Get Healthy Now
Have you made the Choice to Get Healthy?
Getting Healthy means taking positive steps to restore your health or change the steady progression to poor health.
If 65% of Americans today are classified as overweight, and diet is the primary cause, then we must admit it - what we are doing now is not working and something must change.
2009 is supposed to be the year of the great change. But not all changes are positive. If the current trend continues, the medical care community in America will not be the same in 4 years, and I don't see that as anything positive for most of us. The best advice any one can give is "
don't get sick"
You want to change, you been told that you need to change, and you have tried to change before, but you keep coming back to old habits and you never seem to get anywhere. I have good news,
you can change what you are doing.
You may have tried one of those fad diet plans, counted calories, or bought all kinds of special foods and you lost weight, but as soon as you went back to normal eating, the weight came back.
Getting Healthy isn't just about loosing weight, or avoiding a life threatening disease. It's about enjoying life without the hindrances brought on by poor health. If you can't climb a flight of stairs, how can you hike down into the Grand Canyon, or walk 5 miles, or even run that 10K race. That trip to some exotic place won't be much fun in a wheelchair. How about taking care of your Grand kids without being exhausted, or seeing your Great-Grand kid's 1st birthday.
Even with all the life extension machinery in hospitals today, the average age of Americans has only changed 5 years since 1900 if the infant mortality deaths are factored out. Today's teenagers may be the first generation that does not out live their parents. Diseases that once were thought of as old age diseases are now showing up in kids.
The first thing we do is try to blame someone else. So try this - go to the bathroom, look in the mirror and point your finger of blame at that person in the mirror, they are the one responsible for the problem your in. It also turns out that the same person who is guilty for the mess your in, is also the one person that can help solve the problem.
You are personally responsible for your health. Admitting this is the first step towards a Healthier you!
Yes the government hasn't helped with their bad science, the medical profession is 20 years behind the times on nutrition, and certainly the drug companies would like you to keep taking their drugs. In fact if you listen to all these sources, you would think that the human body was meant to live on pills and supplements.
I was watching an old TV program from 1979 called Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. One of the episodes was dealing with the problem in a food manufacturing center producing contaminated food (sounds familiar). When Buck introduced some naturally grown food products, the others rejected the food as something strange and not very tasty.
Today, we think all our food must be cooked, come from a can or box, and be ready in 5 minutes or less. Restaurant menus have to be scoured to find a meal that is not loaded with animal protein and fat.
Today there is a new movement starting at the grass roots and growing (pun intended) rapidly. Organic foods are increasing in quantities, availability year-round, and lower prices. More and more food growers are responding to the market demands. Grocery chains are adding organic counters, deli's and restaurants that are mostly vegetarian or vegan are springing up in most cities. It's all in response to the failure of health in America and individuals seeking better food and nutrition.
The second step is finding out what to do - This is the importance of Education. When I found out about all the problems with health care in America and had my own threat of going on a cholesterol medication, I took steps to educate myself. I read several books, researched on the Web, listened to credible speakers, and even read the literature from my insurance company. Everything the literature was saying, eat more vegetables, drink more water, get more rest and exercise. These all suggested that I could stop the degradation in health, but didn't suggest that health could be restored. Of course, other than smoking, they didn't say what to quit...
Then I started reading about the benefits of eating a totally plant based diet, how others had seen their disease symptoms disappears, and I was convinced that this was the route to take or at least to explore seriously.
But what did plant based mean, - wasn't a loaf of bread plant based? and french fries where potatoes cooked in vegetable oil. That's when if found out that a
Plant Based diet was best when the food was eaten raw (unprocessed).
The third step is determining how and when to start - You decided to start changing your diet and begin preparing food dishes using plant based "vegan" recipes. You figure that you'll try if for 21 days and see if you like it. After all, you can always go back. So you loose a little weight, but nothing else really changed. You cut down on those Big-Macs for lunch, but Family night is Pizza night, (you do get a salad bar plate), and you even went to a Salad Place for dinner instead of the steak house. But you still had the cheese bread and the chili with your chicken salad. That baked potato was smothered with sour cream and cheese, and don't forget those fresh baked cookies and ice cream for desert. This type of "transition" eating is doomed to failure. You have not given yourself much chance for success.
We believe that the best approach to change, is to go
"cold-turkey". The body will adjust to it's new diet in a few weeks. There will be transitions and periods of discomfort along the way that are associated with the removal of all the junk in you system that needs to be removed. Some people have been able to set a day on which they will start, prepare for that day by planning food and then celebrate it. Mark it on your calender, weigh yourself and note all the physical ailments you notice, allergies, sensitivities. Be honest. Then over the next
few days, they make the transition over to their new diet. A new world of food opens up to them as new recipes are discovered, new vegetables are tried, greens mean more than lettuce, fruits are just for treats and ways to use nuts and grains are explored. You will learn about natural spices and styles of food prep that a "meat and potatoes" type of diet does not use.
The fourth step is a commitment to continual education. We must unlearn everything we have been taught by our parents, teachers, doctors, society and the conventional food industry. Arm yourself with raw food recipe books, look at vegetable juices and vegetable smoothies. Sign up for a food preparation class, browse the web for RAW Food, learn about vitamin supplements, water, sunshine, exercise, and the importance of rest and spiritual right-mindedness.
The Last Step -Teach Others - The best way to learn something new is to share it with others. We need to reverse the damage that has been done to nutrition over the last few decades in America. The message of nutritious eating that doesn't come form a box or bottle. And we need to take that message to the main steam households of America. Plant Based Nutrition is no longer a lifestyle for the fringe of society, but meant for the rank and file of all America.
Help spread the word...Please.
The information contained in this article has been researched from official sources, but is presented here as personal opinion. No information here is intended to replace the advice of a professional medical practitioner and one should be consulted before starting on a new diet and exercise program, especially if taking any prescription medications. Home