Final Thoughts about TrueNorth

well, my journey home has begun, but am i centered? am i pointing North? have i found MY TrueNorth? that's what they strive for at TrueNorth Health Center - to help people find their North, their balanced way of living. so have i found it?

to be honest, i don't know! i feel good. i feel encouraged. i certainly feel pointed in the right direction. but have i grown enough to stay pointing North? i hope so! i'm definitely armed with info to help me continue. i've cleansed my body of all toxins and haven't put any back in for three weeks now. i've lost a little weight.

but do i feel better? yes, i do! but do i feel healed? well, no. do i believe i've cured my asthma, for good? no. i hope it's better, at least, but i have no way of knowing that until i gain my strength back and continue to avoid toxins.

nothing drastic happened during this journey. i wasn't converted to some vegan cult. i didn't experience any healing miracles. i didn't feel the spirit ascend on me as i was fasting. i didn't have some enlightened experience where i was shown signs and wonders, nor did i see ghosts or goblins. i thought i would be more spiritual, but i wasn't. i thought i would feel my physical healing, but i didn't. i thought i would have some major "experience" ... but i didn't.

every day felt normal. fasting became easier than eating. in fact, the fasting process was far easier than i imagined it would be. i felt hunger every day, but it was manageable. it would have been more so had i not surrounded myself with food at the food demos or by watching The Food Network (ha!). the doctors laugh at fasting patients because we look up recipes online and watch cooking shows on tv, but food, or the lack of, never leaves your brain when you're fasting. at least it didn't leave mine. my mind was constantly on food - not necessarily feeling deprived and craving and wanting and being tempted - more "what am i going to eat when i'm done with this, when i go home?" the desire to get armed with ammunition, with recipes and ideas, was more the drive to go to the cooking demos or to watch food contests on tv.

i was never tempted to sneak into the dining room and steal food while i was fasting. never. but i did dream about enchiladas and tamales and bananas. and when it was finally time to eat them, they didn't taste as fantastic as i'd imagined. good, yes. but the best food i've ever tasted? no.

i'm super thankful for the opportunity to do this. i really wanted to fast - to push my body and mind beyond anything it had known before. i am thankful to now know what my body does and how it responds to the lack of food for a prolonged period. i'm also thankful to know that my body does not NEED to eat three times a day, or more, in order to survive. i still want to eat when i'm hungry, naturally, but if for some reason i can not eat what's given to me, or there is no opportunity to get food, or i'm stuck in transit without it, i KNOW i will continue to live and that the hunger will eventually go away.

and knowing that, realizing i'm not going to wither away if i miss lunch, also encourages me to avoid the foods that i should not eat - for example, if i go to a dinner or a party and there is nothing i am able to eat - instead of compromising, like i've done in the past, and subjecting myself to the slippery slope that is toxic food, i can turn it down and go without until i leave that situation and am able to get something on my approved list.

i have to look at the food i put in my body as the fuel that keeps my engine running. just like i can't put diesel in my car and expect it to operate beyond a few miles, i can't put toxins in my body and expect it to thrive beyond a couple of days.

people say to me all the time, "we're all gonna die anyway, so...."  well, that is very true. we are ALL going to die at some point, that is unless Jesus returns and takes us up (or sends us down, whichever the case may be). BUT ... i'm not eating this way in order to live a long life or to try to cheat death. i could care less about living to be 105. the less time i live on this decrepit earth the better! my response to those who say that is, "i don't want to live to 105, but while God keeps me here on earth i want to enjoy the years He gives me. i would far prefer to live 60 happy, healthy, feeling great years than 100 unhappy, discontent, fat, depressed, tired, sick, and diseased years."

and so i conclude... after a year and five month long journey of research, trial and error, desire, and perseverance, i have found my true north. i have found my path to enjoying my life. and i'm happy it's taken as long as it's taken. you can't learn as much as i've learned in just a few days. you can't learn how to live the rest of your life from one book. or watching one video. yes, it can set you on the right path, but you have to find your own way. if you have desire to THRIVE instead of just SURVIVE, then you're already one step ahead of most. Congratulations!

i could not have gotten here without a little help. and i have a number of fantastic *resources to thank...  (i tried to put them in order of finding/watching/reading/attending/etc.)

Super Size Me
Fat Head
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
Food, Inc
King Corn
No Impact Man
Forks Over Knives
Mom
Engine 2 Diet / Engine 2 Extra
Farms 2 Forks
Dr. Caldwell and Ann Esselstyn
Rip Esselstyn
Ami Mackey
Natala Constantine
TrueNorth Health Center
Dr. Alan Goldhamer
Dr. Michael Klaper
Dr. Neal Barnard
Dr. John McDougall
Dr. Doug Lisle
The Starch Solution
The Pleasure Trap
Chef AJ

*not an exhaustive list