How I've changed my health....(Long)

I manage our family farm but I also drive a dump truck on the side which requires me to have a CDL license. Part of having the CDL license is you have to have a health card which means a physical. This has to be updated every two years. Two months ago I went in for a physical to update my health card and for the first time in my life due to high blood pressure I didn't pass.

I've never taken any medicine for my blood pressure and was determined not to start. I went home and by chance sat down and watched a show on Netflix called "What The Health". It's actually a show about diabetes and how you can possibly correct it by going to an all plant based diet. This show has literally turned my life around.

For years I've had low energy, arthritis, knee pain, allergies, aches, mood swings, depressed, lack of good sleep, overweight, and for the most part just felt bad. Since watching this show I've gone to an almost all plant based diet. I've cut my meat intake to once or twice a week, cut my refined sugar intake back by two thirds, reduced dairy products by at least 75%, cut salt back by 80-90%, started drinking more water and green tea, and absolutely had no caffeine or sodas for two months! I even bought a smoothie maker, lol.

I did start taking a supplement called Carditone to help with the blood pressure and it's helped a lot. I drink a smoothie every morning that's about 60% fruit and 40% green vegetables and try to stay plant based for lunch and dinner. Within a week I started feeling better. I started working out and walking some and in 4 weeks my BP went from the 150's/90's to 120's/70's and I've dropped over 20lbs. I can't remember when I've felt this good or had so much energy!

I truly feel like I was headed for a stroke or worse. I went for a 3 mile walk the other day and felt like I was running on jet fuel! Haven't felt any arthritis in four weeks, not feeling depressed, my knees have quit popping, no more headaches, skin looks better, allergies are improving, the ringing in my ears has subsided quite a bit, family and friends can see the difference and some have actually started eating better themselves. I'm sleeping some better but not like I'd like to be. Hopefully that will come with time.

I'm telling this because I never would've thought that by making some simple changes to my diet and a little exercise would have such a dramatic effect on me and my life and I would love it if I could help someone else! I highly recommend watching this show and others if you have Netflix or Amazon Prime, just type in "Health" and there's a whole list of shows. The main thing is just to get to feeling better.

If anyone has questions just ask, I'll be happy to help! Kevin

 

Kevin, I'll definitely look in to this. I knocked pasta out of my life about 3-4 years ago and that helped a lot, but always interested improving my life. Thanks for sharing!

 

Congrats on such a great change, Kevin. Happy for you!

 

You're welcome Keith. It's amazing how much better I feel. Its like a fog has lifted and I can see and think so much more clearly. I realize it's not for everyone but it is worth a try. Just have to change the way you think.

 

Thanks Perry!

 

That's great news.

 

Good for you Kevin. Sounds like you are on the path. Keep up the good work. Did you get your CDL back yet?

 

Yes sir I did. However, it did take 4 weeks, (two of them with taking the Carditone supplement 2 times a day, now I take one a day) before I got it to an acceptable level.

 

I've seen the film Kevin. Congratulations and best of luck moving forward!!

 

Diet and exercise are both key for living a healthy life. I don’t have the perfect diet and don’t exercise like I want, but I’ve learned to limit my intake of certain foods, cut out salt, pass on the junk food and look for the healthy alternatives. Load up on the vegetables and limit the red meat and processed foods. Watch the caloric intake. Walking is a great cardio and low stress exercise. Getting 10,000 steps or more a day makes a big improvement in the quality of one’s life.

Kevin, keep up the good work!

 

Well done Kevin. Make changes to your diet and way of life are very difficult, congratulations on your success and improved health.

 

Does that include whole wheat pasta?

 

I stopped all pasta and potatoes ... I hated the way they made me feel ... just like a bloated tranced animal on Wild Kingdom.
From what I understand the body treats them as straight sugar and causes the crash.

Still eat them on rare occasions as a treat ... home fries or out to eat Italian meal. At most once a month.

 

I had a brief bout of PREdiabetes, but a change of diet and more exercise than I'd been doing got me out of that.

 

That's awesome! I think a lot of health issues can be corrected or avoided with diet and exercise. Congrats on turning that around!

 

Thank you . It's about time for my physical exam, thus I hope to continue to be in the "safe" range. As the warmer weather approaches, I'll get back to doing 2 or 3 lengths around the large driveway we have here. It's quite the "hike"!

 

Thanks for sharing your story...and congrats on your improved health, that's great news. Some time ago I was on a path to poor health and decided it was time to make some changes. I gave up breads, sugar and alcohol and started eating more vegetables and started walking twice a day. Feel much better. Down 20 lbs and my blood pressure has improved. Still can't leap over tall buildings and race speeding trains...but I'm working on it.

 

Congratulations on the changes and the turnaround, good news indeed, well done fella.

 

That's great to hear! I think what's helped me the most is giving up processed foods and making fruit and vegetables 90% of my diet. Even on days when I don't feel as good I still have energy.

 

Congratulations to both of you. My enemy is carbohydrates, it’s hard to reduce them but makes a huge difference to me. I am 40mpound lighter than when I moved to Korea 16 years ago. When I moved here I decided to start exercising again and improve my diet. It was tough because they always serve rice here and I had to make sure I reduced the rice, bread and sugar. Surprisingly living in the city helped, it forces me to walk a lot more, open downstairs for the Subway as well as just more walking in general. Well I can drive traffic is terrible and parking is difficult.