Day 26 Update! And, Social Justice Activism REQUIRES spiritual, mental, and PHYSICAL efficiency!

26 days until the photo-shoot! :)

Exercise:
Kettle Bell Boot Camp (50 minutes)

Eating:
5:30am ¾ cup freshly squeezed OJ, ¼ cup h20, 2 tbsp gelatin
7:45am ¾ cup almond milk, ¼ cup h20, 1 scoop protein powder (24 grams protein), 5 frozen strawberries
11:45am Melon and 12 almonds
4:00pm 2 oz baked chicken, 10 almonds, and 12 grape tomatoes
7:00pm 3 oz baked chicken, 1/2 cup of Crystal's Sweet Potato Delight! [boil 6 sweet potatoes, peel, add cinnamon and nutmeg to your liking (I love NUTMEG), 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp of stevia, 2-3 splashes of almond milk for consistency, mash], green salad

Drinking:
142 oz h20
3/4 cup almond milk
3/4 cup fresh squeezed oj

How I feel:
It terms of eating, definitely too much time between meals 2 and 3 and 3 and 4. Four hours is usually the upper end of how long I want to go before eating again. 3-3.5 is a good range for me.

OooWeee, today’s workout was a DOUSY, y’all! It was a kettle bell, cardio, marathon! Oh so hard during, but felt so good after! Just a little description: Teams of two, 6 kettle bells per team (two 20lbs; two 15lbs; two 10lbs). Start at opposite ends of a long room, all kettle bells on one side with one partner. One partner starts with one kettle bell, both partners race to the middle of the room, kettle bell is exchanged. Both partners race back. Repeat until all kettle bells are on opposite side of the room. Do that for three rounds, as many times as you can in each round (one 5 minute round, one 4 minute round, one 2 minute round) WITH stair climbing (up and down 2 flights 3x) in between and what do you get: PURE MADNESS! Who gets up, willingly, at 5am, to do this? Uh, that’d be me. I’m officially crazy. It’s ok.

Today’s class, because of the celebration of the MLK Holiday was small. 9 of us in a class that’s usually nearly 30. My trainer jokingly said, “Dr. King would have wanted y’all to be working out!” Though she was joking, there is some truth to what she said. As a historian who studies civil rights movement history, I KNOW social justice activism is not for the weak—you have to be strong spiritually, mentally, and PHYSICALLY. In a biography of one of my favorite activists, Chana Kai Lee recounts the story of Fannie Lou Hamer, a leader in the Mississippi freedom struggle. Many know Hamer’s famous line: “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Hamer worked 40 years on a plantation before joining SNCC when they came to her town in the 1960s. For nearly 20 years, she worked tirelessly on behalf of poor people in Mississippi—at the expense of her health. Her life is an example of how this country NEGLECTS those who need them most—she couldn’t afford health care. There was no HMO for civil rights activists. Additionally, our health care system proved just how valuable African-American life was by sterilizing her against her will. Towards the end of her life, she decided to organize a farm, what she hoped to be a self-sustaining farm, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. Hamer passed away from breast cancer in 1977.

All that to say—social justice work takes a toll on you on many levels. This fact, coupled with the health care system we have in the United States, can make for a very lethal combination. So, on this MLK day, let’s not just recognize AND DO what we can do to make this society a better place for our children’s children, let’s try to make it a healthier place for us, too, WHILE we are living. The work is hard, no doubt, but who said sustaining a revolution would be easy?

The body can heal itself.

If there is anything I have learned about the human body over the past 9 months is that IT CAN AND WILL heal itself! The following quote sums up how I feel about the matter perfectly: "Remember, getting well is easy. All you have to do is STOP doing what is making you sick, and START living new and healthy ways that will heal you."

Three years ago I was diagnosed with hypertension. Stress, body weight, and bad nutritional practices had finally caught up to me. My body’s response to this was high blood pressure. In 2007, my MD prescribed blood pressure pills to me and told me to lose some stress and weight. The problem was that for me weight and stress were intertwined. I told her that doing those two things would be nearly impossible while in graduate school. How long would I be in graduate school was her next question. I told her that I was in year 3 of a 7-8 year program. I bet she thought—well, I hope she lives to see the end of the program.

The next two years were no less stressful. I began to get lax about taking my medication and eventually just stopped taking it altogether. I made myself forget about my diagnosis. I didn’t see my doctor because I knew my pressure was high—my nutritional choices and lack of exercise were all the evidence I needed. I didn’t need a reprimand from my doctor, too.

Well, in the early spring of 2010 I decided to see my doctor. She was pleased to see me. By this time I had lost 20lbs but my pressure was still elevated—still in stage 1 range. She put me on a different medication and told me to come back in early summer.

I continued with my healthy eating and exercising.

When I came back in early summer I had lost an additional 18lbs AND my blood pressure was significantly lowered—just a few points above normal range. She decreased my medication and told me to come back in three months.

I continued with my healthy eating (which were by now permanent lifestyle changes) and exercising but I encountered some challenges. Between my summer visit and my impending fall visit I had two stressful high-paced summer jobs to complete as well as a relocation. I was nervous about what impact this would have on my nutrition and blood pressure.

The first summer job I was able to keep up my healthy lifestyle, however the second job had me moving to UC-Berkeley’s campus, living in the dorms, AND eating cafeteria food. UGH! Somehow I made it through three weeks and actually LOST a lb! I was too excited.

When I arrived back home in August, I resumed my healthy habits and found a new gym. I worked hard.

Two weeks ago I came from seeing my doctor, I lost another 20lbs and my pressure had dropped such that it was in the “normal” range. Additionally, since the dosage of medication I had been taking was so low, she decided to allow me to stop taking it altogether.

I couldn’t believe it. While one is never “cured” from hypertension, it can be controlled. I have dedicated myself to controlling my blood pressure, not letting it control me.

I am living proof that the body can heal itself. I didn’t do anything but stop putting toxins in my body. I stopped doing things that would make me sick and committed myself to consuming “life-giving” substances. As a result, my body was able to heal itself.

"The first step in natural healing is responsibility. Natural healing is about taking control of your life and being responsible for everything that goes in and out of your body, mind and spirit."