Nutrition Archives - Patricia Cherry Lifecoach

10 March 2018

A New Relationship With Food.

My new relationship with food.

Many of you will know that I see myself as an expert on food issues and addictions to certain food.

I have written books about it and numerous blogs and even designed a workbook to help people. A lot of my work has been entitled around “What does food mean to you?”

I am an expert because I have been obsessed with food and weight issues for nearly fifty years. And that means that an awful lot of calories, pounds and food has passed my lips.

My bulimia has been anything from living on virtually nothing to eating an entire loaf of bread spread with butter and jam in an afternoon.

Seven years ago, I came across a diet that made sense to me. This way of eating helped me to break away from sugar and carbohydrate addiction, by controlling my intake of those foods.

But, it was all coming from the outside; in. Even though this diet made sense, and there was loads of support, conferences and a forum. As well as the books, recipes and menus, seven years later I have still fallen back occasionally to the old ways. I have still fallen back into the habit of being obsessed with my body weight.

In the last seven years too, I have been working on my personal and spiritual self. It has been quite a trip.

In fact, when I sometimes read the stuff that I have written, I wonder if it was me that wrote it. But at present, I seem to be in a phase where I am catching up with my own advice.

In the last two months, I have been reading, learning, studying and practising with a chap called Dr Joe Dispenza. He has written several books, but I started with one called “Breaking the Habit of Being You.”

He explains that no matter how hard we try if we don’t change our thinking and core beliefs about ourselves, we cannot change the ingrained habits of our way of thinking.

Changing our thinking has been talked about over the years, in connection with Spiritual development. We hear about the Law of Attraction, Quantum theory and the laws of the Universe.

Yet all of these will not work completely unless we are willing to meet them halfway. This can be with illness, lack, addictions, broken relationships, and so on.

JD has gone a step further and explained HOW we could change our thinking, by changing our brains.

When I started to read his books, I became aware of the large amount of headspace my food issues was filling up. I had often tried to change my thinking around several shifts that I have wanted to make in my life. But somehow there has been something lacking.

For me and countless others, Joe has hit the proverbial nail on the head.

If you want to know more, you would have to listen to him on YouTube or read his books. But basically, he works on using the brain, body and mind together, by meditation. Choosing what you want to change, you then do the meditation, and state your intention.

He explains in details why it works, and at his seminars and workshops, you can see the activity in the brain, on the EEG machines that he uses. It is all carried out scientifically and not just pseudoscience.

So, I began carrying out his instructions, and now, two months later I am finding that my attitude to food is changing dramatically.

For example, I am now eating a lot less and satisfied quicker. I am enjoying my food, and am not afraid of it anymore. When fear sets in I simply say the word “Change.” Doing this brings my awareness to what I am doing and why. I am no longer in the fridge or cupboard wondering what to eat between meals.

I am bringing foods into the house that I would not have before. Yes, there is still a way to go with that because there are still some foods that I fear will bring on a binge. But that will change with continual everyday meditation and choose to use the word change when I find myself in the food cupboard, and I am not hungry.

Most surprising is that I find that given a choice between eating what I know is good for me, and some other food that I have banned from my diet in the past, I am actually choosing the good food.

I surrendered my anxiety over what I eat because I was still in a kind of diet trap. I was still using the diet to control me, instead of allowing my body to say what it wants.

There are probably people who are thinking, “If I did that I would be totally out of control because the sugar would trigger me off.”

I was saying that too until I decided that I wanted to change enough to make a difference in my life. In the past, I would have been afraid to let go, because the addiction was controlling me.

But now I realise that I want to have dominion over my body. Which has not meant that I am dictating to it what it has, but because I am also respecting its needs, my body is responding with “Thank you for listening to me, I can now let you know what I want!”

And rewarding me for making me aware of the times when if I fancy something sweet, I can have it. Without the fear of losing control.

For many years I have been cooking separate meals for myself and my husband. I still do occasionally, because there are some things that he likes that I don’t.

But there have too many occasions when I have cooked separate meals, and simply do not want mine, and yet would fancy his. It dawned on me that perhaps I would be healthier if I had a little of what I have cooked for him rather than sitting down to something I don’t fancy. Why go on torturing myself, because I am afraid of food!

People with weight, self-image and food problems, have a complicated relationship with food. I have been telling myself all those years that I love food. But the constant input from various diets and slimming clubs has made me afraid of it.

We hear so much about what is good for you, or what is not so good. The media bring mixed messages to people, no wonder we get confused.

We all need to eat. We need to eat nourishing foods and enjoy them. Above all, we need “Soul Food!”

That means that we need to nourish our mind, body and soul. Eating out with friends is a good example of that. Are you eating out with them because of the food, or because of their company?

When I have been not eating particular foods in the past, I have felt almost cast aside. Now I can just eat a little of what the others eat and just be seen as having a small appetite.

Are you eating something that has been slung together for the sake of satisfying your physical hunger? Or are you eating something that has been lovingly prepared?

Yes, there are times when we are in a hurry and may turn to some fast food. But that does not mean that it cannot be nourishing.

However, I digress. The point is that I have realised a wonderful change in my attitude to food and my body since I began the meditations with Joe. It is not Joe that is making the difference, but my intention of making the change. He simply gave me the tools.

I am making good use of those tools, I know that I have a way to go, fifty years of dieting and not eating certain foods, will not be changed overnight. But the important thing is that I am now aware of what the problem has been.

If you are stuck in any area of your life and want to change it, whether that is lack, addiction, or an illness, take a look at Joe Dispenza. I am aware that he is not the only person teaching quantum, but his teachings have hit the spot for me.

Joe Dispenza has written, “Evolve the Brain.” “Breaking the Habit of Being You.” “The Placebo Effect”.

Recently he wrote “Becoming Supernatural”, and he is touring the world presenting a workshop on it. I am looking forward to attending his London workshop on April 14^th. 2018.

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11 February 2018

Macular Degeneration and Diet.

Firstly let me tell you my story.

I was diagnosed with the early signs of Age-related Macular Degeneration four years ago. At a regular eye test, the Optician told me that I had something called Drusen, which appeared as little white fatty spots on the picture of the back of my eye. He advised me that I should take supplements which he recommended and so I did that.

Being of a tenacious nature and having an enquiring mind, I began to do my own research about this condition and also found out what support was available.

The news was not good because AMD is apparently un-reversible and steadily gets worse. It is genetic and often caused by smoking. The advice was also to eat plenty of greens stuff, and the jury was out on supplements.

Two years down the line after having new prescription lenses and finding that they did not help my vision, I went to the University in Plymouth, where I had volunteered to be a guinea pig for students, and they found a layer of Wet behind the macula. I was sent straight away to the Eye Infirmary, where they said that it was not yet bad enough for treatment (injections in the eye) but that they would monitor it and start injections when it deteriorated to a crucial stage.

Meanwhile, I was experiencing a great deal of stress in my life, which I will not go into here.

On the positive side, the wet was not getting any worse. I was also watching what I eat, and kept mostly to a natural diet, not eating much of the refined and processed products that pretend to be food these days.

Then, in October last year, the source of the stress left my life. In December I went to the Eye Infirmary who told me that they would not need to see me for another three months as opposed to the usual four weeks, because there was still no change, and they would be discharging me on my next visit if there wasn’t any further change. (I found out from the University that it meant that the wet MD was not getting worse.)

On my last visit to the University two weeks ago, they did a scan, and found that the wet had disappeared! Apparently, the effects that stress can have on Wet AMD is not very well researched or recognised. But the tutor said that she would be telling researchers about my case.

To sum up then; my vision is a lot better. The wet has disappeared. The progression is not as much as was first feared. None of this is my imagination because it is there on the scans. I am now using the distance vision glasses again and managing a lot better.

I claim that the reasons are; because I eat a healthy diet; I do not take expensive synthetic supplements anymore; The enormous stress has disappeared from my life; And I practice Spiritual (not religious) development.

Dr Zoe Harcombe, with whom I developed my way of healthy eating has just sent me this link;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJCLB3D-2cE

It is a talk by a Chris Knobbe.MD. And just about sums up what my own experience with MD is except for the stress factor.

He has been studying the effect on AMD from our appalling modern diet. He gives correlation studies on this.

I could tell you what he says, but the best way for you to find out is to watch the video. It is quite literally an eye-opener.

He does not claim that we can all repair our eyes, but what he looks at is how we can prevent it and reverse it in the early stages with a natural ancient way of eating.

The four main culprits that are very significant in our modern diets, starting from the early sixties are; White flour, Vegetable oils, trans fats, and sugar.

If you think about it, those are the ingredients in our modern day diet of mainly processed foods.

In the USA the food intake percentages are; Plant foods, 12%: Animal Foods 25% and Processed foods 63%.

He shows the correlation between the increase in these processed foods and MD, from very few cases in the 1920’s to the present day prevalence of it.

He gives a list of diseases that are increasing in the countries that have these monster foods, among these diseases are; diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Obesity and autoimmune diseases. All are amounting to something called metabolic syndrome. Now, with his lengthy research and correlated findings he wants to see MD added to that list.

Because of my own experience, I believe him. I left off the supplements last September and increased my daily intake of green foods. I eat a good diet, and I am aware of my emotional and mental conditions too.

In case you are wondering about my diet, I will say that before seven years ago, I was consuming a lot of the four foods he mentions. White flour, sugar, vegetable oils and trans fats, loomed large in my way of eating. I was a victim of the slimming diet industry, and yes; diet foods contain these ingredients. I dieted on and off for over forty years until I discovered how to eat for my health.

Which reminds me; a lot of Baby Boomers are the ones who were told to eat low-fat foods. That advice happened in the late 1970’s when we were all foxed into becoming low fat eaters. The food industry jumped on the wagon, and it has become conventional to avoid fat.

For the last seven years, I have mostly kept to a natural diet. I eat very small amounts of sugar or even sweeteners. I base my intake on plenty of plant foods and vegetables, one piece of fruit a day, natural yoghurt, (not low fat) animal products, eggs and some amount of natural fats such as butter, olive oil and coconut oil, nuts and seeds. I eat very little in the way of bread but have quinoa and a small amount of rice or oats.

These foods have become my normal way of eating.

Please have a look at the video, before you make any comments or judgements. I do not claim to know it all, but Chris Knobbe.MD, and Dr Harcombe and a good many other researchers and authors certainly know enough for the authorities and many medical professionals to sit up and start to take notice.

If you want to read any further about a healthy and natural way of eating, and why, the following list of authors have written extensively about the subject. Just google them!

Dr Zoe Harcombe; Robert Lustig; Gary Taubes; Dr Verner Wheelock; and much more about the damage that sugar and our faulty way of eating in the 21^st century.

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2 January 2018

Food and Diet Books FREE.

Hi there folks. Do you want to change your life with these two FREE books?

Do you wonder why you get drawn in every year to the mad mad feasting over Christmas, then Fast or starve for the New year?

Every year is the same isn’t it? Beginning around the first of December, it is “Eat drink and be Merry, for January 1st; we DIET!”

How many of you are swearing that you will never do it again? That you will go on a diet to end all diets, and never put on weight again.

But there is a way out of this never ending cycle. Where you can enjoy your food; all food, but understand your body and what it really wants.

These two books will set you on the path of freedom from dieting. They will also point out why we are all in this state of health in the twently first century. How to sort out the conflicting advice, and decide for yourself, with some knowledge of why you are in the trap, and what is best for you. It seems that every writer, club or expert, claims that their diet is the way to go. But these two books will make you become aware of why we behave as we do around food.

They are not special diet books, nor do they tell you what you should eat. They simply inform you of the politics of Dieting and also how food has evolved into the state it is in now.

Once you become aware of how you are being driven to eat the foods that you know are not contributing to good health, then you are on the track to food freedom.

Just to let you know that as promised these two books are FREE on Amazon for the next three days, starting today 2nd January.

Happy Reading.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B011L100OC

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011L100OC

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BUGTBE8

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BUGTBE8

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30 December 2017

Death to Dieting.

Dieting to Death?

Or Death to Dieting?

As a writer and blogger and somewhat in my everyday life, I am an expert in two fields. Dieting or not, and anything connected to death.

It suddenly struck me today that there is a sort of link between them. Take Dieting for example.

Some people get into worrying so much about their weight that they do indeed die. That is the case with the psychological disease anorexia. This dangerous condition is often started with the desire to be thin and develops into a full-blown fear of food, any food.

But I would like to point out at this time of the year especially, that it is time to put dieting to death or rest.

It is the same every year, isn’t it? Feast until you drop over Christmas and the holiday season, then go on a diet to lose weight. How futile is that?

But this trend is mostly political. Do you think that you would indulge so much every year if there were not so much temptation? Do you think that you would feel the need to diet if you did not see the adverts to diet, by the same people who gave you all the foods that tempted you in the first place?

Isn’t it time to be able to make your own choices, and let your body tell you what it wants, rather than be thrown off course by all the conflicting advice out there?

How did we get here? How did we become a society that is led by the Food giants and corporations to eat the foods that are doing the damage?

Because I too was a victim of this sort of thinking for forty years, I have written two books on these subjects. I am now into my sixth year of taking control of my diet thinking, and even though I have not been perfect, I reckon myself to be an expert in the subject.

And if I can get the technology on Amazon right, they will both be promoted FREE from January 2^nd for three days. I will post another blog when they are available, but for now, can I Ask you to ponder over what I have said?

Meanwhile, if you are in a hurry, you can buy them. Or of course you can browse and see what they are about and wait until January 2nd.

They are;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B011L100OC

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011L100OC

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BUGTBE8

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BUGTBE8

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21 September 2017

MD Conference 2017 Report.

On Saturday September 16th 2017, I attended the Macular Society conference in London with my daughter.

Right from the time we stepped outside the Tube station, I was astonished at how well they were organised. As we stopped to look at our maps of the location of the conference, we spotted two people in yellow teeshirts with Macular Society on them. Every hundred yards all the way to the hotel, on every corner, there were more yellow teeshirted people many with flags to attract our attention.

We were greeted at the Hotel by warm friendly volunteers and shown where everything was. Including coffee and pastries.

The exhibitions were many and helpful and as we entered the main conference room, my daughter remarked that she was impressed by the 600 people who were proactive and not just sitting back and being visually impaired.

At 11 am the conference began with a welcome speech. Followed by three speakers. The first gave a simple illustration of the mechanics of AMD, using a packet of biscuits as an example. When the lowest biscuit in a packet is stale, it crumbles and disintegrates. This is what happens in our eyes, and the cleaning cells wear out and crumble. (Not absolutely accurate, but that is the gist of the talk.)

The next speaker was a consultant from Moorfields who was more scientific. And due to restrictions in time he had to speak very fast. But he gave examples of the many experiences of how AMD can progress, both from the patients point of view and the consultants. He also said that while we question why there are so many cases now, we need to bear in mind that we have an increasingly ageing population. Our bodies are not meant to last that long! Which you can agree with or not.

The third speaker gave a talk on Charles Bonnet syndrome. People with AMD can hallucinate. Some hallucinations can be dangerous, for example one may see a brick wall in front of them that is not there. But there could be the day when there really is a brick wall! There can be clouds of butterflies or people with odd clothes or shapes. They reckon that it is the brain compensating for the loss in sight. There is research going on about this, but no answers yet. However, at question time a woman in the audience said that, she had had hallucinations for some time, but since she had developed another age related disease they had faded away, and she wondered whether there was a connection and the brain was now concentrating on the more serious disorder. The Speaker was very interested to hear about this and was going to talk to her more afterwards.

At 1pm, we broke for a delicious lunch of rolls, sandwiches, wraps and fruit. Coffee was in full flow all day long.

After lunch we went to the workshops of our choice. We went to the one on supplements and nutrition. Very interesting. The best thing that you can do with supplements is to study the AREDS reports. I will do a seperate blog about supplement and AREDS in a couple of days.

As far as food was concerned, eat the rainbow, which is what I have said in other blogs before. Include lots of veg, the darker the better, and fruit also darker the better. Red meat, (not processed) is good, especially liver.

It was emphasised that once we have MD all we can do through food and supplements is to slow down the process. But that if we take on a healthy lifestyle early in life AMD along with a lot of other diseases can be delayed if not eradicated. I will add that I believe that even if we do go on to have any disease, if our bodies are healthy in the first place, we stand a better chance of recovery or at least we help our bodies to fight it.

It was also emphasised, how much smoking can damage the eyes.

So for those reading this that don’t have AMD, bear in mind that it is another reason to live healthily.

We then went back to the main conference room and heard another speaker on the latest research. They are now in a position where they can announce success with two people who have received stem cell surgery. Their eye sight was quite bad but they have now said there is an improvement. There are now another five waiting for surgery. It will be about five years though before they will be putting this treatment out for the public. Even then, at the moment it will only be available for the most suitable criteria.

I could not help but wonder what will happen when NICE get hold of it!!

But, my daughter who stands a big chance genetically of getting AMD was encouraged by the day and learnt a lot about how to lessen the chances of it happening. Especially the amount of time and money that is going into research and finding a cure.

There was an awards ceremony for the best team within Eye hospitals, kindest and most helpful Opthamologist, and the various volunteers within and out of the MD Society.

All in all a wonderful day, and all for less than £25 I must add.

I for one am going to become a paid up member of this marvellous society. You will see their leaflets and booklets with loads of information, in yellow and black enlarged print in the Eye departments of your hospitals. I have come accross their literature in my capacity as a volunteer for my local Guild, Improving Lives. I also belong to one of their loca groups who meet monthly.

There is a helpline for those who are worried and want to talk to someone. And there were also the numerous volunteers who guided us to the hotel, were around with their smart black clothing and scarves or ties with the logo on them, to help and support in many ways in the conference and hotel, many of whom have MD themselves, and prove that life does not end with this condition. We can still contribute to society in a way that will encourage those who are badly affected, and prove that.

So, watch this space for lots more to come as I learn more, and experience myself what can happen in our everyday lives with AMD. Everyone experiences it differently, but it is useful to find out from others how they overcome it.

There are groups on Facebook and here are the links.

First the UK MD group for the UK.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/589067591220411/

Secondly for the USA

https://www.facebook.com/groups/amdcommunity/

I belong to both.

The Macualr Society Website is;

www.macularsociety.org/

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27 August 2017

Dogma.

I write about several subjects. When I am asked to put any given subject into a category, there is not always one to suit. Dogma is one of them.

One can be dogmatic about anything. Religion, health, nutrition, dieting, money, politics and lately I am beginning to notice some dogma creeping into Spirituality. Not good!

A loose definition of Spirituality is that; we find a truth that we know is coming from our soul and not from some outer authority.

Which in turn sets us free from fear. But there is a journey and it although it is not easy, it is exciting.

Millions of us are living in a world where we can be subjected to dogma.

One example is until recently I belonged to a club for a certain diet. Not your usual calorie counting one I may add. It worked for me, but only after experimenting to find what suits me, using the suggestions as a guide. However, after a while, the diet became dogma, not from the author, but from people joining and using the original book as dogma. Thou shalt not eat this and never eat that! The author of the original book often has difficulty getting across to people that she never meant for this to happen.

Vegetarians can become very dogmatic. Nutritionists, Dietary Advisors and it goes without saying that politicians certainly can.

Another example is The Law of Attraction. I am beginning to notice people saying that if something does not go your way it is because you are not following the rules. What rules?

(I write about The Law of Attraction in a series of blogs for ageing, from 2015, which you can find here.) https://www.patriciacherrylifecoach.com/ageing-the-law-of-action/

I am beginning to notice people saying that if something does not go your way it is because you are not following the rules. What rules?

The dogma that has affected my life is the one of Religion. And there are millions of people in this world who are the same. Many of them stay within that dogma for the whole of their lives. But there is an increasing awareness that we do not have to spend our lives obeying someone else’s rules because it suits them. The more I study and research, the more I am finding out that we need to find out for ourselves what the truth is for our individual soul.

I have just written a book about how I did it, which is a simple narrative of my life as a child in the 1940’s and 1950’s, a young Mother in the 1960’s and 1970’s and how the teachings of a Pentecostal dogma or fundamentalism had dire effects on my choices in life. The added factor was that the Pentecostals claim that they are not religious. But a loose definition of religion can be that we follow someone elses set of rules. And there were a lot of rules in my life that came from the Pentecostal teachings and in many other evangelical movements.

From the early 1980’s life began to change, in a very dramatic and traumatic way. With the loss of everything, marriage, business, possessions and the roof over my head, during the next thirty years, I found the way to my soul. Thirty years may seem a long time, but it has all been a gradual dawning and an exciting, although at times painful journey. I found the truth and that truth has made me free.

That is the title of my book “The Truth Has Made Me Free.” It is still being prepared for publishing at this point, September 2017, but keep a look out for it.

I recognise that there are many others who have suffered because of fundamental teaching about anything. Especially other religions, but I also know of a few who have suffered because of other dogma, not just religion.

I also want to start a group on Facebook for people who have been affected by fundamentalism or dogma, in any way. Either from your own experience, or someone you know, and how it has affected you in any way. And of course, if you too have managed to be free from it all.

Would you comment below if you would like to join such a group?

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2 July 2017

Regular Eye Checks; Why?

How often do you get your eyes checked?

Do you smoke?
Do you eat plenty of vegetables, especially the green ones?
Do you know how many people are blind in the UK?
Do you have parents or grandparents who have AMD?
Do you know what your risk is of getting AMD or any other visual impairment?

AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration.) is becoming more common in the 21^st Century because people are living longer.

Macular Degeneration as it is commonly known is the breaking down of the macula which is the part of the retina at the back of the eye that provides sharp central vision.

People with this condition can suffer increasingly blurred vision which leads to problems with reading printed or written text, colour, (particularly contrast) and difficulty recognising people’s faces. If you only have AMD and nothing else wrong with your eyes, you will not go completely blind. But you will lose your central vision.

There are other conditions with the eyes such as cataracts, glaucoma and Diabetic retinopathy. I recently heard a story about a chap who went for an eye test, and this was how he found out that he had Type 2 Diabetes. For an optometrist, our eyes are like reading a book. But as a friend of mine pointed out to me just today, you do need to be assertive and make sure that you ask the right questions, and what you can do about any conditions that they come across.

Also only today I heard of someone who had been scared by what the optometrist had said. That there is no cure for AMD and he was in the very early stages of the condition.

It did frighten me when the optometrist told me that I was in the early stages, but I put that fear into action by finding out what was available to help me. So don’t be put off by what they tell you, especially when they say there is no cure and there is nothing that can be done. They may be right that there is no cure, at least at the moment, but there is plenty that can be done to make life easier. I am afraid that many consultants and eye specialists have a habit of doing that, but they fail to point out that there is support available.

If you do find out that you have the early stages of AMD, you can take sensible precautions to take care of your eyes and help to slow up the process.

By wearing glasses or goggles and a hat to keep the sunlight out of your eyes. By learning what aids are available so that you stand a good chance of managing the condition.

So, the earlier you find out, the better. You may not notice anything wrong in your day to day life, except perhaps you may find that reading is blurred even with your reading glasses on. I found out from a regular eye check.

And don’t think that it is an old person condition, some people develop AMD in their twenties or thirties. I know someone who had junior onset AMD at the age of eight.

As a matter of interest here are some interesting facts for the UK. (You can google statistics or facts for your part of the world if you are not in the UK)

In the UK around 600,000 people currently have vision impairment caused by AMD, and around 70,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. (nearly 200 per day)
Over two million people in the UK live with sight loss.
Total sight loss in one eye is not counted against the legality of driving.
People with sight loss in one eye are not considered partially sighted.
Total sight loss is rare, only about 4% of people with vision impairment are totally blind.
Sight loss, in general, affects people of all ages but especially older people. 1 in 5 aged 75 and 1 in 2 aged 90. (This is in degrees of sight loss, from mild to being registered blind or partially sighted.
In the UK there are only 5000 guide dogs.
Every day more than 75 new people are formally registered blind or partially sighted.
75% of blind and partially sighted people of working age are registered unemployed.

There are plenty more statistics that you can find, and some of them are quite revealing. Many people, including myself for many years before I had this condition, get confused when observing people with vision loss. They cannot understand why the person can see some things and not others.

I cannot go into the details here, but I have written some of what I experience as an example here;

https://www.patriciacherrylifecoach.com/category/amd/

As far as the legality of driving is concerned, it is a minefield. The law may say that you are safe to drive with a vision impairment, in fact, some people with an impairment may be able to see the required reading of the number plate. But the insurance company’s may have something else to say about it.

For example, I was told twelve years ago that I could drive under the law. I have other things wrong with my eyes as well, and one of them is double vision when my eyes are tired. I was issued by the Eye Infirmary with a pair of glasses with one lens blacked out (don’t ask about the technicalities please!) and told that I could drive while wearing them. If I were in an accident, I would be covered by the insurance as long as I was wearing them. If I were not wearing them, then I would be liable.

No-one seemed to take into account that wearing them was a hazard for me because I could not see properly with them on. So I had to make a choice not to drive at all. Driving for me, just as it is for millions of people, was freedom and giving it up was painful. But not as much as if I had taken the risk and failed to drive safely.

The main purpose of this article is to point out how important it is to look after your eyes. The main cause of AMD is not known. But the contributing factors are genetic, diet and smoking.

It is a myth that we can get AMD from bad light or too much exposure to computers, etc. But UV light is a factor and another reason for protecting your eyes in the sunlight. The jury is still out on whether computer and smartphones can cause AMD, but there is evidence surfacing that you can suffer what is known as Digital Eye Strain. Eye strain, however, is not a contributing factor to AMD.

https://www.ft.com/content/435eef82-654e-11e6-8310-ecf0bddad227

Looking at my earlier reference to contributing factors, let’s look at the genetic factor more closely. The genetic factor is only an increased risk. It is not a guarantee that you will get it. But, if you have someone in your family, particularly your parents, with MD, then you need to be extra vigilant with eye care. Get plenty of green leafy vegetables which contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are two antioxidants stored in the macula.

See more about this here:

http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/nutrition-101/foods-for-eyes/spinach-kale-leafy-greens

As for the other two, diet and smoking; just give up smoking, and eat clean as well as including the green vegetables.

And last but certainly not least. GET YOUR EYES CHECKED REGULARLY. At least every two years. Don’t take your eyesight for granted.

One of the most difficult things for me as well as the other 600,000 people in the UK to come to terms with, is that except a miracle, my eyes are not going to get better than they are now, and they are going to get worse over time.

At the moment, because I have developed wet AMD, I am waiting for my eyes to get worse before I can begin to have injections to make them better. Don’t ask!

The only things that I can do are; to make sure that I get the nutrients I need; to shield my eyes from the sun; to eat clean and to take the supplements that I take, to try and slow up the progress.

It is important to stay positive and just let AMD be part of my life and not rule it! But that will take another article, and again let me refer you to the link for my other blogs on AMD.

https://www.patriciacherrylifecoach.com/category/amd/

The other important issue for people with AMD is to get support. You can get it with the Macular Society. Tel 01264 350 551

https://www.macularsociety.org/?gclid=CL-fk6m66tQCFdYYGwodMnQCgA

I belong to the Macular Society, and there are groups that meet up all over the country in the UK.

And in the UK there is a support group to be found on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/589067591220411/

And in the US:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/amdcommunity/

There are other support groups on Facebook.

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13 June 2017

For our American Friends. Hunter Gatherer/Baby Boomer extract.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BUGTBE8

A brief Description;

Have you ever considered how the food we eat has evolved?

Have you ever wondered why our food today is laden with sugar, salt and other preservatives?

In this new book, you will discover how our hunter-gatherer ancestors existed and what they ate, before the advent of farming, domesticating animals and mass production of food.

Hi There. This is a post especially for the USA (Amazon.com) with an extract from this book with regards to some of your history of food.

Taken from Chapter 6. The 50’s; Things improve.

Things looked a little different on the other side of the Atlantic at that time, though.

In a list from an article called “What were Americans cooking in the 1950s?” appetizers are mentioned. This was unheard of in the UK except among the better off. People would not have needed their appetite stimulated; they were hungry enough.

Among them, I found such items as fruit cup, Melon Ball Cocktail, Seafood cocktail, Pastry snails, silver dollar hamburgers, bacon wraparounds. Followed by about 30 more choices.

Another 30 or more different soups and salads, including for the soups, tomato, chicken and corn, onion, oxtail, cream of celery. And for the salads, stuffed tomato, three- bean, orange and Bermuda onion, coleslaw and cold potato salad.

Main courses consisted of grilled kabobs, scalloped chicken supreme, beef and corn casserole, American lasagne, fluffy meat loaf and baked ham with glaze. Salmon steak, chicken-a-la-king, spaghetti with sauce and ham and vegetable casserole.

Vegetables were often served with butter, cream sauce, sour cream sauce, canned soup, and topped with breadcrumbs or dried onion flakes.

Desserts consisted of such items as chiffon pie, coconut cake, peppermint candy, cake, banana chiffon cake, apricot soufflé and banana chocolate cake.

http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html

Those were the days of the first barbecues in America, too. While the Brits were still tucking into their fish and chips wrapped in newspaper or baking potatoes at the camp fire, the Americans were setting up their barbecues and cooking steaks, chicken wings, and barbecued ribs. Certainly worlds apart from the UK.

In the UK children were often given a penny to go to the fish and chip shop for a bag of “scraps.” These were the bits that came off the fish while being cooked in the deep fat fryers and came to the surface when they were being cleaned.

The 1950s brought about changes in the way that we cooked. It became a chore and something that just had to be done in the quickest and shortest way possible.

In the 50s dieting was seen as something to make you more attractive and to obtain a lovely figure. Women were happier to be a bigger size than in the later years. An icon of the fifties, Marilyn Monroe, was a size 14 (or American size 12.) She was known for her hourglass figure and her beauty.

The 50’s were an era when lower fat foods started appearing on the market, but the emphasis was on naturally lower fat foods and not specially made.

The word “fitness” was not used for many years yet, and exercise was something you did as a pastime. Exercises were known as procedures rather than routines.

I remember a dieting product called AYDS which involved eating a sort of toffee before you had your meal, which was supposed to fill you up and take away your appetite!

Did it work? What do you think?

I have mentioned what the American were eating many times in the book. Including a history of what the South Americans were eating before the Agricultural Era.

Enjoy!

Here is the link again. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BUGTBE8

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11 June 2017

Extract from Hunter Gatherer to Baby Boomer.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Hunter+Gatherer+to+Baby+Boomer

(I will post the link for Amazon.com tomorrow when it will be 0.99c)

This book is available today Sunday, June 11th, especially between noon and 5 pm on Amazon UK. Special promotion to get the sales up on this intriguing and unusual take on our food crisis.

I thought that you may like to see an extract from chapter 5 about the way we ate in the 1940’s and 1950’s when Baby Boomers were in their infancy;

So let’s take a look at a list of foods and the amounts that people ate during the forties and up until the early 50s.

A list of the weekly (not daily) rations looked like this;

Bacon & Ham 4 oz. (113 grammes)
Meat ½ lb (226 grammes)
Butter 2 oz (50grams)
Cheese 2 oz
Margarine 4 oz
Cooking fat (lard) 4 oz
Milk 3 pints. (Around 1 and ½ litres)
Sugar 8 oz
Preserves 1 lb a month.
Tea 2 oz
Eggs 1 a week.
Sweets/Candy 12oz every four weeks

Imagine that you can only have one piece of cheese the size of a match box a week; The size of one piece of cheese to have with your biscuits for your dessert these days!

When my mother got married in 1943, the neighbours all collected their rations of dried fruit, sugar, butter and flour and pooled them and gave them to her mother to make the wedding cake!

White flour was in short supply, and brown wholemeal flour used instead. Vegetables and local fruits were in a reasonable supply because people were making an effort to grow their own.

In a PDF called European food and nutrition policies in action. Page 19. (Euro. who. Link below) the WHO said this:

“To everybody’s astonishment, when stillbirth rates or children’s weights and heights were monitored and when the disease patterns of adults were checked, it became clear that the people of Europe were often better fed during than before the Second World War.” From this report, I think that it is remarkable how much the government was taking an interest in people’s nutritional needs.

However, things were not as rosy as they seemed. Some children born in this era were suffering from malnourishment. I will discuss this in the next chapter about the 50s.

Recently, people are taking an interest in how people ate during this time because obesity was a rarity. Even doctors lost interest in the subject and people were a lot smaller in stature and girth.

For research purposes, there are not even any obesity statistics around for comparison.

Then, in the 1950s after fourteen years of this way of eating, things began to change. There was more food around, and as a result, people were getting bigger in stature as well as girth.

It may be worth noting that the so-called Baby Boomers generation, those born between 1948 and 1960 are the ones who have seen the biggest changes in history with diet. They have witnessed eating nothing but real food to eating the Frankenstein foods now being produced. And now in the 2010s, we see a vast change in health and well-being. But it is never too late to change your lifestyle, and if you are among this generation, there is still time to do something about it.

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10 June 2017

2nd Edition Hunter Gatherer to Baby Boomer.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Hunter+Gatherer+to+Baby+Boomer

I am writing this to ask you to help me with a small favour.

Some time ago I wrote a book called “Hunter Gatherer to Baby Boomer; How Food Evolved.” It has been on Amazon, but has now been re-published as a 2^nd re-published, re-formatted and updated edition.

I wrote it because in my lifetime since the 1940’s I have been intrigued watching how food has changed out of all recognition.

The book begins with the Hunter Gatherers, but I have concentrated particularly on the last 100 years, decade by decade, right up until the developments in the 21^st century.

I found some amazing facts about how people have always been aware of the shape of their bodies. Watching weight and worrying about self-image is nothing new apparently, and I found some amazing ways that people have done it.

Who is it for?

Have you ever considered how the food we eat has evolved?

Have you ever wondered why our food today is laden with sugar, salt and other preservatives?

In this new book, you will discover how our hunter-gatherer ancestors existed and what they ate, before the advent of farming, domesticating animals and mass production of food.

You will also learn about the obesity epidemic which has gripped the western world and where it has its roots, as well as how food has rapidly developed and changed as the 20^th century progressed and our eating habits changed.

There can be little doubt that we are less healthy now than ever and this is in large part because of the food we consume. With ever increasing amounts of sugar, salt and preservatives going into our daily intake, it’s no wonder our bodies are changing in shape.

Now you can see why this has happened and make informed choices about the sort of food you consume.

Get your copy at the times below for just £0.99 and see how the food we eat today has changed beyond all recognition.

I would love it if you bought a copy to help me to get a high ranking on Amazon which puts it onto their bestseller promotions (usually featured on the right-hand side of the page) and therefore creates high visibility for this most interesting book, unique in its subject matter.

When to buy it.

To ensure that happens I have reduced the price from £3.44 to the special price of 99p. (Cheaper in USD) It will be available for this price from 2pm-9pm on Saturday 10^th June and between 12 noon to 5pm on Sunday 11^th June.

Please buy at the times suggested because Amazon calculates its bestseller rankings between these times.

Can you leave a review?

Then I’d love you to go onto Amazon and leave a review. The more reviews I get for this book the better its profile worldwide.

It only needs something like;

Really enjoyed Patricia Cherry’s book. I had not thought about the history of how food came to be where it is now in the 21^st century. I was fascinated with how long some foods have been in existence and also with how and why we now depend on so much processed food. … Or something like that.

Don’t have kindle – still buy it.

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still download the Kindle player for free on all computers, tablets and phones.

I’d love it if I could reach as many readers possible world-wide.

Many, many thanks. I will let you know how it goes.

Patricia.

Here is the link again.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Hunter+Gatherer+to+Baby+Boomer

Please buy it from 2pm-9pm on Saturday 11^th June and between 12 noon and 5 pm on Sunday 11^th June.

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