The Year That Was – The Year That Can Be

Another year has passed. In a matter of days, we will all be wishing each other a happy New Year, a year of health, happiness, and prosperity.  It’s been another year under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is now back with a vengeance in its 4th wave.

Still, it is important to look back at the year. We can try and learn what we need for the future so the blessings of health, happiness, and prosperity can, in actuality, come about.

The year that was

Despite a full year with Coronavirus still in our lives, more and more people made appointments here at The Wellness Clinic.  A variety of people came ranging in age from 12 to 80 —authors, rabbis, teachers, secretaries, coaches, therapists, and more.  We worked with both male and female clients and, unfortunately, a variety of chronic illness and autoimmune disease.

Weight loss cases were also prominent this year. There were at least 5 clients who told me they had been stuck for years trying to lose weight through dieting. At The Wellness Clinic they were able to make breakthroughs they so badly wanted.

I would like to highlight some of the successes over the last 12 months.
  • Sam, 29 years old

Sam came to the clinic with a blood sugar of 414, triglycerides over 1,100, high cholesterol, overweight, and sedentary.  He is now off his insulin, his sugar dropped almost 300 points, his triglycerides dropped 900 points, and his cholesterol dropped 82 points.  He still has weight to lose, and it is slowly coming off.  Lifestyle medicine did what drugs couldn’t.

  • Brenda, 68 years old

Brenda has multiple circulatory problems and heart disease.  A few years ago she fell while on blood thinners and suffered a hemorrhagic stroke that almost took her life.  Over the course of the last year, not only has her weight decreased by 9 kilo, her shift to a 90% whole-foods plant based diet has resulted in zero chest pain on exertion for the first time in 6 years and a significant reduction in her ankle swelling!

  • Shana, 35 years old

Shana is a Zoom client from the United States new to The Wellness Clinic.  She suffers from PCOS and her hormones are terribly imbalanced.  After trying to lose weight for years unsuccessfully, the pounds are now starting to shed.  Our goal together is to straighten out the imbalances, drop weight, and hopefully incredibly improve her quality of life.

  • Dena, 40 years old

Dena also has her sessions by Zoom although she is more local.  Dena has had PCOS her whole life and has suffered from obesity since her teens.  It’s been very hard work, but she no longer has PCOS, has dropped 15 kilos (33 pounds) and has a new life.  We still have work to do, but the difference in her health, quality of life and mental state have improved beyond her expectations.

  • Meir, 32 years old

Meir is our weight loss champion this year.  Over about 10 months he lost 52 kilos (114 pounds) while eating more food – not less. Meir started eating quality foods full of nutrition. When you get rid of junky, processed food, cut way back on animal proteins and dairy, you can really shed the pounds. Oh, and he found his match and got married, too!

  • Rachel, 40 years old; Moshe, 43 years old

Rachel and Moshe are a couple who came together. Rachel came in with multiple medical problems.  Not only did she have the chronic diseases commonly found from eating a Western diet, she had autoimmune issues as well.  Included in her changes – blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure have dropped significantly to normal levels.  Her autoimmune issues will take a little longer, but improvement is already there.  Rachel lost 12.5 kilo and Moshe has lost 15 kilo.  Although they have left our program, they continue on their own and the weight keeps going down.

The year to come

Yes, success is great.  But what do we need to learn from all of these people? What insights can we gain from those who made changes and now have heathy and happy lives?

Here’s a short list of lessons learned:
  • Knowledge – What we think is true about healthy eating and healthy living in general may not be true. The evidence is indisputable. There are tens of thousands of studies telling us what it takes to have a healthy life and how to prevent and even reverse disease.
  • Change – Change can be difficult, but it is not impossible. It takes commitment and planning, but anyone can change.
  • Stay empowered – Following the principles of lifestyle medicine can help you achieve results without drugs or surgeries. Yes, drugs and medical procedures have their role, but first things first—learn what YOU can do! Learn what healthy eating really is. Stay active, exercise, sleep well, and work on managing stress and relationships.

Looking forward

It’s time to put type 2 diabetes, heart disease, the Western cancers, stroke, high blood pressure, most autoimmune disease, depression, and anxiety out of our daily vocabulary and out of our lives. Lifestyle changes alone can reduce ALL disease by 80% and can reverse most also.  

Anyone can make the coming year one of health, happiness, and prosperity.  It is only a matter deciding and prioritizing.

On a personal note

This was a year where I lost many longtime friends and watched many others get terribly sick—and none of this had to be.  I’m tired of watching the illness and suffering that can (mostly) be prevented.

 

And Covid-19?  Even here we have found out two important things:

  • Immune system function is key to getting through unscathed.
  • People who ate a mostly whole-foods, plant-based diet were 73% less likely to get a severe case or die from Covid-19.

So yes, making changes can even make a difference in your Corona outcome!

I wish all of you and the whole nation of Israel a happy, productive and healthy year to come.  K’tiva V’chtima Tova—Shana Tova!

It’s time to “add hours to your day, days to your year, and years to your life.” 

2021-08-30T21:26:01+00:00

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