If you don't know or understand what the stress hormone, Cortisol, can do to weight loss efforts, look up Dr. John Bergman on youtube. He explains it better than anyone else I've seen.
So for a couple of weeks, I was totally zen about this plateau. Seriously. I really didn't let it bother me because I understood what was happening. I had hit a lower weight than I'd seen in at least 15 years. When it had been a month, I started to get worried in that scared, secret, small place inside me that has always feared this new found health and energy will be ripped away. Right at this same time I was getting super busy trying to pack and clean to move out of this house finally. After several months of planning to move, we are finally actually moving. We HAVE to be out of this house by the end of the month even if it means camping out at the lake until we can find something else. Long story.... anyway, I was extremely busy and having to use every coping mechanism I had not to let the stress get to me. We had a very, very hard winter financially along with some other life stressors so it was no surprise, really, that the weight loss stalled. Knowing and understanding that and dealing with seeing that number stay the same every day are two different things. Actually, it didn't stay exactly the same. My weight, as with most people, can fluctuate 3-5 pounds in any given week which is the main reason I usually weigh daily. So I had hit that 265 for about 2 days when my weight started doing a gentle rollercoaster up and down and up and down from 266 to 269 for weeks. So I put the scale away. I didn't want worry over that number to pull my focus away from the main thing which is my health. I just played Dory and kept on swimming... and eating my plants and making my juice. As Spring came on strong, I did what I had always planned to do and shifted more to raw fruits and salads and less soups and starches. Not a big shift but just a bit more of this and a bit less of that. It felt right. I felt a boost in energy almost immediately.
I was out of town for over a week and got home last Wednesday night. Thursday morning I decided to pull out the scale and see where I was at and it said 266. Okay. Saturday morning, 264. Hey! Monday morning, today, 261! Yeah! Bye-bye plateau! I learned from you. I let you be and you let me be and now we must part ways. See ya!
That plateau lasted nearly two months. I learned that I really do have the power of my convictions within me to put my health first. I really felt that my body would eventually begin to seek a healthier weight once again. But I knew that if it didn't or if it took a year or two for that to happen, I would be okay in the meantime as long as I continued to flood my body with real nutrition. I learned some valuable lessons about myself. I have said many times that how I feel is far more important than how I look and I proved to myself that this was true. I've said that I have learned to trust my body. Now I've proven it. I've also proved to myself that if the scale becomes a detriment, I can just put it away.
I recently watched a video shared by my friend, Lori. It was posted by a bariatric surgeon and explained how our bodies will establish "set points" at a very high weight. He went into the anthropology of it all. His point was to make us feel hopeless to lose the weight without surgery. FALSE. The problem is that most people hit those points where their body is trying to adjust to the changes you've made, the weight loss slows or stops so they tighten down on the calories even more. They starve their cells which makes the body freak out even more. "Starvation! She's trying to kill us!" If you hit your plateau - or your new "set point" - and you just keep FLOODING your body with amazing nutrition, your body WILL relax and realize that it is safe to allow more of that weight to go. Truth. Doctors selling hopelessness to line their pockets make me sick. Right up until I drink my green juice or eat my bowl of fruit or salad. THAT makes me very, very well:)
JUICE ON YA'LL. WE GOT THIS!!
It didn't help that I had several extra-curricular stress activities pop up during this same time frame. If you don't know or understand what the stress hormone, Cortisol, can do to weight loss efforts, look up Dr. John Bergman on youtube. He explains it better than anyone else I've seen.
So for a couple of weeks, I was totally zen about this plateau. Seriously. I really didn't let it bother me because I understood what was happening. I had hit a lower weight than I'd seen in at least 15 years. When it had been a month, I started to get worried in that scared, secret, small place inside me that has always feared this new found health and energy will be ripped away. Right at this same time I was getting super busy trying to pack and clean to move out of this house finally. After several months of planning to move, we are finally actually moving. We HAVE to be out of this house by the end of the month even if it means camping out at the lake until we can find something else. Long story.... anyway, I was extremely busy and having to use every coping mechanism I had not to let the stress get to me. We had a very, very hard winter financially along with some other life stressors so it was no surprise, really, that the weight loss stalled. Knowing and understanding that and dealing with seeing that number stay the same every day are two different things. Actually, it didn't stay exactly the same. My weight, as with most people, can fluctuate 3-5 pounds in any given week which is the main reason I usually weigh daily. So I had hit that 265 for about 2 days when my weight started doing a gentle rollercoaster up and down and up and down from 266 to 269 for weeks. So I put the scale away. I didn't want worry over that number to pull my focus away from the main thing which is my health. I just played Dory and kept on swimming... and eating my plants and making my juice. As Spring came on strong, I did what I had always planned to do and shifted more to raw fruits and salads and less soups and starches. Not a big shift but just a bit more of this and a bit less of that. It felt right. I felt a boost in energy almost immediately.
I was out of town for over a week and got home last Wednesday night. Thursday morning I decided to pull out the scale and see where I was at and it said 266. Okay. Saturday morning, 264. Hey! Monday morning, today, 261! Yeah! Bye-bye plateau! I learned from you. I let you be and you let me be and now we must part ways. See ya!
That plateau lasted nearly two months. I learned that I really do have the power of my convictions within me to put my health first. I really felt that my body would eventually begin to seek a healthier weight once again. But I knew that if it didn't or if it took a year or two for that to happen, I would be okay in the meantime as long as I continued to flood my body with real nutrition. I learned some valuable lessons about myself. I have said many times that how I feel is far more important than how I look and I proved to myself that this was true. I've said that I have learned to trust my body. Now I've proven it. I've also proved to myself that if the scale becomes a detriment, I can just put it away.
I recently watched a video shared by my friend, Lori. It was posted by a bariatric surgeon and explained how our bodies will establish "set points" at a very high weight. He went into the anthropology of it all. His point was to make us feel hopeless to lose the weight without surgery. FALSE. The problem is that most people hit those points where their body is trying to adjust to the changes you've made, the weight loss slows or stops so they tighten down on the calories even more. They starve their cells which makes the body freak out even more. "Starvation! She's trying to kill us!" If you hit your plateau - or your new "set point" - and you just keep FLOODING your body with amazing nutrition, your body WILL relax and realize that it is safe to allow more of that weight to go. Truth. Doctors selling hopelessness to line their pockets make me sick. Right up until I drink my green juice or eat my bowl of fruit or salad. THAT makes me very, very well:)
JUICE ON YA'LL. WE GOT THIS!!
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