Being Healthy is a Choice

Staying healthy in today's world is a challenge. Getting well may take you a few months, a year, or many years. From my experience, one of the reasons people fail to stick with their plan is that they have expectations that they don't have the motivation to live up to and are focused only on the final result. Some expect to lose 50 lbs in just a few months. Three months go by, and they've lost 5 pounds.  They've realized it's hard work, so they get into depression and quit everything, forgetting that everything is done in small steps. We have to retrain our brains to think differently. Try not to think about the end result but rather how you want to feel while living your life. Instead of saying I want to lose weight, maybe say, "I want to feel amazing".  Try to focus on the feeling and not the looks.  Instead of focusing on how wrinkly your skin is andhow ugly your nose or legs are or how the skin on your arms is too loose, focus on becoming the person you want to become.  What is the feeling you want to experience? What person do you want to become? Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years? Create steps and put your attention into making those steps work for you.   Maybe it's being happy and feeling great or being able to climb those steps and not need any medications.  You may want to get toned and gain somemuscle to feel good about yourself.  Make it a journey so you are not chasing results but living a good life and having good health. To have what we want will require some work, dedication, learning and changing our habits. Unfortunately, without health, we can't do much.

There is no easy way to get well, but there are small steps we can take toward our goal. Each individual is unique, so each of us has to create our own steps and adjust the program that best works for each of us. Your blood type, where you came from, genetics, and environment all play a role.  If we focus on 'its not fair, life is not fair, why that person can eat anything and be 100 years old and I get sick after eating an apple or why she/he never has to worry about his weight', we won't get too far in life with that attitude.  I have some clients in their late 70's and 80's who, all their lives, ate from a can, frozen dinners, KFC chicken, drank sodas, candy and cookies, and yet they still go golfing and bowling, travel, sleep like babies and can climb on the massage table.  Yes, life is not fair, and we better get used to it. Lol.  I know if I ate from a can, frozen dinners or Chick-fil-A, I would die pretty fast.  Some of us have weak genes that  don't adapt to the toxic or new environment easily, and so our cells get sick. We are all made up of different parts and we can not compare ourselves with others or waste our life on thinking how unfair life is.  I know that I want to live a medicine-free life, be full of energy, stay intelligent, move with ease, breathe with ease, do things with my kids, travel, do my work, and die happy.

I believe we need to supplement our diet either with wild or pasture foods or supplements.  When buying supplements, search for the purest products with live nutrients and pure ingredients without toxins and chemicals added. Always read the back label to see if it has toxins like colorings and preservatives, The key is to work toward being well, trying, and experimenting. No one can tell you exactly which product can restore your health 100%. If they do, then I would not seek their advice.  You need to try and see for yourself if it will work or not.  Just because it worked for Sally, it doesn't mean it will work for you. Please keep in mind that nutrition is not a drug. It will take time for something to work and restore your health.  Please do not buy into advertisements that say: "This product is the answer to all your problems." Sale marketers are good at selling you snake oil in the bottle. Research the ingredients not only how they can heal but also how they can kill you. Read side effects. Just because they say Ashwagandha can reduce swelling and lower blood pressure doesn'tmean it is safe. Ashwagandha can also cause liver injury, erectile dysfunction, and gastrointestinal issues. Please do your homework.

Get emotionally and mentally healthy.

Do breathing exercises and meditation or prayer, whatever you want to call it. If you find guided meditation helpful, then do that. Some might like to use apps like BrainWave to help them relax.  Curable is another app I have tried that could be useful on your journey.  It can guide you to recognize your childhood trauma. I like what Dr. Gabor Mate has to say about trauma, and one of the things I have learned from him is that trauma is 'not what they did to you; it is what you said about what they did to you.' You are in denial if you say you don’t have any traumas. At one point, when we were little, all of us said something about what happened and what was said. The moment you can dig down and find that moment that made you believe something about yourself and try to see that it was not true. It is the beginning of your freedom.  Let's say when you were two years old, your dad yelled at you, or your mother left you alone in the crib crying.  You said: “I am not good enough for her to pick me up”, or “I am worthless”, or “I am a burden”.  The moment you can see that and then see that you made it up, you are on your way to being free. We can look and see that our parents, family, and friends did what they did and said what they said, and it has nothing to do with us. There is nothing wrong with you. All the wrongs,you have made up. All the wrongs exist because you compare yourself with others. What if there were no others, society, or parents? How would you see yourself if there was no one to compare to?

Restoring nutritional imbalance.

Minerals and vitamins should be part of our daily routine. My clients tell me: "I get all my nutrients from food".  The only problem is you don’t know if there are any nutrients in your food unless you have tested it. Organic doesn’t mean that it has nutrients. Ideally, we should consume 90 essential minerals and nutrients, but our soil may have five in total. Most of the produce that's available on the market is hybrid and gmo, and our bodies do not appreciate modified veggies and fruits. It is not what our ancestors ate.  

So if our food is toxic and you don't have a good farmers market or can't grow your own what to eat then, right?  Well, we eat what we can buy, but make sure your cart is not loaded with cheap canned food, chips, cookies, premade dinners andother toxic foods.  Familiarize yourself with ingredients. Learn about toxic additives so you can spot them on the go. Check pickles and such as they often add yellow dye. Try to avoid foods with toxic additives and colorings. Nowadays, there are apps that can help you choose the right stuff. I personally use apps like Think Dirty and Yuka, to test my skin and hair products and certain food items. I have done mostly organic and natural for the last 20 years, and it's not hard to spot the bad stuff once you get good at it.  After awhile you just on't buy and won't crave anything that will kill you.  I do like chips on occasion, but I don't want clogged-up arteries, so I don't eat them that often. Sometimes, I make my own in the air fryer. We can say much more about it but I think this is enough to make us ponder and think a bit about our own ways and habits and health.