Working in a gym I get the opportunity to meet many people. I recently designed some programs for Chris and Jane Anton, a couple from Maine who spend the winter months here in Florida. The following is a unique and interesting story about the past six years of Chris’ life. I am writing this to, perhaps, make you think a little more about the food that you put into your body, because we are, essentially, what we eat.(This information has been provided by Jane Anton)In July of 1998 Chris Anton was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of cancer. A few years prior to his diagnosis Chris had had a mole removed from his chest by a dermatologist. Some time later the mole returned. Concerned, Chris went to a doctor where he learned that the mole had been incorrectly removed. It had been burned off and never received a biopsy. By the second time the mole was removed the melanoma had begun its journey into his blood stream.It wasn’t until July of 2000 that the melanoma began to spread. It had traveled to Chris’ lungs. Upon examination the doctors described the cancer as “looking at sand on a beach.” “They told us that with melanoma it was futile to try and remove any of the tumors, as it would be like pulling up dandelions,” Jane remembers, “You pull one and two more appear.”Jane and Chris accepted the fact that there was no cure for fourth stage melanoma, but they wouldn’t give up hope. They left Maine and went to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston where new experiments were continually being performed on melanoma patients. In July of 2001, the doctors in Boston found one of Chris’ tumors to be large enough to receive an experimental lung surgery that had the potential of producing a vaccine to prevent melanoma from growing. “Let’s just say that the trial was not successful for Chris,” recalls Jane. “As a matter of fact, 11 days after having the lung surgery Chris suffered a massive heart attack from the stress of the surgery.” The heart attack required triple by-pass surgery and a valve repair. Three weeks after the heart attack he suffered a minor stroke.The news kept getting worse. Three months later the doctors found that the melanoma had traveled into Chris’ thyroid. He was in surgery again. This time to remove half of his thyroid. “At this point the surgeon told us he had done all that he could,” Jane told me, “that he had attempted to remove as much cancer as possible, but it was going everywhere. It was at this point that the doctors told me to focus on quality of life for Chris, not quantity.”Chris and Jane returned to their winter home in Florida in April of 2002, just eleven days after the thyroid surgery. Upon recommendation of the Moffitt Cancer Center, Chris received seven weeks of radiation therapy. “In June we went back to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and they suggested a trial of chemotherapy.” Jane remembers, “Chris took one treatment of chemo and in ten days had developed double pneumonia. We were told that the chemo was designed to kill the immune system along with the cancer.” Since the original diagnosis in July of 1998 Chris and Jane had received advice from many people; doctors, family and friends, all of them trying to help. They had followed all the doctor’s advice, but their methods hadn’t worked. While appreciated, most of the advice from family and friends didn’t seem to apply to help Chris. The Anton’s were beginning to get discouraged. One suggestion, however, kept resurfacing. On more than one occasion Jane had been advised to get Chris on the Hallelujah Diet.From What Jane had heard about this diet she knew that Chris would never agree to it. “It is a lifestyle, not a diet. It has very limited foods and lots of fresh juices.” She said. Jane decided that it was worth getting some more information. She read the Hallelujah Diet book and then contacted a friend with a degree in nutrition. “I was expecting her to tell me that it was crazy, but she didn’t.” recalls Jane, “She told me that it all made sense.“The diet had hundreds of testimonies from people who had been cured of many illnesses on the program. I started to do some research on the web.“I learned that their program is a plant based vegan diet with lots of carrot and barley juice.” Reports Jane,” 80-85% of the food eaten on the diet is in the natural raw state, and 15-20% is hot cooked vegan food eaten after the evening meal. Somebody with cancer in their body had to drink a minimum of six 8-ounce glasses of carrot juice daily as well as six servings of Barley Juice. No meat. No dairy. No white flour. No sugar. No salt.” ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ I thought to myself, Chris will never do this.“I learned that the Hallelujah organization had a seminar at their headquarters in North Carolina where we could spend five days learning about the diet and eating the foods on the program.” After considerable persuasion Chris agreed to go with Jane to the seminar (this was in June 2002). “The whole experience was amazing,” remembers Jane, “within the first three hours of the first class Chris turned to me and said, “I want to do this, and I want to do it 100%.” I was shocked. After the five-day seminar we were totally on the Program. We were convinced that this was the method that would bring healing to Chris’ body. We even called Boston and cancelled his remaining chemotherapy appointments.” This was when Chris decided that when he died he was going to be healthy.Chris and Jane returned to their home in Maine with a wonderful and encouraging outlook on life. They had hope. “I can tell you that we have never looked back.” Said Jane.It wasn’t until four months after starting the Diet, in October of 2002 that Chris and Jane returned to Boston. Chris was feeling great! He received a full body scan. “We got better news than we ever could have hoped for,” Jane smiles. Chris’ tumors had regressed 50%. The doctors were thrilled, but cautious. They didn’t ask any questions of Chris, or Jane, they simply said, “Whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it.” The doctors skeptically reminded them that when the cancer started up again it would go like wild fire, because that’s how melanoma runs its course.Chris and Jane went back to the doctors in Boston five more times over the next fifteen months and each time the tumors had regressed even more. “The doctors were amazed,” said Jane, “ but still hadn’t asked us what it was we were doing.” In January (2004) they visited Boston for another check up; Chris’ results were even better than the last visit. Now the doctors were curious. “It was at this visit that the head doctor brought in three medical students to examine Chris.” Recalls Jane, “ He asked them to try and find the scar on Chris’ neck from the thyroid surgery (which he underwent 23 months prior). He had been cut from ear to ear. They couldn’t find the scar! The doctor then went over the past four years with these student doctors, telling them all that Chris had been through. He looked at Chris and asked, “Exactly how much carrot juice do you drink a day?” The doctors pointed out that in February of 2004 it would be two years since Chris’s body had been consumed with cancer. The doctors at Beth Israel Hospital didn’t schedule Chris for his next check-up, like they usually do. They simply asked, “When would you like to come back?”To see the Antons you would never imagine that Chris and Jane had been through this incredible stress. They are healthy, strong, and vibrant people. They chat and joke with others at the gym, they are a delight to have in the same room. At the end of each workout, I see Chris up front drinking his carrot juice.When I first heard Chris’ story I started to think about cancer. Cancer is caused when our own body’s infected cells keep reproducing, and don’t a shut off like healthy cells. They duplicate over and over and form clusters, which are called tumors. Eating all natural foods and drinks helped heal Chris’ cancer. Too many foods today are pumped full of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, and are genetically altered. It only makes sense that these products, which are not meant to be inside our body, are wreaking havoc on our cells and organs.The body is an amazing machine; it will heal itself, if you let it. It only needs the right tools. In Chris’ case he simply gave his body the right tools. He stopped polluting it with chemicals and gave it the nutrients it needed to beat the disease.Chris and Jane are heavily involved with Hallelujah Acres. They teach others about the program that brought them so much success. “So here we are, just enjoying every day that the Lord has given us.” Jane concludes, “Who’s to say what tomorrow will bring for any of us, but for today we’re here, we’re healthy and we’re enjoying every moment.”You can visit the hallelujah website at www.hacres.com