" The principle is that the less stress you put on your body in these areas, the healthier you will be. "

" The Kujawa family's home generates conditioned, ionized air and pure, chlorine-free water. The family sleeps in "energy cocoons," beds designed to ensure the most restful sleep, and incorporates exercise into their lives directly and indirectly - for example, by wearing weighted shoes."

" They serve healthful meals, low in white carbs such as potatoes and bread made from refined flour and high in lean protein such as chicken and fish, with little red meat. They also eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables. They eat all of their food in portions recommended in several sources for dietary guidelines - such as MyPyramid.gov. Their diet also includes less conventional but nutritional food sources such as fresh barley grass."

": Used preventive health practices to help shed 38 pounds while changing the environment of his home to promote a healthier family."

" "Take ownership of your health. We decided, who's ultimately responsible for your health? Is it your doctor? Is it your mom? Ultimately, it's you. It's important, and it's up to us.""

" He and co-workers went to any one of the numerous fast-food restaurants near his work."

" Often, not eating during the day brought Kujawa home from work hungry. The family ate out most of the time in restaurants, especially Italian, or "something that came in a box ... prepared food with very little nutritional value ... followed by rest and television.""

" Chicken or fish plus vegetables, and no white carbs - potatoes, pasta, rice. Also, the family insists on having meals together."

" A couple of years ago, Duane Kujawa took a look at himself and was struck by a memory."

" He recalled that as his grandparents aged, they took more medicine, which didn't really make them feel any better. In fact, the more medicines they took, the more their health spiraled downhill."

" Still, he was like any other 40-something male who'd fallen into a pattern of family, work and routine. One year would pass and then another. Everything was normal."

" Passing time left him less and less the athlete of his high school days. His weight climbed only one-quarter to one-half pound a month, almost undetectable. But one day he looked at the scale. He had gained more than 30 pounds."

" In his teens and 20s, he was active enough not to have to worry about his weight."

" But, "When I hit 35, something happened. It was harder to lose weight; it's that magical period of time where I was doing the things I always used to do, but ... with family and coaching (Little League baseball and soccer) I found a lot of my activity went down.""

" At the checkup, he weighed 220 pounds. That didn't look too bad yet. But he had other ominous signs."

" "You start going upstairs, and you're out of breath," he said. "I was coaching and I used to help the boys because I could show them how to do the drills. But I couldn't do that as much any more."

" He realized that what happened to his grandparents and his parents was happening to him. That's when he and Julie decided to fix things before they broke."

" Duane joined Julie's efforts to make preventive changes. She had earned a certificate in holistic nutrition from an online college. Also, she was getting advice from a chiropractor friend of theirs who practiced holistic preventive medicine."

" Earlier, Julie had decided to convert their home into a "wellness home." The term, which is becoming more common, means that the home is set up to ensure good health with good dietary practices and clean water, air and general surroundings."

" Duane says he invested about $4,000 to make his home more healthful, something his friends gasp at, but he gasps back: "My friends have these $500,000, $600,000 homes and these expensive SUVs and they go, 'Wow, that's a lot of money.' Is it really? I guess it's about what you find to be important.""

" "Most people who think of being healthy and fit think of only two things," Duane said. "They think of eating right and exercising. There are actually more components to that. When you address those (other) components, the level of your internal life can actually improve.""

" One change was to install water filters to purify their drinking water. "Good water effectively
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