"Green For Life" - Change is Coming

Wow. So a few weeks ago I finally caved and went to the doctor because I had my third cold in three months. I am sick of being sick and know that something needs to change.

I've been eating a lousy diet (which is really a crime given that I know what proper nutrition does for us) and I haven't been able to sustain any kind of an exercise routine in a LOOOOONG time. This is the worst shape I've been in ever and rather than feeling 38 years old, I've been feeling more like 54. I am not horribly overweight. At 5'6" I am at 158 and for the most part carry the weight well. I hike. I ski. I bike. This is, though, the highest weight ever for me and I know if I don't change something it will only keep going up at the steady rate it's been climbing for the past, ugh, 10 years....

It's not like I'm having any major health crisis. Thankfully. I sleep well. Too well and for too long, I think. And I still frequently feel tired. While I am not sick, that I know of, I just feel un-well. And I'm tired of abusing my body. I want a different relationship with it than the one I've had for the past 38 years. I have pretty much ignored, tolerated, abused or taken it for granted for most of my life. Even when I was in great shape, my mentality was one of somehow "beating my body into being well". Sad. I loved being athletic but instead of appreciating my body for performing I expected it as a given and would give it little in return.

Even as I realized years ago that spirituality and mindfulness are a huge part of my life and something I must cultivate, somehow I managed to exclude my body out of that equation. It felt more like this body was an inconvenience or a road block and if only I could be enlightened I'd be OK. I thought (still do to some degree, because I haven't truly given them a chance) that Yoga and other body-centered practices were "nice" but I failed to know and feel the truth in them as the path to what I was trying to accomplish while cutting my body off.

Well, as I was sitting at the doctor's office the nurse practitioner who came in to take my blood pressure listened to me attentively while I described what was going on. Even though it's only been a few days, I think his next words to me changed something in my life, big time. He said; "You need green smoothies". Now, I have juice fasted before (again, another "white knuckle" attempt at being healthy on demand) and it's not that I didn't feel great - it's just that it felt like a huge punishment and I couldn't wait to break the fast so I could eat a burger! But, my ears perked up because I desperately want to believe that something can make this process of being healthy actually feel good also! Eating a healthy diet shouldn't have to feel like a punishment or permanent deprivation. I love my chocolate, pasta, red wine and Gouda way too much to give them up if I'm miserable in the process. So after he was done taking my vitals he quickly wrote the book title and the author's name on a paper towel and folded it saying "don't let the doctor see this, I don't think she too into this stuff..." I was ready to walk out that minute, knowing that seeing the doctor wasn't even relevant any more. (I did see her though, and she told me I should start taking aspirin daily due the history of strokes in my family... Thanks, but I don't think so.) I got what I came for and headed for Border's. They didn't have the book so I ordered it on line. It arrived a few days ago and I am just about done reading it. The information feels so intuitively correct that I keep having big "DUH!" moments throughout reading it! Why hasn't this dawned on me - or the rest of the world! - waaaaay sooner?!?! How is this information not plastered on every billboard and talked about on the news?!?! Why isn't Oprah talking about this!??!?! This is the answer to sustainability!!!! You can gather edible plants, for crying out loud. Our best nutrition is free and all around us, and we keep yanking it out of the ground, tossing it into garbage bags or spraying it with pesticides.

You MUST read this book. Well, of course you don't. But I REALLY want you to.

But more importantly, I want you to start drinking Green Smoothies!!! You will be AMAZED at their taste!

Bruce and I are on day three. My cold cleared. My bowel movements (sorry) are regular and truly "emptying". This morning, we were wide awake and ready to go at 3:30 AM. I know that sounds horrible (especially to someone like me who adores sleeping - I should have been a cat!), but we are full of energy and just didn't need to sleep more. Ann Wigmore (the wheat grass lady) slept 2 hours a night for most of her life after going green. Many people are saying they sleep WAY less since starting to drink the smoothies. And I LOVE the taste of these things!!

OK... anyway..... I know it's early, and I am kind of waiting for the shoe to drop and to get to the day when I can't drink another green blend - but until then - I'm going to keep on blending! I'll keep you posted!