Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It's Not JUST Exercise, Steve Pavlina!

I'm sure Steve would agree, but yesterday I read a great post of his on the importance of exercise for staying healthy physically, mentally, and socially. I agree, and if you want to read his whole post, it's very good, http://stevepavlina.com. However, I had an experience this weekend that is worthy of sharing, and shows that some other things are just as important as exercise.

Those of you who know me will be shocked, I am certain, but this will serve to reassure you that I am human and given to lapses on occasion. For those who don't know me, I rarely feel bad, even at 62 (on Sunday!) and usually have lots of energy and motivation. But I can seem rigid about food, exercise, rest, etc. Life is good. But yesterday...not so much.

It started on Sunday. My husband and I were driving back from Las Vegas, and life was good. We had just spent 22 hours with one set of grand kids because it was Paige's birthday. We had decided to drive over on a whim Saturday morning, seeing that we had no commitments for the weekend (a rarity).

Mind you, we hadn't fully recovered from two weeks back East with five other grandchildren--we had only been home four days. Nevertheless, we felt up to the challenge of a quick overnight trip.

I had just signed up with Danielle Zanzarov for a fruit and vegie challenge (eating more than five a day) and did great the first day. (I had eight on Saturday) so Sunday, even though I had only had one vegetable, and some lime water, I was still feeling good--the mind was clear, the body comfortable, motivation great. In fact, I kept telling my husband I would drive. (He likes to drive--I think it's a macho thing--but he had driven all the way the day before!)

Finally, an hour from home, it's dark, and he decides to let me drive. We stop at a gas station, we're both slightly hungry but nothing that couldn't wait, but we see Red-Velvet muffins. And we decided to try them. (My daughter gasped when I told her.)

I didn't know what they were. I was hoping maybe very rich raspberry? They looked homemade and beautiful. I didn't know they were rich chocolate with a bottle or two of red food coloring. (A true heresy in the health-food world.)

I confess I wasn't too worried when I realized what it was; you see, I learned a trick working in a drug rehab for 15 years. Activated charcoal, and I took it as soon as I got home, but I didn't take enough.

By mid-morning the next day, my attitude was in the toilet. I had no motivation, couldn't focus, didn't want to do anything I'd planned, was worried about lunch with my best friend, and I hadn't seen her for three weeks! I lamented my attitude to God and He said, "Just be a good listener." It was fine. What was wrong with me? By mid-afternoon my low-back on the left side was beginning to hurt. Strange. By that evening it was stiff.

I put on lemon oil and Thieves oil and went to bed. (They usually fix anything.) After horrible dreams, which seemed to last all night, I awoke very stiff. I had to do part of my exercise routine to even be able to sit and meditate. I ended up sitting on my exercise ball for the rest of my time with God. I downed lots of water (alkalized with Vanilla Creme Stevia--love it), took four garlic capsules and six Kyogreen, and before I exercised that morning (painful but productive), took my Ningxia Red. Loaded up on nutrients!

My morning clients canceled, and thank God the wind had stopped, so I went outside and did some light gardening in the sun for 30 minutes. By that time I felt almost normal again, and was able to sit down and write! By tomorrow, hopefully, I'll be back to normal.

So, Steve, while exercise is very important, so is what you put in your mouth--I can't exactly call it food, but the stuff that some call food--skip that, and go for the real stuff that grows. I heard someone call all this pretend food "brightly packaged toxins." That is exactly what I experienced. Real food has a positive effect on the mind/body/spirit! And that is all you are--help yourself feel good.


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