Quote of the day: 

‘The time has come,’ the walrus said, ‘to talk of many things: of shoes and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings.’” — Lewis Carroll

“Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years.” — Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor

The time is now - take a step today

The time is now – take a step today

The time has come

There’s an old joke I like:  If you ask a golden retriever what time it is, what does the dog answer?  NOW! NOW! NOW!

Dogs have no trouble living in the present moment. But we humans are usually imagining or worrying about the future or regretting the past. At the same time we delay making changes in our lives because of fears or inertia or not wanting to make the effort.

The time is now

The time to leap—to take a chance—to spread your wings—to make a change—to be here now!

I’ve been thinking about changing my diet for weeks now, reading and researching, pondering and preparing. Part of me knew that this was the next right thing for me. And another part (the inner kid) was screaming, “Are you crazy? I don’t want to do this!”

Cherry tomatoes from my garden

Cherry tomatoes from my garden

I became interested in exploring eating a healthier diet after watching the documentary, Fat, sick and nearly dead, that chronicled the 60-day journey of Australian Joe Cross across the United States as he follows a juice fast to regain his health under the care of Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

Then I saw Dr. Terry Wahls, TED talk, Minding Your Mitochondria. 

A University of Iowa physician with multiple sclerosis, Dr. Wahls, significantly improved her functioning from being wheel-chair bound to being able to ride a bike 10 miles, walk and return to teaching and research. She did this with a combination of diet changes and electrical stimulation of her muscles.

Since I believe many of my chronic health issues are neuro-muscular (including a new troubling tremor in my hands and head), I decided to follow Dr. Wahls recommendations:

  • Eat 3 cups of high sulfur vegetables each day
  • Eat 3 cups of colorful (red, orange, purple, yellow) vegetables and fruits each day
  • Eat 3 cups of other non-starchy vegetables each day
  • Eat only grass-fed meat or healthy fish
  • Have 1 cup of bone broth each day
  • Eliminate dairy, sugar, and any other foods you are sensitive to
  • Eat only healthy oils like flax seed oil, hemp oil, coconut oil, a little olive oil
  • Eliminate gluten and wheat and most grains
  • Eat plenty of flax seed, hemp seed, chia seed, seaweed

A time for change

I started the diet a week ago. Already I’ve seen a jump in energy and a slight decrease in pain. I’m amazed at how easy it’s been. It takes time and planning. All of those fruits and vegetables don’t magically appear on my plate each meal. And because it is a big change, I’ve chosen to plan only 2-3 days of meals at a time.

I was already following a gluten-free diet, and eating a lot of healthy unprocessed foods, fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts and seeds, so it wasn’t a huge change.

Making my own alfalfa and broccoli sprouts

Making my own alfalfa and broccoli sprouts

Still it took time to prepare myself to get ready to make the change.  I had been slowly adding more vegetables to my diet for a couple of months. But I knew that if I pushed too quickly into the change, that a couple of things could happen: I might give up because of inadequate preparation and planning, or I might rebel because some part of me wasn’t willing to make the change.

I wish I understood how the preparation process creates the space for the change to happen easily. Taking the time to prepare and listening compassionately to my own rebellious voices along with accepting my fears were key, I think.  A big fear that I identified before I made this diet change was, “What if it doesn’t help my health issues?” I was afraid that if I tried it and it didn’t help that I would lose hope of anything ever changing for the better.

Tea time

Tea time

I prepared, I listened, I studied, and then one day I woke up and knew that this was the day that I would make the change. It was that simple and that easy! No angst, no worry, no wondering, no doubt!

Is there some change you’ve been thinking about making in your life? What next step can you take today to prepare to make that change?

The time has come

The time has come

 

 


Marilyn

Photographer sharing beauty, grace & joy in photographs and blog posts. I live in the Twin Cites in Minnesota, the land of lakes, trees, and wonderful nature.

11 Comments

lunardaughter · August 6, 2013 at 8:16 pm

Congratulations on shifting into a new way of eating. It’s great you woke up one day and knew – I think when we try to force things when we’re not ready we’re just setting ourselves up for failure. You’re tomatoes look gorgeous – I can imagine them hot from the sun directly popped into my mouth. Best wishes as you navigate this path and I hope you continue to feel better and better.

    Marilyn · August 14, 2013 at 4:09 am

    I’m glad that I waited until I was ready – it’s been challenging but so important I think.

Belinda Rose · August 6, 2013 at 11:53 pm

Love the images! Beautiful! Much luck to you as you move forward with all of the life changes you have planned! Wishing you abundant health! <3

    Marilyn · August 14, 2013 at 4:09 am

    Thank you! And thanks for stopping by. Best wishes to you also.

Susan Lobb-Porter · August 7, 2013 at 2:03 am

You’ve inspired me to listen to Dr. Wahls TED talk. I’m not unhealthy but I know I could be a lot healthier. In theory I kinda sorta eat like that, in between the distractions of junk food. I hope one day I wake up knowing that it’s the right time to make those changes. Meanwhile, wishing you all the best with this!

    Marilyn · August 14, 2013 at 4:11 am

    Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed Dr. Wahl’s TED talk. I’ve also read her book and found it useful.

Sue Grilli · August 8, 2013 at 11:11 am

Good luck on your road to a healthy lifestyle! And such beautiful photographs, love it.

    Marilyn · August 14, 2013 at 4:12 am

    Thank you! And thanks for stopping by.

PR · August 8, 2013 at 3:32 pm

How interesting! Good for you to take the plunge….it’s always so hard to break habits and stay on track with something new. Looking forward to updates!

Leanne Chesser (@LeanneChesser) · August 8, 2013 at 3:44 pm

Great job switching to healthier eating! I agree that planning is so important. I do eat really healthy (vegetarian, gluten free, organic, lots of veggies/seeds/healthy oils, no processed sugar) AND when I don’t plan, I eat crap.

Michele Bergh · August 8, 2013 at 5:38 pm

Congratulations! I am working on my diet now…looking at when I feel best and will continue to move in that direction. I changed my sleep schedule earlier this year and it was the best thing I’ve done for myself in a long time! Going from being a “night owl” to rising early in the morning is amazing!

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