My brother, Stan was a drug dealer. In high school he was more of a distributor; a good source for weed and speed. I was a customer for weed twice, and unfortunately got some speed as a graduation gift from him to help Laura and me stay awake grad night. It made us both very sick and when I finally went to sleep, I slept most of the next day.
Stan later moved up a step and created a crack/meth lab. My dad eventually got Stan into treatment and disassembled the lab, but the damage to Stan’s health was already done. Stan died of nasal cancer at 62. It is a rare cancer, but some studies show that it can be caused by snorting drugs. The nose was not designed to snort powder.
I inherited two autoimmune diseases; from my dad's side arthritis, and from my mom's side psoriasis. Treatment for these over the years included lots of drugs including tranquillizers, steroids, and photochemotherapy drugs. I also took dozens of supplements to try and get healthy.
Today I only take 2 pills a day; a low dose aspirin in the morning to keep my blood thin to avoid strokes and at night melatonin, a hormone that decreases as we age. Instead of taking dozens of supplements, I decided to get healthy through diet and exercise instead. As a science buff, I do a lot of research on how to get the nutrients I need through food and grow a lot of that in my own organic garden. My latest additions are longevity spinach and Okinawa spinach, a cousin of longevity spinach. The name “Longevity” refers to its health benefits in lowering blood sugar, inflammation, and cholesterol.
In my 40s and 50s, I had packed on an extra 50 pounds from my lean high school weight. I was always slightly underweight growing up, so this was a puzzlement for me to be gaining weight. I first tried various diets; settling on vegan/pescatarian diet to try and avoid the cancer cursing our family. I bought a treadmill desk to try and walk off the pounds, and of course all those supplements. Then I started looking at the science of weight gain and weight loss. The weight gain was simple. I was under a lot of stress and the drug cortisol caused my body to start holding onto my fat. Cortisol in nature is essential for my body's fight or flight response; however, it caused fat storage in my abdomen. This belly fat accumulated and caused far more health issues including my weight gain and inflammation to trigger my autoimmune diseases.
I found four things to lower my belly fat; eating good fats, intermittent fasting, adjusting my metabolism and core strength training. I've gotten 40 of those extra 50 pounds gone; but it did take a few years. I started first with my core strength training since that is best when you have all the extra weight. You might think that "I'll diet and lose some weight so that exercise will be easier" but actually this extra weight is like carrying around free dumbbells all day. Everything you do will be more effective in this phase. I worked with a physical trainer and have a daily routine of planks, chairs, tippy toes, etc. I combined this with yoga for a great core training routine. I've lost 6 inches in my belly and become rather strong. It is great in my gardening to be able to dig and pick up things without getting a sore back. I like being strong. I've already covered in another post the good fats and I'll discuss the metabolism in my next blog. In the meantime, focus on using your extra weight to your advantage!
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