Live Better. Love More.
Leave A Legacy.

One child just gets over a bad cold and another starts. Recurring ear infections. Chronic coughs. Stomach viruses. Although dealing with one health problem after another seems to be an ongoing battle in most families, that doesn’t have to be the norm. The human body was created with far more capacity to ward off everyday infections if given what it needs.

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The body’s immune system, when operating as designed, will curtail everyday viruses and bad bacteria. But so much of our Western lifestyle works against our defense system.

“What recipes do you use?” It’s a question Gail and I are asked several times a week. Once people hear we’ve made the choices we’ve made in our eating, they want to know our recipes. Our response is usually a paradigm shifter.

It’s not that we don’t have recipes—we do have some favorites. It’s just that we don’t use many. Instead, we do more of what we call “food combining.”

I’ve written about why I shifted to a plant-strong eating plan and Gail recently shared her experience in doing the same. Consequently, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about where does a person even start.

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I was highly motivated because of my diagnosis with early stage, slow-growing prostate cancer. You may be wanting to make improvements yet may not desire to make as an abrupt change as I did.

I’m often asked why I eat a mostly plant-based diet. My husband made that change almost five years ago when he was diagnosed with early prostate cancer. Rather than follow through with the conventional medical treatment options, he chose to improve his health by first changing his diet.

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But my story is a bit different. When I met my husband, I outweighed him by 25 pounds. When he first asked me out on a date, I decided that I either had to lose some weight or just not date him. I opted for the former.

Making better lifestyle choices in any area requires sustained motivation. It’s not just enough to know we should. We need the “want to”. The “will do”.

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This is certainly true in eating better. Most know we’d do better to eat more vegetables and fruits, less processed and fast food, less sugar, etc. It just seems so hard; so dramatic; so deprived.

As I’ve mentioned before, in 2011 I made some dramatic lifestyle changes for health reasons. One of those was a daily walk for 30 minutes. It may seem like a small thing but what a difference it makes.

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Most of us really don’t do enough walking. In fact, we are becoming more sedentary. The health hazards of prolonged periods of sitting are being widely reported.

When asked how a person can improve their health, after recommending increasing water intake, I always answer, “Cut the sugar!” I don’t know of one other ingredient that wreaks more havoc on our health today than sugar.

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As a kid, I sprinkled a little sugar on oatmeal with cinnamon, added a little to iced tea or lemonade, and enjoyed a soft drink once in a great while. Mom added sugar to desert recipes but that was about it. It’s not that way any more for most Americans and our waistlines and health show it.

We’ve all heard for years how important a good breakfast is. Yet how often do we skimp or skip the most important meal of the day?

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The best time to tune the instrument is before the concert. That’s why an energizing morning routine is so vital to get you mentally and emotionally prepared for the day. In the same way, a good breakfast provides the vital fuel to kickstart your day.

Health has become a strong passion for me in the last few years. You can expect me to write on the subject regularly here. But it wasn’t always that way. I never really had to watch my weight—until my late 40’s and early 50’s. No real health issues. I credited my Danish genes.

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That’s why the diagnosis in January 2011 was such a shock. The biopsy report determined early stage, slow-growing prostate cancer. My PSA score—a blood test commonly used to monitor prostate cancer—had been creeping upward so I’d had a bit of a heads up. Yet, little prepares you for the “c” word. Just a few years prior I had supported a dear friend through his battle with prostate cancer and I eventually officiated his funeral. That’s a strong visual and emotional image to override.