Burn the Fat, Feed the MuscleLive the life you have imagined.
-Henry David Thoreau
My Journey to Health
Most of my life I have been accompanied by a little gremlin named asthma. It went with me everywhere, telling me what I could and could not do. It helped form my view of myself, my self-esteem and gave me lots of great excuses so I could sit on the sidelines and not actually live life. Sometimes it was scary and seemed life-threatening but most of the time it was nicely behaved, "controlled" by a lineup of doctors and increasingly powerful drugs. But it was always a part of my life and how I defined myself and my world.
I grew up in a typical American home, eating a Standard American Diet. At 18 I declared myself a vegetarian and pursued interests in ethnic cooking, natural and holistic lifestyles and alternative healing. I even spent several years working in a health food store, sharing with others my knowledge of health and wellness that I wasn't willing to put into practice for myself. I have spent over 15 years reading, studying, and half-heartedly practicing ways to live a healthy, happy life. However, instead of following a dietary path that could have led me to greater health, I became "The Pasta Queen", eating a Certified Organic version of the SAD diet.
I am a computer geek by profession, so the years spent indoors being inactive finally caught up with me. At 35 years old I was more than 50 pounds overweight, plagued with asthma and allergies and barely had enough energy to struggle through the day.
I was incredibly blessed to travel with my father this past winter on my first trip to Panama (you can find this great story under the Panama and Adventure links!), but I was fat, tired and out of shape. It was not quite how I wanted my first trip to Paradise to be.
I realized that I had to change things NOW, or else I would slide back into an existence of mediocrity and disease. Finally, I am reclaiming my body, my mind and my spirit. I'm not exactly sure how it came about, but one day I started eating meat again. Now my daily diet consists of lots of fruit, raw vegetables, salads and grilled meats. I read Frederic Patenaude's ebook, Raw Secrets - it is a wealth of information about the science and practical realities of a live, raw food diet. Of course, you can adjust this program in any way to fit your needs as you transition into a healthier, happier lifestyle.
Through dietary changes alone, in just a few months I have reduced the asthma medications I take by half, I sleep sound every night (what an accomplishment for me!) and have lost over 15 pounds as of this writing. The days that I bravely venture into the realm of Hard-Body Yoga, I find my stamina has increased even though I haven't been very active. My fitness goal is to be lean, healthy and completely free of asthma by the end of this year.