Trading in Your Health for Convenience

Hi,

I am still on track and losing small amounts of weight every day, although, I am at 322 and have five more pounds to get back to my new low of 317. I am disappointed that my cheat week was so very impactful to my weight, but I am happy that I have been slowly heading in the down direction again. It is rather encouraging to me to see even a small reduction (quarter to half pound) every day. I like bigger jumps down but a jump down is a jump down. I think that by the beginning of my next six-day period I should be completely back on program, again.

Trading in Your Health for Convenience: I read those words on one of Dr. Mercola's articles and they just suddenly struck me because they are so true. At least for me. And I think for many of the friends that I talk to who desire to lose weight but struggle with it. When I suggest to someone that eating more fresh raw vegetables, not eating grains and processed foods, and eating more simply cooked protein will help them to lose weight, control their blood sugars, and regain their health to an amazing degree, I nearly always get that "deer in the headlights" look.

The idea of not eating from a box of manufactured food just seems like crazy thinking to them. I remember feeling that way too, a long time ago. I've come to believe that the only way out of the box is to simply step out and begin. Then I think, well who am I? I struggle to eat right, but the more I do it, the easier it gets. The more fresh raw salads and veggies that I eat, the more they seem to refresh me and I like the way they affect my health statistics (my weight numbers, my blood sugar numbers, my blood pressure numbers, etc.)

I think that the main objection people have to healthy eating is really the "C" word: convenience. It is so easy to open a box or sealed bag, reach in and drag out an extruded "something" and eat, that we choose that which is "easier" over having to go to the trouble of washing veggies, cutting, examining, and preparing them before we even get close to eating. We let our health go out the window in exchange for quick and easy.

I think that the word "healthy" is not even "real" for some. When we are on the run it is not easy to slow down enough to do something different -- to do what is healthy and right for our bodies. What we are really exchanging is our future health. We are exchanging "easy now" for "problematic later." We don't have to keep doing that. If we were willing to take just a little time right now and give it to eating right, our futures would improve.

From the reading that I've done it seems perfectly clear to me that eating fresh raw vegetables and simply cooked animal protein will not only normalize blood sugars and high blood pressure, but it will delay or eliminate cancer, too. Who knows how many other things like heart attacks and strokes are also affected by how we feed ourselves? I am beginning to get the idea that things like arthritis, fibromyalgia, and attention deficit disorder are also all related to the manufactured food we've been eating.

I read about a school in Appleton, Wisconsin that eliminated canned pop and candy machines from their school, and started to feed the kids salads and good healthy foods plus water to drink at lunch. The behavior of the kids changed. They went from acting like hoodlums to acting like normal kids. The kind we used to remember from long ago, or see in the movies. They became more like the kids from the Cleaver family. Normal, American kids. They no longer needed police presence on the campus because the kids were all behaving -- naturally. They are no longer carrying weapons or committing suicide. Those numbers have gone down to ZERO!! Doesn't that say something about the affect that good food or bad food has on us? (Read about the Appleton school here: http://www.feingold.org/PF/wisconsin1.html)

What is good for the kids is also good for us adults. We truly are what we eat.

When I made the change to fresh raw vegetables my daily statistical numbers began to improve immediately. My blood sugars, while they are not yet normal, are much closer to normal than they were. My blood pressure, while not yet normal is much closer to normal than it was. My weight, when I eat right, comes down. Eating right means eating the things that God prepared for us. Fresh. Raw. Vegetables. An already healthy person can eat fruit, too, but, I am a diabetic which means my health had deteriorated and I need to not eat fruit until my body can handle it.

I need to nearly eliminate grains, too, if I want to see blood sugar numbers that normalize. I allow one cheat meal, and one cheat item during the week which is a far cry from "cheat" items at every meal. I don't have to completely eliminate all the things I've grown to love -- I can have them once or twice a week. If that is not "moderation" I don't know what is. I know that when I stay on the program (six-days of fresh raw veggies and protein, with a one-hour cheat meal on day seven and one "cheat" item some time during the week) my health statistics begin to be good. It brings balance to my body. It adds healthy time to my future.

The change is a big one. Going from eating the standard American diet, to eating fresh food as God prepared it really is a very big change. It is also very worth while. I think it is worth the time it takes to cut up a few veggies if it means not having to lie in a hospital bed at some later time in my life. What is it worth to you? What is your goal? Look at what you are eating and you will see where you will end up.

Priority. What are our priorities? What can we exchange for what? If "health" is a high priority then it seems that eating God's food must be a priority. It always boils down to "what are you putting in your mouth right now?" We really are what we eat -- one meal at a time.

Love you much,

Be back soon,

Marcia