In the last year I have lost 25 pounds simply by changing what I eat. I didn’t start working out religiously in the gym, or go on a crazy no food fast! I started by participating in a 5 day cleanse (not a fast) to get rid of a lot of the junk I had accumulated in my body. I did this with a large group of people during Life Mastery with Tony Robbins in Fall of 2016. It was easier for me to do this with a large group of people than by myself for a few reasons.
- I felt like I was in a safe space—doing it with folks who have taught this method of cleansing the body for many years with thousands of people—so I felt like it was a proven method.
- I also did not think I would stick to the cleanse if I did it on my own. Knowing we were “ALL in it together” helped get me through the rough patches of detoxification.
- In the process of going through the cleanse we had all kinds of new life hacks introduced to us which have really changed my life for the better in so many ways. (More on that later).
- We learned so much from the speakers that changed the way I look at nutrition forever.
I have done a lot of research over the years, both from a scientific standpoint as a cell biologist studying diseases like atherosclerosis and inflammation and from a more lifestyle perspective on how to live a longer healthier life. You could say, nutrition has been a “hobby” of mine for many years. I come from a long-lived family—I knew all of my grandparents and 4 of my great-grandparents—and these people were a red-meat loving, smoking, drinking and hardly-ever-exercised group of folks! So, I figured I already have the genes working in my favor and if I eat well, don’t smoke, drink alcohol with moderation and fit exercise into my schedule 3-5 times a week—I will not only possibly live longer—but feel better during the process. We are gaining more and more centenarians (people who live to be 100+ years old) in our population than ever before. I plan on being one myself—and if I am going to live that long…I want to feel good along the way AND when I celebrate that 100th birthday! It’s never too late to start living a healthier life. Right? But what does eating healthier really mean?
I always thought I ate pretty healthy—but for me that meant cutting the fat and sugar down and everything else in moderation. Full disclosure: I have had a love affair with sugar pretty much my entire life. Cutting sugar down has always been a challenge for me. I have learned that what I thought was healthy eating has been pretty much dictated by the food industry and let’s get really real about this: Their job is to get us to eat more not less! Let me say that again: The food industry is in the business of making money if we eat more not less! How do they get us to eat more? Mostly by putting a lot of sugar (much of it hidden with names that don’t sound like sugar) in almost everything they manufacture.
I lost the 25 pounds in the last year by changing how and what I eat. After doing the cleanse…I changed some things—like having a green drink every day and putting probiotics and enzymes into my diet as well as cutting down on the carbs. And even though I kept most of the weight off that I had lost during the cleanse—I wasn’t losing anymore. Mostly because I was still eating a lot of sugar in my diet. I’ve learned after years of erroneously thinking, that it is NOT about calories in that counts, that it’s NOT about how much fat you’re eating, but more about how much sugar you are eating (and we eat A LOT of sugar in the U.S.!), that it is important to really read the label (I’ve been a label reader my entire adult life—but now I look EVEN CLOSER at the label), what the food industry has convinced us of as healthy is for the most part Balderdash!
What are my new eating habits based on? Again…I joined a group of folks who, like me, all paid for a course through MindValley.com called WildFit90. 90 days of eating differently. When I signed up for this, I thought….can I do this? But then I said—You can do anything for 90 days…it’s just 3 months! —and to be honest I didn’t think I could lose the weight I wanted without having a support network. I felt I would backslide—and when you put money out for a program and you are doing it with thousands of people around the world….well let’s just say it helps you stay on course. You can learn more about the WildFit90 program from it’s founder Eric Edmeades. He has a new book coming out soon. WildFit is a “methodology that draws its inspiration from evolutionary and functional medicine and nutritional anthropology.” It has changed my thinking about food in so many ways—and I now feel so empowered because I know that education is power. The more we know about what we are eating—the better choices we will make.
The results of my learning?
- I feel better and more energetic and lively in my 50s than I did at any time during my 40s
- My pain and inflammation are practically non-existent
- I don’t get sick hardly ever—and if I do—my body fights it off within 24-48 hours.
- I have gotten rid of all of my medications—I don’t need them anymore—changing my diet got rid of my acid reflux, pain due to inflammation, and my muscle pain.
- My skin, hair and nails are healthy, glowing, growing and strong.
- I feel happier and spiritually more uplifted than I ever have. Food does affect your Mood!
So that brings me back to the original question: Does eating healthier really increase your lifespan? I definitely think eating better is part of the equation. But it leads to another part of our biology that is now getting a lot of attention in the scientific world of human biology and that is the Human Biome. Stay Tuned….that will be my next blog: Change Your Biome, Change Your Life!
To learn more from me about how I changed my diet….drop me a line at Carmen@AltosMobileMassage.com. I’d love to chat with anyone really interested in making a lasting change for their health.
