Fasting Set Back

So what I learned from my last fast was that I should follow directions. When things get to going good I have a tendency to take the progress for granted and either push too hard forward or lie down and think it will coast. Just for the record that doesn't work out! You would think by mid 40's I would get that!

So Paul Bragg's suggestion is to fast 24 to 36 hours one day per week in order to give your body a day of rest. After a period of time do a 3 to 4 day fast. He recommends doing the 3 to 4 day fast every 3 to 4 months. Then work up to a 7 day fast, then a 10 day fast , a 21 day fast, then a 30 day fast. This happens over a period of years, not weeks as I would like to do things.

I had attempted a 6 day fast three weeks ago and ended up breaking it after 4 days. I had flown out of town which slows down my digestion. I had gotten discouraged by that and broke my fast with the intent to do another one the next week. So the following week I did another fast with only water. Monday was great. Tuesday was great. But then late Tuesday and into Wednesday I became very weak. I had committed myself to several things on Wednesday that I didn't feel I could get out of . I was serving dinner at church on Wednesday night and almost passed out on the line. That wasn't really beneficial to anyone, should have gotten someone to take my place.

So what I learned was that your body needs more time to recuperate between fasts. It is unreasonable to expect that much of your body. Secondly don't commit yourself to anything on day 3. Paul Bragg's book The Miracle of Fasting states that day 3 is the hardest so you should make sure you can rest when necessary. I however think I am above recommendations. Those apply to other people and I again paid the price for thinking that way.

The most interesting part of this fast debacle was that I was left with angry, irritable feelings that I am still trying to recover from. It really set me back personally.

I am having to work really hard to get back on track. I have been eating horrible this past week, almost punishing myself. It is interesting how I have felt with all that "bad" eating. I didn't realize how cleaned out my system had become. I ate Mexican food one afternoon and my ankles instantly swelled and my lower legs ached. You get so used to feeling that way that once your body is cleaner and that is eliminated you feel it worse when it returns. My face is bloated again. My liver is back to aching.

So we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and move on. I have had 45 years of eating poorly. I am probably not going to break all those habits without a fight from my flesh and my mind.

I am still drinking The Feast. I had backed down to once a day but am picking back up to three times per day. It fills my stomach so I can eat less, it makes me crave better foods and I feel more energetic when I drink it. And why wouldn't we want to do that as much as possible???? Dah!!!!

 

Continue to Trudge the Road to Good Nutrition,

Tammy

The Tragic Consequences of Drugging Our Children

Boy I just keep getting ammunition for the desperation our kids have for good nutrition. I got the "opportunity" to work with the kindergarten to fifth graders at church this morning. It must be full moon because they were wild. But one little boy probably a fourth grader was out of control the entire two hours. He was either turned around hitting people, getting up and literally running around, getting in little skirmishes with other kids, you name it he was doing it; it was constant. I called him down and called him down. I went and sat beside him. I made him come sit off to the side with me. He just could not control himself. I thought to myself "what is this poor child eating". The bad part, his mom was in the room working also. She never said a word to him the entire time. I finally got exasperated with him and sent him to the back of the room. She was standing back there and I said to her "he is really struggling keeping his hands off the other kids I needed to remove him from the situation". She said "I forgot his medication this morning". I thought "if my child struggles that much I wouldn't forget that"! You don't say it, you just think it. But it doesn't answer the question, what are you feeding this child!

I recently received an update from Dr. Joseph Mercola entitled The Tragic Consequences of Drugging Our Children which gave me some shocking facts about the drugging of our children. He stated that the number of prescriptions for psychotropic drugs for children has more than doubled between 1995 and 2000.

Kids today are often labeled with ADHD for acting like kids, especially boys: they fidget, speak out of turn, don't want to sit still and just act hyper. Dr. Mercola stated that the diagnosis of ADHD is often made based on anecdotal evidence and standardized assessments from parents and teachers, without giving consideration to other potential factors like home life, diet, and environmental toxins.

He then went on to state that "if you've ever wondered why kids were rarely committing suicide or violent acts in schools when YOU were growing up, this essential video may shed some insight." He is referring to a video on his website regarding this topic. Here is a link to the post Dr. Mercola's The Tragic Consequences of Drugging. It is a very enlightening video, well worth the watch.

Dr. Mercola goes on to discuss someone of the natural treatments for ADHD:

• Using plenty of animal-based omega-3 fats like krill oil.
  
• Spending more time in nature.
  
• Balancing your intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fats (from vegetables oils).
  
• Avoiding processed foods, especially those containing artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, which may trigger ADHD symptoms.
  
• Replacing soft drinks, fruit juices, and pasteurized milk in your diet with pure water.
  
• Reducing or eliminating grains and sugars from your diet.
  

My experience today just continues to drive my passion for how desperate we are in this country for good nutrition. We may be getting calories but they are poisonous to our systems. That poison we call food then cause side effects that we then use drugs to try to control. Those drugs then jeopardize our health further. Talk about a dog chasing its tail!

This nutrition insanity has to stop.

I will put a disclaimer here. This is not a one size fits all post. I know there are situations that require medications but I also think too often we choose to medicate our kids because it is easier than getting serious about their diet and exercise. We are making lifetime decisions, choose well. Be your child's best advocate!

We'll talk more about this topic.

Childhood Obesity

 

Boy, our lives are so busy these days rushing our kids from one event to another. How much easier it is to run through the fast food line to wolf down some non-nourishing food to fuel our kids for whatever activity they have for the afternoon or evening. Then we look around to see kids getting larger and larger.

I was recently handing out T-Shirts to my son's football team when one 10 year old informed me that he wears an adult XL. Wow, I thought "what size will he wear in high school, college, when he's thirty? What diseases will he have as a result of the food choices that are being made in his life right now?" I know I think too much.

He looks uncomfortable when he runs in football. How much longer will he choose to play sports before the pain of doing so will be greater than his desire?

 

There are several reasons that kids are struggling with obesity:

• Inactivity (watching TV or playing video games instead of playing outdoors to get exercise)
  
• Drinking soda or juice instead of water
  
• Easting sugar, including sugar – containing juices, cereals and snacks
  
• Eating junk foods
  

 

It's hard. I know it's hard. I am living it. But our kid's lives are important. They are our future. The single most widespread health problem facing our children today is obesity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of children (over 9 million) 6-19 years old are overweight or obese -- a number that has tripled since 1980. In addition to the 16 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 who were overweight in 1999-2002, another 15 percent were considered at risk of becoming overweight. ("Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999-2002"; Oct. 6, 2004)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. ("Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999-2002"; Oct. 6, 2004)

Wow, we are losing this battle. But we are talking about our kids! Do you remember the fat kid at your school? Statics and experience show that overweight and obese children are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and depression as a result of their being overweight. Obesity can take a huge toll on a child.

Overweight children are at higher risk for increased health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, and in particular type 2 diabetes. These are issues that will affect their quality life, their health care costs, employment opportunities, their love life, their social life, etc. for the rest of their lives.

Let's consider the impacts of your child being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes:

So let's suppose that you're an obese child who is afflicted with diabetes. This is disease typically will almost guaranty a premature death in middle age. Over time, you might develop kidney failure and/or heart disease. Arterial disease might make you blind, or cause you to lose a limb. Can you envision this in your child's future?

Now let's think about the implications of avoiding snacks high in sugar, sodas and junk food. Now let's imagine replacing them with real foods: you know fruits, vegetables and good protein sources like low-fat yogurt, etc. Now let's imagine our children getting outside and playing like we did when were kids. You know burning off energy, renewing their minds and just having fun.

Do they baulk at first? We'll yeah! We banished the kids outside one Saturday. They whined for the first 30 minutes but we stuck to our guns. They had a blast. Kids have stopped using their imaginations with outdoor play because they are sitting on their behinds in the house being entertained. They finally got a group of kids together for a "Cowboy and Indians" event. At the end of the day they had ran, played, laughed, fought and came home dirty! Yes, dirt. We fed them, bathed them and they were ready for bed. Yes, mission accomplished.

Was it worth the whining? Yes! Did we have to listen to that a few times before they "got" it? Absolutely! But now we don't have to "ban" them to the outdoors. They like getting outside playing tag, baseball, riding bikes, etc.

We have to love our kids so much that we are willing to right our wrongs. We have to be willing to put up with their whining to set the stage for a lifetime of health. If they are outside socializing, running, playing and laughing, you set the stage for them to spend a lifetime seeking those things. If they are eating grapes, bananas, turkey roll ups for snacks and drinking water what do you think they will look like? What will the feel like? When you put junk food in your body you feel like junk! This is not rocket science.

 

 Parents are the key to controlling childhood obesity, PERIOD. Let me state it again, parents are the key to controlling their child's obesity.

 

When you move your child from junk food to nutrition is it fun? NO! Do they complain? YES! Will they move past it? YES! Conversations at my house went "I don't like that". "Okay". "Would you like strawberries or grapes instead?"

This is worth repeating: parents are the key to controlling their child's obesity. Some of the ways parents can get involved in their child's life to prevent obesity and a lifetime of chronic diseases are:

• Make healthy snack suggestions in place of junk/processed food snacks to start. Offer grapes, apples, oranges, bananas, protein bars, etc. instead of potato chips candy bars or snack cakes.
  
• You cannot change their entire diet at once. You just start making slight adjustments.
  
• Offer a salad at dinner. If they want desert they have to eat the salad and a three bites of a green vegetable
  
• Offer pure waterto drink. Will they balk? Yes. Will they go thirsty for a little while? Maybe. However, they will drink. I keep less and less juice drinks and more and more water. My son is smart he figured out that it would be a while before I went back to the store and he was going to have spread those drinks out. They only have to drink all their juices and only leave themselves water to drink one time.
  

Something has to stop! We have to take a stand for our children's health.

Let me reiterate one last time. Is any of this easy? NO, absolutely not. Is it worth it? Yes. If you love your children you will suffer a little pain for long term gain. If you want to know what food addiction looks like listen to them whine. I will spend more time in my next blog talking about food addiction and the food industry's ways of making us addicted to food.

I know this is a tough topic. I am living it!

 

Remember you are not looking for a drastic change, just slow steady changes. STAY STRONG!