We talked a bit, and I convinced him to try a little belly dancing himself. Men have to do things a bit differently, so I showed him the things that women are okay at, but men tend to excel in. So he did a few moves, and looked pretty good doing it.

He watched me dance awhile, and enjoyed it as well. His comments made me blush a bit.

I was glad to pass on a bit of knowledge. I hope he decides to practice and stick with it because being a good dancer is a good way for a gentleman to get female attention without having to compete with the mundane. It’s a performance related skill that is directly related to one’s confidence and sexual prowess.

He also gave me some important feedback as to which moves have become “visible” for me already, and which ones I still have some fat to lose for. Lower abdominal movements are apparent now, but the upper ones are still too subtle.

Afterwards, he not so subtly sent me to the shower. That’s one thing I suppose I’m going to have to deal with dancing in front of people. I need to find some serious deodorant. The natural stuff isn’t doing the job after some time of moving like you mean it.

Another bit of important information from him was about breathing. He said that it’ll help me to move more gracefully if I regulate my breathing better while dancing. Sometimes I focus too much on getting a movement right that I forget to breathe.

It was nice to have him there. I’m considering buying him a darbuka.

Later, Cuz called to apologize for being drunk and disorderly, and causing me to break my bed. He’s offered to buy me a new one, but I’m not making any deals with the devil…not that he’s such a devil, but his situation is evil. Unless he frees himself, I can’t allow him to do things for me.

Back when bodybuilders and other active people were told in the 90′s not to store our water bottles in warm and/or sunny places, and to not nuke our fish and vegetables except in certain kinds of plastic or glass, we knew something was up. Multiple Learning and Discovery Channels’ specials later, we were already afraid to feed our babies from plastic bottles. For some of us, running and walking outside, and using public gyms meant we were still inhaling and rolling in goodness knows what, but back then we were mostly doing what we could.

For people like me who were sensitive to pesticides and hormonal birth control, not a whole lot could be done after the fact of exposure but to try to have a better future. So that’s what I did. It may be important to me as an activist, but as a human being trying to survive in this world, it didn’t and doesn’t matter to me whether or not thyroid damage or a psychological pattern caused the rapid weight gain. Remaining in charge of my health was what stopped it and rolled most of it back.

Being very aware of my body I had a ‘gutt feeling’ what had made me sick. So once I figured out what was wrong, I set about trying to find ways to minimize and if I could, reverse the damage.

Even though pesticides and nasty toxic chemicals are everywhere and in almost everything, this really isn’t something totally new. We’ve had bacteria, viruses, and all kinds of bugs, not to mention very natural toxins all around us since the beginning. So the idea is basically to choose the lesser of the evils.

If you can afford to, eat organic foods, and choose the milder options for anything else in your lifestyle. Use vinegar, not chlorine, to kill mold and other fungus in your home. Save the bleach specifically for bacteria. You might even want to alternate them every week or two.

Try to go with the least amount of processing. When you can, make as much as you can for yourself. Barter things you know how to make with others who know how to make things.

It’s harder in an urban environment where most households are dual income, but do what you can. See this site for ideas.

Then get out more. Seriously. When the weather permits, go out and do stuff. A little sun (not too much) will do you some good. So will some fresh air.

Boost your immune system the good old fashioned way, by getting hurt sometimes. Back before there were antibiotics, many tribes tattooed and scarified themselves, or did very painful rites of passage, that basically culled the weak, and shocked the immune system into overdrive. You don’t have to make yourself look like a crocodile, but a bit of skinned knee won’t kill you or your kids. Do some stuff that will bruise you and skin you a bit. Get bitten by some mosquitoes and the occasional spider. We have the technology now that you shouldn’t lose a foot from stubbing your toe, but that few minutes between the injury and the alcohol will tell your body that life isn’t supposed to be lived in a sterile bubble.

Use that efficient metabolism to your advantage. Since your hormones and organs are triggering you to be big anyway, why not be big in a healthy way? Why not have some killer abs under that conveniently soft pillow hanging on your torso? Guess what though? The stronger and more muscle you have, the better your body will burn and distribute fat. You might be less big in time, or figure out that being big isn’t so bad when you can lift your sofa. Your downstairs neighbors will thank you for it while you’re sweeping.

Have pets. Having animals around means that you will most certainly deal with plenty of dirt and parasites, and that your kids’ bodies will most likely learn the difference between lemon juice and strichnine. You’ll also get alot of love and hugs and have creatures who depend on you to be healthy and happy even when they’re no longer babies. Love and laughter helps you heal faster and feel better. Dogs definitely make you have to get out more.

These are just a few of the ways you can learn to adapt and survive in this screwed up, polluted world. It’s working well for me, and I hope it does for you too.

We weren’t sure how things were going to turn out because he was really hating life for awhile, and almost didn’t go back to chemotherapy. For a long time, he didn’t have a surgery date, and they were telling him he only had a year and a half at the most to live.

Something turned things around though…most likely his having a very strong mind and body, and a good balance between conventional and African/Native American lifestyle maintenance. He’s did what he needed to do, so now he’s doing okay.

We’re all praying that things keep improving for him.

You know who you are, we LOVE you, man!