Health for life

Hi,

I just got back from visiting a friend who had been in a car accident last Wednesday. She called and told me about it on Saturday and hearing about it felt so shocking to me. I am so glad she was not injured more than she has had to deal with. Her leg is hurting her and her neck and shoulders, too. I took a little food and she and her two grand daughters and I had dinner together and talked and shared. I am so grateful to God that He spared her life this time. It really shows you just how precious life is and that we have only been granted so much time on Earth. That being true, puts things into a whole different perspective. God, family, and friends become so much more important.

I have been listening to "The Great Health Debate" which was eight days of one-hour health interviews of at least 16 different healthy living teachers covering the spectrum from vegan, meaning eating no meat or animal products of any kind, to the polar opposite which is those who eat meat for health. Wow. I have got to tell you this was really amazing to me to listen to such informed people and to find out why they do what they do. The most important thing to come from it all is this: what am I going to do with this information? We are all in that boat. What are you going to do in your life with the information you have.

Sean Croxton ( www.undergroundwellness.com ) one of todays experts said: "We are all different. We have something called biochemical individuality. The thing that works for me, may not work for the next person. Just eat real food. What I teach people is to listen to their body "language." Do what works for you."  He also said, again, "Just eat real foods. Just eat foods that came out of the ground, eat foods that came (from) animals. Get rid of all the processed junk. Get rid of all the "new" foods. Be very wary of grains and legumes, and dairy products as well -- for a lot of people -- because of what they may do to the gut and the anti-nutrient properties that they can have. I try to keep it really simple for people so I tell them to eat real food." He also described going with the starting place of half of your plate animal food and the other half primarily vegetables. Once you try that then make the adjustments that your body tells you to make.

He talked about keeping it old school -- eating the same meat, fish, vegetables that we have eaten forever. He said that he does not believe that an old food will cause a new disease. Makes sense to me. He talked about our human genes having been around for thousands and thousands of years and there is food out there that has not been around for even twenty years. Shy away from that stuff. Keep it simple (without a lot of sauces and exotic concoctions). Keep it real (actual food, not chemically altered). Get rid of the processed food (manufactured food stuff) and eat real food. I am still going to cook my meat but the veggies should be raw. And I would add for us diabetics to get rid of all sugars. You can get along without them. High blood sugar comes from eating sugar and things that turn into sugar in the gut (grains, starchy foods, starchy vegetables).

Sean also quoted this statement: "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first." It is an odd statement but there is some truth in it. I chuckled when he said it because I felt like I knew exactly what he was talking about. You cannot change your whole diet and be successful in just one day, it takes practice, it takes trial and error -- and if you are willing to start off doing it poorly, then you will continue until you do it better -- or you find a better way to do it. Who knows, one day you could end up being an "expert" but no one starts out there. Sometimes people are not willing to do things poorly, but in reality that is where every one is when you start. No one is perfect, even when they get to be experts, there is always something to work on.

After listening this week to the debate airings I am feeling relieved. I had been feeling down and discouraged because I just do not seem to be able to stick to a vegan diet, which I had felt was the right thing to do for my health. I felt that my "giving in" and starting to eat meat again was somehow a failure on my part, but the truth is, to fail means to quit and I have not quit, I am just continually making adjustments. I have had to change my mind and approach often, to keep up with the reality of my own life. Who is to say that being a vegan is the right thing for me to do? It works for some, but it surely wont work if you cannot stay on it.

I think it all boils down to mindful eating which Mike Adams ( http://www.naturalnews.com/index.html ) talked about. He talked about simply paying attention to what you are eating and thinking about it. He pointed out that most American and Europeans eat "mindlessly" -- using that word as a technical term meaning eating without thinking about what you are eating.

I know for  myself, when I am eating things that I want to eat but know will harm my body in some way I have to turn off what my mind is saying about it. That is mindless eating. That is responding to feelings of some kind without responding to health or consequences.

For me, mindful eating would be choosing lots of fresh raw vegetables and also choosing healthy meat to eat. The thing is... that is what the Lord told me a long time ago. I have known that is the best solution for me all along, but, if not for the "30 Day Diabetes Cure" by Dr Ripich and Jim Healthy, I would not have started the journey to get close to my own ideal.

I know that I need to stay away from all sugars, including artificial or "new" sugars, like xylitol. It was trial and error that revealed the problems for my body with eating xylitol. I tried it. I erred. I corrected. I no longer eat that.  I know that I should avoid all grains, too, but what I actually do is limit them. I do eat some food, occasionally, that is made from grain or flour. The ideal is "never" -- the practical ideal is "rarely." But even that is not where I live. Where I have a problem is with this "mindless" eating thing. Eating as if I have no mind. Purposefully making wrong choices for myself.... out of habit.... out of desire... out of some compulsion that I have. I would love to learn how to conquer that!!

This is a personal journey of discovery. As I was assembling my trash for disposal today the empty cracker boxes from last Wednesday when I bought some "healthy" crackers and ate them with either cottage cheese or avocado dip came rushing back into my consciousness. I also remembered the stomach cramps I got after having eaten them. The empty pizza box from Sat night slapped my face with remembrance, too. It is the mindless eating that I want to conquer. Looking for a solution to that.


I have noticed something about the mindless eating episodes that I had not noticed before. When I am doing that, there is a pressure inside of me. The last couple of times I did that, I noticed that when I got near the end of the food, way past full but still eating, I was in such a state that I was acting as if I was completely compelled. I was rushing. I was working hard. I was in a state of pressure. It was like being in an eating marathon with me as the only contestant -- but I was completely and devastatingly in earnest. When I noticed this, I allowed me to relax, to breathe, and come down. Dont know what to say about that for anyone else -- but for me that was a discovery.

I am praying and asking God to guide me on this one. I want to conquer it and know I need His help. Thank you Lord, I know you will show me the way out of this.

Be back soon

--Marcia

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