© Copyright 2015–Dr. Pete Sulack All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below. ® DESTINY IMAGE PUBLISHERS, INC. P.O. Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310 “Promoting Inspired Lives.” This book and all other Destiny Image and Destiny Image Fiction books are available at Christian bookstores and distributors worldwide. Cover design by: Prodigy Pixel Manuscript assistance by Dr. Dori Anne Abbott and Rick Killian For more information on foreign distributors, call 717-532-3040. Reach us on the Internet: www.destinyimage.com. ISBN 13 TP: 978-0-7684-0688-7 ISBN 13 eBook: 978-0-7684-0689-4 For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / 19 18 17 16 15 “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” —SUN TZU Contents Introduction WE’RE IN A FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES Step One IDENTIFY Step Two CONNECT Step Three CHOOSE Step Four RECOGNIZE Step Five REST Step Six DETOX Step Seven NOURISHMENT Step Eight GRATITUDE Step Nine MOVEMENT Step Ten ALIGNMENT Step Eleven STRENGTH Step Twelve GENEROSITY Introduction We’re in a Fight for Our Lives T hey have come from far and wide over the last decade—people with no hope. Individuals who have been to specialist after specialist, but who still remain confused and hopeless about the answer to the question, “What happened to my health, and how can I get it back?” We’ve learned how to extend the length of human life, but what good is it if the quality of that life is lousy? Do you feel lousy? Are you too tired to do all the things you dreamed of doing? Do you take multiple medications every day? Do you spend a lot of time managing your symptoms? If so, you are not alone, and I would say to you, “There is hope!” If you are one of those people who is searching for answers to your health problems and has put up with dehumanizing surgeries, has been put on medications that have worse side effects than the original conditions, this book is for you! I humbly say to you—this is it! Not the next fad diet or medical craze. Simply, these are the steps out of the mess you are in—the 12 steps to silencing the silent killer: Stress! We all talk about stress; we all know it is harmful to our health; but we don’t ever really address the stressors in our lives. We don’t treat the stress systemically—at its source. We treat the symptoms of stress like high blood pressure, weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, sexual dysfunction, or heart disease; but we don’t really treat the stress! We have an enemy in the camp whose face is familiar, whose habits are obvious—an enemy with whom we sleep and eat. If we don’t neutralize this enemy, we will lose the battle for health and happiness. These 12 seeds or stepping stones will do that. They are the necessary steps to transform your life and health—to help you recapture what you thought was gone forever! If the captain of the Titanic had realized the importance of slowing down and had recognized the danger of that iceberg in the North Atlantic, history would have turned out differently! So if you are having a health crisis, or if you are headed toward that inevitable iceberg, take heart! You are about to change your own history! Personally, I would rather be at death’s door and be moving in the right direction than to assume that everything is fine and be moving in the wrong direction. Together we will right the ship of your life and get you moving in the right direction. Will it be new? Absolutely! Will it be uncomfortable and challenging? Sometimes. A lot of what I will share in this book will be a new perspective or paradigm of health. Once you begin to see the need to “slow down,” and realize the danger of the “icebergs” ahead of you, change will come naturally, and you will regain a vibrancy, youthfulness, and joy you never thought possible! Until the enemy of stress is exposed, we will never get the victory! So, let’s get started! O W S NE OMAN’S TORY For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. —JOHN F. KENNEDY Deanna had no idea what to do. She had been suffering for nearly 30 years. She had been to numerous doctors, and desperately needed some real answers. Almost 20 years ago she’d had two radical surgeries to remove her colon as a treatment for the ulcerative colitis she had suffered with for almost a decade. While this seemed to help, she still wondered why none of the “experts” had really ever understood her condition or knew how to manage it long term. Surgery had seemed a last resort; and even after she’d had that surgery, she found herself constantly returning to the doctor to manage the symptoms that continued to plague her. Sometime after surgery, she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, another autoimmune disease. This caused her tremendous anxiety because she knew that most autoimmune issues can eventually lead to more serious health conditions and even death. It was one of the reasons she had agreed to have her colon surgically removed in the first place, and now it seemed as if she were right back where she had started. The doctors gave her prescriptions to manage her Hashimoto’s. Feeling some relief from her symptoms, she assumed she had finally found her path to recovery through surgery, medication, and regular checkups. Despite her medications and constant checkups, about three years ago she began to experience a new series of bizarre symptoms—nine months of severe hives, frightful chemical sensitivities requiring her to carry an EpiPen at all times, constant heart palpitations, burning feet, restless legs, insomnia, a benign tumor on her parathyroid (which she had to have surgically removed), vision disturbances, bowel troubles (even though she had no colon), hormonal havoc, distressing fatigue, raging anxiety, and uncontrollable weight loss. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, depression hovered over her constantly, saturating her mind with dark thoughts and emotions. She wasn’t sure what to do. This was no kind of life. Deanna’s health issues affected every part of her existence. She was forced to leave the job she loved as a middle school teacher. Over the next two years, she saw 16 different doctors who prescribed a number of different dangerous medications—enough to stagger the imagination. Despite these, she saw no real change in her symptoms, and her health concerns grew steadily worse. Deanna wasn’t a quitter! She knew she hadn’t been brought into this world to suffer without reason. She knew that for every problem there is a solution. She prayed for guidance, and she had faith that she would receive that guidance. She began to study how the body works, and spent hours on the Internet trying to understand her ailments and the possible diseases causing them. She continued to pray and meditate daily over the information she found, looking for what she should do next. As Deanna continued to look for answers, she found out about our clinic and made an appointment for a consultation. When she shared her history with me, I explained our philosophy that the body is designed to heal itself, but it needs to be restored to proper function in order to do so. We partnered with Deanna in her quest to heal her body, and then we transitioned her into learning how to keep her body healthy in the future. She was delighted that as she incorporated the changes we suggested, she began to get better! That was about three years ago. Recently Deanna wrote to us: Today I have no anxiety, no hives, no restless legs, no heart palpitations, and no depression! Every symptom—gone! I have more than completely recovered! …I lived decades without knowing how to respect this body, but no more! …I am so grateful for the compassion and hope I found through meeting Dr. Pete and the staff. It was in their office that I began to truly learn about the real power of foods—the good stuff and the bad stuff. The Internet became a powerful resource as I researched ferociously. I have exited the halls of the conventional approach, and am taking personal responsibility for the answers I need! Today, I experience so much daily joy! I take no medications! …I thank God for always providing exactly what we need! T S C H T Y ! HE AME AN APPEN O OU You may not be suffering as significantly as Deanna was, but the answers she found are the same for anyone who wants to live a healthier, happier life. Our bodies are perhaps the most incredible creations in the universe! Our internal systems have been masterfully designed to propel toward health, fight disease, and be strong when we maintain them in a state of balance or homeostasis. Homeostasis is the state of balance that all living beings return to when their systems are operating in a healthy way. It is the exact opposite of stress. The best part is that finding your homeostasis, living in balance, and achieving this ideal state is entirely under your control! We hear about stress all the time in the media, but no one is really addressing it at its source. Citizens of developed countries have more sickness, more disease, and are more overweight than any human beings in recorded history. We face more stressors, more toxins, and are getting less nutrition from our food than any generation that has gone before us. The medical model of attacking sickness and disease has focused solely on making the acutely sick or injured well. It has yet to come up with a solution to the epidemic of chronic disease caused by our modern lifestyles and toxic, harmful environments. Certainly medical practitioners can save a life in the midst of a heart attack and prescribe medications designed to alleviate symptoms, but sending those patients right back to the same suicidal lifestyle habits is a guarantee of future failure. Now I’m not trying to knock doctors—they are some of the most caring people on the planet; but over the last century or so, the medical paradigm from which they have operated has failed us miserably! While modern medicine can help people in the midst of crises, true cures for the chronic illnesses of today are elusive. No matter how much money is thrown at these problems, there are still no real, satisfying answers. Cardiovascular disease; cancer; type 2 diabetes; autoimmune diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and Crohn’s disease; Alzheimer’s dementia; and other chronic ailments that affect roughly 80 percent of our population are not getting better; they are increasing exponentially! This is because the modern