My first BLOG! I think this will be a mission statement. As Mindy and I embark on a new chapter in our careers, our driving force has been and continues to be that we want to help people change their lives for the better. Once all of the noise and clutter about health and wellness is removed, we find there are really a few key components that make up the lives of the healthiest and happiest people on the planet:
1. A strong connection to family and community.
2. A simple diet consisting primarily of whole (minimally processed) plant-based foods.
3. Staying active throughout the day, every day.
4. Taking at least a few minutes alone to be thoughtful and reflective every day.
5. Marry Mindy Mylrea – unfortunately, there is only one of these to go around.
And there it is. Through personal experience, I can tell you achieving and implementing these four simple tenants is anything but easy, and takes constant attention and discipline. Let’s take a quick trip down Bruce’s memory lane:
Growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s in the south will generally NOT get you a check mark for tenant #2. My diet consisted of tons of dairy, tons of meat, and tons of junk food – the standard American diet right up until my early 50’s. Uh-oh, no check mark for tenant #2.
I was very active growing up, surfing, skiing, soccer, tons of activity until I entered the working world. For most of my adult life, I commuted an hour each way to my office in Silicon Valley, worked long hours, and continued to eat a very unhealthy diet with lots of alcohol poured on top. Drinking and eating late into the evening was an accepted and encouraged activity for sales and marketing executives in the valley in the 80’s and 90’s. My main focus was to make lots of money because that was the main focus of everyone around us at the time. I would change all of this if I could.
I would take time for myself, primarily through surfing when I had the time, but for most of my adult life, it was rush, rush, rush. Mindy and I were on a treadmill with three young boys. I would work insanely long hours during the week, and then take over with the kids for the weekend so Mindy could travel and establish HER career. It went so fast and blam, I was 50.
I would have to say that the true turning point in beginning to create a meaningful life for myself was only 6 years ago when Mindy handed me the book by T. Colin Campbell, The China Study. At age 52, I was completely blown away that I did not know a thing the true scientific benefits of eating a whole food plant-based diet. I dove into with all I had and have never looked back. Within 6 weeks, I had dropped my overall cholesterol by 100 points and dropped 20 pounds. To this day I am still refining my diet to maximize the health benefits.
I was feeling great and really proud of myself for the progress I was making until…whoops…shit.”Bruce, you have prostate cancer.” This is definitely not one of the key tenants outlined above. This is where the story gets really interesting. The theme of this blog is CANCER and what I have done and what anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer CAN do to improve their outcome post-diagnosis. I am going to share some very shocking facts about the true causes of cancer (hint: what did you eat for breakfast?) and the steps that I took to take control of my life post-diagnosis to THRIVE while dealing with cancer. Stay tuned, it’s gonna be really GOOD!
Thank You for your honesty!…
Being from a generation of keeping it secret .. It’s important to share so others know they are not alone!.., looking forward to more!!
I’m a huge fan of you and Mindy, having seen you guys at the Toronto Can-Fit-Pro conference for a number of years now. Having been on my own journey of plant-based foods since 2007, I can relate to how past behaviours catch up with us. Really looking forward to your blog!