I've been watching a series of documentaries this week called iThrive. It's about the pandemic of diabetes that is currently happening in our world and what can be done about it. It features all the experts that I trust and follow as well as a few that I find shady and a couple that I find truly misleading. There was literally nothing in this that I hadn't heard before but I DON'T mean that as a criticism of this series and I DO recommend watching it if you get a chance, especially if you aren't aware that diabetes is a choice and can be reversed most of the time. The doctors who treat diabetes 2 patients with a WFPB, SOS free diet improve their numbers and reduce medication every time and completely reverse it most of the time if the patient is totally compliant.
(*WFPB - whole-food, plant-based; SOS no salt, oil or refined sugars)
It's always hard for me to hear the data on diabetes because, in my mind, it is pretty much criminal how many people are left to suffer and die horrible deaths from diabetes when it is completely reversible if caught early, can be greatly improved if not reversed at any time and it is affecting millions more people every year. It is one of the leading causes of death in this country and many others. And, while it used to be a disease of the elderly and pretty rare when I was a kid in the 60s and 70s, it is as common as dirt now and rapidly becoming a disease that affects little children far too often. But mostly, it hurts to watch a series like this one because I watched my sweet Mama become blind, crippled with neuropathy, go on dialysis for the last 14 years of her life (unusual really for someone to last as long as she did after going on dialysis) and eventually die at the age of 68 looking and feeling more like 98 from this terrible disease.
Mama was a nurse and a very determined woman who had overcome alcohol addiction, given up cigarettes cold turkey after 30 years of a pack and a half a day, went back to college at 48 after her first heart attack and graduated Magna Cum Laude even though her previous education only consisted of completing 8th grade and vocational school. This is a woman who followed her doctors' orders. If she had been told that changing to a diet of mostly fruits and veggies could reverse her diabetes, I promise you she would have done it. She actually loved vegetables and grew a huge garden when we had enough space. She would eat an onion just like an apple and snacked on the raw veggies as she was chopping them up for dinner. And I'm telling you, the woman could have happily lived on potatoes. She could have been a STAR McDougaller. Unfortunately, she was also a Southern woman who learned to cook in Texas. She was chopping those veggies to smother them in butter and/or cheese and to be a side dish to a big slab of meat. EVERYTHING was either deep fat fried or smothered in sauce, cheese or butter. She could make scratch biscuits and sausage gravy in her sleep.
Diabetes is definitely one of the things I always "knew" I would end up with. It is rampant in our family. My brother David is suffering with it now. One of the people in the documentary, sorry I can't remember who it was, said that you can't save the people closest to you and boy is that true and SO frustrating! My brother won't listen to me. He is one of the tough guy, "we all gotta die sometime" types who would rather enjoy his food than good health. And that is exactly how it is! Diabetes is a choice most all of the time. (Please note that I am only speaking of type 2 diabetes. Type 1 can also be improved with this lifestyle but isn't AS reversible as type 2 and the causes of type 1 are not as clear.) It is incomprehensible to me that anyone would literally choose certain foods over good health once the information is made available to them and I tend to think they just aren't allowing themselves to believe it so that they can justify to themselves continuing with that behavior. Plus, they don't seem to acknowledge that they are not only choosing an earlier death but also suffering a great deal more while they live. But that is a whole 'nother blog. I'm getting off on a tangent, which I definitely tend to do when the subject of diabetes is raised. Anyway... I always knew that I would end up with diabetes. After all, I was told over and over that I had the genes for it and because I was obese, I was at even higher risk for it. Doctors told me numerous times that I was "showing signs" of being pre-diabetic and were amazed with each of my 5 pregnancies that I did not test positive for gestational diabetes since I was obese, genetically predisposed and had really large babies. I spent my life feeling like a ticking time bomb. But I now know that I never have to suffer my mom's fate. I can choose differently. Genes can be expressed or turned off with lifestyle and food choices. My family history is not my fate.
So watching this series was hard for me. But it was also really, really good for me. It was another kick in the keester to get myself back on track. I have been feeling more and more strongly that I need to do a juice fast, possibly interspersed with a bit of water fasting to get myself back on the path to weight loss and excellent health. I have, as I have mentioned previously, gotten off track. Fast food and processed food has once again begun to represent a large proportion of my intake. And lately, I have even started giving in to cravings for totally non-compliant foods. I've had actual binges with increasing regularity and I'm too ashamed to admit what my weight is up to at this point. I'm not back to my heaviest and I'd like to keep it that way. It's time. NOW. Today. I haven't eaten anything yet today and I am ready to get this party started again. Today is a blank slate waiting for me to write upon it. I must choose to write "health" or "harm." I remember how incredibly well I felt when I was 100% WFPB. I remember how much energy I had. I remember how clear my mind was. I remember how great it felt to walk long distances or work out and feel my body responding like a body is supposed to! I have to remember those things because they are not true today. But TODAY I change that. So thank you Jon (the fellow who made the iThrive documentaries) for a much needed reminder that I didn't "fix" my problems forever by eating right for a couple of years. I have to give myself the highest possibility possible for excellent health and avoiding the darker side of my genes every single day. I can still develop the heart disease, diabetes, and cancer that are lurking in my genes if I don't choose to disable those genes every single day.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT
One thing I have known for a long time on an intellectual level but that I recently felt slip into my working reality is that each time I feed myself, I am choosing whether to punish or reward myself. I ate some donuts yesterday. I haven't eaten donuts in years and they were in my home (VERY rare occurrence) and I thought, it's been years - literally years. I can have a treat. But was that a treat? NO! It was a punishment! I harmed myself! You don't reward yourself by harming yourself. I KNEW I was harming myself. I know too much now to fall for the old, "just this once, I deserve a treat now and then" bullshit. I DESERVE to lose this weight and feel vibrant, energetic and healthy. I DESERVE to enjoy my life with little fear of heart disease, diabetes or other diseases causing me to lose my quality of life. I DESERVE to give myself every opportunity to be around to see my amazing grandsons grow into amazing men, fall in love, become husbands and fathers if they choose to and to make the world a better place. In the big picture, who the hell cares about the mouthfeel of a donut?! But I ate the damn thing because I have slipped more and more over the last 2 years into addictive thinking. I dwell on fears and worries, I obsess over food continually. There is rarely an hour in the day when I am not thinking about what I could "get away with" eating. I've redeveloped the habit of hitting a drive-through or buying something at the deli every time I go out! "Well, at least it's just a bean burrito." "Well, this horrible meal won't do as much harm if I don't eat anything else all day." Bitch please! I have slipped backwards a lot more than I ever thought I could and it is time I acknowledged that fact. It is also time I recognize and deal with the food addict aspect of my problems. I honestly wish I could afford to enroll in Chef AJ's Ultimate Weight Loss program but she generously shares a lot of information and support for free so I'll be taking advantage of that. I know from experience that I cope better if I jump straight into the deep end rather than inching in toe first so... this is me, jumping into the deep end again. Today, smoothies and salads and veggie soup. The plan is to do that until Friday or Saturday. And then to juice fast or water fast throughout the rest of March. I won't use budget as an excuse to quit. If I can't afford produce to juice then I will simply water fast. That is free. This is the best way I know to reset my taste buds and get the addictive crap out of my system and reboot my enthusiasm for this lifestyle. I will blog every morning to keep myself accountable. Even if it is just a line or two, I'll post something. Even if I have to say I screwed the pooch, I will post something. Pass the noseplug, I'm jumping in.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Baby Steps or Big Change?
As I mentioned previously, I have become fascinated with the idea of neuroplasticity. (According to the dictionary, neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury. In other words, You can create new and healthier connections and pathways in the brain with purposeful behavior.) I started out just looking at techniques for creating new habits, then changing behavior, especially anxiety driven behavior and I stumbled upon neuroplasticity. All of these are intertwined. Even if you know or care nothing about changing your brain but only about creating healthier habits or whatever, you ARE changing your brain when you create a new habit. ;)
So, this morning, I was rewatching a video I had seen a couple of years ago on tiny habits. It's a TED Talk by B.J. Fogg, a Stanford prof who holds workshops and such on changing your life through the use of "tiny habits." (I'll link the video at the end of this blog entry.) I resisted this approach on one level because of my experience of juice fasting (a HUGE, all-at-once change) leading to a far easier transition to eating WFPBNO than I could have possibly made in any other way. I had tried the baby steps, small-changes-lead-to-big-changes approach to diet my entire life which led me to be 340 miserable, ill pounds by age 50. And I've witnessed virtually everyone I know failing the same thing. I'd been force-fed the miserable statistics on how ridiculously few people actually lose weight and keep it off my entire life. I KNEW this approach didn't work. But while listening to professor Fogg and taking notes and finding once again that it really made sense to me and that I really believed I could develop some better habits in this way, I had an epiphany. Now some of you may think this is common sense that should have occurred to me long since but it didn't, okay. Small changes do not work for physically addictive behaviors but may work quite well for many other behaviors.
I still believe that the baby steps approach is not the way to go for many people to change their diet, but it may very well be the best way to change most other habitual behaviors, and make no mistake, anxiety, fear, resentment and often even depression are HABITS and/or the result of habits. The "many people" that I'm referring to above is anyone who is obese or has any sort of eating disorder or who has struggled over a long period of time to lose weight and never successfully lost it or kept it off. There are some people who are a bit overweight and maybe even have diet-related illness who simply need education as to what food is actually doing to them. Once this is clear in their mind, they begin to make the necessary changes a bit at a time so as to cause less disturbance in their home, family etc. Many people in my facebook group, Let Food Be Thy Medicine, advocate this approach and I always cringe because I firmly believe that it isn't likely to work for most of the people who come to the group. But it is such an easier pill to swallow you see. Here is me saying, just do it! Jump in the deep end! Way easier, I promise! While Betty and Bob are over here saying, be kind and gentle with yourself. Cut back on meat to one meal a day and then cut back on cheese, and then... and then... and then.... But in reality, for anyone who has been obese for many years, this approach just doesn't work. If it did, they would have stuck to one of the dozens of diet attempts they made in the past (and they have pretty much ALL made dozens of attempts in the past.) Because if weight loss is your only concern, just about every diet out there will work if applied consistently. Why don't we apply them consistently? Addiction. Many of the problematic foods for the human race are physically addictive. And for we poor souls who also have addictive emotional habits, it is a deadly combination. Now, to be clear, even the lucky few with no true addictive tendencies are probably going to have to go cold turkey to break the physical addiction of certain foods at some point. Cheese and sugar, for example, are highly addictive, period. Cutting back on those a little at a time is going to be nearly as impossible as telling an alcoholic to drink a little less each week till they've cut it out. Any true alcoholic will tell you the folly in that notion. For a far better explanation of the addictive nature of food, please read the excellent book by Alan Goldhamer and Douglas J Lisle called The Pleasure Trap. Really a must read if any of this is of interest to you. And if it weren't, you surely wouldn't be reading my little blog so... read it!!
So, that's my epiphany for today. It may seem obvious to many but it is a huge realization for me. I can now give myself permission to change some things a little at a time and not feel that I am copping out or wasting my time while recognizing that this doesn't change the fact that where my diet is concerned 100% is the only way for me.
You can find the video I referred to here: https://youtu.be/AdKUJxjn-R8
So, this morning, I was rewatching a video I had seen a couple of years ago on tiny habits. It's a TED Talk by B.J. Fogg, a Stanford prof who holds workshops and such on changing your life through the use of "tiny habits." (I'll link the video at the end of this blog entry.) I resisted this approach on one level because of my experience of juice fasting (a HUGE, all-at-once change) leading to a far easier transition to eating WFPBNO than I could have possibly made in any other way. I had tried the baby steps, small-changes-lead-to-big-changes approach to diet my entire life which led me to be 340 miserable, ill pounds by age 50. And I've witnessed virtually everyone I know failing the same thing. I'd been force-fed the miserable statistics on how ridiculously few people actually lose weight and keep it off my entire life. I KNEW this approach didn't work. But while listening to professor Fogg and taking notes and finding once again that it really made sense to me and that I really believed I could develop some better habits in this way, I had an epiphany. Now some of you may think this is common sense that should have occurred to me long since but it didn't, okay. Small changes do not work for physically addictive behaviors but may work quite well for many other behaviors.
I still believe that the baby steps approach is not the way to go for many people to change their diet, but it may very well be the best way to change most other habitual behaviors, and make no mistake, anxiety, fear, resentment and often even depression are HABITS and/or the result of habits. The "many people" that I'm referring to above is anyone who is obese or has any sort of eating disorder or who has struggled over a long period of time to lose weight and never successfully lost it or kept it off. There are some people who are a bit overweight and maybe even have diet-related illness who simply need education as to what food is actually doing to them. Once this is clear in their mind, they begin to make the necessary changes a bit at a time so as to cause less disturbance in their home, family etc. Many people in my facebook group, Let Food Be Thy Medicine, advocate this approach and I always cringe because I firmly believe that it isn't likely to work for most of the people who come to the group. But it is such an easier pill to swallow you see. Here is me saying, just do it! Jump in the deep end! Way easier, I promise! While Betty and Bob are over here saying, be kind and gentle with yourself. Cut back on meat to one meal a day and then cut back on cheese, and then... and then... and then.... But in reality, for anyone who has been obese for many years, this approach just doesn't work. If it did, they would have stuck to one of the dozens of diet attempts they made in the past (and they have pretty much ALL made dozens of attempts in the past.) Because if weight loss is your only concern, just about every diet out there will work if applied consistently. Why don't we apply them consistently? Addiction. Many of the problematic foods for the human race are physically addictive. And for we poor souls who also have addictive emotional habits, it is a deadly combination. Now, to be clear, even the lucky few with no true addictive tendencies are probably going to have to go cold turkey to break the physical addiction of certain foods at some point. Cheese and sugar, for example, are highly addictive, period. Cutting back on those a little at a time is going to be nearly as impossible as telling an alcoholic to drink a little less each week till they've cut it out. Any true alcoholic will tell you the folly in that notion. For a far better explanation of the addictive nature of food, please read the excellent book by Alan Goldhamer and Douglas J Lisle called The Pleasure Trap. Really a must read if any of this is of interest to you. And if it weren't, you surely wouldn't be reading my little blog so... read it!!
So, that's my epiphany for today. It may seem obvious to many but it is a huge realization for me. I can now give myself permission to change some things a little at a time and not feel that I am copping out or wasting my time while recognizing that this doesn't change the fact that where my diet is concerned 100% is the only way for me.
You can find the video I referred to here: https://youtu.be/AdKUJxjn-R8
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Reboot 2018
Wow, three years. It's been three years since I posted. I gave myself the excuse that it was just too inconvenient to try to blog on a tablet and I didn't have a computer anymore but the main reason I stopped was that I felt irrelevant. It seemed there were so many voices out there sharing information about the whole-food, plant-based way of living that were way more consistent, knowledgeable and successful than I was that I let my own insecurities and lack of confidence and lack of knowledge about how to promote myself on social media undermine my commitment to myself and to anyone who might have been finding any little bit of motivation from my blog. I still have no idea how to promote myself on social media and after three and a half years, I know I have no followers here. But now that I have an actual computer with a keyboard again, I will be blogging again anyway.
I will be blogging because since junior high school, I have been a writer. I have found comfort, therapy and self-revelation in writing and I have just flat-out enjoyed the process. It's been a long, loooong, time since I was in school so my grammar and punctuation skills may be rusty so cut me a break. ;) I just enjoy writing and it is good for me. For ME. And that's enough. Also, I am in need of rebooting my journey to health and sharing that here will help me to hold myself accountable. Yes, even if nobody else reads it, it is still "out there." And, as always, if even one person finds their way to hope and action towards regaining their health and quality of life, it is well worth facing my insecurities.
The last couple of years haven't been kind to me and my family. It's been rough. There has been major illness, death of a close friend, financial disaster, divorce, etc. It has undone decades of progress I had made on my mental and emotional health issues and it has undone a great deal of the good I had done to my body with my healthy lifestyle. I've regained quite a bit of weight - more on that later. But probably more importantly, yes really, MORE important than that is the return to living from a base of fear. I spent my entire first 17 years of life in an environment of legitimate fear and it created a very firmly entrenched approach to life that was based in fear. A lot of therapy and self-work in college got me out of that to a certain extent and I gradually made more progress over the years until, after going plant based, I found my way to truly living from a place of trust and happiness most of the time. Toward the end of 2015, some things happened that began to erode that progress. I didn't recognize it at the time. I'm not planning to go into the specifics of the things that went wrong during late 2015 through to now, really, but especially throughout 2016 and the first half of 2017. It really doesn't matter for anyone reading this. Fill in the blank. What has gone to hell in your life? What is eroding YOUR sense of trust in the world. And then, let's not even get started on how, in the United States at least, the world is indeed getting twisted. I weep for my country on a regular basis these days which doesn't help my emotional issues.
So, from this point, for a while at least, my blog will be dealing just as much with emotional work as with physical. I HAVE to get back to a higher level of commitment to my physical health with an excellent dietary lifestyle and I also HAVE to get back to living from a place of faith, trust, hope and happiness. So many people are finding that difficult these days. But what I know from my past experience is that you MUST live from that place to be effective in your life. To be successful and healthy in your life, you must live from that place. It doesn't mean you don't recognize the problems in the country, the world, your home and family or your own skin. It just means that in spite of the problems, in spite of the bad things, YOU are a happy, hopeful person. I can't afford therapy right now so it's really a good thing that I have the knowledge already in there from previous years and I just have to bring it back to the surface of my everyday life. I'm reading books and blogs and watching youtube videos that contribute to my progress and I'll be sharing insights I glean from those here. I hope to eventually regain enough self-confidence to also start making youtube videos again but that isn't going to be for a while just yet.
On the physiological front, I'm more committed and convinced than ever that a WFPBNO lifestyle (get used to that acronym as I'll use it a lot - whole-food, plant-based, no-oil) is essential to excellent health. And I know that when I am living that lifestyle fully, it also contributes to my mental well-being. Our brain and gut are quite definitely connected after all. And right now, my gut is in poor condition. I haven't slid so far downward as to lose all my health gains, thankfully, but I have regained about 35 lbs and am back to having no energy and feeling weak and "unable." My blood pressure is still pretty good without medication and my chronic pain is not back. I haven't had it checked but I suspect my thyroid is sluggish again. I have had a couple of fairly minor flares of myasthenia gravis. I never walk or workout anymore. And while I am still conscious of trying to focus on veggies and fruit, I am back to eating way to much processed food, technically vegan but certainly not wfpbno fast food, and not enough fresh freggies. (Freggies = fruit and veggies - I'll use that often as well.)
For the time being, I am in a comfortable home with a decent computer, keyboard and all. I even have a functional kitchen! I miss my little RV in a lot of ways, believe it or not, but I really do love my little house more. I have an actual computer and keyboard so the writing goes quickly and smoothly. I have freggies in my kitchen and a great book on neural plasticity in my audible library and I have a notebook to start a gratitude journal. So here I am, baring my shortcomings and struggles with the world so that I can share my triumphs in the weeks, months and years to come. Whether or not anyone else is actually paying attention is irrelevant. I have a lot of work to do. Time to get started... again.
I will be blogging because since junior high school, I have been a writer. I have found comfort, therapy and self-revelation in writing and I have just flat-out enjoyed the process. It's been a long, loooong, time since I was in school so my grammar and punctuation skills may be rusty so cut me a break. ;) I just enjoy writing and it is good for me. For ME. And that's enough. Also, I am in need of rebooting my journey to health and sharing that here will help me to hold myself accountable. Yes, even if nobody else reads it, it is still "out there." And, as always, if even one person finds their way to hope and action towards regaining their health and quality of life, it is well worth facing my insecurities.
The last couple of years haven't been kind to me and my family. It's been rough. There has been major illness, death of a close friend, financial disaster, divorce, etc. It has undone decades of progress I had made on my mental and emotional health issues and it has undone a great deal of the good I had done to my body with my healthy lifestyle. I've regained quite a bit of weight - more on that later. But probably more importantly, yes really, MORE important than that is the return to living from a base of fear. I spent my entire first 17 years of life in an environment of legitimate fear and it created a very firmly entrenched approach to life that was based in fear. A lot of therapy and self-work in college got me out of that to a certain extent and I gradually made more progress over the years until, after going plant based, I found my way to truly living from a place of trust and happiness most of the time. Toward the end of 2015, some things happened that began to erode that progress. I didn't recognize it at the time. I'm not planning to go into the specifics of the things that went wrong during late 2015 through to now, really, but especially throughout 2016 and the first half of 2017. It really doesn't matter for anyone reading this. Fill in the blank. What has gone to hell in your life? What is eroding YOUR sense of trust in the world. And then, let's not even get started on how, in the United States at least, the world is indeed getting twisted. I weep for my country on a regular basis these days which doesn't help my emotional issues.
So, from this point, for a while at least, my blog will be dealing just as much with emotional work as with physical. I HAVE to get back to a higher level of commitment to my physical health with an excellent dietary lifestyle and I also HAVE to get back to living from a place of faith, trust, hope and happiness. So many people are finding that difficult these days. But what I know from my past experience is that you MUST live from that place to be effective in your life. To be successful and healthy in your life, you must live from that place. It doesn't mean you don't recognize the problems in the country, the world, your home and family or your own skin. It just means that in spite of the problems, in spite of the bad things, YOU are a happy, hopeful person. I can't afford therapy right now so it's really a good thing that I have the knowledge already in there from previous years and I just have to bring it back to the surface of my everyday life. I'm reading books and blogs and watching youtube videos that contribute to my progress and I'll be sharing insights I glean from those here. I hope to eventually regain enough self-confidence to also start making youtube videos again but that isn't going to be for a while just yet.
On the physiological front, I'm more committed and convinced than ever that a WFPBNO lifestyle (get used to that acronym as I'll use it a lot - whole-food, plant-based, no-oil) is essential to excellent health. And I know that when I am living that lifestyle fully, it also contributes to my mental well-being. Our brain and gut are quite definitely connected after all. And right now, my gut is in poor condition. I haven't slid so far downward as to lose all my health gains, thankfully, but I have regained about 35 lbs and am back to having no energy and feeling weak and "unable." My blood pressure is still pretty good without medication and my chronic pain is not back. I haven't had it checked but I suspect my thyroid is sluggish again. I have had a couple of fairly minor flares of myasthenia gravis. I never walk or workout anymore. And while I am still conscious of trying to focus on veggies and fruit, I am back to eating way to much processed food, technically vegan but certainly not wfpbno fast food, and not enough fresh freggies. (Freggies = fruit and veggies - I'll use that often as well.)
For the time being, I am in a comfortable home with a decent computer, keyboard and all. I even have a functional kitchen! I miss my little RV in a lot of ways, believe it or not, but I really do love my little house more. I have an actual computer and keyboard so the writing goes quickly and smoothly. I have freggies in my kitchen and a great book on neural plasticity in my audible library and I have a notebook to start a gratitude journal. So here I am, baring my shortcomings and struggles with the world so that I can share my triumphs in the weeks, months and years to come. Whether or not anyone else is actually paying attention is irrelevant. I have a lot of work to do. Time to get started... again.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
CANCER - THE BIGGEST BOOGEYMAN OF THEM ALL
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.
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.
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!!
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