Just some thoughts on obesity (Children in particular)

These are some thoughts that I presented for a specific school project, but I thought I would share them with the masses.

As with most things, I view this issue from a different angle, maybe from a broader perspective.  As educators, we need to get out of our thinking that obesity is caused by overeating.  Especially in the case of morbid obesity.  For someone who is only 300 pounds, they need a whopping 3000 cal/day as a basal rate.  So for those that are 400-600 lbs, they should be eating nonstop all day long to get them there and keep them there.  They have to be true gluttons in every sense. This is obviously not the case, especially for children. There must obviously be another answer.  I don't want to be the one who is always blaming everything on our horrible culture, but there is some affect here.  The question must be asked, why does the human body create fat cells? Even though this is not entirely a simple question with not one simple answer there is a general category that engulfs the majority of the answers.  This is survival.  Why does a body need stored energy?  For survival.  What is out there that our kids need to survive? Isn't that all in their (our) head?  Well to name a few: our Lord of the Flies educational system, broken homes, isolation, abuse, peer pressure, and the big one... decision making.  Survival for the human body is a physiological shift.  It is often referred to as stress, but that term has become so trite that is almost mocks what people are experiencing.  We have placed our kids in an environment where they feel like they need to be constantly running and/or fighting.  They have no peace and comfort at home because their parents are engulfed in their own struggle to survive, they go to school where they haven't figured out how to conquer the social hierarchy to keep from being isolated or picked on and most have been placed in a role of primary decision maker for their own outcome.  They are choosing their meals, choosing their friends, choosing their past times, choosing the best actions to keep the family together and themselves happy.  This is not a proper role for a child. Children should not HAVE to make these decisions.  And then when we see these same kids getting sick and fat at alarming rates, WE, the health community, blame the children for eating too much or making wrong decisions that they should not have been making in the first place.  Is it too much to fix?  If it is then we have signed the death warrant on our children and on our culture.  We need to start being mindful and start dealing with these kids like they were adults, because they often seem to be the only ones acting like one.  We need to help them understand what is really happening in their mind/body/spirit and teach them to be the superintendent of self.  They need to know that they have power to make different choices and enlighten them to what is really happening to their body. I never give up on anyone and everyone is worth the effort but it makes more sense to begin to shift our energy and focus from educating adults to educating kids.  They are world turners right now.  I want to coin another term for the society that I think we live in now.  It is no longer a patriarchal society but a pediarchal society.  If you have trouble believing that then follow the money... watch a little tv and see who those with money are paying attention to; its our kids. Maybe we should do the same thing.

The Power of Hydration

Failure doesn't exist in Lifestyle Change!!

Lifestyle change takes deliberate steady changes over time to take effect.  You have your whole life to get it right.  Would you say that a toddler learning to tie his shoe is a failure until he accomplished it for the first time?  What about when he gets it all confused a couple years down the road?  The answer is still NO.  It is a learning process not a failure.  You have to struggle and experiment to see which way works best and will carry you for the rest of your life.  When my oldest daughter was learning to tie her shoes we started with the standard method of making a loop and wrapping the other string around it and tucking it in to make the second loop.  For a three year old, this proved to be a difficult process.  So we switched to the method of making two loops and tying them together.  This made the difference, she finally understood what was going on and started tying her shoes.  Later that year, however, after she had gotten more proficient, decided to go back to the first method because it seemed like a better method.  Now years later, she ties them quite well having perfected the method in her own way.
       We don't ever read a story like that and think failure is involved, but when it comes to other areas like eating better and exercising, or separating from old habits and starting new ones, we say things like "falling off the wagon" and the worst word ever, "can't".  If you determine that something is good for you and this is the way you want your life to look down the road then start figuring out what it will take to have that.  Feel free to try multiple methods over time to see what works best for you.  Start gradual and let your body, mind and spirit learn and grow.  You will start to see patterns of things that don't work and things that get in your way, as well as things that work very well and things that help encourage you.  Find a way to get more of the positive and less of the negative.  This is called growth.  Do not let yourself get into the faulty circle of making deadlines and resolutions which all have time periods attached to them and almost always lead to "failure".  Make decisions instead about what you want your life to look like and then begin a process of growth to get there.  Some things will take your whole life to be proficient and some things you will pick up very quickly.  If it is your life, it cannot be a failure.
       And always find others to help teach you and support you along the road, just like you are learning to tie your shoes all over again.  Happy Journeys and PLEASE share some of the roads you are traveling down or have traveled and what the scenery looks like along the way.

Day 27 -- The End of the Beginning and the Beginning of the End

So we have reached the end of this excursion. We would normally be doing our last detox for the next three days but I am training for a half marathon next week and don't want to be coming off a cleanse, I want to be building.  So we will do it after my recovery days from the race. 

I have been having lots of questions lately about how I am doing and whether or not I have felt any different since I already did this diet last year.  The answer is a resounding yes.  I have crossed new milestones in my health that I never knew existed.  I have also been hearing a lot about what my wife is doing.  Everyone is noticing her new more amazing figure and energy levels.  We will be doing some tests over the next week or so for her and Ian in regards to dairy.  They have not had any tummy issues since we started all this and both are anxious to know if it fixed their tummies.  I told them that healing might take a little time but a small test shouldn't hurt at this point.

I will say that I was not sure how this was going to go but I am so amazed and proud of my entire family.  Abigail has had few changes but was not really ever sick anyway.  she has had some respiratory issues since she was little and was given steroid inhalers so this was a good way to get those systems clean and healthy again.  And of course, my little baby bear himself... Well, the changes in him are indescribable.  Some are only noticeable by those who spend a great deal of time with him but so many others are plain to see.  It is too easy to just say he is a different boy.  He is more than just a different boy, he has matured, he has laughed, he has learned to be 3, he has found his voice (often too much of it), he has found his feelings and is learning to understand them, he has found relationships he can understand and desires to grow them, he has lost his abnormal tummy but kept his cute 3 yr old belly, he has a bright face and enlightened eyes, he has learned to prosper and persevere, he has learned to do hard things and learned to take care of his body, he has figured out what makes him feel good and what makes him feel bad and is learning to make the right choices for himself.
You may say this is normal for a little boy, and it may well be, but it wasn't normal for my little boy 27 days ago.  All of that in just 27 short but excruciatingly long days. 
I know it also sounds so melodramatic to always be saying how our lives are changed and stuff.  But we made a conscience commitment to change our life and lifestyle not knowing what would lie ahead.  Our lives were changed because we sought to change them.  We put our foot down and crossed the line, never to return.  It wasn't all that hard but it certainly wasn't going to change by itself. 

Our Wellness is Our Responsibility

Not a Dr. or a company or the t.v. or anyone elses, it is ours and we took that responsibility to make our family well and do what was necessary.  The result... Haven't you been reading?  they speak for themselves.

I will continue to post some results, before and after statistics and maybe even some pictures.  The excursion has come to an end but the adventure is just beginning.  Here's to being well!

Day 23 -- The bread of life (for my wife)

So last night was our official yeast test but I forgot so I went to the local whole food store today and got one of their mini loaves of home made bread to bring to my wife and kids.  My wife is kind of a bread freak.  That is probably the one thing that she has really worked hard at and sacrificed for this program.  So I surprised her tonight with a loaf of bread.  She said she was going to cry.  Now we just sit and wait.  Hopefully no symptoms reappear.  If not then we only have a few days left.

I intend to end the program with another detox which is normal, but I was intending to be the only one because Corinne doesn't need to go anymore time without nursing.  Poor Alexis was traumatized as if mama didn't want her anymore. So she is off the hook with this one.  I asked the kids tonight just to say I did and they were adamant about doing it again with me.  so I guess they will do it as long as they want to.  I think mama will be in school by then so it might be interesting keeping them on it.  Though last time we didn't have to say anything, they actually motivated us.  They are awesome kids.

We were talking tonight about ending the "diet" and we came to the conclusion that even though the program is over, we don't have any intention of changing much of anything.  consider it a full lifestyle change.  My take is that calling it over will prompt my brain to want to go out and eat everything in site just because it is over.  If you make one exception of stuff to go back to, then why can't you make two or three exceptions?  Why not just make no exceptions and adopt a whole new lifestyle.  We love it, we have learned from it and it has made us more organized and will save us money in the long run.  I see no down side.  not to mention the health value added.  Here's to lives and lifestyles changed forever.

Day 22 -- the big sis

Guess I am posting every other day now... oops.  Another nice evening nap after a very long day.

There are not many changes to note anymore.  Most of what is happening now is solidification of good habits.  At this point I could live on this diet forever.  I don't see any reason to change anything.  Maybe add fruit back into our diet but other than that.  We are all enjoying the food and have found great substitutes for everything we used to eat.  I don't foresee a large amount of changes after we are finished with this program.

I do want to throw a shout out to my big sister.  You know that this has been a family excursion but you may have not known how much of my family.  My big sis has been in a big stick for quite some time.  She used to work out like an olympic hopeful for months and months with only a pound or two of weight loss.  Her health had diminished much like mine did, but for a longer period of time.  She is only a few days behind us on the program and is showing amazing results.  She has not started an exercise routine yet though she is quite active and commented to me today that she is having the same embarrassing problem my wife is having... Their underwear keeps falling down!  I have dropped a good bit of weight but I don't have any trouble with my draws.  you gotta lose a good ton of inches to start having problems with the stayability of the choneys. 

So totally proud of my whole family.  She is a perfect example of someone who has done everything right with diet and exercise and lifestyle, that whole deal, but with no results.  It just goes to show that it is not always about just doing better things or living healthy if there is something in you that needs to be treated and removed.  It needs to be taken care of first or you are just wasting vitamins and veggies.

 I want to bring more attention to the holistic concepts of health.  It is about finding and treating the problem, not the symptoms.  One gland or one organ cannot be the problem in a holistic mindset because nothing in our bodies acts alone, everything works with and for something else.  If one thing is acting up then it means the whole system is out of balance.  Lets get to balancing not just stuffing symptoms.

Here's to a balanced life: mind, body, spirit

Day 20 - pretty close to perfect

It is becoming pretty obvious what the true effects of wellness are.  Harmony and happiness, discipline and unity, peace and self control, smiles and laughter, exercise without pain, frustration without explosion, food without the tummy ache, pee without the yellow syrup and poop without the grunting or waiting.

Thats a pretty complete list.  Needless to say the days are getting better and better.  Another 10 days of this and we will be totally hooked.
Our grocery shopping, we have been 3 times since the beginning trip, has become a blessing.  We enjoy shopping for food. we only buy stuff we love to eat, which is also crazy healthy.  We can make just about anything out of very little and our options have increased dramatically.

We had a small revelation this morning with vitamins.  Corinne decided to switch things up a bit and use vanilla shake for the vitamins instead of chocolate and they loved it.  It wasn't a chore to get them to drink it, which it really hasn't been in a long time but they don't enjoy it.  This morning they enjoyed it... go figure.  Ian wants to try strawberry now.  don't know why we never thought of that.  they can't wait to try it tomorrow.

And to top it all off, we had an amazing dinner tonight with sprouted grain pasta and marinara sauce with perfectly steam broccoli and bake sweet potato discs slightly drizzled with cinnamon and maple syrup (you could barely taste it).  Now I am listening to the ice cream machine I bought yesterday finishing up our vanilla coconut milk ice cream.  We found the right stuff this time so we should be good to go.  yay for amazing and seeing the "fruit" of our labors.  We have prepared every meal we have eaten for 20 days and I don't even see what we used to use that time for before, its not that big of a deal and so very rewarding.