Juicing

Juicing has been part of my daily diet for nearly six years. I bought a juicer after reading Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Cancer blog. She has been living thriving with inoperable cancer for over ten years and when I found her blog, I was going through cancer treatment. When it came to my diet, my doctors weren’t giving me answers that made sense to me. They kept telling me to eat whatever I wanted but my intuitively I knew they were wrong, so I went on the Internet to find other rectal cancer survivors.To be honest, I didn’t find any. That didn’t mean there weren’t any, it’s just they weren’t sharing their stories on social media. I decided to expand my search and that’s how I found Kris. She is a huge advocate for juicing so I bought a Breville juicer and after tasting my first glass of fresh juice, I was hooked.

After only six months of treatment, I was told I was cancer free! I’m sure juicing played a huge part in my speedy recovery. I had two doses of chemotherapy and thirty radiation treatments. Drinking my food was easier on my intestines (since that’s where the cancer was) and my immune system rebounded quickly. If I had eaten whatever I wanted I doubt I’d be typing this right now. Eating whatever I wanted got me into trouble in the first place!

I do have side effects from the radiation which affects my balance but other than that I feel better than ever! Eating a plant based diet (vegan), juicing and drinking green smoothies gives my body the nourishment it needs to stay healthy.

Getting cancer completely changed my life– for the better.

Before cancer I loved food and worked in restaurants for twenty years, mostly diners and what do diners serve? Not healthy food, that’s for sure, but at the time I liked the taste– like millions of other Americans. I did eat a garden burgers when I decided to become vegetarian but what was missing from my vegetarian diet was the fresh vegetables and fruit. 99% of my diet came from processed foods. I didn’t understand what processed meant and that packaged food has no nutritional value. I figured if it was for sale, then it was good to eat.

Wrong!

After cancer I found recipes to make meals from fresh foods for myself that were healthy and tasted great!

Last night I watched the documentary, Fat, Sick and Nearly dead on Netflix. The star and producer, by the name of Joe Cross, documented his experience of drinking only fresh juice for sixty days and how he inspired a truck driver he interviewed, named Chris to do the same. Both of them suffered from the same autoimmune disease. Their transformations were amazing!  Just watching it got me all excited again about eating healthy. Since I do eat a balanced diet, I wanted to share the trailer to the documentary with you. If you have Netflix, I recommend watching it, it could save your life. Yes, It’s that good!

Joe has a website and Face Book Page, if you want to take a look.

Be well!

Ingebird

 

Healthy Living After the Age of Sixty

These two inspiring people show us that living a full and healthy life after the age of sixty is definitely possible!

Be well. Stay active. Eat healthy foods and your body will reward you with vibrant health!

Ingebird

Stand Up Straight!

My posture isn’t what it used to be. Okay, it was never great but I saw my reflection in a storefront window the other day and I look hunched over, not the Hunchback of Notre Dame hunched over, but it didn’t look good. I’m guessing it’s from using the walker for the last five years. I only use it when I’m alone outside but maybe that was enough for my back to get lazy. I’m six feet tall and even with the walker extensions it’s a bit short for me. My back has been feeling sore as well, so I bet my bad posture is to blame.

Instead of running to the doctor to see what he thinks, I went on You Tube and looked for back exercises, specifically yoga stretches. I found two that I will share with you. They are both gentle and that’s a win for me.  I’m not into any intense exercise and that includes yoga.

Along with the yoga, I’m more conscious of my posture when walking or standing. If my shoulders feel too far back, then I’m standing correctly. I know because I watched myself in the mirror. It feels weird probably because my back got used to hunching over. Eventually it will feel better.

This one is meant for people with scoliosis but it’s really good for anyone who wants to gently stretch their spine.

This video is similar but a shorter session:

Be well and sit up straight!

ingebird