Since I am a go-getter (obsessive/compulsiveness rocks) I have made a drastic turnaround. If you read the first sentence of the following paragraph, skip over everything in the middle, then pick back up with the last sentence, you will get only a fraction of the new routine. Okay. Here we go…
I am on week six of my new life. I am cooking at home. I have always cooked "very healthy" but have made modifications such as... no more white flour/white flour products. I'm eating strictly rye bread, wild salmon twice a week, steamed fresh ORGANIC vegetables... two glasses of red wine a day, period! One cup of coffee a day, period! Nothing processed. Nothing that has been feed unbelieveable amounts of antibiotics or growth hormones. Only using olive oil and light canola, when necessary. No margarins. Very limited dairy. I did test with dairy, and my stomach doesn't care for certain types of dairy products -- with the exception of butter and Activa yogurt. The list goes on. It is almost a diabetic diet that I am on, which is a very healthy diet, by the way. The only down side, my grocery bill has gone up significantly on the meats and produce. I consider it a worthwhile investment.
Every single day I have at least three cups of African Rooibos tea infused with significant dose of Red Clover and Chinese ginseng extracts. Sounds terrible but it is actually very good. The reason I'm using the extracts is the candida albicans link to MS and about every other autoimmune disease. The Red Clover tea is a natural blood, kidney and liver cleanser. Also I have one cup of hot water with half a lemon and about a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger root around 2:00 p.m. Lemon keeps the body's ph in line. Ph level in the blood and body is serious. Lemon is good for keeping paracites and bacteria at bay. Ginger root for pain, inflamation and also bacteria and paracites.
In addition to taking the multivitamin supplement, I'm taking MSM, glucosamine/chondroitin, ester C, fish oil, coenzyme Q10, B complex. I take a fresh source of flaxseed and evening primrose, mixed in my yogurt in the morning. It was pointed out to me by a source that I highly respect that ester C is THE only vitamin C we should be taking with supplements, because ester C is a supperior "vehicle" to efficiently deliver the supplements.
I joined Dahn Yoga a month ago also. Sister, am I ever a believer in yoga now! I was struggling with constant daily pain. Aching and burning pain. I have not taken an Advil or Tylenol since my first week of yoga class. (I try to go three times a week) I would recommend yoga to anyone. It is not simply working on the body. It includes vibration therapy, brain wave therapy (almost a self-hypnosis), meditation, Tai Chi and much more. Let me put a sharp point to one excercise, in particular: deep breathing excercise. I have learned that in this way, 75% of toxins are eliminated through the lungs, compared to 25% in the usual ways... perspiration, urination and defacation. This is amazing new information to me.
In conjunction with everything else, I also started seeing a wonderful psychologist -- who politely demanded I consider an antidepressant and start laying down boundaries for myself. I convinced her that I would go the yoga/lifestyle change route first. I had my doubts at that time. So did she. A month later, she is genuinely impressed and has asked numerous questions about the lifestyle changes and also for the phone number for my yoga studio. She remarked that perhaps she should transition over from Pilates to yoga.
I am typically pretty impatient when it comes to self-help theory, but I am reading a book by the wonderful Ann Boroch that has caused this turnaround, "Healing Multiple Sclerosis." I consider this my new bible, when it comes to my health. Bridget, honestly, take the word "multiple scclerosis" out of the title of this book and fill in the blank with anything autoimmune. This book is unbelievable.
I believe in all of it. That is very key. I have undergone such a transformation -- uplifted spirit, energy and attitude -- that my whole family is on board with this. James and Mere’ have signed up for yoga. Chandler is eating what I am eating and asking questions about ingredients in certain foods. Super-cool?
Yeah. See,I told you so. Wotta’ gigantic pain in the ass my new life is, right??
Not really. I have been told that depression is anger turned inwards. Just what in the hell do I got to be angry about anyway? Worried, yes. But angry?? I say, just because I feel occasionally like plunging a screwdriver into some nice leather upholstery, that doesn’t mean I’m angry. Call me low-class, but that’s a God-damn fact.
I want to feel like I am living an unwritten life. I don’t want hands (figurative) around my neck, forcing me to make fight-or-flight decisions. I want to believe in myself again; like I can create something good and that I’m not just waving in the winds of whatever. Do you think, brother, that this has anything to do with being ALMOST 40?
Ah…my theories being what they are… but truthfully, I am on top of the world now. Feel like I have a new lease on life now. A renewed, healthy body, mind and spirit.
But, as you know, I am a total hedonist and am generally impatient with self-help theory and physical fitness regimens, so please stand by.
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