Get behind the wheel of a Lemon.

After being encouraged to use the Master Cleanse method of detox in April of this year, I have been an advocate of the lemon ever since and love everything about it. The Master Cleanse, developed by Stanley Burroughs in the 1940's originally to cure stomach ulcers has blossomed over the years as one of the most effective and pleasant means of detox via fasting or mono-dieting. Please note that you should consult your doctor first, especially diabetics.

The recipe consists of one squeezed lemon or lime, equal amount of pure Maple syrup (preferably grade B), 1/4 tsp of Cayenne pepper and 16 oz of water. Don't judge the recipe until you try it, I find it tasted better than Gatorade! If considering the detox you should read the Stanley Burrough's literature first.

I stayed on the detox for 13 days after which I felt my body just wanting to get back to solid foods. The physical changes in my life have been day and night! Now ever since ending the detox, I continue to consume the Lemon drink as a means of getting much needed nutrition and liquid into my system as possible, I wouldn't drink enough water on it's own.

Even if you don't think of going with a detox (which I highly recommend), you can try this recipe as a treat from time to time or even as freezies for the kids, vary the recipe to your liking.

Go ahead, get a lemon!

Where's the "Magic Key" to Superior Health?

In an article published in the upcoming New Yorker magazine, science journalist Gary Taubes will touch on a scientific study done by hospital nurses that gathered statistics of specific dietary or lifestyle choices and their actual results versus supposed claims. In order to see whether or not any single action has it's desired effect or not, the study made an effort to make sure the actions were done by random participants with varying lifestyles, the reason being that the people who have already tried these methods would have likely incorporated other positive lifestyle changes in their lives which would have have an overall effect anyway.

This study and the method it was carried out tells us allot about how today's society continues to look for the single "Magic" answer to Superior Health when really it's been in front of us all this time. Rather than just doing one of the following things such as reduce white flour intake, cut out refined sugars, consume less dairy products, moderate animal intake, increase fruits and vegetables, drink more water, incorporate more exercise or reduce alcohol and tobacco use, wouldn't it make much more sense to and have a much more desired results if we were able to make all those changes?

I love analogies. Put yourself in the passenger seat of an automobile and there is someone else driving the car irresponsibly, running through stop signs, swerving in and out of oncoming lanes and brushing past pedestrians. Wouldn't you take it upon yourself to get out of the car the first chance you get or attempt to take over the wheel? Now let's assumed you did take control of the car and drove in a responsible manner, doing so would greatly reduce the chance of an accident but not eliminate it entirely. Well by making a series of lifestyle choices we can pretty much take control of our health and substantially reduce the chances of experiencing disease down the road. That's were the Magic Key lies.

Audio Diet? Perhaps it makes sense.

After reading my last post where I encourage people to take advantage of our latest mobile technology as a means of enhancing the exercise experience, a dear friend of mine, who is well respected in the world of naturopathy, gave me some sound words of advise...

"From the Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, having sounds so close to your ears constantly can affect certain acupuncture meridian - mainly the kidney meridian. Energetically, this constant bombardment is very bad for the kidneys (especially when it is so loud). And also, we don't know the long-term side effects of growing up in a generation full of electronic devises so close to our bodies for hours on end.

But, generally speaking naturopaths/wholistic doc's are very much against " cellular phones so close to our bodies, being exposed to electro-magnectic rays coming from anywhere (ie. microwaves to bluetooth placed beside our brains), the list is very long as u can imagine.

So, maybe in your next blog, u can suggest a more "judicious/wiser" usage of electronic devises, we can't seem to get away from."

Certainly moderate use of these toys should be the goal. Personally I couldn't handle the boredom of exercise without something stimulating my mind.

Four Easy Steps to Superior Health

This is my challenge to you if you don't already have similar activity in your life laid out in 4 simple steps...

1. If you don't already have one, go out and get a portable mp3 player, Ipod or a capable cellphone. Doing so can run you out of pocket for $100 or more but if you stick to the basics of 512K memory with built-in re-chargeable battery then your dishing out $30 to $50, then you'll need to replace the earbuds with ones that don't fall out during activity. You can browse some popular outlets for mp3 players through my wife and I's L&J United web store.
   
2. Turn to your computer and load your portable player. You may choose to rip some of your favorite CDs or download music from the net, personally I find conversation more stimulating so I go with podcasts that cover all the topics that interest me at the time. I suggest you go to itunes.com and install their program which allows you to download whatever your ears desire, go into the the itunes store and you'll find unlimited free downloads in the podcast section. I also strongly suggest browsing Harvey Diamonds Fit for Lifetime website, there you can select his "Living Without Pain" book and access roughly 1hr's worth of audio files, you'll be amazed with the information.
   
3. Tune into your player and get out doors. Personally I take 30 minutes from work just before lunch (weather permitting) and head out for a brisk walk around the neighborhood. If walking is your thing, I suggest keeping your steps short and rapid as it's causes less stress on the body, increases your heart rate and will boost your metabolism and lymph system. Do whatever activity you desire on an empty stomach and bring along water or natural juices to keep you hydrated. You may prefer jogging, cycling, hiking, skating etc. as long as you get time alone to attend to your body's needs for 20-40 minutes, 3-5 times a week. I love killing two birds with one stone, first being getting the exercise and secondly educating myself at the same on everything else I can do to enhance my efforts such as diet and lifestyle choices.
4. Understand the focus and set a different kind of goal. I'm like everyone else out there when it comes to health issues, "how can I lose a few pounds?" Let's put the horse back in front of the cart, DON'T FOCUS ON WEIGHT LOSS! The number one most important thing I will stress on this blog is your health, HEALTH IS YOUR #1 CONCERN, EVERYTHING ELSE FOLLOWS. I don't care how many pounds someone may be carrying, I have far more respect for an overweight person who makes healthy lifestyle changes than a slim person wasting a sunny day on a park bench with a cigarette. There are so many areas in our lives that are simply not in harmony with nature and God's original plan for us, these are the the things we need to focus on and eventually we'll be comfortable with who we are by God's standards and not man's.

Opening Post

Hello and Welcome,

Over the course of this blog I will be regularly posting ideas, challenges, recipes and rants, all intended to get you thinking about your current state of health and whether or not you desire to change it.

Personally over the last year I reached a point in life that I had to stop just thinking about it, I had to really take steps to reach the goals I had carried all these years. This was magnified when people around me and people they knew got a dose of reality by means of stroke, cancer, arthritis, high blood pressure and chronic fatigue. Now in my forties I too started getting the warning signs of potentially worst events to come through irregular sleeping patterns, constant neck aches, headaches, evening heartburn and constant lack of energy.

Then finally after doing research, in mid April of this year I made some healthy choices that hopefully has changed my life forever. I'll be sharing these changes with you and my prayer is that my example can be an inspiration to all those who know me that you live the life the way God had intended you to live, disease free.

Stay tuned...