My Amazing Story
It’s been another long day of unending problems and emotional battles. “What am I going to do when the money soon runs out?” “How should I deal with the 6 lawsuits facing me?” “How do I tell those around me who depend on my cash flow that it is coming to an end?” “How do I keep my companies alive without the necessary cash to keep them going?” “What can I do to generate the cash flow necessary to simply keep a roof over our heads and food on the table?” My health is declining faster than the economy and I feel helpless.
I’ve Got to Go to Sleep and Turn Off My Mind
Exhausted, I turn off the lights and slump into bed. My hands and feet are so cold that I cover them up with as much blanket as I can. It’s probably due to poor circulation. After tossing and turning for what feels like an eternity, I finally fall off to sleep and start snoring like I’m in a chain saw competition. Fortunately, I don’t get to hear it so I don’t wake up. Not so fortunate for my love, Holly, who occasionally nudges me to turn over onto my side.
It’s dark and the middle of the night when I’m jolted out of my sleep by a severe cramp in my leg that hurts so much I have to jump out of bed and stand on it for few minutes to get it to go away. After a while the cramp is gone, but I notice that I am sweating profusely. Probably just getting rid of toxins.
Another Day
Now it’s morning. The sun is up and it’s time to wake and start the day. But my pounding, groggy and depressed head says otherwise. I would like nothing more than to crawl under the covers and go back to sleep. I can’t though, because my paralyzed mind is racing out of control with overwhelming worries.
Beginning my daily ritual, I stretch to reach under the bed and pick up the blood pressure monitor. It’s high again. 180 over 110. I grab the medicine box and take two blood pressure pills. Then I fumble through the pill bottles finding a Lipitor for my high cholesterol followed by a Prilosec for the constant heartburn eating away at my throat. I’ve been taking all of these pills for more years than I can remember. Being 66, I have come to believe that this is all a normal part of life and this is the way it is supposed to be.
Slowly, I get out of bed and make my way to the bathroom when unexpectedly I’m stopped in my tracks by a sharp pain in my feet when I put pressure on them to walk. It’s probably early symptoms of gout. Seeing an open bottle of wine from the night before, I stop and swallow a couple of big swigs. Just enough of the “hair of the dog” to make me feel better. At least for the moment.
Different Day But The Same Old Stuff
Now it’s time to face the day. My eyes are glazed and red as I step into the shower. The warm water feels good. Clean and soothing. After toweling off, I stand on the scale. Hooray! 195 pounds. A new all time record high for me. Shaving in front of the mirror, I’m alarmed to see new splotchy blemishes on my face. It’s probably my body reacting to all the toxins I continue to consume.
On my way to get dressed, I suddenly start sneezing uncontrollably followed by a runny nose that drips like a leaky faucet for hours. Nothing unusual about that. I’ve had my worst allergies ever in Colorado for the past 15 years. Getting ready to put on my pants, I see myself in the full-length mirror. It’s not a pretty sight. I have become fat and horribly out of shape. I don’t want to see anymore so I turn away and struggle to pull up my pants that are way too tight and uncomfortable. They are so tight they restrict my breathing that becomes even worse when I bend over to pull up my socks. Come on now, I can’t believe it’s that tough just to get dressed.
My energy level is low and not what I’d like it to be. Maybe a little more wine will pick me up so I slowly, but continuously sip my bottomless glass throughout the day. Pushing on, I work my way through a demanding agenda driven by the high level of anxiety that I have known well for almost 40 years. By midnight I’ve gone through two or three bottles of wine and I’m ready to hit the sack and call it a day. But just one more pill. I have to take Xanax to help me sleep. Not my best day, but at least it‘s over. I keep telling myself, “Maybe tomorrow will be better”
A New Day
Finally, my best day did come. Holly, the love of my life, continued to bring up our unhealthy lifestyle. Thank God she did. Terribly overweight and out of shape, we both decided that we have had enough and that it was time to make a big change or risk falling into a hole we knew we could never get out of.
We started exercising and began training to run the Los Angeles Marathon. That’s right, a marathon. We were totally out of shape and we are going to run a marathon? Why not think big? You just might hit your target. While we didn’t actually run the marathon, we did become more health conscious. We both did the eleven-day Master Cleanse fast. We also did the Martha’s Vineyard, 21 day detox fast followed by colonics to clean out the poisons in our system.
We joined a gym and exercised fairly regularly and with good intensity. We took spinning and Pilates classes. Holly went swimming and together we went running and weight training. We changed our eating habits to exclude rich fatty foods and to include more fruits and vegetables. We ate Nutri Systems and Medi-Fast foods and went on juice fasts. And we began controlling the size of our portions. We were really trying to be conscious about the food we ate.
Springtime in the Rocky Mountains is beautiful and attracted us to snowshoeing because it was a reasonably strenuous aerobic exercise and we could be outside and enjoy the beauty of nature. In the beginning, we found it very difficult since we were so out of shape. We persevered though and within a month we were able to snowshoe up steep trails for two to three hours at a time.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges and most embarrassing times for me was when I had difficulty just bending over to tie my boots and put on my snowshoes. My gut was so big that it got in the way and made it extremely hard for me to breathe when I bent over to tie my shoes. After a hard workout at the end of the day, when the sun was going down, I would have a glass or two of my favorite wine and by the end of the evening, it would always be more. I never took the time to give it a second thought, let alone a first thought to question myself about what I was doing to myself.
More Wine?
Slowly, we began to feel better, but we knew we still had a long way to go and we also knew that drinking was a gigantic problem we didn’t want to face. We were absolutely and completely frightened to think that we would have to quit drinking alcohol. It was finally obvious that we had to face the “dreaded” and the “unthinkable”. Since we couldn’t be happy with only one or two glasses of wine, we knew we had to stop drinking completely and permanently. We were so aware at this point that we didn’t even think twice about quitting. It was clearly the only path to health and survival. Within weeks of quitting all alcohol, we saw immediate changes. We were both beginning to feel better and our weight finally began to drop. My blood pressure also began dropping slowly and my heartburn was getting better.
Exercise and P90X
A friend of mine told me about an exercise program called, “P90X”. I looked it up on the internet and was sold immediately. When I did my first workout, I could not do one pull-up and I could only do three partial pushups. Ten weeks later, I was knockin’ off twenty each without stopping and over 150 each in each workout session. I lost 20 pounds and was the strongest I have been for 30 years. I could run further and faster and I had much more endurance. P90X is a super great exercise program that I would strongly recommend to those inclined toward rigorous exercise.
Steady Improvement
About 10 weeks into my new lifestyle and I began feeling better. I felt more energetic in the morning and was not as depressed. My blood pressure was definitely improving and my heartburn was gradually getting better. I began weaning myself off all my medications. Fewer blood pressure pills. Only an occasional Lipitor, less Prilosec and fewer Xanax pills. When I saw my doctor for a full physical exam, he was shocked to see my turnaround. He said I had gone from very unhealthy to healthy in a very short time.
I am Science Oriented and Like to See Strong Evidence
Like too many of us, I have lost several family members and friends over the years to cancer and decided to do something about it. In 1998, with the help of a brilliant molecular biologist, Dr. Toomas Neuman, we co-founded a molecular biotechnology company called, CeMines, (www.cemines.com), dedicated to developing and delivering simple and affordable blood tests to detect cancers and other disease early and accurately. Our partner is Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a Johnson & Johnson company and we are optimistic that we have the potential to make a big change in the quality of healthcare worldwide.
I have given the last ten years of my life to CeMInes and presently serve as the Executive Chairman of the Board.
I am not a formally trained scientist, but I am science oriented and not easily convinced about most things without reasonable evidence.
Introduction to Raw Foods
On week 10, I became curious when I saw Holly intently reading a book called, “The Live Food Factor”. I wasn’t expecting to learn anything new since I believed I was already eating healthy foods and since I accepted the conventional wisdom of eating cooked foods as normal. After all, I have been eating cooked foods all of my life and everyone else I knew was too. Also, previously being a traditional meat and potatoes person, I was always very skeptical about a vegetarian diet, let alone a raw diet.
After only a few minutes of reading, I couldn’t believe the testimonials from people who claimed astonishing results from simply eating raw foods. The testimonials that were enough to get anyone’s attention and interest were topped by several convincing scientific studies by credible institutions, scientists and researchers. After a lifetime of eating like everyone else, I suddenly understood the problems with eating cooked and processed foods and quickly jumped into the lifestyle of eating “raw” and healthy.
Raw Magic
After only 4 weeks of incorporating raw rather than cooked foods into my diet, I lost much more weight and packed on way more muscle. My body and mind became in the best shape of my life. Perhaps most noticeable, is that I feel like I am continually naturally high. I feel euphoric, healthy, happy and extremely clear minded. I no longer feel the worries of my past. Instead, I am confident about my abilities to deal with anything I choose or anything that comes my way. I no longer feel the anxiety and fears I have lived with for most of my years. Now I know my body and mind are becoming healthier than I ever imagined. Eating “raw” or “live” foods continues to amaze me and give me rewards beyond my wildest dreams. I wish I discovered this sooner, but I am extremely grateful that I have discovered it now.
I’m Through With All Medications
Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with an incurable disease similar to Parkinson’s. It is called Dystonia and it causes my head and neck muscles to involuntarily contract. The result is constant migraine headaches and uncontrollable tremors of my head. The gold standard treatment is to inject large amounts (25,000 units) of highly toxic botox into the hyperactive muscles and atrophy them so they can’t pull too hard. When I was first diagnosed, I was told by my neurologist that there is no cure and that it is progressive and that I should drink a lot (alcohol) because it is the only thing that would help.
After decades of following his advice, I have found yet another and surprising benefit of Raw Magic. My Dystonia appears to be gradually getting better. My migraines, muscle contractions and head tremors are beginning to go away. My voice that was constantly weak from my Dystonia is now strong. People who haven’t seen me for several months are all saying that my tremors and shaking are 80% better.
After 14 weeks, I have completely quit taking all prescription medications. My blood pressure is now normal with no medication. My cholesterol levels are now in the healthy range and I no longer take lipitor. My heartburn is completely gone and I take no prilosec or antacids. My digestive system is now working perfectly. Please do not try to follow what I did without first consulting your physician. I weaned myself gradually with constant monitoring of my blood pressure and blood test results. You need to do the same to make sure you are in complete control of what you are doing.
I am so excited by what has happened so far that I have decided to skip my next set of massive botox injections and see what happens. This will be my last medication to permanently shed.
I have discovered that my body has the best pharmacy in the world if I only feed it properly. It’s true that your best medicine in the world is in the produce aisles of your market: super green vegetables accompanied with a rainbow of colors of other vegetables and living foods and a blend of fresh fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes. Pure energy-packed living foods.
My Amazing Miracle
Only 14 weeks after making the most important decision of my life to focus on health, I can honestly say that when I wake up in the morning, I feel happy and eager to jump out of bed and greet the day. Being alive now is like being a child again where everything is fun and perfect.
No more alcohol. No more pills. Absolutely zero medications. No more anxiety and depression. No more irrational fear. No more pain. No more embarrassment at being overweight and out of shape. Instead, I look in the mirror and like what I see. My lean body with well defined muscles. And a great big smile of confidence and self worth.
Now I live my life with only healthy, organic, raw foods and plenty of body and mind exercises.
This is how my life has changed in only fourteen weeks:
Appearance
Health
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State of Mind
Spirituality
More Benefits
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I AM NOT A DOCTOR |
Super Healthy and High on Life
Today, I am super healthy, truly high on life and am now on a mission to spread the word to everyone who wants to get the most out of life. All it takes is that simple, but illusive decision to want to change and get the most out of life.
Read “What is Raw Magic”, “Why Eat Raw Food”, “Getting Started” and “Your First 30 Days of Raw Magic”.
Check with your physician before your begin any diet or exercise program that is new or before you modify any prescription medication you are currently taking.