Posted on by Kristina Knowles

The 400 lb. woman who I…

met 3 years ago.

“Debbie” is a very thin, frail woman, with thin hair and an unhealthful appearance. I never thought much about how she looked until the day we both carried on a conversation longer than 5-10 minutes.

We started to talk about health and wellness. Debbie was complimenting me on my athletic physique. I responded back with, “how she managed to keep herself so thin?” Debbie responded with a diagnosis of death she (un)fortunately received in her late 40’s. She explained that while working as a nurse for a Doctor, Pharmaceutical Reps. would come in and try to win her with fancy dinners and decadent treats. She quickly began looking forward to these free meals and favors, not truly caring or realizing the negative health affects.

The fascinating part came when she explained how she felt so much pride getting paid to do her job well yet neglected how badly it affected her health and well being. She continued that after being wined and dined by the Reps. she would go back to the Doctor she worked for and encourage him to use their brands of medications. She admitted to researching the medicine, discussing the side affects and cost. These meetings became a personal conquest. The more research she did, the more she could challenge the Reps. knowing full well they would have to try harder to persuade her. Yet as time went on she quickly noticed her weight skyrocketing. My jaw was dropping the entire conversation.

Sadly over the years her weight topped 400 lbs. and nearly brought her to her death bed. I stood there in shock and disbelief. Debbie is now a size 4 and weighs about 100 lb. on a good day. It’s quite unbelievable to see this woman who lost 300 lb. I couldn’t stop telling her how proud I was for her. I was gushing and smiling with such excitement and even gave her a big hug. Then Debbie began to tell me how her personal Doctor told her that, “unless she made the decision to have a very crucial heart surgery, she would likely die”. Debbie then confessed that she literally had nothing to lose. I can either die because I am 400 lbs. or take the risk to save my life. I can determine to lose weight and if the surgery goes well, my life can be saved.

Thank God the operation was a success! Debbie lived 30 years after her life saving operation. She was able to retire, see her children get married and play with grandchildren she thought she would never meet. Sadly, about a month ago Debbie passed away alone in her home. I am so grateful I was her neighbor, a friend and someone who wanted to learn more about her journey.

God, thank you for neighbors and their stories, their testimony and their life. Thank you for forgiving us for being unavailable to your good, holy ways. Lord give us the strength to eat for nourishment and health. Help us focus on our bad unhealthy habits so we can change for the better and not the worse. Thank you for loving us, thank you for life and death. We lift Debbie up to you. Amen

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

Watermelon season is coming…

To an abrupt end, sad face.

The last 3 watermelons I found  this month were from Wal-mart and Costco. I juiced the entire summer with watermelon. I made videos, I shared my love of watermelon juice with strangers. It has been one of the most refreshing drinks I have ever made. It made summer delicious.

If you have the opportunity to continue to purchase watermelons before they go out of season, make sure you make some healthy watermelon juice. Especially if you primarily drink high fructose soft drinks including bottled processed juice. It’s a game changer for you and your family. And if you have children you will have so much fun making, bottling and drinking a beverage that you made together vs. buying from a store off the shelf.

I started out simple making watermelon juice. Cut up watermelon, cubed it and blended it in my Ninja. Now anyone who juices knows there is pulp associated with blending real fruit and or vegetables. You have options, shake up the pulp in the juice and drink it or strain the pulp. I like drinking the pulp.

The more comfortable I got with juicing the more adventurous I got. Now, I add fresh lemon, ginger and lime to my fresh watermelon juice, even more refreshing. I set out to find a good way to house my juice once I made it. So I went to Wal-mart and found Kerr mason jars. These mason jars work perfectly, the cost per mason jar is about 0.74 cents each. Awesome right!?

I saved the best for last, the health benefits. Over 90% of watermelon is water, super hydrating. Heart disease is a major health risk for everyone but especially women. Lycopene is an awesome antioxidant, found in watermelon. Weight loss benefits, trade this awesome drink for your usual unhealthy choice and see how lighter you become. Amino acids and anti-inflammatory properties are inside this big, beautiful melon. Wow! Your kidney will thank you for drinking watermelon juice because of it cleansing effect. The vitamin and minerals found in watermelon will make you healthier period. Last but not least, the taste of watermelon juice is so good, good for you and so beautiful to look at. Such good news right?!

God bless you!

 

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

A man from Chicago…

and I had a conversation about food.

He was in town for a wedding and we were talking about all the delicious desserts he is tempted to eat. He then proceeded to tell me that he weighed an extra 180 more pounds a year ago before he had gastric bypass surgery. My mouth dropped because he seemed naturally thin vs. previously obese. I told him how proud I was of him for all his hard word work and gave him a high five.

I then leveled with him about how hard it is to eat healthy every day with all the choices we have these days. We can have bad choices delivered to our front door, we can drive thru fast food restaurants and buy super unhealthy food choices at the grocery store. And television doesn’t help either, every other commercial is about unhealthy food as well. How do we compete with those odds? I will tell you.

We make our bodies a temple in which God created us to protect and nourish. We make an effort everyday to make good healthy choices to make our bodies strong, healthy and pure. We teach others and our children to make good wholesome choices as well. God doesn’t intend for us to live in pain, or be in a body that we are not going to take care of.

The gentleman told me that he could polish off a Chicago style pizza with all the toppings all by himself, every weekend. I asked him if he felt like he was in a constant food coma most of his life until now, he agreed. I have seen this behavior in many people’s lives, we develop habits that our life style condones. We surround ourselves with people that eat, live and sleep like us for the most part. So if you want to change your lifestyle with how you eat, live or sleep make an effort to make changes that encourage a healthy life. Lack of sleep and poor eating habits rob us from energy, overall health and happiness.

Daniel knew King Nebuchadnezzar’s food and wine was not healthy to eat. God gave Daniel the knowledge to discern healthy decisions vs. unhealthy choices. Just so you know, God gave us discernment too, we just have to decide to use it and not ignore it.

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

When will I die,…

Only God knows.

And I am so good with that. I want to help people understand that living a reckless life with food high in fat, salt, sugar or calories is horrible. Reckless with high caloric, fructose or alcoholic beverages and lack of exercise is not good or Godly. In fact, the human body will let you kill itself with bad food choices, if you let it, isn’t that fascinating!??

I seek out people who have lived longer, healthier and who are happy. I tend to stay away from advertisers who believe and think I am more attracted to buying things from much younger women as their Spokesmodels. Unfortunately, we have been made to believe sex sells, younger is better and consumers are not too smart or intelligent to know the difference. Wrong!!!

Yes, God only knows when you will die, so true. I just want to feel and look as good and natural as I can until that day. Makes sense, right!!?? Why fight age with synthetic procedures or food? Instead eat healthy, nourish and exercise your body with the utmost care and concern, instead of taking short cuts. It’s never too late to start to change your unhealthy habits today. Isn’t that awesome?

The fact that we fight to look so different is a direct reflection of how we feel about ourselves. Instead of accepting our unique beauty or each other’s, we are truly listening to the lies that Satan tells us instead. I encourage you to uplift yourself and other’s every day, especially your children. Let everyone know they were uniquely made by God, not a mistake but a God Original-AMEN!!!

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

Seventeen years ago…

I severely sprained my ankle just before Christmas 2000. It was awful for so many reasons, but I realized that I would not be able to work out on a sprained ankle. It was a little over a year when my Doctor gave me the thumbs up to start exercising again. Unfortunately, in the process of healing I gained 30 pounds from not exercising and poor food choices. I got on the treadmill as soon as I returned home from my Doctors appointment.

In 12 weeks of hard work, I lost all the weight I had gained, thankfully. Something happened while I was in the process of working out. I wondered in amazement how did I let myself gain the 30 pounds just because I had a sprained ankle? I told myself I would never let that happen again. Then I injured my calf twice in 2006 and recently got a contusion to the elbow. I am optimistic with all my injuries because of my original mistake. I was disappointed with myself back in 2000 when I sprained my ankle, I didn’t research alternative ways to stay healthful or exercise and I should have. I have learned to walk instead of run, to lift weights for my upper body, to swim and eat healthy. I will no longer settle for dead ends that don’t help me, I’ll continue to research a better way when I am faced with a challenge.

God feels that exact same way about us, He wants us to rely on Him for all of our worries and concerns. God speaks to us in so many didn’t forms, we just need to be still and listen. I know God is with me every step of the way, He is with you too.

Have you ever thought that you didn’t have a way out of something challenging? Don’t fret or worry, there’s always a better solution to a problem. Listen for God’s instruction.

I hope you have a great day!