The foods you eat—even healthy foods—can cause a lot of suffering. I would like to share with you my story. I think it is absolutely amazing, and I hope you will read today’s article from beginning to end.

Joint pain, headaches, anxiety, insomnia, digestive issues, lazy bones, sluggish thinking, nausea, reflux, mood changes, hypertension, liver disease, depression, rashes, bloating and gas, constipation, sore muscles, eczema, attention and memory disorders, and, of course, lots of belly fat. What you eat (and don’t eat) can cause a bucket of problems.

But…with all of the confusing information out there, how do you know what food to eat? And what specifically you should avoid?

And then there’s the quagmire of supplements. Whose claims should you believe? And how do you know if those supplements even work for you?

Those were my questions. So, let me tell you what I did.

I had been wondering about nutrition a lot since turning 50 a few years back. As I grew older my belt kept getting longer, but I thought I was eating healthfully, so something had to be up.

Then in early 2008 a friend told me about a series of lab tests that she had done to analyze her food intake and her body needs. She raved about a nutritionist, JJ Virgin, and the work she was doing with her.

This is what I had been looking for. I didn’t do anything about it, however, because I wanted to make sure my friend Patty was indeed satisfied.

Six months later Patty was still raving about the nutritionist saying that the rest of her family had taken up following JJ’s advice, as well a handful of other people I knew. Within a few weeks JJ and I were on the phone.

I signed up for her one-on-one coaching program, began sending her a diary everything of I ate, and did a battery of tests. Many were done at my doctor’s office, and some were done at home and sent into a special lab.

It took a few weeks for the results to come back, so in the mean time I began changing the foods I ate based on her recommendations. I figured I would try it out to see what I noticed.

When the results from the tests came back, JJ recommended various supplements. And then the miracle happened, which I’ll tell you about a little later in this post. The miracle was so profound that I took everything that JJ said very seriously. When she told me to eat more vegetables and less rice and grains, I did.  When she said to shed the bananas and mangos and eat more nuts, I did.  When she said to throw out canola oil, I did.

I followed everything she said, and these were my results:

* I lost 22 pounds.

Now I didn’t work with JJ to lose weight. I was already slim. I never thought I was overweight. But before you know it I was shedding pounds. Today I weigh what I did in my mid twenties! With a bodyfat percentage around 14%!

Don’t let anyone tell you that the last pounds are the most difficult to lose.

I lost the last pounds without even trying.

* I lost 4 inches.

Again, I didn’t really think I had a waist problem, but I lost four inches. Last year I came across a pair of pants that had been rolled up stuffed in a box. They were from my college days. “I wonder.” I put them on, and they fit!

* I quit snacking.

I was the snack-meister. Chocolate, pop corn, corn chips and salsa, food bars. But today seldom do I ever have anything between meals. JJ told me that if I followed her advice I would not need to eat between meals, and she was right. I didn’t think it was possible, because I loved snacking, but it just ceased. Seldom am I ever hungry between meals! It’s been almost two years now!

Don’t let anyone tell you that you should be snacking. When you eat in a hormonally-balanced way, you have no desire to eat between meals!

* I lost the cravings.

I used to crave sweets and salty food. But no more. The cravings vanished.

* I quit falling asleep in movies, plays, and concerts.

I couldn’t watch a television show or a movie without falling asleep. When I would go to the theater or Orchestra Hall, I’d always nap during the first part of the program. I thought it was because that whenever I would relax, I would simply go all of the way. No. Not at all. I fell asleep because I wasn’t getting the nutritional support I needed. It never occurred to me that my drowsiness was due to the foods I ate and perhaps even more importantly, the foods I WASN’T eating!

* I can easily pass up dessert or a sweet treat.

I kinda laughed as I wrote that, because of the absurdity of the whole thing. Two years ago I would never have thought it possible. I loved desserts. Give me something sweet and I was happy. Now I only have dessert when it is over-the-top superb, and even then I am apt to pass than not. I don’t crave them! I don’t need them! For nine months now!

* No more diarrhea.

I never really had a problem, but once or twice a month I found myself on the run. In the 10 months since I began working with JJ, only three times! And I can point to the same food that caused it for me—and I stay as far away from it as possible.

* No more feeling yucky.

For as long as I can remember, I would often feel yucky, a little sick to my stomach, and sluggish after eating. I thought that was natural. But no more.  Since I eliminated a few foods, I have been feeling fantastic. Even today as I write these words I can’t believe I put up with it for so long! I should have known better!!

* I eat more food now that I ever have

When I first began sending my food diary into JJ, she kept saying to eat more, eat more. I never once felt that I was being deprived of anything. In the past I would skip a meal here or there. She told me I could no longer skip a meal. I needed to eat full meals three times a day. I said I couldn’t. She said I could. She was right. It was amazing how quickly my body adapted to eating three squares a day!

But I haven’t yet told you the most amazing thing.

My Personal Miracle!

All right, the above results are pretty darn good—especially losing 22 pounds without trying, but the rest of the story takes the cake:

In 1996 I fell out of a tree in my backyard putting up Christmas decorations. I had amnesia for everything that had happened in the previous three months, and I broke my wrist. The injury triggered Regional Chronic Pain Syndrome #2. After three months of rigorous physical therapy the pain disappeared.

But then in July of 2005 I was invited to spend a couple of days aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean as a guest of the captain. This was a great honor afforded to very few people. When I landed aboard the carrier, the “tailhook” on the plane caught the “arrester” cable stretched across the deck of the carrier—just like in the movies. The onboard experience over those two days was stunningly life-altering.

To leave the carrier, my plane was “catapulted” by a “towbar” that was powered by pressurized steam from the two nuclear power plants aboard the ship. It rocketed the plane from 0 to 165 mph in two seconds! The experience was more thrilling than any roller coaster ride could possibly be. The G-force of the launch was intense. So intense that it triggered the Regional Chronic Pain Syndrome that had been dormant for nine years.

On a scale from one to ten, where zero is no pain, the pain was literally catapulted into the 8 to 10 range 24-hours a day through every cubic inch of my left hand, wrist, arm, and shoulder. I could not move it into any position to find relief.

I had dozens of doctor’s appointments but to no avail. The pain disappeared when I would practice Spring Forest Qigong, but it would come back later that day. When Chunyi Lin worked with me, I was able to see great relief, but a couple of months later it could come back with a vengeance. Sometimes a massage would trigger it. Other times an outdoor project. Or just my regular exercise. There was no rhyme or reason to it.

I learned to deal with the pain. As a matter of fact, I was in constant pain while writing almost every letter to you during that time period. It became part of my life, and I seldom complained.

Two days after taking the supplements that JJ recommended, the pain completely disappeared.

That was back in November 2008. It is now September 2010, and I have not had one experience of that pain since then, which is astounding since the most I had been pain-free since July 2005 has been two to three months.

I hadn’t expected the relief. I don’t even know whether I told JJ about the pain in the first place. But it was gone. Granted it was on the lower end of the bell curve where it was diminishing anyway, but it has not come back!!

In talking with Chunyi in the past, he could not say why the pain was coming back. He said it could be something in my environment—it could be anything. Come to find out, it was my nutrition. Even though none of the tests showed that I had anything severely out of balance, it was enough to cause my body to react to some stimulus with far out pain.

What about you?  Do you have regular headaches? Other pain? Maybe stubborn weight loss?  Are you sluggish in the afternoons or after eating?  Do you suffer from acid reflux, anxiety or depression?

If so, I strongly suggest that you do JJ Virgin’s What to Eat! audio course and ebook with JJ Virgin. Simply go to her website here to order it. And then do everything that JJ says.

Pete