The Good Life May Be Just a Meal Away

I see so many posts about the perceived ‘difficulty’ of maintaining and sticking to the SQ1 or Plant Based Lifestyle approach. I was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer back in 2010 and given less than 3 years to live. Many of you may know my story. Anyway, about this ‘diet’ thing. First, do NOT view it as a ‘diet’! It should be viewed as a Lifestyle Change and my wife and I have stuck to it for over 13 years and are THRIVING with it. It is a delicious as well as nutritious and HEALTHY way to eat and LIVE.

Many of us are older and may find change at a later age more difficult. After all half a century of bad habits is pretty hard to break; but when your LIFE is on the line, viewed from that perspective, maybe not so much. That was my primary/initial motivation. Now we continue to thrive on a Plant Based Lifestyle and way of eating Delicious FOOD. Cheaper too; maybe over 30% we estimate over the past 13+ years.

It is LEARNING how to adjust, not necessarily drastically change your way of preparing food and what you select to eat is what you must learn to do. Changing, or tweaking a few things, making different selectins and yes, maybe giving up a few of those favorite meals. But, when your LIFE is on the line, maybe it’s not so bad.

The wonderful thing about this is that both you and your partner and family WILL BENEFIT. This is a long-term Health Strategy that will literally last a Lifetime. Providing abundant energy, stronger natural immune system and eliminating the need for potential drugs and their gruesome side effects. You just won’t need them!

Unfortunately, you probably will never hear this from your ‘doctor’ they just have never been trained and may themselves be unhealthy; many are. So you will have to ‘Do it Yourself’ in most cases. You don’t really need a ‘nutritionist’ either in most cases; unless you have a specific nutritional deficiency or intolerance. It is just learning a few simple things and tweaking others. The Benefits so dramatically outweigh the challenges, but you must buckle down and just DO IT and it will prove itself. It sure as hell did for Nancy and me.

Rejuvenation Products are Everywhere

Why is it that so many people seem to be obsessed with ‘looking younger’? It has become a multi-BILLION Dollar Global industry and most of the crap just doesn’t work, is dangerous/harmful or illegal. People spend ALL this money on facial creams, even surgeries and other crazy ‘treatments’ to eliminate wrinkles or other markers of passing time and aging. Most of these are worthless to dangerous.

We SHOULD be celebrating our age, hopefully wisdom learned over decades of Experience. We should be sharing it with our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids and other youth to help them navigate the obstacles of becoming Who they are meant to BE. The next time you look into that mirror, THINK, not about yourself but what YOU can Do to help Others. As we all are aging (the alternative is not pretty), why not Embrace it and share with others Our Lessons Learned and Work to Help others achieve the goals and objectives that they are meant to achieve.

There IS a simple, inexpensive solution that will help you Look better and BE BETTER inside and out. It is called NUTRITION and plant based lifestylediet is one of the ways to achieve not only better-looking appearance but better immune systems and overall HEALTH, Wellness and Longevity.

Your Retirement Future

Back in 1998, Nancy and I attended a presentation by CRC Development Corporation for Legacy Pointe at the University of Central Florida (UCF). It is a new ‘planned community’ for Seasoned Citizens. Promoted with links to the University of Central Florida, it seemed a great place to check out. I’ve always wanted to return to campus and take (audit?) some classes. UCF has a renowned department of Anthropology with a focus on the ancient and contemporary peoples of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. As a much younger man, I traveled frequently to Mexico and visited many of the Mayan Cities and was enthralled with their history, technology and lifestyle; violent as it may have been. But that is off topic!

I wanted to hear this presentation of an adult education centered community and thought this might be a great place to live, if we ever decided to sell our lovely home in South Orlando. Not far from family and I anticipated a grand adventure of continuing education; both for myself and Nancy. [Subsequently we moved to Winter Haven to our wonderful Tranditions Community]

The entire presentation was focused on illness, costs of illness and how they would care for you as you lay sick and dying from horrendous chronic disease. They had a lovely presentation of how the long-term care facilities would take care of you for $4870/month EACH. That didn’t include the cost of the residence at about $280,00 plus a $3,000/month maintenance fee. They had a scheme that was really a rental so you would get back most of the money to your Estate! Are you kidding me?

There was a ‘free lunch’ involved but we were suspect if they would serve anything we would actually eat. BOY we were pleasantly surprised! The hotel that hosted the event, The Alfond Inn in Winter Park Florida, prepared a truly excellent quinoa/veggie mix that was just delicious. We enjoyed this healthy/delicious meal while the others dined on greasy chicken and dairy/butter soaked potatoes; all grease. Then there were the rolls, full of dairy and possibly eggs that the waiter was kind enough to inform us to avoid! As we looked around the room, we were the ONLY ones not feasting on greasy chicken and dairy butter soaked potatoes. Then there was the desert; but we were served a delicious dairy free sorbet while the others consumed cheesecake with whipped topping.

Needless to say, we were impressed, not by the facilities presented but were pleasantly surprised and pleased with the consideration shown to us and our plant based dietary preferences. But the presentation about how this entire, very expensive, project was totally centered on illness, disease and long term care for sick people left a sour taste. Their view is that everyone will get sick, require long term medical care at massive cost.

How terribly SAD is this view? There is an entire industry focused on death and dying! This is the state of our medical industry. No one promotes Health & Wellness and Longevity; no, they assume you are going to be sick and dying and pretty quickly too! The high-pressure sales pitch said you better sign up now because the cost of your long term skilled care will approach $10,339/month by 2020 (when the facility will accept residents/patients).

To be fair, they did mention a swimming pool and exercise room but, from the tone of voice, the presenter didn’t seem to expect anyone to be able to actually USE them. Then there was a brief mention of pathway/walkways but they appeared to be designed for walkers and wheelchairs, not robustly exercising seniors.

Not a single mention of Life and LIVING which is what we are all about. Heck, we were only 73 and have a long way to go and things to do and be done. We are ACTIVE and energetic. Heck, we have a series of books “Restoring America’s Health” that focuses on a Plant Based Lifestyle, recipes, menus and more. We are certainly NOT ready for that long-term care; we are trying to educate and care for others.

On a positive note, besides the lovely/delicious lunch, we sat next to a lovely couple. They saw what we were served and then looked at their own plates and naturally asked us what we were being served and why. Well I am NEVER one to miss an opportunity to educate, elucidate and encourage another towards a healthier lifestyle! By the end of the desert we had them interested in trying a plant based lifestyle for 30 days. As a reward, Nancy gave them a copy of her book (had some in the car!). I hope they enjoy and adopt some of the ideas Nancy has presented.

We managed to talk to just two people out of maybe 75 in the room. I wanted to run up and take over and show one of our presentation slide shows to this audience. Lord knows they would benefit from the information that could possibly change and save their lives. I managed, somehow, to restrain myself and settle for the two lovely new friends we talked to. Plus her sister was a breast cancer survivor who may be facing a recurrence of that devastating disease. Maybe the book and our suggestions will have a further reach than just this luncheon.

We do this because you just don’t know who will listen. Who will benefit and who will live a bit healthier and longer life. We thrive on this Plant Based approach to Life, Health and Longevity and try to never miss an opportunity to share. If you or a loved one wants to save about $10,000/month on long term medical expenses (as described in the presentation) we would be more than happy to help. Our fees are WAY cheaper and longer lasting that this recurring expense promoted at this presentation.

Health is Cheaper than Sickness. Way more FUN too!

Your Health IS Your Wealth ~ Spend it Wisely!