Getting Rid Of Inflammation | Nutrition and Healing

METRO DETROIT, MICHIGAN - A couple of years ago a colleague of mine sent me this black and white email about nutrition. It was a list of stuff you shouldn’t be eating and it was very preachy. It contained the usual buzzwords in it like no GMO, artificial food additives and the danger of artificial food coloring peppered with some new age philosophies from ascended masters. Really, I am serious. The tone of it was to appeal to people who were a higher “vibration”.

This information went right over my head and I paid no serious attention to it. She had spelled out just about everything I eat on a daily basis from convenient foods, fast food take outs and more. I am a typical guy and I will eat just about anything and everything so this email was very frank to say the least. So I asked her, “What exactly are we supposed to eat then?” and she replied, “REAL FOOD”. We didn’t move much beyond that point because the instructions that came after were very vague and unclear.

That didn’t work for me. I like things to be clear, direct, and with a purpose.

In the meantime I had some serious problems to contend with. Here is a picture of me when I was on the short lived TV show, “Self Talk”. It was a dry but straight forward look at business and how we talk to ourselves. Notice I look about 800 pounds in this picture due to a variety of ongoing conditions such as a raging sinus infection, depression, and poor nutrition. I knew I was a train wreck at the shooting but I said to myself, “So what, the show must go on” and it did. I have an ongoing theme in my life where I say, “I believe that anything is possible”. I used this point to illustrate my early career in advertising where I mention my influences including P.T. Barnum, Disney, Scorsese and how I later rubbed shoulders with Capital Records, WWF and MTV.

When all was said and done I found myself heading back to my car in the snow. I was clueless as to how I was to get rid of this horrendous sinus condition and had no idea what was waiting for me just down the road.

Old Injuries Return To Say Hello

I got thru the winter and made it into the early days of spring and things looked promising. It was sometime in early April 2015 when something unfortunate happened and my peace was completely shattered. It came on with no warning. I was getting out of my car and heading up the stairs to my house when my left knee went into excruciating pain. Something inside the knee broke and rivers of nerve pain shot through my entire leg. I couldn’t even lift the leg up to the next step and get into my house.

I had been in a bike / car accident when I was in college and had to undergo reconstructive knee surgery. The doctors later explained to me that the scar tissue broke around the knee causing serious inflammation. We did some X-rays and the doctors could find no signs of torn ligaments which was a real relief. Even though there was no need to go and do another knee surgery I was still in a lot of trouble. I could barely walk and had to wear a knee brace. After a shot of cortisone and a very short consultation I was shuffled off to physical therapy. I lounged around there for six weeks while the therapists tried to rehabilitate me. It was difficult and painful and by the end of it all I was still icing down the knee from swelling. I had a hard time getting through the rigorous exercises and the knee still wanted to give away from some inside muscle weakness. I was far from being out of the woods. Real Whole Food Nutrition Comes Into The Picture

I have always been a guinea pig for my mom when it comes to new health products. She is like a bumble bee and is always trying outrageous products for very short periods of time. I usually play along to keep things peaceful. This exchange has taken us to some very bizarre places over the years and every once in a while we will find something very useful. But it is really touch and go. One particular morning I was over her house visiting and she had something new going on.

This time my mom had some fruits and vegetables in capsule form. She said it was 15X the normal daily amount and they might help my knee. I didn’t put up much of a fight and I took them as I was willing to try something that worked. There was some kind of shake too and I ended up taking that. The whole thing was over in a few minutes and I forgot about it and went back on my busy day.

The next morning I noticed I was walking around without much of a limp. I had been hobbling around with a knee brace from Copper Fit for about two weeks. I thought it was my imagination but I was actually walking around better. I went back to my mom’s place and confronted her about my progress because I thought I was imagining things. I looked over the packaging for these supplements and I could see that it had a whole bunch of fruits and vegetables in them, ( in fact there were 30 overall ). I really had already given up on my summer and was pretty sure I wouldn’t be seeing any concerts or playing any golf. I had made up my mind that I was going to be pretty much bedridden until my knee got better. Suddenly, I could see a ray of light and a chance for a much better way of life. I was interested.

My mom invited me to a luncheon that week and said I could meet some of the people who sell these amazing nutrients. Alright I said… but as long as I could sit in the back. I wanted to sneak in the back and not make a big deal out of my presence and take some notes. That was my plan, besides I didn’t want anyone to see how bad off I was. My neck was the size of a Goodyear tire and my sinuses were throbbing.

We ended up sitting right in the front of the speaker and I could barely keep my eyes open once the presentation began. My concentration was shot. I was trying to take notes but I wanted to drift off to sleep. See, I told you I was a mess – I could barely keep my eyes open. But I got through the presentation and my notes were a mess and were barely readable.

Why am I telling you all of this embarrassing stuff? I am telling you this because I went through a powerful transformation. Just bare with me…. Oh it gets better.

After the presentation I made my way over to the product display table. I expected to be sold because I have been through enough of these type of functions. I also expected to see about 40 products on the table and I already made up my mind I was going to buy some of them. When I looked over at the display I noticed that there were only like four products. There were the nutrition pills, some kind of fruit and veggie gummies and a protein powder. My first thoughts were, “Where’s the rest of it?... Oh.. that’s it? That’s all there is to this program? … I CAN DO THIS !!”.

We left and my head was already spinning because I saw this as a way out. I asked my mom how quickly could we get on this stuff and how long would it take to order it. My mom was being her typical self and was already trying to talk me out of it, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” I thought to myself, “Are you kidding me? If I don’t do this I am dead. I need to do this – in fact my whole entire life depends on it!” I will never forget that walk back to the car. I was hoping nobody could see me hobble back to the car in that heat with my knee inflamed and my sinuses raging. I needed this stuff badly. I couldn’t wait for my first shipment so instead I broke into my mom’s supply and just started taking it.

The Third Week It Pays Off

Part of the reason why I don’t like nutrition programs is because they rarely work. I have been on at least two expensive programs where I had to purchase like 50 things. The last one I bought left a bad taste in my mouth. After I purchased everything on the list the doctor stuck his head out the door as I walked back to my car and he said and I quote, “Rome wasn’t built in a day!” Seriously, I was like - “Screw you”. I never went back to that guy for anything after that.

What lousy customer service.

Now, I was in a new space. I had a good feeling about these new products. What little I knew about them I already liked. These weren’t vitamins. They were whole foods. This company took the full fruits and vegetables and had specially processed them to retain their full value. This meant that you got the rinds, the peels, and everything else into capsules and this was different than anything else I ever heard of.

By week three I was walking better. I knew I had a way to go but I could see that I was doing much better. There was less stiffness in my knee and the inflammation had gone down. My face started thinning out too and my glands were returning back to their normal size. I started to look and feel different and my energy level improved. My sinuses weren’t as puffy and I was able to breathe better. By week three I could lay flat on my back and go to sleep with be able to breathe through my nose. That may seem petty to some of you but for me it was a huge improvement. I don’t remember being able to sleep like that since I was a kid. I was sold on this program and decided to press my luck.

The Summer Is Saved And I Decided To Live It Up

My mood was changing too almost by the day. I felt like I could take on anything. The previous summer I had gone through a break up with a woman I dated for 7 years. I went through a serious depression and I missed her son whom I raised since he was a baby. I decided to put that past behind me and press forward. I felt like a new person with this program and decided to save the summer. For me that meant two things: concerts, and golf.

I went on a three day golf holiday and I felt good enough to play every day. I started out doing 9 holes at first but it didn’t take me long to amp that up to a full 18 holes a day. I took my time and really enjoyed myself out there in the hot sun. I could walk pretty good and could even climb the hills without any sharp pain in my knee. I knew I was on the road to recovery. There really wasn’t much on my mind on that trip and I even got two concerts in. Rod Stewart and Def Leppard were playing at the resort I was staying in. These were both outdoor shows and summer was just kicking off. I already had plans to see The Rolling Stones and about 20 other shows. But the best part for me was just being able to breathe again and to be able to walk like everyone else.

I got a phone call from some good people from this nutrition company. It was explained to me that there were some people in the group that were pulling 100 thousand a week. I thought there was some kind of miscommunication in our connection that number sounded like…. 100 thousand a week? Yes? YES!

Here I was on the golf course with my mouth open and I was on the phone. I wasn’t able to get my head around it but I decided that I wanted to do this for a business too because after all I could see what it was doing in my life. This product was actually saving my life. I was able to get around and do the things I wanted to do. I could tell my story to people and show them how it was transforming me inside and out. This was real. I remember driving my cart back to the clubhouse and wanting to check out of the hotel ASAP and head back to Metro Detroit and sign up as a distributor. I was back home by the Friday of that week and I got involved with the company.

The Progress Continued

My eating habits started to change somewhat dramatically. I started to eat more natural foods and ditched all of the processed food altogether. I started to seek out salads and pay attention to what I was feeding my body. I also doubled up on my protein shakes too which are plant based. I paid attention to the kind of water I was consuming and noticed that my sleep patterns were becoming more regular. I was finding peace in my daily activity and my mood was neutral. I didn’t have any anxiety or seem to worry as much about things. I was started to even out. This is a major shift from my corporate days.

Things that used to give me trouble like acid reflux was non-existent. I noticed that I would be able to wake up early and be totally refreshed. I would often stay up late too and work on things and still manage to get enough sleep. I had a lot more energy than ever before. My mom said my eyes were becoming more white and I was unaware of that even happening. I stopped having headaches too over the ongoing weeks. Sometimes I had to take aspirins to combat unexpected headaches but that wasn’t the case anymore. I noticed that I didn’t have to wear my knee brace and that my knee was actually improving.

I never had a problem with hair loss but my hair started to grow rapidly. I was getting a haircut every two weeks as a result of it all. I hadn’t counted on this to happen. My gums used to occasionally bleed from time to time and even that stopped completely.

I noticed that I had to watch the portion control on the food I consumed. I didn’t need to eat dinners anymore and I lost my taste for certain foods. The big take away here was I stopped eating everything on my plate. Quite often I would eat half of my meal in the restaurant and take the rest of it home in a box. Back in the old days I would eat it all in one shot.

On a personal note I started going to church more. I found a place I could really connect to and started going on a regular basis. I was finding peace and more importantly I was enjoying that peace.

The Journey Continues

Today I am learning more about nutrition as a whole and what it can do for the mind and body. I am interested in teaching others on how they can overcome their issues with digestion, elimination, weight loss, depression, inflammation, concentration, acid reflux, sinus issues and more. As each week goes by I learn a little more about how nutrition can rebuild the body, restore the mind and completely heal every condition.

I will never go back to the way I was and I am grateful to have found this program. But most of all, “ I Still Believe That Anything Is Possible” and am looking forward to spreading this message of hope to other people.