It's been almost two years since my last blog entry. So much has happened and I am excited to get back to writing again. Between finishing up Chiropractic School, having a baby (well, my wife did most of the work there), making the move to Illinois, and building a patient-base from scratch in an area where I had no friends or business connections to start out with, things have been a little crazy to say the least. One of the things I mentioned in my last entry was discussing the challenges to making lifestyle changes that facilitate healing. Talk about having almost every challenge in the book thrown at you all at once! But as I have had a nice swift kick in the rear over the last two days regarding how I have fallen back into so many unhealthy habits, I decided today to start over. What better way to restart my healing journey than to attempt to blog it and have as many as will listen, hold me accountable.
So where does my health stand now? I still eat so much better than I did before my first healing journey. I am not exercising, very rarely use my sauna, and have not completed my detox (haven't detoxed in almost 2 years now). I still get adjusted - probably should get adjusted more often, but have not been doing my home rehab to facilitate structural correction. All of these things need to be addressed, and they will be - in chunks.
Before I started going to the chiropractor, my diet consisted of mostly pasta, pizza, potatoes, ramen noodles, soda, milk, Gatorade, cereal, beef, poultry, and occasionally veggies. Ironically, I did eat out often and enjoyed eating vegetables when I did, but I never liked preparing them for myself. If I did, it was usually corn. None of it was organic, free range, or even grass fed. I also ate a lot of fast food - Taco Bell, Subway, Quiznos, McDonalds, Burger King, and I'm sure there were others. Those were just the go-to places when I was hungry and didn't feel like making anything. I rarely ever drank water and easily consumed 2 liters of soda a day. No, I amazingly never got fat...in fact, I have always been underweight. I've always struggled with putting on weight, but that is another topic altogether.
Today, my diet consists of mostly vegetarian-fed poultry (organic when on sale), eggs (again, organic when on sale), yogurt*, plenty of veggies (peas, carrots, spinach*, broccoli, green beans, brussel sprouts, onions, sweet potatoes, salad, mushrooms*, and cucumbers), gluten-free waffles, strawberry jam*, brown rice*, quinoa*, water and almond milk. I probably stray from that diet once a week, but try to make healthier choices when I splurge. One example would be pizza with a gluten free crust and veggie toppings instead of a meat lovers from Pizza Hut. The starred items above are ones I always buy organic. You can get away with buying some foods non-organic if money is tight. With a toddler and a teenager, and all the recent expenses of moving and building a practice, money is very tight right now, so we are very selective in the foods we buy organic. You'll notice that beef is not listed. It's just simply something I won't buy non-organic. Even when it's organic, half the time it is grain fed instead of grass-fed. Beef must be grass-fed and organic if you are trying to overcome any health challenges. Gain-fed beef is just too inflammatory.
You might look at my list and say, "that's a super healthy diet!", but for me it is not. I shouldn't be doing any grains, even organic whole grains like brown rice and quinoa. My body has inflammatory responses to them. It just slows down the healing process. I also consume way you much sugar, even if it is organic sources or naturally occurring. Part of my problem on many fronts is finding the time to prepare healthy foods, so it is easier to do gluten-free waffles with strawberry jam, sweetened yogurt, and sweetened almond milk for breakfast than it is to make an omelet. I just found an awesome solution for the almond milk. Unsweetened almond milk with a few drops of English Toffee Liquid Stevia lets me still enjoy the taste without causing any insulin problems.
Insulin? But you never said you were diabetic! I'm not, never have been. But insulin's role in chronic diseases is a topic for another day. Here's some homework...google some articles on insulin's role in inflammation and the stress response. By the time I get around to my insulin blog, you will probably be an expert on it.
Diet is only one of the things I have gotten away from doing. I've also halted my detox program (still loads of mercury and probably a good bit of mold toxins to flush out), and rarely keep up with my supplements. All of these were key nutritional components in my healing process. I always start with nutrition, though. Aside from getting your spine adjusted regularly so you have an uninhibited nervous system functioning at its optimal potential, diet is by far your biggest "bang for your buck" in terms of health. Since my diet is currently decent, my focus is going to be on implementing my supplementation program with includes anti-inflammatories and detox. The anti-inflammatories include combinations of turmeric, boswelia, quercetin, circumin, enzymes, vitamin c, nettle and fish oil. Sounds like a lot, but I get all of that in 3 supplements. They are all natural and do not have the side effects of your standard NSAID line of drugs. On a tangent - it boggles my mind why doctors tell people to take a daily aspirin (even if it is baby aspirin) to "prevent" heart attacks. Aspirin has serious side effects from long-term use, and fish oil is just as effective with none of the side effects. Off tangent - in addition to the above supplements, I take phosphatidylcholine for cell wall repair/healing. I also take an adrenal support blend because my adrenals are massively exhausted from years of chronic stress.
Then there is my detox blend. The detox is a cellular detox program I learned from Dr. Dan Pompa, one of the top chiropractors when it comes to detoxification of the human body. His proprietary blend of CytoClear and CytoCatch essentially stimulate the body's detox pathways and facilitate safe elimination of the toxins while preventing them from being reabsorbed in the gut. I'll do 30 days of the intensive detox where my goal is to filter out mold toxins, pesticides (plenty of farm land where I live, so the toxins are in the air no matter how clean I eat), and clear out metabolic waste products that create a toxic sludge inside your cells if they are unable to eliminate them properly (common in those with chronic diseases). I take 4 CytoClear in the morning and afternoon, followed by 8 CytoCatch before bed. With any detox program I expect to feel fatigued, irritable, get headaches, and possibly be more achey than normal. Those are good signs. It means the detox is working and necessary. The feeling great part with renewed energy levels comes after the detox is over. Then your body can go back to normal levels of toxin filtration and spend more energy elsewhere. Detox is an insanely metabolically expensive process. I will try to fit in a few sauna sessions while I detox because it stimulates lymphatic drainage and helps flush toxins out through alternative pathways - sweat.
So that leaves exercise, sauna, heavy metal detox and improving my diet as action items to implement. I've chosen not to implement them now because going all-in on a healthy lifestyle can be very difficult to sustain. It's best to make a change in smaller sustainable steps than to get overwhelmed and quit when you cannot keep up. Every small change we make moves us closer to health. For some, exercise may be the best start, others may have to start with something as simple as drinking enough water. Consult your chiropractor tomorrow on a sustainable program that will most benefit you on your journey to healing. What? You don't have a chiropractor? There's your first step...go get one! Make sure they will take the time to teach you how to get well - from exercise to nutrition and including detox if needed. If you are in the Bloomington/Normal area, feel free to contact me. I would be honored to take this healing journey with you.
Next entry I will provide a quick update on how the detox is progressing as well as share some inspiration I received in a most unexpected place - at a Drum Clinic!
***Disclaimer - Always conduct a detox program under the supervision of a licensed physician***
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