Hi all,

I thought it would be a nice thing for us, who have been in treatment for a while (2 years) to give tricks to the newcomers.

 Mine are the following:

PREPARE FOODS IN ADVANCE:

Cut your veggies, cook your meat and rice and store them in plastic containers. Always keep a few boiled eggs in the fridge. Don’t make too much in advance because it needs to be fresh, but definitely don’t make my mistake and cook one meal at a time. Freeze meals. I love to freeze chicken broth that I made.

GET MOTIVATED ABOUT YOUR HEALTH:

Start a food log on any website, like www.nutrimirror.com That way, you see what you are putting into your body, you can keep track of all the wonderful vitamins and nutrition in your new foods. Also, often because you are changing diet radically, the calorie intake will dramatically change.

GET INTO THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND:

You have a protocol to follow, that is great. But your mind can accomplish a lot or sabotage you completely. This can really make the difference between success and failure (like staying in a treatment much longer than you need to).

The book that helped me the most is: “Awaken the giant within”, from Anthony Robbins. Read it, use it, do the exercises and keep yourself positive and motivated.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY:

Although it is great to have support around you, in most cases, people do not understand IC nor are they particularly willing to hear about it. Most people are opinionated about health. Realise this early and stop trying to change people around you. One of the greatest things I have learned from IC, is to depend on myself, and to take responsibility. This, I will have for the rest of my life. Sometimes, an illness like this comes into your life and makes you realise who are your real friends, who really loves you for who you are! Be thankful for that!

DON’T ISOLATE YOURSELF:

Being on a strict diet shouldn’t chain you to your home. Do some research, find restaurants that are healthy in your area. Find a restaurant where you can eat a salad, with steamed fish or chicken breast and where the service is nice. Often, vegetarian buffet style restaurants are great, cause they have separated veggies and grains. Plus they cater to health-concious people so they usually don’t mind the odd questions like : “is there any oil on this?”, “What kind?”, “Did you put vinegar?”, “Can you tell me every single ingredient in this?”

Once you have found some restaurants, take your friends out! Don’t worry that in this meal you won’t eat any meat, or no grains, or even sometimes, no veggies. Eat what you couldn’t find when you are home. But ENJOY time with your loved ones.

Also, if people bug you about your diet, just say that you started “Eating Clean”, and that it’s not a diet, it’s a way of life. Seriously, you might even motivate your friends to get healthy!!

If they bug you about your supplements, prepare a little container and when you down them, don’t make a big deal of it, if your friends are open and supportive, explain it to them, if not, just say you forgot to take your vitamins.

BE STRONG.

Know that everything is temporary. Make it a mantra. THIS TOO, SHALL PASS!!! That’s one of life’s certitudes, after all. You are detoxing and look like a corpse? Don’t complain, don’t waste time feeling like a victim. Realise what is great about it… You are detoxing, that’s great! That means you are getting better. See long term.

GET MORE HELP:

In my case, I was seeking counselling with a few healers. I really liked the approach of Barbara Brennan School of Healing. Anything Holistic is great… B.B. had a part where I spoke and the second part of the therapy was a healing session that would, for exemple,  strengthen my energy field, (with channelled energy). After each session, we would discuss the state of my energy field, what had changed and improved and I would leave with “homework” to work on between appointments. This was probably the most fascinating part of my healing journey, as I discovered a multitude of things about myself. I realised how much pressure I put myself through, how much pain I still carried around in my body from my past and how much I suffered from self-hatred. Also, I learned how much I lived in my mind and how little grounded I was. Not only do I believe that healing these things has enhanced the quality of my life and my relationships (it turned my life around, to say the least!!), but I believe that I only started healing my physical condition once I had cleared these issues.

GET EQUIPED:

Throw out toxic stuff and replace it with natural stuff.

Buy plastic or glass containers to store your food. Get some plastic containers to store your supplements when you must bring them with you to work or on your travels.

Get a little cooler or lunch box.

Get a timer to remind you to take your supplements on time.

Get a container to make sure you didn’t miss out on a dose.

Print some recipes.

Eating healthy often means frequent trips to the grocery store, since fresh food is perishable. Stock up on frozen shrimp, frozen meat and frozen veggies like organic broccoli, cauliflower and spinach. Also, if you travel a lot, you’ll have something in the fridge even if you get back in the middle of the night.

FOR TRAVELLERS:

I’ve been all around the world with washed cucumbers (whole), rice crackers and parma ham in my bag. Boiled eggs are fantastic too! They keep well if you leave them in the shell. These things are great for travellers! I get some looks when I take out the cucumber (and smiles, from guys :-) but the cucumber is my favourite veggie when I am on the road! I never had problems with probiotics at airports, just keep them in the bottle with an icepack. Now, I don’t travel with bottles of probiotics on my person, I keep them with an icepack in the checked-in suitcase and bring my dose with me. Much lighter –and still problem free.

WATCH YOUR WORDS AND THOUGHTS

Watch it, when you start saying: “yes, I am ill, I have this thing called IC.” “It’s terrible, I’m in pain, nobody supports me, my life sucks, etc.”

Some will disagree with me, but I do not believe this is the best attitude.

It is always better to say: “I am improving my health.” “I am on a healing journey”.

If you are explaining IC to someone, make sure that you convince yourself first and them afterwards, that you believe in your healing, and that you tell them that you are recovering. Because, being on Brizman’s protocol, that is really what you are doing, YOU ARE RECOVERING!!

EXERCISE DAILY AS SOON AS YOUR BODY CAN:

If all you can take are a couple of yoga poses and a short walk around the block, do that! Daily! If you can do more, learn to enjoy your exercise time and to make it a priority. Detoxing can be really tough, and I find that exercising helps me by sweating it out, uplifting my mood and giving me more energy (if I don’t over-train).

Also, being in treatment is not always easy for one ’s self esteem. Be prepared to help yourself stay confident. Exercise, I find, is one of the best ways to stay in the right frame of mind.

BREATHE AND MEDITATE:

Personally, I don’t know how I survived until now without breathing. My breath was always shallow and sometimes, I would just stop. Try to meditate once a day and focus on your breath. Being in such a demanding treatment, one often gets crazy thoughts, and I often experienced “yelling” in my head, while suffering from anxiety, frustration, etc. Learn how to breathe and ask check the quality of your breath during the day.

LIVE YOUR LIFE

Enjoy the healing process!! Most likely, you will be learning more about yourself now, than at any other time in your life. Plus, you are setting the foundation for your new life, disease free!!