Earlier, in my first article Lunch Catastrophes, I talked about receiving signs from the universe about food. But I must tell you about another incident that happened at the Writing for Change Conference at the Kabuki Hotel in San Francisco on August 16-17, 2008.It was a conference for writers who want to bring about positive change – from the personal to the planetary – and since much of my writing has been about making a better world ... it was the conference for me!
The keynote speaker was Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H fame, who now speaks out against injustice, animal rights, and environmental issues around the world. His philosophy, as stated at the conference was for us all to be responsible citizens because what happens to someone else, also happens to you. According to Farrell, "Everybody counts or nobody counts."
Each day of the conference, we took part in networking luncheons where groups of 10 people would sit at large round tables and eat while talking to each other about their writing venues. The first day, a lovely lady sat to my right named Jeannine Walston. In her thirties, she was tall and statuesque, with short brown hair looking like a well-educated person that you'd see at any professional business meeting.
As a matter of fact, it turns out Jeannine has held positions in the U.S. Congress as a legislative aide; in the cancer community as a lobbyist and patient advocate; and as a consultant to the National Cancer Institute and Food and Drug Administration.
Jeannine now has an organization called Healing Focus that works on improving health care with an emphasis on quality care for cancer patients. Unknown to me at the time, we had a kinship in philosophies. While I believe in dealing with the whole person about weight loss; Jeannine's organization, as stated on her website, believes "Healing involves transforming the whole person, including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of self."
The impetus behind Jeannine's advocacy to empower those dealing with illness, is she has a brain tumor. So, as we enjoyed a lunch of raviolis and exotic vegetables from local organic farms within a 100 mile radius of San Francisco, Jeannine pulled out a portable cooler of her own food, which consisted of a salad and hard boiled eggs.
I turned to Jeannine and asked, "Doesn't it bother you to see people all around you eating raviolis and fruit pies for dessert, while you eat your food?" Looking at me seriously, she replied, "I've already experienced those foods. Now it's time for me to do what I can toward healing the cancer."
Jeannine went on to explain, "Through my health challenge, I've become more educated about the relationship between diet, wellness, and disease. I now only eat what supports my optimal health and vitality."
Diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1998, the tumor reoccurred in 2000, but she wasn't told until 2004. It was at this time that Jeannine went to the Hippocrates Health Institute where she began experimenting more aggressively with dietary modifications. Now, not wholly a vegetarian, she eats 60 to 70 percent raw and includes foods in her diet such as eggs and fish.
"I know that I feel the difference on every level when I eat well compared to when I eat poorly," said Jeannine admitting that poor dietary choices were sometimes her way of abusing herself. She also had to learn how to love herself enough not to be self-destructive with food. "My situation requires me to have discipline," she explained. "My motivation is staying alive."
Admitting to having a sweet tooth in the past, Jeannine explained, "Now, I enjoy the aroma when a friend takes a bite into a piece of chocolate. I enjoy the artistic appearance of some sweets in bakeries. I enjoy beautiful plates of foods with their vibrant colors even when I cannot eat it. I suppose," she confessed, "I've learned to enjoy food through witnessing it. I don't need to eat it."
Jeannine's words about controlling what she puts in her body hit me as the right perspective on eating. But, we don't need to have an illness to get serious about eating the right kinds of foods to optimize our health.
This also reminds of me of something I read on another blog, One Mans Trip to the Half, "food is fuel in the most rudimentary terms and no one would wonder why their car was running rough if the wrong fuel was used and yet people wonder why they are fat when they eat like this and move less than old folk do."
I must tell you to complete the story, the next day at lunch, a different person sat next to me. Her name was Sharon and she is an executive vice president of a public relations firm. As we got to know each other, I discovered Sharon was in remission from breast cancer a year ago.
I don't know the message the universe was trying to tell me by placing two women next to me, in two days, who both were dealing with cancer, but I did introduce Sharon to Jeannine.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING ARTICLES ON THE HEALING FOCUS WEBSITE, ESPECIALLY "IN THE ACROSS THE WORLD SEARCH FOR CANCER TREATMENT, NO GUARANTEES" AND "BEYOND BRAIN MATTER."
I've lost 3 lbs this week for a total weight loss of 14 lbs. What I did right was increase veggies in my meals like instead of 
bunny food having rich provocative salads with pieces of chicken, gargozola, nuts, tomatoes, beans or avacado. I also started steaming prepackaged broccoli and cauliflower to eat at work as snacks or to supplement main meals. It's really easy to prepare and pretty good to eat. Try it!
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