I recently watch the documentary film Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days, if you are not familiar with the film they take 6 people who have type 1 & 2 diabetes and cure them of diabetes in 30 days by doing nothing else except changing their diet.

There were doctors on hand 24 hours and doing regular blood tests and a variety of other tests to ensure it all went safe.

I don’t have diabetes however my Grandfather, yet more out of interest and curiosity I brought the DVD.

After watching the film and seeing remarkable results like 80% of the participants not needing to inject themselves with insolent with in the first week simply by eating a raw food diet and then 4 out of the 6 completely being cured of type 2 diabetes 1 cured of type 1 which is considered incurable by many doctors and the other type 1 participant reducing his insulin intake considerably by the end of the 30 days I was amazed, yet in some ways not overly surprised.

You are what you eat and the human body is designed to heal itself if you feel it right and live a balanced diet. When you look at our modern day western diet’s consisting of so many processed dead foods it is sad yet not to surprising that in Australia 2 in 3 people by 65 will have cancer and 1 in 3 have heart disease.

So after watching the film I thought I would give it a try too. After all it was only 30 days and what’s the worse can happen. If I didn’t see any improvements or didn’t enjoy it I could easily go back to my usual eating habits which I considered fairly healthy anyway.

Well it has been almost 7 weeks now since I started making shifts towards a raw vegan diet and I have to say I am loving it. I have more energy and focus than ever before, I actually feel energised after meals and not sleepy or tired – what a concept!

My skin is amazing, my finger nails are stronger and I am healing quicker than before too. (I practise Tong Long Kung Fu where we hit each other quite often).

When I started I didn’t go completely raw and vegan 100% to start with as I don’t think I could have handled it, instead  I eased myself into it and kept improving every couple of days, adding things and taking out others.

I was already vegetarian so the change for me was not that drastic as it could be for others and cutting out dairy completely has been one of the last changes I made however after seeing the results I wish I had of cut dairy out weeks ago.

Here Are My Top 9 Benefits And Reasons For Going To Raw Food Diet

1. More Energy – I feel energized after eating each meal, I never feel bloated, tired or lethargic. What a concept lol
2. Improved Skin – My skin has cleared up, not that I had a major skin problem to begin with I would get the odd pimple but nothing major, I noticed the biggest improvement to my skin as soon as I cut out dairy, it only took 3 days before I started seeing great results. I have noticed my skin is  more youthful, it has a glow to it is… well clear.
3. Heal Faster – I am healing faster. I practise Tong Long Kung Fu and we tend to hit each other quiet often getting many bruises, etc I notice I am healing faster than before and faster than many of my colleagues.
4. More Focus, Less Stress – I have more focus, concentration and feel more in alignment or congruent with who I want to be – if that makes sense. This means I am more productive but less stressed even when there is pressure to meet deadlines
5. Environmental – I have less trash in my bin at the end of the week/month most of the waste is biodegradable, less plastic packaging, etc so it is better for the environment and your garden if you have one.
6. Easy To Prepare Meals – It take less time to prepare food and 90% of the time I only require a knife, a chopping board and a bowl or plate, this also means less cleaning up to do J
7. Less Binging – I tend to only eat to feed my body and not to fulfil a sugar craving or as an escape mechanism, my binging on junk food has pretty much just fallen away.
8. Weight Loss – I have lost weight, which I have never had a weight problem but I have noticed I have lost the small bit of flab I had on my stomach, my body is more lean and muscular now.
9. Over All Wellbeing - It feel healthier, a healthy body equals and healthy mind and sprite, which means I am firing on all cylinders so to speak. It is funny we almost all make sure our cars are in great working order but often neglect our body which will get you a lot more joy or pain depending on how you treat it than your car ever will

I understand eating a raw food diet is not for everyone and I never want to tell someone else what they should do, as i believe as soon as I do that they can start telling me what to do. But I would suggest try it out for 30 days and see how you feel, after all what’s the worse can happen, you don’t like it and you go back to where you are now.

The food industry is massive and when it comes to food and our diets we are sold so much rubbish about what is so called ‘good’ for us.

If you would like to learn more about the movies above and the food you eat and what it really does to your body check out this documentaries Food, Inc and FoodMatters
and and Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days

I would love to hear you thoughts, experiences and/or questions so make sure to talk back to me in the comments

As some of you know I have hired an Anthony Robbins personal coach to help me break though to new heights and guide me to the fulfilment of my desires.

One of the fundamental principals my coach takes me though is about state management and different strategies to keep you in a better state or mindset

Top athletes and anyone at the top of their game understand that when you are in an empowered state/mindset you make better decisions and take better actions.

I am sure you know and can relate to this too, we have all experienced times when you are feeling totally juiced, energised, in the moment and in a peak state. You feel like you can take on the world and conquer any task even if you don’t know how you will find a way.

And there are also those other less empowering states, feelings of struggle, stressed or ‘simply not in the mood’ which hijack us from living our full potential and rob us of our dreams.

If you have ever been exposed to any of Tony Robbins material or study NLP you know that there are 3 main keys that affect you state:

1. What you are focused on in that moment
2. How you are using your physical body or physiology
3. The language you use and the words you speak.

Simply by changing one or a combination of these things you can start to shift your state, for example if I was to ask you to describe someone who is depressed, what would you say?

How would they hold their body, would they be looking up or down? Standing straight or slouched? What do you think they would be thinking about? Do you think they would be thinking of past successes or past failures? What kind of words would they use? Do you think they would talk with passion and excitement or slow and dull? Speak positive words or negative words?

I hope you are getting the picture, in fact here is a little experiment you can try, next time you are working out, doing exercise put a really big smile on your face and notice how your focus changes and how different you begin to feel. This is a cool little trick you can use to help to push yourself that little bit further. Smiling releases endorphins in your brain that make you happy

Peace begins with a smile. ~ Mother Teresa

We all have run patterns that keep us in a certain state, for example when you first get home from work/school you run a certain pattern, for me it used to be turn on the TV, get changed and sit on the couch to unwind. Because I did this largely without thinking it became a habit, and as the saying goes the things you do habitually will determine your destiny. – I didn’t like the look of that destiny

Recently I have changed this pattern and I did it effortlessly. The new pattern or habit I wanted to install was to do some exercise as soon as I got home.

The problem was just the thought of doing exercise as soon as I got home didn’t excite me to say the least, in fact I dreaded it, even though I knew why I wanted to change.

I had to consciously use a combination of the 3 state changes above to get me into the right mood or state and remind myself WHY I wanted to create this new habit to push myself to follow though.

This was until I discovered how to make this change fun and effortless. One of the easiest ways you can influence your state is to play your favourite song or music.

For all those fans of the Rocky movies I am sure you can relate when you start to hear Eye Of The Tiger! (I know I start to get really fired up)

So this is what I did to create a new empowering success habit effortlessly

Instead of turning on the television as soon as I walked in the front door I would play my favourite music that would get me into an empowering state. The side effect of this one small change was that it kept me in an empowering state and coming from that mind set I naturally wanted to do the exercise.

It was far easier and much more enjoyable for me to change the habit turning on the stereo instead of the TV and as a result I installed a new success habit.

Simply by changing one small and seemly unrelated change I was able to create a long lasting habit that will serve me for years to come.

In order to change the direction of your life many people often get overwhelmed as to the massive changes they might need to make, instead of stressing yourself outlook for the small things you can do to maintain your peak state and you will naturally take the right action.

As the hundreds of successful people that have come before us have shared success is 80% mental and 20% practical or physical.

I would love to hear your thought and comments and what small changes you are committed to in order to break your disempowering states and creates new success habits effortlessly

Before you go I want to leave you on a high, here is a short video that I watch often to get myself into an empowering state. Enjoy

Today, I want to expand on the obvious benefits to your health, wellbeing, and physical quality of life of looking good and why you should care so much.

Because as much as we hate to admit it, we all judge a book by its cover… and judge people on how they look.

You’d agree that when you look good, you feel good. But, looking great can also be a HUGE bonus to your bank account.

Attractive people earn more money than their less attractive peers. This has been researched scientifically and is called the ‘ugliness penalty’.

Surprisingly, men are MORE subject to the penalty than women. In a Canadian and American survey, ugly men earned -9% of average income, while ugly women earned —6%.

China was the only country where the penalty was higher for women.

Why does this happen? Are attractive people smarter? More qualified?

NO! Just look at the track record of many handsome or pretty movie stars.

The ugliness penalty happens because of the ‘Halo Effect’.

The Halo Effect is a trick of our subconscious. Our inner minds look for signs of health – a throwback to SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. We assume that people who have a symmetrical face, a trim waist, and a healthy glow are better than their lackluster counterparts.

The good news is the Halo Effect diminishes with time. The longer we know a person the less likely we are to base our judgment on their looks.

The bad news is beauty is still in the eye of the beholder.

More bad news: Some people are born with an undeniable natural unattractiveness.

Good news: Thankfully, there are measures that everyone can take to appear more attractive.

GOOD HEALTH is the universal indicator of attractiveness.

You can achieve a healthy look through proper DIET, regular EXERCISE and LOW STRESS levels.

Moderation is another key to the look of attractive health. Excesses that can diminish attractiveness include alcohol, smoking, and drug use.

On the other hand, multivitamins and meticulous grooming can go far towards improving your looks.

The ULTIMATE way to look your best is to have confidence in yourself. No amount of sparkle and glow can make up for the look of someone who is unsure of him/herself.

I know this all sounds obvious, but here’s the twist that you are probably expecting…

What is 6 or 9% of your wage/earnings/salary?

If you make $50,000, it’s $3,000 to $4,500 in lost income.

If you make $100,000 it’s $6,000 to $9,000.

I know you never quite saw it this way – sure makes your gym membership seem inexpensive doesn’t it?

This post is all about getting you to think differently about things as – Einstein said “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
______________________________________________
References

Halo Effect
www.face-and-emotion.com/dataface/facets/attractiveness.jsp

“To those that have, shall be given”, The Economist, 22 December
2007, page 69

Surawski, M., & Ossoff, E. (2006). The Effects of Physical and
Vocal Attractiveness on Impression Formation of Politicians.
Current Psychology, 25(1), 15-27

Everywhere you look these days there is the push button cures, it seems like there is a pill for just about everything these days and if that is not good enough for you just get surgery or a heart transplant.

Whatever happened to prevention is better than a cure?!

What I want to share with you today is some good old natural ways to get more energy, look younger, feel better, and even heal yourself quicker.

Warning: I am not a doctor or a nutritionist, just someone who is takes a keen interest in his health.

There are many food out there that are referred to ‘wonder foods’ or ‘super foods’ these are foods with extremely high doses of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are essential for your well being that can help in the fight against disease.

You may have heard of Acai berries, they have been all the rage lately and for good reason, Acai berries contain a high level of antioxidants. So what is an antioxidant?

In simple terms antioxidants are compounds that protect against cell damage inflicted by molecules called oxygen-free radicals, which are the major cause of disease and aging.

Some of the foods that contain the highest levels of antioxidants are: Acai Berries, Noni Berry, blueberries, pomegranate, grape seed extract, mangosteen, goji berry, green tea, muscadine, aloe vera just to name a few

There is a rating called ORAC or Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity this is the measurement to range the amount of antioxidants in foods.

Foods higher on the ORAC scale contain antioxidants that minimize the damage caused by free radicals, linked to certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. According to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, “Eating plenty of high-ORAC fruits and vegetables – such as spinach and blueberries – may help slow the processes associated with aging in both body and brain.”

This is why it is vitally important that you include these kinds of foods in your daily diet. I once told that your food should be your medicine, we really don’t need all the mediations that we take, we simply need to take an educated approach to health and wellness.

Eating foods with high antioxidants is not the be all and end all; this is just one step to overall health.

Due to my quest to stay healthy and find the best products on the market I also what to share with you an amazing drink I have been taking recently called Mind by Natural Vision

It contains the highest score of ORAC in the world and is branded the World’s Strongest Antioxidant Super Drink you can download their online brochure here.

If you are interested in purchasing Mind Drink you can get it here

Prevention is far better than a cure. Almost everyone will agree with this statement, yet when you look around and read the statics regarding our health we notice that many people may agree with it but not many practise it.  Too many people these days look for the quick fix, the magic pill that is solve the problem and relieve the pain. The problem most of us have is that we don’t know anything is wrong until it is already showing signs and in some cases this can be way too late to do anything.

So how do you know which direction you are heading, are you heading in the direction of degenerate disease or are you walking the path towards optimum health.

Many of us use the excuse of I feel great now so I must be healthy, however when you look at the statics it seems like 90% of us are heading in the wrong direction. The statics in Australia is that 1 in 3 men and 1 in 4 women in Australia will be directly affected by cancer in the first 75 years of life. I don’t know about you but something is wrong here and the old saying ‘if you keep doing what others are doing, you get what others get’ comes to mind.

So what are you doing to head towards optimum health? And how do you know that it is working?

Well I am not a doctor and I don’t have a medical degree so I am afraid I don’t really know the answers to these questions however I have found some great tests and practices that I believe can make a big difference and has done wonders for me. I hate taking medication, in fact I can’t even remember when I last took a some, not even for a simple headache (probably because I don’t get them).

One tool I have found very helpful in this area is a blood analysis test.  The blood is the river of life and looking at your live under a microscope you get to see exactly what is happening inside your body.  It is a great way to get an accurate and immediate indication of your state of your general health. Here is the place where I got mind done www.livebloodanalysis.com.au

Another very simple change to your diet which can have profound effects to you heading towards optimum health is having more alkaline rich foods in your diet. Since I have been drinking alkaline rich green drinks my energy levels have grown, I require less sleep and I can focus much better. To get a better understanding of how the acid alkaline balance works and what foods are high or low in alkaline check out this article.

Having a martial art background I have had much exposure to the power of the human body, after travelling to China to train with the Shaolin monks I was taught an ancient Chinese secret to health and wellbeing. It has been around for centuries and the benefits are overwhelming. I am talking about a practice called Qigong. It is a healing art and it holds the fundamentals to Chinese medicine. Over the last few decades it has become popular in the western world and many scientific studies have proven its power. Here are just a few of the benefits gained from practicing Qigong.

• Improve your metabolism, digestion, and elimination. Qigong is great for weight control, youthful appearance, and balanced energy.
• Stimulate the lymph system. Qigong builds a stronger immune system so that you become less susceptible to flues and other viruses and recover faster if you do get sick.
• Improve your circulation. Qigong alleviates conditions such as arthritis and chronic fatigue.
• Retard the aging process by giving your organs an “inner massage” to restore your body systems to healthy functioning.
• Reduce tension, blocks, and stagnant energy by increasing oxygen supply to your tissues.
• Lubricate your joints for pain-free movement and greater flexibility.
• Soothe the nervous system to feel contented and serene.

Qigong can be practiced by anyone of any age, It is simple and fun to do, here is a quick video from Master Lin walking you through a simple qigong exercise, notice how you can feel your energy and the healing power we all have.

For more information about how you can learn Spring Forest Qigong at home from Master Lin click here.

To see more videos on Qigong and how it can help you click here

I love to hear your thought, ideas and feedback so make sure to talk back to me and leave a comment.