How Lifestyle Imbalance Can Defeat Your Diet

Through the years, in seminar after seminar, people have asked me what I thought about the subject of “stress.” My response used to be, “I believe that when our diet is right, stress will not have the same power as it does over a person on a poor diet.” I knew that stress could negatively affect people, but when it came to personally dealing with the high levels of stress I constantly subjected my body to, I somehow thought that stress shouldn’t concern me. After all, I was on The Hallelujah Diet; but I was in for a very rude awakening! During my 20-year preaching ministry (before The Hallelujah Diet), my health was out of balance not only because of an improper diet, but because I was under tremendous stress. Then, in 1976, I had my cancer scare and I slowed down for a number of years while learning about nutrition and changing my diet and lifestyle. My health was restored! I experienced many years of excellent health as a result of that diet and lifestyle change; I never suffered from as much as a cold! Then in 1992, Hallelujah Acres was birthed. The first few months were easy, but as the health message reached more and more people, requests for me to speak, do radio and television interviews, and provide literature and recordings increased. During those early years, I averaged over a seminar a week someplace in the world, in addition to overseeing a growing worldwide ministry, weekly radio broadcasts, and numerous television interviews. Because of the diet, I was experiencing such incredible energy — I thought I was Superman! I started pushing my body harder than I apparently should have. I did not understand at the time that no matter how perfect one’s diet is, stress can play a big role in a person’s well being. In 2000, I flew to Australia at age 66, where I conducted seven seminars and a session of Health Minister Training. Then in March 2001, I flew to South Africa, where I delivered seven seminars in six days to an average crowd of over 600 people. During that week, I was in an airplane for 53 hours, flying twice across the Atlantic and to six major cities in South Africa. After being home for a few days, I flew to Tulsa for a series of seminars, then to Canada for some more seminars, and then back to Shelby, N.C. for our July 2001 Health Minister Training. Though my diet was excellent, the stress of my workload again created an imbalance in my health. On July 12, 2001, after 25 years of excellent health, my body said: “ENOUGH!” While speaking on stage at Health Minister Training in Shelby, I lost my ability to speak coherently and was rushed to the local hospital where I was diagnosed as having experienced a hemorrhagic stroke. (A blood vessel had ruptured in my brain.) Doctors blamed the stroke on the extended stress experienced during my South African speaking tour. Rhonda refused all medical treatment for me and immediately began nursing me back to health using The Hallelujah Recovery Diet. Within five months I was back to a regular workload… but I did it a little smarter this time. I cancelled 15 scheduled seminars and made sure that I did not overwork myself. I re-instituted my daily exercise routine and did not commit to obligations beyond what I could handle, unlike the past. Today, more than 11 years after the stroke, neither my mind nor my body appears to have any lingering effects. Truly the Lord is good! Not only did He reveal The Hallelujah Diet to me through my cancer experience, He brought me through a stroke to help me realize that good health is more than diet. It’s a lifestyle change that involves balance in every aspect of life. Rev. George Malkmus is the founder of Hallelujah Acres. Read more articles on his blog at www.GeorgeMalkmus.com.

• This article is from Health News magazine (issue #73) — read the digital edition here!

Health News #73 - Online Bonus Content: