My grandson, Joaquin, has been going through a phase where he says no sometimes when he means yes and yes when he means no. For him, it is not the wonder of life’s possibilities. It seems he does it just to have something to fuss about.  If we know he is setting himself up for disappointment, we do attempt to reason with him. But when he decides to hold firm to his decision, so do we. No do-overs.

I was thinking about this last night, and I realized that as adults every day brings us the potential for a do-over or a new direction, be it subtle or dramatic. Every day is a new possibility. Every moment, really.

So why is it so hard for us to change? We see something logically. We accept it. We choose it. We want it. And too often we sabotage ourselves. Too often, self-sabotage is followed by completely giving up.

Well this time I haven’t given up. Though I am doing very well on the smoking ban, I can’t say the same for my cleansing diet. I haven’t been eating badly. I just haven’t been eating what I said I would eat. I let life get in the way. Each day I said I would get back on track tomorrow. But I didn’t.

I also had a nagging fear. A fear that made me want to stay in denial and pretend everything was fine, even though I knew deep down in my bones that it wasn’t, and that I needed a serious long-term cleanse. I was afraid my blood sugar was high.

I know diabetes causes decreased blood flow and could be a part of the issue with my eye, but I didn’t want to face it. I didn’t want more food restrictions. I didn’t want any part of it. I didn’t want to know. But I had to face it and deal with it. So I finally tested my blood sugar and sure enough it was high–really high.

So I had a talk with Michael last night and got back on track to start my do-over today. Then once again, life happened.

I live with my youngest son and his family. We both work at the university, 27 miles from home. I had planned to juice my lemons this morning and make salad dressing before going to work.  My salad stuff was already made. But my son, Joel, called and said he left his wallet at home and needed it desperately, as soon as possible. For one second I thought, “My diet can wait until tomorrow.” But I didn’t wait.  I grabbed my salad, mixed up cranberry lemonade with stevia and cayenne from bottled lemon juice, and I ran out the door.

I could always buy what I needed for dressing at the store, right? Not today! My next challenge was Mother Nature. Right about the time I was ready to go to the store, sirens went off. Two tornadoes were passing by with torrential rain. I wasn’t going anywhere.

But I did prevail. I ate my salad plain.

So today has been a good day.

New research has found a definite link between the amount of processed meat consumed and the risk of early death.

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition polled the eating, as well as lifestyle, habits of close to a half million Europeans. Past research had found a correlation between people who ate processed meat and people who lived a less healthy lifestyle with increased smoking and alcohol consumption and a diet with fewer fruits and vegetables. Because of this study’s size, researchers were able to eliminate those variables that could contribute to early death and show that the processed meat alone was a cause.

What could make processed meats so deadly?

Carcinogens introduced by conventional preserving processes- salting, smoking, and pickling- get trapped inside the meat and are then consumed. These chemicals are not degraded by the body. In high concentrations, they can lead to cancer. (Preservative free meats do not contain these harmful chemicals.)

Saturated fats, associated with breast and colorectal cancer, are also found at high levels in processed meats. Along with cholesterol, saturated fats also lead directly to heart disease. So even meats that are processed without all of the nasty preservatives can be bad for your heath because they still contain high levels of fats, but they are a better option.

But that’s just the meat itself. Plastic packaging has long been scrutinized for containing harmful chemicals. The Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation sampled 72 common products, including processed meats. All of the products were contaminated by the plastic. The contaminant was from a group of chemicals known as phthalates. Phthalates have been correlated to unnatural changes in the reproductive tracts of men and women, causing sperm damage, early breast development, and premature births.

So, eliminating processed meats from your diet is a sure way to stay healthier and live longer. Along the same line, so is decreasing the consumption of foods that spend the majority of their shelf life encased in plastic.

Not all meats are bad; small quantities of rmeat are good for you. But eliminating processed meats and other unhealthy habits, will give your life a boost.

Mislabeling cheaper fish to substitute for a more expensive variety

Some guessing games can be fun to play. But not when it comes to identifying the food we eat.

Oceana, a nonprofit marine advocacy group, released the results of its nationwide retail seafood labeling investigation on February 21, 2013. From 2010 to 2012, the group conducted the largest seafood fraud investigation to date- covering 21 states and collecting 1,200 samples from 674 restaurants and grocery stores. By using DNA testing, the researchers were able to determine the true identity of the fish. Their results were stunning.

The investigation found a pattern of using cheaper fish to substitute for a more expensive variety. For example, Tilapia at $3.00 a pound was sold as Red Snapper for as much as $12.00 per pound. Cheaper farm raised fish was sold as the more expensive wild caught fish.  This was a common find with salmon. Snapper and tuna were repeat offenders, being mislabeled 87% and 59% of the time (respectively).

Seafood fraud cheats the consumer out of their money and can put their health at risk. King mackerel, a fish the FDA warns as having high mercury levels, was passed off as Grouper. Escolar, which can cause serious digestive problems for some people, was frequently sold as white tuna.

More than one third of the samples were found to be mislabeled. Fraudulent fish were found across the country and at various establishments. Sushi vendors were the worst, with a mislabeling rate of 74 %, while grocery stores were the best with a mislabeling rate of 18% .

A full  90 % of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported; only 1% of which is tested for authenticity. Congressman Edward Markey (Mass.) calls the frequent mislabeling of fish an “epidemic”. One suggested measure for controlling the problem is mandatory traceability- from boat to plate- of all imported seafood.

Until new regulations are in place, there is very little consumers can do to avoid mislabeled fish, especially if buying a fillet. Purchasing whole fish will help identify the product. And it would be wise to be wary of deals that are “too good to be true.”

Stricter enforcement will protect the consumer, help to ensure legitimate fishermen stay in business, and help keep our oceans safe from over fishing.

Bet you thought I gave up already—that I fell off the diet and crawled away to hide. Nope. Here’s what I have to report: the weight loss isn’t going so well, but other things are great.

The best news I have to report is that I am not smoking. Not at all. Not one bit. Nada. (I am taking a pause here to listen to imaginary applause. Yes, I really am doing that. It helps.) Other good news is that I’m not thinking about smoking, either…except when I see someone smoking on TV, or I feel stressed out by a work deadline, or I am writing about how I am not thinking about smoking!

Not smoking is already helping my circulation. Aside from my optic nerve, I have another marker to measure my progress. My right thumbnail thickened, pulled away from the nail bed on one side, and curved inward (think of an ingrown toenail). Now the root of the nail is adhering to the nail bed again—a sure sign of increased blood flow.

Now the not so good news.

A little more than a week ago, I had a run in with a cherry pie. Did you have one favorite food as a child? Something that you rarely ate? A food so magnificent it topped every other food by a mile? For me, that food was cherry pie.

When I grew up, I still didn’t eat it very often. But it remained my favorite food.

When I stopped eating gluten 7 years ago, I stopped eating cherry pie—except for the two times I bought a tiny, one person size, gluten free pie from Whole Foods for the outrageous price of ten dollars apiece. So imagine my surprise when my son Joel brought home a nearly normal size, gluten free cherry pie on his birthday.

I was all ready to politely decline cake, cookies, hard apple cider, or any other treats he and his wife brought home to celebrate the day. But when Joel asked me if I wanted cherry pie, I said, “I just started a diet! Yes, please!”  There wasn’t even a decent pause between the two sentences. And the, “Yes, please!” was much louder and emphatic than the sentence that came before.

The next day I told Michael about how I had emotionally beaten myself up for having absolutely no control when it comes to cherry pie. I loved his response. He wants me to end the guilt, to find every way I can to stop beating myself up about food. I am going to break the cycle. And I am going to start by preempting guilt; I will earn treats ahead of time.

Michael used the analogy of purchasing something I want with cash vs. credit. The next time I really want cherry pie, I will exercise especially hard BEFORE I eat it. No punishing myself after, no negative talk, no punitive exercise. I will earn it. I love that idea. I love it so much I have not had to use it. There is a real security in knowing you can eat whatever you want. Then, you don’t necessarily want it.

The day after the cherry pie, Joel brought home something else—a horrible virus, one related to whooping cough. I know this because we have had whooping cough. Like that monster virus, this one produced tons of mucous and coughing fits that persisted until he vomited. Luckily, I skipped the vomiting. Instead I perfected the art of coughing uncontrollably and sneezing at the same time. That was a new one on me. And it was very entertaining except for the explosive dynamic of it all causing me to wet my pants on more than one occasion. TMI?

So I, the woman who prides herself on never getting sick, have been really sick for the last week. I still am. I have not been following my eating plan of all raw food. And I have not lost any more weight. However…

• I have eaten one large very healthy salad every day plus raw fruit.
• I have continued with my organic raw lemonade with cayenne and stevia.
• Other than the cherry pie, I have not eaten any sweets or junk food.
• I have not eaten out except for eating at the salad bar at the farmers market.
• I have not eaten any white rice or noodles.

I am not really on a “diet.” I am changing my diet. I am changing my lifestyle. So this is true success; success I can build on.

Tomorrow, I start over on my cleansing diet. Not because I have to. Not because I failed. Because I want to.

The Wake Up Call – February 22 – Day 6

Yesterday was moving day. Not the kind where furniture is lifted—the kind where lazy bodies are put into motion.

I decided to start with walking each day as my first basic exercise. But before I took that walk, I gave considerable thought to what I like and don’t like about walking. Through this intense contemplation, I do believe I found the fatal flaw for inexperienced walkers like me.

I never know how far to walk. Either I push it too far and feel like I am going to die before I can make it back home, or I turn around too soon and don’t walk far enough. Either way, I don’t enjoy walking as much as I would like to or feel as accomplished as I would like.

So I came up with a solution. I will walk as far as I can in one direction and then call home for a ride. This temporary support from my family will allow me to easily push myself farther each day at a faster pace.

My second exercise is one Michael made up for me a few years back. We call them “getups”. You lie down on the floor, on your back. Roll to the right and get up. Lie back down. Roll to the left and get up. Make sure you alternate the foot you start with to stand. Okay. Go ahead and laugh. Now do twenty getups as fast as you can. Are you still laughing?

Think about it. Each getup is a sit-up, a pushup, a squat, and more. Problem is, there is no room in this house to do getups. Seriously, no room. I’ll have to do them in the park. But I want to add something to my walking, so today I will add chair squats. Standing and sitting a bunch of times—no hands or push-offs allowed.

Moving, moving, moving. Moving moves the blood. Moving moves the lymph. Now I will explain why I don’t want to make an appointment with the eye specialist.

I don’t think non-pressure glaucoma should even be called glaucoma. As far as I can, it is just another optic nerve problem of unknown origin, that looks the same. Non-pressure glaucoma is a mystery. They don’t know what causes it. The two main types of glaucoma are caused by increased/abnormal pressure in the eye. This is treated with drugs and/or surgery. So what do doctors in their infinite wisdom do to treat non-pressure glaucoma? They lower the normal eye pressure to below normal through drugs and/or surgery.

Sorry guys. That’s just plain stupid as far as I can see.

Many eye doctors think non-pressure type of glaucoma is caused by a lack of blood flow to the optic nerve. So blood flow is what my diet and exercise routine will address. I’m going to increase blood flow, clean up my blood, and eliminate any autoimmune response I can control.

I will check my eyes in a few weeks to see if the swelling has gone down. And I will research conventional treatment modalities and their efficacy. But I doubt I will have to resort to conventional medicine, which as usual, would treat the symptoms but not the cause. Except in this case I don’t think that is even true. They can’t treat the symptom (high pressure in the eye) if the pressure is normal. Lowering the normal pressure is more like “do something rather than nothing.” No thank you. Not now. Probably not ever.

Are you always sick? If feeling ill is more normal for you than feeling healthy, here are some of the common reasons and what you can do to get your immune system back on track.

Junk Food

If you’re sick all the time, change your diet. Stop eating processed food.

Less than one hundred years ago, there was absolutely no need to explain the difference between whole food and processed food. Food was just food. It was healthy, farm-grown, nutritious, and filled with live-promoting nutrients. Not anymore.

Now we run to the nearest supermarket or convenience store to stock up on MSG-laden cereals and aspartame-laced diet soda. Most of our food comes from a box or a can.

You can get healthy by getting rid of the fast food, microwavable meals, soda, potato chips, and French fries and trade it in for healthier fare.

Whole foods such as organic vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, organic meat, wild-caught fish, and healthy fats like coconut oil and butter will do absolute wonders for your health.

Try it!

You Bathe in Toxins

The amount of toxins lurking in your shower is unbelievable. Read the labels on the shampoo and conditioner you use to beautify your hair and the slick-smelling body wash you use to impress the ladies (or the gentlemen).

Shampoos and other conventional bathing products contain parabens that have been linked to infertility, muscle dysfunction, learning disabilities, and mood swings. They are also loaded with phthalates that have been proven to cause cancer.

Get rid of all the chemical cosmetics in your bathroom and start fresh. Invest in a good bottle of castile soap. You can use it as a body wash, shave cream, and shampoo all in one and it’s completely pure and natural! Also, make the switch to paraben-free mineral make-up. Your face will thank you.

You Shoot Up with Toxins

Do you get the flu shot every year? Vaccines are loaded with three of the most potent neurotoxins on the market: Aspartame, mercury, and MSG. If you have unexplained muscle twitches, movement disorders, chronic fatigue, and mood swings, these toxins could be to blame.

Do your research and learn all you can about the pros versus the cons of vaccines so you can make an informed decision about your health.

You Use Hand Sanitizers

If you’re trying to avoid getting sick by using copious amounts of hand sanitizer, it’s not helping. Hand sanitizers not only kill germs on your hands, they also kill the good bacteria. Your immune system’s first line of defense is your skin. And alcohol isn’t the only ingredient in hand sanitizers. They also contain a potent pesticide called Triclosan, which has been linked to chronic immune system dysfunction.

You Don’t Move

Do you get enough exercise? Regular exercise helps prevent illness by raising your T-cells (fighter cells) and cutting down on your body’s inflammatory response. There’s no need to become a bodybuilder to get the exercise you need. Just start by walking or hiking for 30 minutes three times per week.

You’re a Vampire

Do you get enough sun? Or are you like millions of others who believe that if you step out into the sun, its harmful UV rays will penetrate your skin and rearrange your cells until you’re riddled with skin cancer? It’s not true. As a matter of fact, studies have actually shown that lack of sun can cause skin cancer!

Vitamin D is essential for a healthy immune system. Unfortunately, Vitamin D deficiency is rampant in the United States and Canada because so many of us are avoiding the sun by either staying inside or bathing in sunscreen (which, by the way, contains toxic chemicals). Yes, you will bring on skin cancer if you tan at high noon each day for hours but fifteen minutes of sun exposure each day will help boost your vitamin D levels and your immune system.

You’re a Zombie

Warm bodies? If you don’t get enough sleep every night, you probably find yourself slogging through your day like the walking dead. Plus, if you’re making up for your sleep deficit by pounding energy drinks or high-test coffee, you’re doing some serious harm to your health. Excessive caffeine intake coupled with lack of sleep equals taxed adrenal glands and a very weak immune system.

Magnesium deficiency is a common cause of chronic insomnia. This essential mineral is responsible for more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body. Adding a chelated magnesium supplement to your diet can work wonders in calming your mind, relaxing your body, and improving your sleep.

There’s no reason to always feel sick when you have the power to change it. Good health is just a few dietary and lifestyle changes away. Don’t go back to the doctor just to have him run more tests and look at you like he’d love to recommend a good shrink. Take control of your health. If you make all these changes and still feel sick a lot, make an appointment with a naturopathic physician for a second opinion.

My first memory of food is a hamburger. It might have been McDonald’s. They were just taking off when I was a kid. Anyway, I was four and was devastated to find my burger covered in mustard and onions!  I was hungry. Really, really hungry. But I couldn’t eat that nasty thing.  Mom was sympathetic.

My second memory was my mom giving me the starving kids in China speech. I was only five, but I knew that finishing my dinner didn’t have a damn thing to do with hungry kids on the other side of the world.

It is my third early memory of food that set the foundation for a lifelong, dysfunctional relationship with food.  At age six I was a large framed, muscular child. My stepmother decided I was fat. Her solution was to withhold food. My brother and sister were allowed snacks after school. Not me. It didn’t matter that I was hungry. No snack. I remember the hunger as physical and emotional pain.

I had lost my mother who loved me and cared for me. And now this woman, my stepmother, did not care if I was in pain. The battle lines were drawn, and I quickly learned to equate food with love.

I have ridden the roller coaster ride of a love-hate relationship with food ever since.  I have used food to soothe myself, to cope with anxiety, stress, and pain. I have withheld food to punish myself. Mostly, I have used my lack of discipline and control with food as a means to undermine my self esteem and self worth all my life.

I don’t believe the answer lies in hating food or in developing an indifference to it. My goal is to understand it. To befriend it. Who knows–maybe we will go beyond friendship all the way to love.  That’s what I want to do; I want to really love food. I want to love it so much that I choose the best food, the most nutritious food, for my body. I want to celebrate food!

Step one is a three day fast on lemon/ cranberry juice with stevia and cayenne. Today is day three.

Postscript

I know I said that today I would explain why I don’t want to see an eye specialist, but I’m putting it off. I’m just not in the mood to rant about conventional medicine and all its stupidity right now.  But I promise I will explain soon for anyone who hasn’t already guessed.