I have just finished reading my last blog and I have to say, I can hardly even remember those difficult days. Thank goodness I have written this blog to document this monumental time in our lives. My brain has the tendency to erase grim times and remember the happy times, which is not altogether a bad thing I guess.
Our lives have done a complete one-eighty-degrees and none of us could be happier, even if we won lotto. In fact, I think we have won the lotto of life! A friend of mine has been trying to tell me about a product/business that she became involved in late last year. On two separate occasions I told her that I was not interested. She promised me better health and more energy and I told her that we had already embraced the journey of a whole foods / plant based lifestyle and were experiencing better health. However, months of tough times had taken their toll and I was feeling quite flat. Our Naturopath had given me some supplements and while they got me through, I still wasn't feeling overly energetic. Mark was going well and working around 2-3 hours per day, but that seemed to be his limit. Sleeping was still a major problem and without sleeping tablets, he had no chance of anything more than a couple of hours sleep.
With our Sydney trip fast approaching, I decided to give my friend some time to explain to me what she was doing on a part time basis. It all sounded reasonable and the business sounded ethical and fair. Still sceptical however, I purchased a bottle, put all my Naturopath supplements to one side and began taking these little yellow pills. Within days, I started to feel like I had a little more energy, but I wouldn't believe it could be these pills. After 5 days, Mark declared that he "had enough of taking 10 different supplements at 7 different times of the day". He said it made him feel like a really sick person who was controlled by the clock as to when he would need to swallow his next tablet or potion. He was also going to give it a go!
Within days we were off to Sydney! We had a basic apartment with a kitchenette, a very old and lumpy bed and a sofa bed for Sebastian. But the location was awesome. In the heart of the city, we could walk to Darling Harbour, the Centre of the City and Circular Quay. We continued with our "one day at a time" routine, but made some rough plans of what we might like to see in our 5 days in the "Big Smoke". I wanted to make the most of this opportunity and while I was conscious of our limitations (a 3 year old and a man still recovering from brain surgery) I was determined to get out and enjoy life, while still watching our budget.
In whole, our trip was amazing. We walked everywhere and saw everything and I was so proud of my boys. We took ferries to Tooronga Zoo and Luna Park, walked to Circular Quay and Darling Harbour, went to the top of the Centrepoint Tower and took the SkyTrain just for fun! For that week, we lived! I went out on several occasions on my own to fetch food and drink supplies to reduce our eating-out costs, but we also enjoyed some beautiful meals with amazing views. To this day, Sebastian still asks if we can go back to Sydney, so I guess he enjoyed the adventure as well, even though we really didn't do much "kid stuff".
Home again and things really started to change. I was really feeling great by this stage and I'm sure the holiday had a lot to do with it, but my fitness seemed to improve quite dramatically. Then Mark started jogging and before we knew what had happened, we were both jogging, working out and losing weight. Mark started sleeping without the aid of tablets, and sleeping through the night without waking. I too started sleeping through and waking up refreshed and excited to get up and go for a run. What the....?? Along with the deep sleep, Mark's mood changed dramatically and one morning when returning from a run I could hear a funny noise. A whistling noise. What was that? I approached the kitchen and there was Mark whistling away while chopping mushrooms and spring onions for our breakfast. Shocked I simply stepped backwards and headed for the workout room to finish my morning workout, all the while wondering, could this really be happening?
Before long I was ringing my friend and telling her what was happening. She too was surprised but somehow knew that things would happen for us. I did a little more research into the product but I knew in my heart of hearts that this was indeed what I needed to do. I signed up as a distributor and this became my new career path. The more I read, the more amazed and excited I became. Once I received a small supply of these amazing yellow pills, I rushed a bottle over to my Mum and told her she just had to take them as I had begun to be concerned for her mental health. She agreed. Days later I checked in with her. She quickly told me she "had enough of these pills and couldn't take it anymore". Shocked, I asked why. Mum had experienced a liver detox reaction due to her fatty liver and this had caused her some discomfort. I told her to cut the tablets in half and begged her to continue. Sure enough she did and a month later, I could notice her mood starting to change and conversations seemed to be easier and stayed on topic.
It has now been two and a half months and Mark and I cannot be happier. He is now able to work a full day, but chooses not to. Recently, he needed to work very hard to finish a project with a very tight deadline. He attended work three days out of five. Three full days starting at 8.45am with a 90 minute bus ride, a full day of work and a 90 minute bus ride home, arriving at 6.15pm to have dinner us. This type of day would make anyone tired, but he soldiered on, giving Sebastian some quality time before tucking him up in bed for the evening.
I have thanked my friend many times for giving us our life back, in fact, making our lives even better than ever before. We have balance, we have health and most of all, we have happiness. We laugh, we sing and recently have rediscovered the fun of playing tennis. My Mum, who is 87 this year, also enjoys a little hit! And my job now is to spread the word and help as many people as I can with this amazing product. I don't even need to say anything. People who I haven't seen in a while say, "Wow, you look amazing, what have you been doing?"
Let me say this however. There is no substitute for healthy eating. Stress is bad. Sugar is very bad. Meat and dairy are not necessary for good health. Exercise is hard to do when you don't feel well. Sugar is a drug that is harder to quit than alcohol or cigarettes (speaking from my own experiences). But feeling good, having no joint pain, sleeping deeply is the most amazing feeling you will ever experience and I want to share it with each and every one of you reading this blog. Not for any other reason but to see you and your family feel as well we feel. I have been searching for answers on good health for many years and finally I feel I have found it. I still have a way to go, but our future seems so bright now, I need more than sunglasses!!
