Thursday, April 29, 2010

Be Happy

Every day we have a choice. The first choice we make is to get up and out of bed. Hopefully, it is after having a good night's sleep. The choice we have to make at the very beginning of our day is to be sad, mad, or glad when we get up. I choose glad. If you remember the movie by Walt Disney, Pollyanna, you will know a little more about being glad than others. Hayley Mills stars as Pollyanna, the Glad Girl; the orphan who brings sunshine into the lives of everyone she meets in small-town America.

From our biblical foundation we look at Psalm 118:24 and read, "This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." We are to choose to be happy and rejoice in life!

Here's to your health!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A Good Night's Sleep

Rest. It is important for your best health! A person should get his or her eight hours of sleep in per night. Some think they need more and others can go with less but the best is at least eight hours of sleep. This allows your body to recuperate and rejuvenate for a break-fast in the morning when you rise to go about your day. Not only is sleep important for us, but often in today's world there is so much going on that we need to take a "rest" during our day. This could be a 10-20 minute "cat" nap on our break by just resting our head back and closing our eyes for that time or it could be stopping at our desk and while seated simply take some deep breaths and stretching. You will see after you've created these rest periods in your day that they are helpful and energizing. Don't go without getting your rest.

Here's to your health!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Taking the Risk

It means...
...getting some good night's sleep
...getting up in the morning knowing "this is the day the Lord has made and you are going to rejoice in it!" (Psalm 118:24)
...having your green juice (BarleyMax is best!)
...enjoying a cup of cleansing tea (Bragg's recipe is best!)
...having your break-fast smoothie before leaving to start your day's work!(See below under recipes this week)
...going to the gym or doing a few sit-ups or another complete body exercise - how about a 20 minute warm up with Stormie Omartian's, Exercise for Life video
...labor hard during the day working physically, mentally and spiritually
...coming home and taking an adventurous walk outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine
...having a healthy dinner (here you can add your 15% cooked food if you had your completely raw lunch)
...read some positive input before retiring (your Bible is the best!)
...to bed for eight hours of good rest so that your body is able to replenish itself for a new day tomorrow!

Become disciplined in a healthy routine and live the lifestyle of your dreams not letting anything or anyone make a different choice for you.

Here's to your health!

*The schedule above is only an example and not conclusive. Remember to add BarleyMax three times a day and drink juices mid-morning and afternoon or other times that fit into your daily schedule, just before bed could be best for you! Be sure all nine principles we are discussing fit in somewhere - because they all work together for your best health!

Monday, April 26, 2010

It's Worth It

Take the risk! You will not regret it! You are meant to have health! You know the right thing to do when it comes to having a healthy lifestyle - it's now time to put what you know to practice. Let's do it! You and I can have a healthy body, mind and spirit for the rest of our lives! Today is the day to begin!

Here's to your health!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

The List that Ails You

Don't be afraid to make this list! Write down all that is aching in your body or not quite right and write down those diseases! Write down the hard to swallow ones as well. If you have a tumor or a cancer or even a bone spur, write it down. You will be surprise with the results that come when you put your trust in the Lord and do what is right for your body by eating nutritious whole raw foods, juice, exercise and apply the other principles we are talking about. God rewards those who diligently apply themselves to truth. Most times it is wise to do the opposite of the masses! The masses are most of the time still stuck in the world and in a wrong rut!

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5

"... who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed." - I Peter 2:24

Here's to your health!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Be Expecting Something Good

One of the questions you need to ask yourself as you make a lifestyle change is what are you expecting to happen? Your answer should not only weigh the pros and cons but also specifically include a list of positive changes for your health and life!
It could look something like this:

I want to be more flexible - able to bend and move without aches and pains.
I want to be able to breath when I touch my toes.
I want to be able to walk two and a half miles.
I want my hair to shine.
I want my teeth to sparkle.
I want to see well with my eyes.
I want to be able to turn my head completely to the left and to the right.
I want to be able to do sit ups and other exercises that I haven't done in years.
I want my fingernails and toenails to grow and be strong.
I want to be able to bend my elbows and knees without pain.
I want to be pain free!
I want to be free of all sickness and disease!
I want to look good and be at the weight I should be!

No more allergies, no more Fibromyalgia, no more arthritis, no more digestive disorders, no more diabetes, no more heart disease, no more cancer, no more depression and no more stress!

I am living a clean, fresh, healthy lifestyle!

Friday, April 23, 2010

What a Healthy Lifestyle Might Look Like

When I look at the question "what would a healthy lifestyle look like, I might write: "I see me...
in the room crowded with active people chatting about whatever, gathered together for an activity, or two people dressed out for a healthy mile or two walk... me and a friend at work, a neighbor, or my husband. I see me and people around me not skinny but definitely not fat! More like "just right" for each one of us because we know that right weight and how we should feel in our clothes, or how we should fit seated in a chair or our car; even how we should "feel" when we bend over to pick something off the floor! We're not all "buffed" out but not weaklings either. We are people who know... we know what we should look like on the outside (and the inside), clean, healthy, relaxed, filled with joy, living a peaceful life. We know what we want and don't want, we know who we want to be with or don't want to be around. We know a healthy relationship versus an unhealthy one... healthy reading, healthy speaking, healthy living! We are people who do right, choose right, eat right, live right and apply to our lives the best of what we know to do and how to do it as we live a healthy lifestyle.

You might see a winding road on a shady lane and be happy.
You might see yourself sitting on the sand at the beach and be able to relax.
You might be jogging or hiking a trail through the backwoods and the exhilaration of it all excites you.
Maybe it's sitting around with family and loved ones and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine of a backyard bar-b-que... healthy of course! Maybe lightly cooked vegetable kabobs or raw fruit kabobs on a skewer and a cool glass of freshly made herbal tea with a twig of mint or a slice of lemon...

...put yourself in the picture and make it a healthy view from inside your mind or paste an actual picture on the frig that will remind you of the lifestyle you long for and the healthy body you desire. Not that I'm a milk drinker now, but back when the magazines and television were advertising "milk, it does a body good," I cut one of those gorgeous bodies out and put it on my frig - it was a great reminder that I was going to have a healthy looking body one day (maybe not exactly like hers, but the best I could have!) I know have trained my mind to think healthier because the slogan I use for that advertisement is now, "carrot juice, it does a body good!"

Here's to your imagination... think healthy and you will begin to live healthy!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

A Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy living begins with you. It's your choice. Start asking yourself some questions. To get you started I have put a few here, but once you get started by answering these questions, go farther... I suggest you write them down because I know once you get that pen to flowing you will have lots more to say. I find that I can't write (or type) as fast as my thoughts come, but do your best. Here goes:

What does a healthy lifestyle look like to you?

What are you expecting to happen to you, in you, and around you by applying healthy new habits to your life?

What are some of the physical issues or needs you have now that you would like to see not only addressed, but also changed for the better? This is a good place to list your aches and pains or diseases to be healed!

Am I willing to take the risk and expect the best?

Here's to your health!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Don't Miss Any

One or two of the principles we share will work alone or together, but putting all the principles for good health together in your life will give you the optimum lifestyle! You may choose to start with one principle like eating living foods, but don't stop there! Don't get sidetracked. Be sure to add another as soon as one has become a positive habit in your daily routine. We often forget one or the other even though we know them all.

I have from personal experience found that I often forget to drink water. Why? It's never been something I do so I have to create the habit in my life. Now, I have cut out other beverages that contain caffeine or carbonation and especially alcohol but it's not until my body is crying out of thirst that I think, "oh, have a glass of water!" Another often forgotten principle is exercise. All nine principles we are going to investigate for a healthier you must be put together to give you the maximum energy and optimum health you desire. Along with these nine principles you will begin to discover that there is so much more to having a healthier lifestyle... and you've been missing out on it! Start today by putting the principles for health into your life... make it an adventure and don't quit!

Here's to your health!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Cleansing

We've talked about cleansing through fasting but there are ways for us to cleanse on a daily basis. One is by taking in the proper fuel; living foods, which we discussed yesterday. Another is drinking plenty of water. Water helps flush out the toxins from your body. Exercise helps stimulate the flow of things in your body and again helps remove those toxins.

The elimination process is as natural as any other function the body performs whether it be the lymph system or the colon that does the eliminating, the body must be kept clean. Our body should naturally be eliminating waste at least three times a day once after every meal. Many people today don't realize that and are satisfied with three times a week! Imagine what your colon looks like! Imagine how your blood looks as it tries to flow through your body... thick and gunk-y barely passing through! I won't even mention where the extra fat might be stored and what it looks like. Think about this: if it looks bad, what do you think it's doing to the body?

Cleanse. Cleanse. Cleanse. Once you've had a deep cleanse whether it be through fasting, enema, or a deep colonics cleanse, which by the way should only need to be done once if you maintain it, you can keep it cleaned up by eating the right foods that don't clog it and drink plenty of water, exercise and get proper rest and the body will love you for it.

Here's to you health!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Living Foods

What are living foods? They are foods that still contain their life force - the enzymes! Food is now processed and placed in boxes, cans, and all sorts of packaging. Everything is at our beck 'n call. But not everything is good for us - no, it's not like food use to be - grown on the farm, picked fresh and placed on the table. Those days are gone. Now we have those boxes, cans and pretty packages containing in them dead food; it's unhealthy for you. It's what's making Americans obese! That and eating too much of it!

Our living body needs living foods! Fresh fruits and vegetables are raw foods that still have active enzymes and nutritional power packed in them naturally. Picture a baked apple. Now picture a fresh, crispy raw apple in a fruit basket at the market. You can actually see the difference between life and death in this example. The baked apple is shriveled and no longer red but brownish. The market fresh, raw apple is red (or bright green or even bright yellow depending on the apple you envisioned) and crisp and as you bite into it is juicy and runs down your chin. The same is true about other foods we eat. It's time we open our eyes and our minds to what's healthier for us and choose to eat for our health and have life!

Here's to your health!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Nine Basic Principles and Six Killer Foods

Principles:
Living Foods
Cleansing
Clean, Pure Water
Clean, Fresh Air
Sunlight/Sunshine
Proper Exercise
Stress-Free
Emotional Balance
Peaceful Rest
Biblical Foundation

Killer Foods:
White Flour
White Sugar
Table Salt
Caffeine
Animal & Dairy Products
Processed Foods

Consider. Ponder. Let's talk more on the above.
Here's to your health!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Back to the Garden

As a human being made by the hand of God, God at the same time gave us our responsibilities; "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth... The LORD God planted a garden... The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it."

Spiritually and physically and in all ways we are to...

Be fruitful with our lives - produce good on the earth!

Multiply - it's not necessary to have tons of kids but increase - multiply that which you have been blessed with by God!

Subdue? Conquer and subjugate - bring under control!

Have dominion - authority, power to rule and influence - responsibility to govern wisely for the benefit of those ruled over.

Let's make our lives count and with it live a healthy and long life!
Here's to your health!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Human Being

So let's put this package together - the whole of the skin, the lungs, the colon, the kidneys, the ears, eyes, nose, and throat... a God-designed system for eliminating toxins and cleansing our body. Then we have our bones with living tissue, cells, blood vessels, mineral deposits and water... a God-designed support structure to shape the body. Add to those parts other organs and parts of the body like the stomach, pancreas and liver along with arms, legs and a torso... all our wonderful parts given us... that is what makes man a human being... or is it the God-breathed breath of life God gave us? There is life is in the blood. God is to be in your heart and we are to guard our heart and keep our body cleansed both physically and spiritually. In doing so, we shall find a long and healthy life! Here's to your health!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Bones

Not that your bones have much to do with or anything to do with the cleansing process of the body, but I found this information from a middle school study to be very interesting on the bones, especially the last paragraph, which you will read and then see does have something to do with keeping the body cleansed. Of course, we need our bones, as they are what hold us mostly together! They hold us together and our skin keeps it all in! - The skin is where we started our discussion of body parts.

The Bones. The skeleton is made up of 206 bones. It supports the structure, gives it shape, protects vital organs and serves as an attachment for the muscles. The bones of the skeleton are held together at the joints by ligaments and tendons. Bones are covered with a special tissue called periosteum. Our joints are covered with a thick pad of smooth cartilage, which acts as a butter between the hard bones. Wow, is our body a miraculous work or what?

Now get this, our bones are alive! Yes, they take in food (calcium, phosphates) through blood! Bones can be divided into living tissue, cells, blood vessels, mineral deposits, and water. No more thought of those "plain old bones," "dry old bones," or "dead old bones" in my body - they're alive and so am I! Alive and healthy bones!

Here's to your health!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat

Here it is right from George Malkmus from his book, The Hallelujah Diet, page 181-182 - more parts of the body that detoxify:

"Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat. Your body uses all of these organs to detoxify. Many symptoms we consider illness are really just our bodies expelling unwanted particles out of our system. You may notice your eyes becoming more crusty than usual in the mornings, or they may form a mucus coating, which prompts you to rub them.

You can support all your eliminative systems by eating fruits and vegetables with a lot of fiber. Juice fasting occasionally (drinking juices only, but not consuming any solid food) can boost your body's ability to cleanse and provide the nutrients your body needs to repair itself... Water fasting is not recommended for detoxing, as it simply draws out toxins and does nothing to provide the body with needed nutrients.

The cleansing process is necessary, but it doesn't have to be traumatic. Just remember, you've been putting toxins into your bodies for a long time and you can expect it will take a while to get them out. It won't always be pleasant, but it will definitely be worth it..."

It's not surprising or is it to learn about our own bodies and their miraculous functioning. I don't know about you, but I sure didn't have an interest back in junior high school when I was sitting in a health class and supposed to be learning this stuff!

Here's to your health!

Monday, April 12, 2010

The Kidneys

Here we are again with some great information from George Malkmus in his book The Hallelujah Diet, page 181-182, on the kidneys:

"Kidneys. The kidneys filter your bloodstream, drawing toxins out of it... As the kidneys filter out toxins, they will suspend them in water and send the solution to the bladder. Drinking lots of pure water and juices will help the kidneys function well. Make it your goal to drink a total of one-half ounce of water for each pound of your body weight per day. (This quantity may include the fresh juice, but does not include coffee, tea orother beverages)...

Here's to your health!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

The Colon

George Malkmus has much to say about the colon, but let me highlight some of what he says here for you (from The Hallelujah Diet, page 180-181):

"Colon. Your colon is one of the most obvious routes for elimination. Quite simply, your colon's job is to remove water from fecal matter and expel that matter from your body... what we eat affects the efficiency of this process... A healthy colon is necessary for the body to function properly. An unhelathy colon can cause a plethora of problems and is a major source of toxins in the body. You need to cooperate with this elimination system by supporting it with food that will help it function powerfully. You must also drink lots of clean water and juices through the day. Occasionally, it may be helpful to use a colon-cleansing herbal blend to assist in removing the dead incrusted fecal matter. But once it is cleaned out, in most cases drinking enough juices and water and sticking with the 85 percent raw vegetable diet recommended in this book will be enough- along with exercise and deep breathing - to keep your colon working freely."

Fasting is a great cleanse for the colon. Let's keep things cleaned out and moving!
Here's to your health!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

The Lungs

Let me share more from George Malkmus about our lungs from his book The Hallelujah Diet (page 179-180):

"Lungs. Our lungs are among the largest, most valuable elimination organs. They exchange over 12,000 quarts of air per day. Gases are eliminated through the lungs, particularly carbon dioxide. When we inhale oxygen, the oxidation of our body's cells produces carbon dioxide.

As you breathe, the movement in your lungs, diaphragm, and thorax act as a pump for lymph fluid as it flows through your lymph system. Your lymph system is the primary system your body uses to deliver toxins to your elimination organs. The lungs are also involved in body temperature regulation, the acid/alkaline balance we discussed earlier, and the movement of fluid throughout the lymphatic system. In addition, deep breathing is the primary source for oxygen, which is vital for your body to produce the energy it needs to get through the healing crisis.

Pollutants and smoking will hinder your lungs, and they're downright deadly. You can help out your lungs by taking long walks in fresh air; focus on filling your lungs; taking a few long, deep breaths instead of many shallow, quick ones. And when you are sitting or resting, position your body so you can breathe as deeply as possible. This will increase your absorption of oxygen and relax your body."

Here's to your health!

Friday, April 9, 2010

The Skin

"Not many people consider the skin when they think about their organs, but the skin is the largest organ of the entire body. It keeps out most of what we want out, and it keeps in what we want in. You may have thought only your lungs provided oxygen and nitrogen to your body, but much of your respiration actually occurs through your skin. Your skin also helps remove poisons from your body through perspiration.

Most people don't think of sweating as a good thing. No one likes feeling self-conscious of how they smell. However, it's one of the body's best ways of removing toxins. We should encourage the body to sweat or the skin will become congested with toxins and micro-particles. Skin rashes and lesions result from tissue congestion inside the layers of the skin.

Keeping our skin clean with frequent bathing and showering will help prevent the re-absorption of toxins. Using natural products will help the skin breathe much better than their commercial, chemical counterparts...

...Your armpits are the abode of your lymphatic glands, so preventing this area from sweating forces toxins back into your system... You will need far less protection or masking from odor when your sweat no longer contains the backlog of toxins that cultivate odor-causing bacteria."

The above excerpt from The Hallelujah Lifestyle and Diet by George Malkmus (page 178-179), helps us to see why our cleansing of the body is so important. You will actually find through body cleansing and especially fasting along with all the other principles for a healthy lifestyle, that you won't need deodorants at all because the excess toxins will be gone for good or as long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle!

Here's to your health!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Healing Crisis

This is it! The "healing crisis" is the process, which your body will go through as it goes through the elimination process of toxic waste built up in your body after years of mistreatment. Have no fear - these symptoms are simply signs that the body is in the cleansing process and healing itself! Rejoice! That is how God designed our bodies! We have a miraculous self-healing body! Even allergies are a way our body can tell us we need to cleanse! Yes, it is a means of an internal cleansing. What do we do?

Normally the medical field will suggest we cover up those symptom. We choose to not "suffer" but take something for the pain or discomfort. Stop that! Doesn't it make more sense to let the body rid itself of the problem and not just cover it up so it stays in the body discomforting us for a prolonged amount of time? Maybe even years! Or worse yet, all our life - simply because we covered up something that wants to be let out! Let your body talk to you and listen to it. There are times it speaks to us in a postive way which will help us become healthier - but a word of caution... there are also times it will scream for its own way to have a negative reaction. Like ice cream! You've heard it said, "I-ce scream, we-scream, we all scream for ice cream!" No! That's our flesh speaking wrongly and we must say no to that!

That was a silly joke but I hope you get the picture. We are to be in control of our bodies. Be aware and take notice of those times our body needs our help to assist it in the cleansing and healing process. We want to have good health - the best health - and maintain that health for all the years we live in our physical body. The healing crisis is a natural part of the cleansing process and our bodies need this.

Here's to your health!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

What's the Secret?

The secret to health is in the internal cleansing of the body. This is another one of our principles. Cleansing the body's system. There are healthy effects to cleansing the body. Like most people, we have spent most of our lives eating dead foods and not providing the body its needs like quality food, water, exercise, and rest just to name a few. So it should be no surprise to us that our body is in deep need of these things and a good cleaning out!

You may experience symptoms of discomfort during your fast or any change in your eating or lifestyle change - even with exercise your body goes through some discomfort before it is at a healthy place. Some of the symptoms you may or may not experience could be headaches or lightheadedness, nausea, chills, cramping, cold symptoms or disturbed sleep. These symptoms will only be telling you that your fasting is even more necessary than you thought! It doesn't mean it's time to stop fasting. That thought does not come from God but His #1 enemy who wants to keep you unhealthy and sick to die young so there's no time for you to fulfill your purpose on this earth!

Keep this in mind: The healthier you are the easier it is to fast. So the first fast you are on will be your hardest but as you put fasting into your weekly, monthly, or yearly routine you will have a much easier time with it.

If or when you do experience any of these symptoms I suggest this be a time when you have your vegetable broth, cauliflower soup and/or partake in the Lord's Supper. Not all will experience all of these symptoms - maybe you'll experience none! Hallelujah! However, if at any time they become too much for you, you can stop the fast and try it again at another time. Don't beat yourself up or feel guilty either, you may just need to move in this area of fasting a little slower than you did. These symptoms will become less and less a problem for you and eventually diminish completely as you become cleansed on the inside.

Here's to your health!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Personal Testimony

When fasting I have found a most blessed way to get me through the tough moments in a fast. If you have fasted before, you know those moments... times that come up where you just have to eat something, times when the enemy wants to distract you and take you off your course, times when you know the seriousness of your fast and yet you are growing weak! It's during these times that I cry out to the Lord and focus on Him.

I have been on fasts and do fast for physical reasons; however, my fasts most always will have my spiritual foundation with my Lord and Savior as my main focus and will have a spiritual cause. By doing this, I have found the best breakthrough for those tough moments during a fast. Communion. Yes, the Lord's Supper. There is nothing in the Bible that says your pastor or elders would have to administer the communion elements to you. You and the Lord are present and in a moment of great need you can take the bread and the cup and be renewed both spiritually and physically! I simply take out my Bible and read I Corinthians 11:23-26, or a passage of Scripture that the Holy Spirit may lead me to read, sometimes more than one. I prayerfully consider the cause or reason I am fasting, taking it to the Lord and leaving it with Him and then I sup with Him. Because we have a relationship I have found this to be a most intimate time and a time of great strengthening!

Here's to your health!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Great Fast Breakers or Slump Removers

Here are two recipes that are great during a fast when you need a "pick-me-up" or when breaking a water and juice fast before solids are re-introduced to the body.

Vegetable Broth
1 onion
1 potato
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery

Peel the vegetables, cut into quarters, and add to one quart of pure (distilled) water. Let the mixture simmer on the stove for one hour and then strain the solids from the broth.

Note: If coming off a vegetable fast you can leave the vegetables in!

Chamomile Cauliflower Soup
The subtle flavor of chamomile enhances this classic soup.

3 cups water
6 Chamomile tea bags
1 large head of cauliflower, but into 3" pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 celery stalks, chopped
Salt and Pepper
1 T. butter (vegan) or oil

Boil the water and tea bags in a saucepan for5minutes. Remove the tea bags, squeezing the excess liquid into the pan. Add the cauliflower to the saucepan. Cover and boil 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain the cauliflower, reserving 1 cup of liquid for later. In a small pan, saute the onions and celery in butter until the onions are clear. Put into a blender along with the cauliflower, salt and pepper, and one cup reserved liquid. Blend until smooth, and then serve. For a thinner reserve add more liquid. For thicker soup, add less liquid.

Note: Use caution with the hot ingredients and turning on the blender! Hold the lid or you could have a disaster!

Here's to your health!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Breaking Your Fast

After being on any fast it is important to go off of that fast slowly. Do not make your first meal a heavy eat-whatever-you-want-to-eat meal. This is especially true on a fast of water only or a juice fast. Gradually add back into your diet vegetables and then fruits. After a water only fast you may want to start with some juices. With a juice fast you may want to simply have an apple or a banana and with only that you may find that you can only eat half of the fruit. When on a vegetables only fast you may add more variety to a salad or enlarge your portions. The main idea is to go back to eating more foods slowly allowing your body, especially your digestive system to gradually adapt. This will eliminate any vomiting, cramping or pains from over doing it! You definitely do not want to begin with any of the killer foods like caffeine and sweets! Why would you do such a thing after taking and spending the time to cleanse your body? Now that you have made a cleansing of the body you will want to maintain that health by eating a proper diet of fresh, raw foods - preferably organic. Now begin to add fasting on a regular basis to your healthy lifestyle Include a day of fasting a month or maybe each week! For sure it is important to do a deep cleansing three or four times a year by fasting. Begin to make fasting a way of life!

Here's to your health!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Kinds of Fasts III

Here we are again with another look at fasting. We have discussed the water fast and juice fast. Today we will learn about the vegetable fast and its benefits to the body.

Vegetable Fast:
This fast definitely takes me to our Biblical Foundation and to Daniel. He is our example. See Daniel 1 in the Old Testament. Daniel was a Hebrew man and captured by the king of Babylon. The king wanted some of the children of Israel to shape and make for his own use in the palace. He picked the best and Daniel was one of them. The king gave them a daily provision of the "king's delicacies" - king's food: deliciously rich and fattening food - and three years training so that they would then serve the king. Daniel went to the king's chief officer and asked that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies and suggested that he eat only vegetables during this time of training - he and his three friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. The chief officer allowed Daniel his request for ten days. At the end of the ten days Daniel and his friends appeared better and healthier to the chief officer than all those who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. So the chief officer allowed Daniel his request for the remainder of the training. At the end of the training when Daniel and his friends and all the others were brought in to see the king, the king found none like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. They were examined and found ten times better than all the others! They were the ones chosen to serve before the king.

From the Spirit Filled Life Bible's Truth-in-Action at the end of Daniel it says, "Stand fast for your righteous standards, despite pressure to sin. Believe that God will give you a means of escape. Trust that He will show you favor and give you wisdom through "creative alternatives."

Without taking this out of context, let me say this. We eat to live not live to eat. Yes, foods taste good and our taste buds say some taste better than others - what do they know? Remember we are to be the ones in control of our bodies - not our bodies in control of us. We are to have the discipline like Daniel to make right choices. We will reap the benefits when we do. So in the midst of our flesh crying out to us "No! No! No!" we will say, "Yes! Yes! Yes! To eating (fasting) God's way! Put yourself in a training program. Make it a King's training program and begin with a fast of vegetables! You will soon discover that your body will crave the good foods over the "king's (world's) delicacies." Do not defile yourself. God will show you how to be creative with your healthy choices. Stand fast!

Here's to your health!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Kinds of Fasts II

First let me add something to our Water Fast from yesterday, I neglected to mention that on a water fast you want to be sure and drink distilled water. Why? It's the best because it's water that is in its purest form.

Today let's look at the Juice Fast. Paul and Patricia Bragg* have this to say and I want to share it with you as we get started today:

"Everyone who wants to live the healthy life must thoroughly understand just what is going on in their body chemistry. Fresh, organic, raw fruits and vegetables help flush the toxins out. The body can't be rushed. It takes the average person a long time to saturate the body with toxic poisons. Now it's going to take time to flush this debris out with this transition diet! The more organic raw fruits and raw vegetables that you condition yourself to handle, the more cleansed your body will become!" The Braggs also recommend that you prepare for a fast by eating a cleansing diet for 1 to 2 days before beginning your fast because it can greatly help the cleansing process. Another suggestion is taking a mixed vitamin C powder (see below *) because it is a potent antioxidant and flushes out deadly free radicals that produce harmful effects and because it promotes collagen production for new healthy tissues.

Along with this I want to add that through my purchase and reading of Paul and Patricia Bragg's book,* I have learned to drink their Vinegar Drink each and every morning upon rising and I would encourage you to add this to your morning intake before or after your Barley Max which I've mentioned several times and also take. The recipe for the Bragg's Vinegar Drink can be found in our recipe section this week. Now let's look at our Juice Fast.

Juice Fast:
Juice fasting is a safe and easy way to detoxify the body. This fast consists of strictly juices and water only. Again distilled water. The juices should be fresh juice and not the processed canned, bottled or frozen juices from the grocers. This is what you have for your three meals a day. 8-16 ounces of fresh juice! Carrot or a carrot blend (especially with beets as they are great for cleansing the body) is the best or your green juices. In between meals drink plenty of distilled water. Don't forget your BarleyMax! However, when you get the urge to eat or have a hunger pain, you can always add another fresh juice to your day. George Malkmus, Hallelujah Acres founder and author, drank 8 - 8 ounce glasses of carrot juice a day when he was in a crisis and needed to cleanse his body of a tumor growing inside his body! Juices offer great quantities of nutrients that support your immune system,and the juice fast is a powerful healing tool. Don't wait until you're sick to do a juice fast as it will also keep your body in good health!

*Apple Cider Vinegar, Miracle Health System, Paul C. Bragg and Patricia Bragg, page 50. Vitamin C (C concentrate, acerola, rosehips, and bioflavonoids)

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Kinds of Fasts

The first fast we want to discuss is the water only fast. This fast is what most people think of first but it is not always the choice you should make when fasting. There are others that are better for your health and can be done on a more regular basis than the water fast, which is often done in extreme circumstances. Below you will see why.

Water Fast - This is a fast of water only - complete abstinence from any other liquid or solid foods. This is the quickest way to detoxify the body. However, it can be dangerous and should be carefully supervised (by your doctor or The Doctor). It gives the body a severe cleansing but will leave the body very weak. It often takes quite some time for the body to restore the strength it lost during this type of fast. The reason for this is that the body is forced to feed upon itself and its nutrient reserves, which are often low to start with, depending on the individual's own body. Lack of nourishment to provide the proper building materials need to restore and rebuild the body are essential and thus this fast may not be the best choice.