You are going to eat that?

*This blog is for Survivors, those who know Survivors and those who want to know how we live.

**Organic - of or pertaining to an organ or the organs of an animal, plant, or fungus

***I am in no way a doctor nor do I advocate you follow any regimen that I put before you. I do what I do after years of research, trial and error and, quite often, hope. What works for me is something I’ve chosen to do for myself alone. It gives me the solace I seek. Thank you for reading.

Cocktail:

- 1 six oz glass of part acai, part pomegranate juice – two powerhouse antioxidant fruits

o one multivitamin

o one b-complex (strengthens the heart muscle, and other organs)

o one resveratrol (main ingredient in red wine)

o 500 mg of Vitamin C

§ I don’t have a spleen – a filter for my blood. Vitamin C is to boost my immune system

o 1000 mg fish oil (Omega 3 cancer fighter)

o Other “maintenance” medicines for life

Breakfast:

Microwave for 3 minutes on high:

½ cup of organic oatmeal

- lowers blood pressure and cholesterol

3 egg whites

- Omega3 fed hens, cancer preventer

organic skim

- More omega-3, more vitamins than conventional, helps with muscle recovery

Add:

Handful of crushed walnuts

- Rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids – cancer preventer

As many wild blueberries as you can stand

- higher antioxidant ratio than regular blue berries

2 tbl raw agave nectar

- low glycemic index that won’t make you hungry in an hour

3 hours later:

5.6 oz Organic Greek Yogurt

- high protein to feel full and build lean muscle, probiotics for digestion

2 hours later:

Organic broccoli/spinach pie made with whole wheat dough

- Broccoli is a known cancer fighter and is being researched as a natural wonder drug, fiber, vitamin C

- Spinach, yes, strengthens muscles, helps eyesight and is a cancer fighter

2 hours later:

8 0z Organic chocolate soy milk

– I am a recovering sugarholic…sue me

A raw organic tomato

- Fights free radicals

- Lycopene - a known cancer fighter

This is a typical day.

My mission is to offset the fallout of the medicine that I am subjected to take for life and have been subjected to previously.

A constant rule of thumb question I relentlessly ask myself is:

What is the bang I am getting from what I am about to eat?

It becomes second nature. I ask myself that every time. The Hershey Kiss has less gleam that way. That’s not to say that I live a life of gruel and gloom. Life isn’t worth living if you are going to rob yourself of the various bounties that surround you. I am thankful. I am alive and I will celebrate that.

To that end I will have Celebration Days. I pick my spots and after 12 weeks I’ll eat real ice cream. Months may go by but after a while my soul begs for a Chunky bar. I confess though, many of the riches have lost their sparkle.

I am a pescatarian – a vegetarian who eats fish. It’s a word that bridges the chasm between omnivorous and vegan. Dr. Dean Ornish once proclaimed that the human digestive system was built solely for being a vegetarian. I disagree. We are adaptive. We are built to eat whatever crawls in our way, if we are put in a survival situation. Our ancestors, the apes, prove that. Still, nothing makes a more powerful statement than the societies that simply eat vegetables as a staple.

The battle between vegan and carnivore will last an eternity. I simply submit a peace treaty - the word organic. You may substitute unprocessed, untouched, of this Earth, whatever suits your needs. However you want to describe it, it is a simple term for a simple solution.

Our bodies are the perfect machines. I truly believe that. In our immeasurable universe, the human machine has been copied, modified, maybe bastardized but never surpassed. We are nature’s most adaptive creatures.

At least the design was perfect. The very environment we live in has polluted the actual code - Our biological set of laws scrambled at the most base levels.

When we are born, our basic genes are all the same yet there are chinks in the armor. Our environment seeps into those gaps and disease is born. True, it is nature. Also true, it is the key to defeating our horrid nightmares. Our last recourse is to get our environment back to organic and that starts with our own bodies.

A Survivor is on their last bullet. It is the last right we cling to. If a cat had nine lives, seven or eight of them are swiped in one round of chemo so if our candle is to burn long and bright, we must cling to the pursuit of purity in this last life we lead.

From my perspective, the only criteria I truly control now are how my body and mind are kept. I can cast them in the mud or I can hone them. I can stay indoors waiting for the storm or I can go searching for it. My choice.

I tell people I am in training. The looks I get range from ridicule and sympathy, to interesting and patronizing.

If I were a soccer player or a star in the NFL, no one would question. Those are people whose bodies are meant for self inflicted punishment. Substances both legal and not are poured into them with reckless abandon.

But what about those who never asked for the sentence? The twelve year old who never smoked in his life yet falls to lung cancer. The mother of four who will never get to see her grandchildren.

I don’t judge. I also don’t understand. To smoke or not to smoke. Self abuse or self awareness. Again. Your choice. I can’t let it affect mine.

We are in training. The perfect machine demands the perfect fuel. Untouched, of this Earth. Our ancestors used the mantra for their survival.

We now use it for ours.