Project Zen and the path of 300
At the beginning of 2011 I was extremely fit weighing in at 178 lbs. and was feeling great. I had been training Kendo for about 6 months and was in full Bogu (Kendo Armour) getting beaten up buy the everyone in the Dojo. I was having a great time. About 4 months into 2011 I started to feel really run down. I was having trouble going to work and still participating in hobbies and exercise.
I started to see my doctor on a monthly basis and was forced to take a medical leave from work. As time went on I started losing more and more energy and seemed to get a new cold a day or 2 after recovering from the one before. I spent most of my time sleeping. It was not long before all I was doing was getting out of bed to eat and use the washroom.
This went on for the better part of a year and I was seeing specialist after specialist. I in the beginning they said my problem was because I was a Pescetarian (a sort of vegetarian that eats fish as well as milk and eggs) and I was a little low in iron. So they got me eating meat three times a day.
Up un-till they started me on meat I was maintaining a body weight of 185-192 lbs. With in a month of starting a meat eating diet, I became super constipated and started gaining weight. When they tested me my iron levels had not changed. So they also started me on an iron supplement (telling me that if I was feeling constipated now that it would only get worse with this supplement). So in an effort to help they also prescribed me a laxative to help me poop. I was now only having a bowl movement 3-4 times a month. I am suffering form abdominal pains as well as all my previous symptoms.
At this point I started to receive Acupuncture treatments from Kristy Gary in Victoria B.C. Her treatments were helping me deal with the abdominal pains as well as the only way I was able to have a movement, as the medication seemed to do nothing for me.
After further investigation from the specialists they found a nodule tumour on my thyroid. They said this was likely the cause for my weight gain and possibly weak immune system and fatigue. However I was to keep on the iron supplements as well as the laxative and recommended to continue to eat meat. I was also to start taking a medication for hypothyroidism as well.
After this did very little to improve my situation I was passed off to another specialist which of corse took several months to see. He tested me and I got put on two puffers as well as a CPAP machine for sleep apnoea. He also said i should continue to eat meat. After several months of test and different medications the specialist eventually could find no way to help me and send me back to square one.
By this time I have gained 50 more lbs. putting me at 240 and still suffer from constipation and cramps as well as extreme fatigue and prone to getting ill.
During that entire process I was constantly battling my insurance company to get my payments on time and was eventually forced into going back to work even though my family Doctor recommended against it.
I am now working a reduced shift and spending almost all of my other spare time sleeping. My life seems to have come to a roaring halt. I am in the process of waiting to meet with another specialist and see what else could possibly be wrong.
This year Project Zen is taking a different direction from last year. It is going to totally focus on 300 days of cleansing food, QiGong, meditation and Tai Chi. After spending the last two years ill I have started to look at life differently than I ever have. I want maximize the free time that I have to have the most fulfilling life I can for as long as I can.
So what is PZ walk the path of 300? It is the path that I have set out before myself for 300 days of 2013. starting on May 21 2013 – March 21 2014. I will be documenting all my experiences and keeping a regular pod cast during the year. This path is 300 days of eating Vegan, practicing Qi Gong, Meditation and Tai Chi. All these tasks combined will hopefully allow me to accomplish some forward progress. Something that the Specialists of Western medicine have not yet been able to do.
I will be fallowing a cleansing Vegan Diet for 300 days, which was decided with a lot of discussions with my G.P. and studying for several months on how to gain all the proper nutrients from a vegan diet. Both myself and my doctor agree that eating meat has only made things worse for me and that only having 3 – 4 movements a month is not helping my situation. We believe at this point feeling better and pooping is the right direction to go. He will be monitoring my progress and giving me regular check ups monthly to ensure that things are not getting worse.
Qi gong, is an ancient Taoist method of rebalancing ones life energies and to heal the body through breathing and correction of chi flow through the body. I have studies this in the past and have an instructor that currently studies under the great Master Wu. I will be practising Qi Gong every day for the 300 days.
Meditation is something that I have been doing for several years. But I will be focusing on Zen Buddhist style meditation as well as Taoist meditation over the corse of the the 300 days.
Finally Tai Chi, Tai Chi is a Taoist art that can be described so many different ways. I will not be practicing a combative version of this system of movements. I will in fact be practicing the 108 move Moy form. Where the enfaces is put on correcting the flow of chi through the body and allowing nature to take its proper corse. I will primarily be doing this form because I do miss the movements of martial arts and this will allow me some small connection to this. It will also provide me a means of physical fitness, whilst also allowing me the feeling of play. As there is nothing in my life that I have enjoyed more than training the martial arts
So this years focus will be on the most efficient way maintain physical fitness, eat good tasting healthy food, and maintain a playful healthy spirit.
There will be a different thread for each of the main aspects of Project Zen:
Food for Thought
Fitness made Simple
Meditation made Easy
Qi Gong
There you will be able to find every thing that you will need to know on how to maintain a healthy life that will keep you feed, fit, and free to spend your spare time the way you want to. Don’t worry this is not going to be one of those methods that demands tons of time and promises you a chiselled body that seems impossible to maintain. What we will do is help you find the right balance of dietary needs combined with the right amount of exercise to help improve the quality of life. We will try to do this on the cheapest budget of time and money that you can afford.
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