Natural Muscle November 2016 Celebrating 21 Years This Month! | Page 28

PROFILE

MELANOMA: A BLESSING IN DISGUISE
A Conversation with
Elizabeth Aguilera
By SJ McShane
TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF?
I am a melanoma survivor, holistic health coach, certified trainer,
proud military spouse and work as a marketing director for North East
Florida’s largest gym chain, Bailey’s Health Fitness. I also work
with Sunwarrior as a writer and ambassador for the company. I am
nationally qualified with the NPC and a published fitness model. I am
originally from the Chicago land area and currently reside in Pensacola, FL. I love to travel and my passion is health and fitness. I aspire to
help as many people as possible in their journey to their healthiest self.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO FITNESS?
After I was diagnosed with Melanoma in 2012, I decided life is
to short to wait to begin my goals. I had a list of thing I wanted
to do that terrified me and I set out to accomplish them. This
included visiting other countries, graduating from Purdue, becoming a personal trainer and beginn ing fitness competiton.

WHAT WERE YOU LIKE BEFORE
FITNESS?

I found it through a regular check-up from my doctor. I was traveling
for college and my husband was getting ready to leave for deployment
so I visited our naval hospital for a recap physical. I had no clue I had
melanoma. My doctor saw a small dark mole on my left thigh and
immediately knew it was something. She had it removed that week
and sure enough it was cancer.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THAT CANCER?
It is a surface cancer which in a way, is a blessing, because like
breast cancer, skin cancer is easy to find since you can see or feel
it, where as other cancer you cannot. I visit my doctors every 3-4
months for body mapping, blood work and testing to monitor it.
The doctors say, once you have melanoma you will never get rid
of it. You have to monitor it and remove any areas that may grow
on the body. This ensures it will not spread to the lymphatic system
or vital organs. I did not have any cancer spread. I’ve had 8 areas
removed on my body and since changing my diet, I have had zero.

DID YOU TRY ANY TRADITIONAL
THERAPIES, LIKE CHEMO?
No, I only changed my diet. Whole plant based foods have the
power to heal the body. If not, why? I believe cancer treatments are
only a Band-Aid to the true problem. When healing the body, you
need to heal the root of the problem. Chemotherapy, in my opinion
damages the already weakened immune system. I’ve learned of
many people who have healed melanoma through G erson Therapy
and high raw vegan diets. If it worked for them, I knew it could
work for me.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO NATURAL
FOODS/VEGAN?

WHAT WAS YOUR METHOD OF
HEALING?

After I was diagnosed with melanoma, I had a period of about
2.5 years where I had 8 total areas. D uring this time I had a very
healthy whole foods diet that consisted of alot of lean animal
protein such as fish, chicken and egg whites. During this time my
cancer was very aggressive and would keep coming back. My liver
enzymes were elevated and I had fatigue and horrible digestion. I
learned that the animal protein I was consuming was very high in
the amino acid, methionine and cancer needs methionine to thrive.
I decided to try a vegan/ plant based diet to help stop the melanoma and it worked. Since changing my diet I have not had any new
areas and my blood work stabilized.

My diet consisted of mainly of veggie and fruit juices and whole
plant based foods. I cut out caffeine and stimulants.

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Natural Muscle Magazine

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT
THE VEGAN DIET AND NATURAL
HEALING?
It has given my body a second change and also helped me
grown mentally and spiritually. It saved my life. My training is now
better, my recovery is faster and it is very easy to stay in shape.

November 2016

Celebrating 21 Years!

3 Foods To
Eva Simon photo

I’ve always loved sports. I was involved in softball, cheerleading
and track when I was in school. I found my love for bodybuilding
around 2012 when I signed up for my first competition. This taught
me dedication and helped me gain confidence in all areas of my
life. It taught me that the mind will always fear leaving the comfort
zone, but without that leap of faith and courage to continue and
fight for progress, growth will not happen. ust like in training, we
grow from failure. Having melanoma has changed my life for the
better. It was a blessing in disguise. I learned to appreciate my
health and fight for what I wanted in life. It taught me to become
the person I’ve always aspired to be.

WHEN DID YOU FIND OUT YOU HAD
MELANOMA?

PLEASE GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF A
TYPICAL DAY FOR YOU WITH YOUR DIET.
Meal 1 G reen juice combining Sunwarrior Ormus G reens, 1
lemon, 1 apple, 3 stalk of celery, 2 inches of ginger and a handful
of sinanche
Meal 2 Smoothie with Sunwarrior protein powder, 1 banana,
2 cups of berries, almond milk and flaxseed
Meal 3 6 oz sweet potato, 3/4 cup of beans 1/4 avocado and
3-4 cups of veggies
Meal 4 Hummus with veggies or a few pieces of fruit with a
handful of almonds
Meal 5 Large rainbow salad with lots of raw veggies and 1
cup of sprouted chick peas with another fresh pressed juice like
carrot, apple or orange juice.