The Importance of Exercise

I feel like I'm covering a topic that is already well understood.  We all know that exercise is important and we all need to do some sort of exercise.  However, I think, as with anything else, sometimes it's good to have a little reminder as to why it's so good for us.  (Please see your doctor before starting an exercise program.)

Okay, I can already hear it! What if you hate exercising?  Find something you enjoy doing.  Be intentional and persistent about finding the right formula that helps you tolerate exercise and maybe even enjoy it.  I hate running, but I found the method that works for me.  I have a fantastic running partner, more experienced than myself, and we run trails.  I actually look forward to my running excursions now.  It doesn't have to be running. Brisk walking most definitely counts; it is the exercise of the  most long lived people in the world.  Find anything that gets your body moving and your heart pumping.

Here are some of the benefits of exercise.

It balances mood and helps people be happier.

Have you ever been depressed?  It's awful!  It's like living in a dark cave with stale air.  Outdoor exercise and an alkaline, detoxifying plant based diet should be part of any depression blasting plan.  The endorphins keep me coming back for more.  Any raw foodists who run in my audience?  Have you ever had a runner's high on a raw food diet?  Insanely out of this world!  Better than any drug available without the side effects.  If you are dealing with depression consider Depression -The Way Out by Dr. Neil Nedley, M.D.  He has had tremendous success in helping people overcome depression naturally.

Outside exercise is a good way to get vitamin D.  

People have been so bombarded by falsehoods about sun exposure.  The sun isn't the culprit.  Toxins in your environment and your food choices are what  make you susceptible to skin cancer.  Vitamin D can actually help fight cancer, enhance mood and sleep, and help to ward off depression.  The irony is that most sunblock lotions have chemicals that actually cause cancer.  Get sun in the morning and afternoon and cover up or seek shade during the hottest part of the day.  If you need sunblock, try finding one that has zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. These key ingredients are minerals, not chemicals.  Such lotions are usually available at health food stores.  Dr. Mercola has a natural sunscreen formula that looks great to me.

Exercise helps to prevent cancer and other diseases. 

Good circulation is important for good health.  If you do cardiovascular exercise, your blood is better able to transport nutrients and helps to detoxify every square inch of your body.  Although a clean diet is critically important for good health, even those who do not have a great diet, enjoy better health if they exercise regularly.  The body is better able to boost immunity.  The heart is stronger from regular use and can pump more blood with less work.  The body is better able to produce high density lipoproteins or HDL "good" cholesterol and decrease low density lipoproteins or LDL "bad" cholesterol.

Exercise can help slow down the aging process.

Stress can take a toll and aging is one of the tell tale ways that stress can show up.  Just take a look at the difference when a new president takes office and when he leaves office.  If you exercise regularly, your body is better able to handle the stress you may be under.  Alzheimer's Disease and senility can be prevented.  The brain is not a separate compartment of the body.  It needs to have good circulation and the ability to detoxify.  It too can form plaque from animal products and processed foods.  Enjoy clarity of mind from a clean, detoxifying plant based diet.  Pump nutrient dense blood to your brain and a host of problems can be prevented.

Exercise helps to strengthen bones.

I'm sure you have heard this.   Strength training is very important to maintain strong healthy bones.  I need to add to this, though, and put in my two cents.  Osteoporosis is not a problem of a lack of calcium from dairy products.  As a matter of fact, dairy products are a contributing factor to osteoporosis.  The real problem is a diet of excess animal protein and consumption of drinks like soda and coffee.  Animal products create a highly acidic environment in the body and in order for the body to neutralize the imbalance, it draws calcium (which is very alkaline) out of the bones.  Here is an article that goes into more detail about this topic.  Here is another  good article about this by Physician's Committee For Responsible Medicine.

Exercise helps to maintain ideal body weight and improve self-esteem. 

Exercise should be an integral part of any weight loss plan.  I am sure that most everyone understands this.  However, including an alkaline plant based diet, eliminating processed foods and eating low on the glycemic index will make weight loss so much easier.  It is the difference between failure and sustained success for the long haul.  Here is an article about the glycemic index if you need more information about that.  It goes without saying: anybody will feel better about their appearance if they are slim and trim.

Types of exercise we should engage in.

Everyone should strive to have some sort of cardiovascular exercise that lasts at least 30 minutes five times per week.  Cross train and vary the types of cardiovascular exercise if you can.  If you can't make it to the gym figure out ways to get your heart pumping, even if it means getting off the bus a stop early or taking the stairs rather than the elevator.  Strength training is very important for bone health.  It also helps tone and shape your body.  I have heard some women say that they would rather not weight train because they do not want to look like men.  You would have to work out very intensely and decidedly before you could even begin to look like some semblance of a man.  Believe me, it doesn't happen easily!  Lastly, be sure to include stretching to avoid injuries.

I'll say it again and again, find exercise you enjoy.  Force yourself to go.  Find a partner who will encourage you.  Get a dog so you are forced to walk it once or twice a day.  Age is not an excuse; older people must also get out and exercise. I feel so blessed that exercise is an absolute pleasure for me.  It is my fix, my drug of choice. I suffered from post partum depression but was able to blast it out of my psyche once I got back to the gym.  I hope my children will catch the bug and experience the pleasure I get out of it.  I hope you will too!

Enjoy the Journey!

The Wonder of the Natural World

I never cease to be amazed at the marvelous world we live in.  The perfect synchrony of systems that work seemingly independently of each other but form an incredible symbiotic network when looked upon from a distance, the reciprocal exchange between humans and plant life of oxygen to carbon dioxide, the continual movement of water from streams and rivers to ocean to air and back down again.  The human body!  Have you ever studied Anatomy and Physiology?  Amazing!  The complexity of every living thing - the way everything is inextricably connected in one manner or another - is mind boggling to me. 

I was in art school in San Francisco when an instructor introduced the study of the Golden Ratio.  Have you heard of it?  Wow!  The artistic design that exists in the natural world can be seen by studying the mathematical Golden Ratio, Mean or Section.  It is based on Pi, the number rounded to 3.14.  The unfurling of a flower is based on this ratio, as well as the curvature of a ram's horn, a conch shell or The Milky Way galaxy.  The human body is also designed and measured by this ratio.  Ancient architects, recognizing the balance and beauty of things based on this ratio in the natural world, decided to employ this for their man-made structures. Doing so gave birth to some of the most amazing classical architectural designs that resonate universally with anyone who has eyes to appreciate beauty.

I believe that there is a perfect, beautiful design in the natural world.  It is perfect because that's exactly how God designed it.  Pardon me, it is not my intention to step on anyone's toes who believes otherwise.  With such painstaking precision in the natural world, I just can't believe we bubbled up by chance in some primordial stew.  And it just so happens that when we return to the original plan of eating and living, the effects on the human body are nothing short of miraculous.  

A 70-year-old woman, Annette Larkins, can look fresh, young and youthful. People like Joe Cross and Jon Gabriel who struggled with obesity can easily attain their ideal body weight. Athletes in their 40's like Tim Van Orden can easily outpower athletes in their 20's.  According to Dr. Young, returning to a raw alkaline diet, makes it possible for all manner of diseases to evaporate into thin air. Lives that are burdened with sickness, disease, depression become healthful and happier. Foods provided by the earth, unadulterated by chemicals or processing, give vigor, youthfulness and health to the human body.

Once embarking on this journey, one just can't help but be completely thrilled by the effects.  As crazy as it sounds, you become more keenly aware of your body and how certain foods or emotions affect it.  My senses have become sharper, more alert and more spiritually in tune.  Look for testimonials; it is a theme that repeats itself again and again with people who choose this path. It is an attribute that even surprises those who experience it.

In the next series of posts I will be covering exercise, cancer and  juicing.

Enjoy the Journey!

Up Coming Events

There are some interesting events on the horizon if you live in California.  The first is Danny Vierra's Health and Healing Crusade. Danny always has a great line-up of guest speakers.  This year he has Dr. Robert Young and Shelley Redford Young.  You may remember that Dr. Young  and Shelley Redford Young are the authors of The pH Miracle.  Charlotte Gerson is a mainstay at Danny's Health and Healing Crusades.  She has a wealth of information on how to reverse cancer naturally.  Click here to register or for more information. If you cannot attend, DVD's of the conference will be available in June.  Contact Modern Manna for more info on the DVD's.

Did you happen to see Hungry for Change?  David Wolfe and Daniel Vitalis are some of the guests featured in that documentary.  David Wolfe conducts seminars in California at the Longevity Now Conference.  I would love to make it to one of his conferences some time, but I think I am more apt to purchase his DVD's and watch them at home at my leisure.  There is a particular presentation that Daniel Vitalis conducts that caught my attention, "How to Prepare for an Emergency Situation."  It is hard to ignore the fact that the world we live in is becoming increasingly unstable.  How will you continue to provide for your family when emergency situations strike?  Click here for more information on this topic. 

There will be a free screening of Forks over Knives on April 22 at 3:00 PM in Olney, MD.  This event will be sponsored in part by the Potomac Adventist Book and Health Food Store.  Representatives will be present selling vegan cookbooks, raw recipe books and will conduct a Q & A session after the screening.  They also will bring chia seed for sale at bulk price per my request.  (I love chia seed!)  Register at olneyseminars.org

Hope to see you there!

Lastly, on April 16, 17 and 18, Green Smoothie Girl Robyn Openshaw will be conducting a webinar on water ionizers and planning a group buy.  Go to greensmoothiegirl.com to sign up for her newsletter to be informed of her next ionizer group buy.  The next group buy (deeply discounted!) will be taking place within days, so don't delay.  I would love to purchase one to drink the purest, alkaline water.  Hope you are enjoying the beautiful spring weather.  Spring is my absolute favorite season!

Enjoy the Journey!

Body Building on a Plant Based Diet

Vegan Derek Tresize

Nothing annoys me more than when I hear people say that you need to eat meat to build muscle.  I am very non-confrontational and when a debate heats up I am usually the first to bow out. So when I hear people start spouting off about how necessary it is to eat meat, I usually just grit my teeth and bear it.  In this post I want to showcase some amazing body builders who fly in the face of conventional wisdom and have defied what people constantly say is not possible.  Yes, you absolutely can build muscle without eating meat.  Just look at these people!

Andreas Cahling is a Swedish body builder who competed in the 70's and 80's.  Be sure to click on his link.  I love this quote that I found from him:

"My idea of optimum nutrition is rather complicated, but I can give you an outline of it fairly quickly. I firmly believe in fresh goods, preferably raw, so their enzymes are still intact. Cooked foods also have many of the minerals turned inorganic, so raw food seems best to me, and had certainly worked well. I also believe in very little animal protein, other than some raw milk products. I also believe in taking goat's milk, since it is more easily used by the human body. Beef is totally taboo, since it is loaded with saturated fats, uric acid and chemicals from the steroids farmers feed their cattle.

"Many bodybuilders have said that nutrition is 75% of the battle in bodybuilding. I would go a step farther and say that bodybuilding is as much as 90% nutrition, and good nutrition can make or break you in the sport."  Please read the entire article here  (If this link doesn't work, go to worldclassbodybuilding.com and look up Andreas Cahling 10 Rules for Body Building Success.)

Raw Vegan Wade Lightheart

You should also look up Bill Pearl and Luiz Freitas.  I could not obtain permission to use their photos, but please take the time to view their photos via the links provided. These men were huge in their heyday. You'll have to scroll down for the Freitas photo (on the cover of MuscleMag), I couldn't find an official site for him. I did manage to get in contact with Derek Tresize, Wade Lightheart and Sherif Kamal for permission to use their photos. Click here for Derek Tresize' very interesting bio.  Markus Rothkranz has a how-to video about raw vegan body building.  

Raw Vegan Sherif Kamal

Sherif Kamal has a great site called Nature's Fitness Model.  Athletes such as the ones featured in this post have done much to bring the raw food lifestyle mainstream.  These fitness competitors feel that their bodies are so much cleaner and more efficient on a plant based diet.  What's most impressive is when they win competitions against meat-eating body builders.  If you have the time, read what fitness competitor Michelle Batterman and model Lauren Whelan have experienced with raw foods.  You can find their testimonials under the section titled "Natural Bodies".  What these women share is very inspiring! 

Ahem, excuse me?  Who was it that said you need meat to build muscle?

Enjoy the Journey!