KATHY'S STORY
Kathy in December 1998 before starting macrobiotic
living.
Winter of '98 saw me at my lowest ebb as the Xmas
photo above depicts. I was grossly obese even although I was a
vegetarian. I had a lot of ongoing health problems, none of which
were life threatening but still added up to a life of pain and
drugs. My gall bladder was removed when I was 30 yrs old and at
that time no-one advised me to stop eating dairy produce, in fact
I was told I must eat more of it because I was a vegetarian. My
back had been x-rayed because of severe lower back pain and sciatica.
Degenerative arthritis was the diagnosis and painkillers along
with anti inflammatory drugs were prescribed. My pituitary gland
over produces the hormone, prolactin, because of a condition called
empty cells syndrome. This is a condition I was born with. Because
of this the doctor said I would not be able to keep my weight
under control unless I took the medicine prescribed for this condition.
The medicine made me so ill I just had to live without it and
so the pounds just kept piling on. My periods were very irregular
and most months I was so ill and in pain I had to go to bed for
a few days until I had finished bleeding. The bleeding was very
heavy, and again I just kept swallowing those painkillers. I was
weighing in at 260lbs
A couple of weeks prior to Xmas my husband Davie and
I were in our local library (we were always reading self help
books and books about alternative medicine) when I noticed a book
which had a picture of a lovely piece of broccoli on the front
of it. Now as broccoli is my favorite veggie it really caught
my eye so I asked Davie if he wanted to read it. "We'll give
it a try", he said and with those words our lives changed
completely! Unfortunately I do not remember the name of this book
but in it the author mentioned a ten day detox. which consisted
of brown rice and vegetables. George Oshawa and macrobiotics was
mentioned. Davie is an impetuous soul and promptly announced,"That
is for us", and started searching the internet for more information.
The first site he found was "The Alchemycal Pages" from
which we took the dietary recommendations. There was so much information
it seemed to be a daunting task. I am the pragmatic one so started
phoning health food stores and organic farms and ordered "The
Macrobiotic Way" by Michio Kushi. The next book I bought
was "The Self Healing Cookbook" by Kristina Turner and
I have to say it was this book which really helped me the most
when I first started. I have read a lot of different books about
macrobiotics since then and am learning all the time.
We had known for a long time that something was wrong
in our lives. Davie had suffered from depression for years. Although
his physical health appeared to be good he described each day
as trying to wade through glue. A few weeks into the diet, and
it was a diet at first, changes started to take place. The weight
just started to melt away and all the symptoms of ill health just
began to disappear. Davie's mind started to clear and there was
a marked lessening of mood swings. By the time 6 months had gone
by I was reading more about macrobiotics and had started doing
ginger compresses also I was participating in the weekly macrobiotic
chats on the Cybermacro
website. This contact was vitally important for me as I had no
counselors near and no support from family or friends. Within
a year I had lost around 90lbs and the weight just kept dropping
off. All the back pain disappeared and my periods became regular
and pain free. More than this though Davie and I were able to
think more clearly. I was always classed as a bit of a dumbhead,
never really did much at school and it was like all these lights
going on in my head. It is very difficult to describe but it was
as if I suddenly discovered I had a brain, that I wasn't dumb
after all!
To date I have lost 120lbs, my periods are still regular,
pain free, my pituitary gland is functioning properly and I feel
good! Macrobiotics started off as a diet for me but has become
so much more, a way of life. We have found that you don't have
to spend a fortune on the latest diets and slimming fads to lose
weight and you don't have to visit spiritual gurus. Macrobiotics
seems to have the effect of "unglueing" the thought
processes and you start to see clearly. Macrobiotics acts like
a physical, spiritual and mental solvent and sets you free. This
is what macrobiotics has done for me.
KATHY 20 MONTHS LATER.
Kathy
Comments or questions can be sent to the address below as I check
this address every few weeks. Please mention Alchemycal Pages in the
subject line. Thank you. Patricia
kaareb@mac.com
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