la Buena Vida, la Bella Vita, la Belle Vie

The “Good Life” in any language brings to mind laughter, activity, wealth, happiness and other positive adjectives.  But, if you don’t have your health, you don’t have, or at least cannot enjoy fully, the good life.

My focus has recently been drawn to just how serious and widespread drug use, abuse and prescription drug use and even abuse is today.  Just because I take nothing (nor my husband) can skew reality if I am not careful because I was on high blood pressure meds and now I am off.  My attention has been sharply drawn by several events.  The death of a celebrity whose music I enjoyed, by possible effects of prescription meds being involved, my cousin's wife who battled drug addiction for years and that battle was just lost by her, a work client who because of alcohol abuse and stress ended his life, among other information that came my way.  Because Jono & Channi blessed me by having me on their radio show, Truth2U.org, I have been very blessed this week to speak with and email with folks who have different health issues they want to address, clear up and live the good life, in health.

I have to wonder what health issues turned into mental issues for some of these that this week chose to take their lives or lost them accidently.  I have been reading so much lately on understanding whole foods, and even some of the allergies that people can have to some foods, especially processed food and chemical allergies that can manifest themselves with mental ill-health. Also the many allergies and effects of the chemicals in not only processed foods but fast foods and restaurant foods such as preservatives, colorings and flavorings.  When I read that many of the allergies to these things can cause what is or appears to be mental illness I was shocked and saddened that the way of eating has changed so much, for the bad.  The amount of information is staggering….and scary.

I think the sooner we get some real strength within us to realize we need to implement changes for ourselves, no one can do it for us, there is no magic pill or magic wand, the better off we will be.  I speak from personal experience as I have sought a path for years trying to find the “key” and finally, I believe I have found it!  But it has not been an easy path to get here and what I am doing now, though much simpler than what I used to do, is a paradigm shift of Biblical proportions!  My second in the last 9 years.

“If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got.” Author Unknown

So you have to ask yourself, is that what you really want, same same, status quo and if not, when will you implement changes and actually stick with them?  I realize it’s easier said than done….or is it? 

I find now, that though I am still overweight after losing 14 lbs in 5 months, my health has soared.  I am not “watching” what I eat because I am eating things that are good for me and not even craving the things that are bad for me.  The change in foods has caused a change in cravings!  I am not spending time counting calories, or any of the things I did when following a diet or some plan.   I find I am in the kitchen so much less now with my new found path.  Our grocery bill has gone down!!!  I don’t think of food like I used to but have a new creativity with it that has surprised me.  My focus is on other things and not my next meal because things have changed for me inside my body.   I have no doubt I will continue to lose weight because I continue to do so albeit slowly, so I don’t worry about it and that alone goes a long way to ease stress in my life.  As long as I am eating fresh whole foods as the Creator made them, I have no worries!  I have realized that through a method of preservation that the Creator enabled, we can not only preserve food but greatly enhance its health value by the method!  WOW!! What a Creator we have!!!!

My household has not been sick this year.  We have gone through what is called “healing crisis” or detox on a couple of occasions and expect that to happen again, but it cannot be confused with illness or disease, though some people do confuse it.  My body has built up years of bad stuff and fat holds toxins, those things have to come out as the body loses fat releases toxins, heals itself and renews itself!

I hope you will get motivated to implement change, even if slowly which maybe best and begin to rid your house first of all processed foods and replace them with nourishing whole foods. 

Cents a day.........................................................DOLLARS a day!

Here is a nutshell version of what we do and how we live now so that you can get some ideas for yourself and your family on how to proceed.

 NO wheat/grains, sugar, honey or processed foods.  You can do it and it’s not hard, if you have implemented the power of probiotics such as kefir and other ferments.

Breakfast:  Kefir smoothie with kefir, raw egg, berries of choice, 1 T. flax oil or coconut oil.

or Breakfast: 2 fresh free range eggs cooked (over easy for us) in 1 T coconut oil.  I don’t lift the eggs out but slide them out so I get all of the coconut oil with them.  Very healthful and full of energy to start your day!

I even put coconut oil and coconut milk in my coffee, YUM!

or Sometimes, if dinner was a favorite, we will have the left overs with salad and veggies, fresh and fermented, for breakfast.  Think outside the box!!

Lunch: left-overs from previous night OR ¾ cup chicken or tuna salad made with homemade lacto-fermented mayonnaise and celery and other veggies of choice.

*Note – usually by lunch I am not very hungry and I have about 8-10 oz of kefir for a snack about 3 pm so I keep lunch light knowing I will have a snack coming.

Dinner:  beef, chicken or fish (we eat kosher meats) and have an amount the size of a deck of cards which is 4-6 ozs cooked.  My husband has slightly more but not the amount he used to eat.   In addition we have fermented veggies of choice and fresh veggies, either sauteed or raw like a salad or coleslaw or broccoli pieces.  You need to maintain a balance and not eat all raw or all fermented or all cooked, eat some of each....BALANCE!

If the meat 'calls' for fruit chutney, I have lacto-fermented chutney on hand to compliment it.

Before Bed: We have a small glass of kefir with 1 Tablespoon of unsweetened organic red tart cherry juice in it.  The juice is high in melatonin and the kefir is rich in the amino acid tryptophan, both combine for sweet sleep.  The protein in the kefir will keep the sugar spike of the cherry juice way down.  Just don't have too much cherry juice, it only takes a little.  The kefir also will keep acid reflux controlled, we don't experience it any more!

We will eat quinoa maybe once a week but rice or potatoes only about 1-2 times a month.  Keeping foods that cause a high blood sugar spike to a minimum is extremely important to heart health, and weight loss and certainly will keep diabetes at bay.

I keep things like lacto-fermented hummus or lacto-fermented salsa and fresh cut veggies for snacks or meal compliments.  An occasional sunday breakfast is "Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes" which is high in protein and low in carbs.  The recipe is on the tab "The Whey to do It” at the bottom of the page and I usually top them with fried apples and sweet kefir cheese.

The Creator has put a path before us that is designed for our good; the way we live, deal with others (Torah path) and even what we eat that will make us and KEEP us very healthy, like kosher plus.   Are you on that path?  Or are you on the world eating system?  If you are only partially on the path, wouldn’t being right in the middle be smoother and safer?

My husband says....."as for me and my household, we will serve Yehovah, we will stay on the ancient path that Yehovah lays before us and all that entails....including food."  
Now THAT'S the GOOD LIFE!!

A Health Twist on an old Indian Proverb: (thank you Erika Lantry for the idea)

“A wise old Cherokee told his grandson, ‘my son there is a battle between two Wolves inside us all. One is evil.’ ”  It is Candida Albicans, toxins, impacted fecal matter from bad food and lack of fiber, possible H. pylori and other bad bacteria and “bugs”, sugar load that causes inflammation that causes free radicals that cause arthritis, irritable bowel, auto-immune diseases and even possibly cancer. 

 “The other is good.”  It is good bacteria (probiotics), healthy flourishing bacteria keeping the bad in check and fighting free radicals because of increased nutrition, clean gut and bowel walls from whole nourishing high fiber vegetables, rich dense nutrients being absorbed fully because of whole natural foods and probiotic foods and drink.

“The boy thought about it and asked,’ Grandfather...which wolf wins?’  The old man quietly replied. ‘The one you feed.’ "

“Let your food be your medicine and your medicine your food.” Hippocrates

My awesome husband came walking out of the kitchen with something to drink the other night…..I said what is that?  He replied, “Pickle juice”.  (Fermented of course)  He is so smart!!

Please join Jono, Channi and me on "Kultured Pearls" on Truth2U.org 

(Thank you Dot for the great name Kultured Pearls!!)