Raw Food Champ

If you listen to conventional wisdom, we all might as well roll over and consign ourselves to sickness, loss of muscle and strength, and the ravages of old age.  These things are inevitable they say.  I disagree.  Of course, death is inevitable, but how you die, and the level of health, strength and vitality you maintain up until death, in my opinion, is directly related to what you do, to keep your mind and body healthy.  There is a condition known as Sarcopenia (from the Greek meaning “poverty of flesh”) which is the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength associated with aging. Sarcopenia is a component of the Frailty syndrome. 0.5-1% of loss per year after the age of 25.  However, I wonder if anyone has to lose that muscle and strength.  I’m beginning to think NO!  First of all, who were these statistics gathered from.  Probably from people that did very little, if any exercise, which would include a large majority of the population.  What sort of diet were these people on?  My guess is standard american, or call it, standard worldwide, where the norm is a lot of animal based, cooked dead food.  I don’t like buying into thinking it’s inevitable, we’re going to lose muscle and strength, because that’s what the statistics tell us.  Maybe it is true, at this point we’re certainly all going to the grave, but, even if there is truth in it, I think a large part of any loss and strength can be thwarted by a natural hygienic diet, and regular vigorous exercise.
There was a man in the Bible named Caleb and at the age of 85 he said, “Now here I am today eighty five years old.  Yet I am today as strong as on the day of Moses’ sending me out (that was age 40).  As my power was then, so my power is now…”.   Carla has been starting to exercise a little more.  It’s going to take a while, remember she has not done anything for quite some time.

The young at heart.  Being young at heart helps us to enjoy being alive.  The gift of life is so precious we should savor every minute.  Don’t be afraid to try new things, within safe limits.  Take up an instrument or do something you’ve always wanted to try.  Let yourself become a kid again.
I have a video of a Nobel Prize Prize Winner letting himself be a kid again.  Just really enjoying being alive.  Richard Feynman was in his mid to late sixties when this video was shot.  He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.  I happen to be a big fan of orange juice and so was Richard.  He was a bongo, conga player and songwriter.  His original song “Orange Juice” is a classic.

I’m too tired to exercise, I have no energy.  Granted if you’re on a steady diet of SAD (Standard American Diet), cooked and processed foods, I can totally understand why you feel that way.  I felt the same way when I was eating dead, cooked and processed a bombocombo (different combinations of foods that don’t mix well, besides being cooked).  However, when you change your diet, making your meals simpler, with fruit taking center stage, and leafy greens and vegetables also as staples, you will start to see a dramatic increase in your desire to exercise.  You will start to crave exercise, it’s no longer a chore, something dreaded, you’ll look forward to your exercise.  Whatever your level of health try to get some exercise (10-30 minutes) at least 3-4 X’s per week, if not more, personally, I like 5-6 X’s per week.
Carla (my mother-in-law) has shown remarkable improvement, on a 99% raw food diet, for only 2 1/2 weeks.  Today, we had her doing some singing, as her exercise, which is very good for the lungs, and your spirit.  She had NO OXYGEN, and she did ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!!  She’s a star.  The goal at this point is to get Carla off prescription drugs, over to herbs and then eventually, just fruits and veggies.  Remember, like Carla, do what you can, just singing is good for the lungs and your frame of mind.

My mother-in-law (Carla LeComte) is 85 years old, she slipped while getting the mail, and broke her hip about a year ago.  She’s been in and out of hospitals and rehab for months and finally made it home about 2 weeks ago. My wife and I came up from Florida to Connecticut a little over 2 weeks ago to help her try and regain a measure of health.  We’ve been feeding her 95% raw food, getting her out in the sunshine, helping her to exercise and the transformation in only 2 weeks is nothing short of amazing. When she first got home from rehab she would basically want to sleep all day.  She could not go to the bathroom on her own and would get extremely tired and winded (she is on oxygen) as Jo Ann helped her to the bathroom .  She would converse very little and it seemed she had very little desire to keep living.  Well, all I can say is, it’s truly a wonder how well the human body responds to a whole food, plant based diet, with very little fat.  We’ve been giving her fruit for breakfast and lunch, and start her off with some fruit for dinner followed by lettuce and vegetables.  She has had a little heated food (we heat very slowly at low temperature) when she first came home, she wanted something warm, we made her some vegetable soups (potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, tomatoes, sun-dried tomato), just vegetables and distilled water, no condiments or fat.  Right now she’s eating raw only and enjoying it .

If you’re trying to lose weight, or you look skinny, but know you still have too much body fat, high intensity anaerobic workouts are the way to go.  Even if you do 20-30 minutes you will be burning fat all day long, provided you push yourself during the work portion of your exercise.  Try and do high intensity anaerobic workouts at least 2-3 X’s per week, and if possible 4-6 X’s and you will really start to see the difference.  Remember, stay off the fats and eat as much fruit as you care for, fruit will never make you fat. “Fruits contain acids which are necessary for the proper elimination of various toxins, poisonous acids and other impurities.  Fruit gives the body strength and energy.  Fruit is the ideal food.  It develops more slowly than other products, therefore, for a longer time receives the beneficial effects of the sunlight, and air.” (Excerpts from Jethro Kloss’ Back to Eden)