What are you doing today? What are you doing to preserve life? What are you doing to take care of yourself? What is the one step today, that will make a difference 10 years from now.
Sometimes that step is simply the one step in the right direction that leads to many more steps. And it doesn't need to be a big step. There are times in life when we need to make BIG decisions. But, frequently it seem that the small decision are the ones that make a big difference over time. Those daily small decision really add up!
I think that we seem to have the "all or nothing" mind set. And so often, if we make a bad decision, we want to throw in the towel. Well, that simply is not a healthy mindset. We will be in situations that are not the best for our health. We may be around unhealthy food, or in an unhealthy experience. But...that doesn't mean it needs to change our outlook on life. Just as life changed to put in you in the negative situation, it will change to get you out of it. So, make the best decisions you can, in the experience, and then move on.
I am learning more about nutrition and the affect of micronutrients (fresh fruits and veggies) on detoxifying our body. There are toxins all around us. It is in our environment. There is no escaping some of it. This could get us down, and make us want to give up. BUT... our amazing creator gave us food to clean our bodies. They are those yummy fruits and vegetables and herbs!
Unfortunately, in the last 70 years or so, the American diet has transitioned to one of processed foods. Foods that are processed are toxins to our body. Our body was not designed to handle these chemicals. And this is as basic as the "simple" ingredients like flour and sugar. Those bags that you buy are so far from the natural ingredient that they are unrecognizable. And yet, this country considers them normal.
It is very sad to me that "health nuts" are viewed negatively. If you eat to feed your body at the cellular level; vegetables, fruits, nuts, and protein, people think you are crazy.
But listen here. Isn't it more crazy to put food like substances into your body that are slowing down its ability to function? Isn't it ridiculous to keep subjecting yourself to illnesses because your body doesn't have the core nutrition to fight it off? Isn't it frustrating to live tired, weary, and depressed? Why do people choose that?
I used to. before I knew better. Before I knew how good it felt to feel good.
I am humble by the compliments that I get everyday about how good I look. I never used to get comments like that. And it isn't because I am thin and fabulous. Obviously, I'm not. But, it is because I feel good, and it shows.
So, what are you doing today, to improve your life? Eating a new vegetable? Trying a new yummy dish? Taking a walk? Researching this "crazy" business I have been talking about? Baby steps, my friend.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Accepting and Making Change
I have been thinking some about change. I for one, love change. I thrive on it. I change my furniture around, repaint walls, redecorate. I love change. I love for things to be different. It challenges me, my thinking, my confidence, my comfort. These are all short changes... they only take a day or two. When it comes to long lasting commitment changes, that is a bit different.
Why is long lasting change so difficult? This is my own exploration..so bear with me.
In my mind, I see my self as a healthy, energetic, busy mom. I see myself in the yard working. I see myself teaching my kids to play volleyball the way I used to. I see myself walking 4 miles/hr like I did when I was a teenager. I do not see this overweight sluggish person, who allows negativity to take over. So, how do I get my physical being to match the mental one. When I look in the mirror at my physical, it seems so foreign. Like it doesn't belong to me. Like I'm looking at someone else.
I have allowed myself excuses. "hey, I'm the mom of 4 kids, I'm gonna be fat. I had my gallbladder out, that has affected my digestion permanently. I'm a nurse on a very stressful unit. I'm tired. I deserve to eat whatever I want. blah. blah. blah.
But the reality? NONE of those excuses are reasons. Everything I deal with is reversible. I can be healthy, energetic, and clear thinking. I CAN heal my body, mind, and spirit. It will take time.
I often tell my patients who are overwhelmed with their disease process, "take it a day at a time, or a minute at a time, whatever is manageable". I need to apply this to my own experience. Change is a progressive thing. It won't always be easy. But to live without fear of death/disease...now that is WORTH IT!
So, it seems to me that long lasting changes starts today...and ends at some indeterminate point in the future. But, just like finding the motivation to redecorate a room, you have to start. Once the ball starts rolling, it is easier to keep it rolling, than it was to get started. Some days it will take just a little nudge for me. Other days it will probably be more like a kick in the seat of the pants!
First: I need to get and keep my head in the right place. I need to feed my body. I need to feed it for me. I need to feed it for my kids, and my husband, and my parents, and my siblings, and my inlaws. I need to feed it for my church, my coworkers, my friends, my acquaintances. I need to take care of ME, so no one else has to! I need to teach my family, and friends how to take care of themselves, so no one else has to.
This concept keeps going over and over in my mind. We don't put water into a car gas tank and expect it to run properly. Why would be put chemical food into our body, and expect to stay healthy? When I have started to understand what our food supply really is, well, it has been clear to me, it is no wonder that people are sluggish, cranky, miserable, drowsy. This all leads to obesity and disease. If you are obese...guess what is around the next corner? And then the next, and the next. It is a journey towards death, and not a healthy one.
So, I want to renew my commitment to my health every day. What can I do today... to make a lifetime of a difference??
Why is long lasting change so difficult? This is my own exploration..so bear with me.
In my mind, I see my self as a healthy, energetic, busy mom. I see myself in the yard working. I see myself teaching my kids to play volleyball the way I used to. I see myself walking 4 miles/hr like I did when I was a teenager. I do not see this overweight sluggish person, who allows negativity to take over. So, how do I get my physical being to match the mental one. When I look in the mirror at my physical, it seems so foreign. Like it doesn't belong to me. Like I'm looking at someone else.
I have allowed myself excuses. "hey, I'm the mom of 4 kids, I'm gonna be fat. I had my gallbladder out, that has affected my digestion permanently. I'm a nurse on a very stressful unit. I'm tired. I deserve to eat whatever I want. blah. blah. blah.
But the reality? NONE of those excuses are reasons. Everything I deal with is reversible. I can be healthy, energetic, and clear thinking. I CAN heal my body, mind, and spirit. It will take time.
I often tell my patients who are overwhelmed with their disease process, "take it a day at a time, or a minute at a time, whatever is manageable". I need to apply this to my own experience. Change is a progressive thing. It won't always be easy. But to live without fear of death/disease...now that is WORTH IT!
So, it seems to me that long lasting changes starts today...and ends at some indeterminate point in the future. But, just like finding the motivation to redecorate a room, you have to start. Once the ball starts rolling, it is easier to keep it rolling, than it was to get started. Some days it will take just a little nudge for me. Other days it will probably be more like a kick in the seat of the pants!
First: I need to get and keep my head in the right place. I need to feed my body. I need to feed it for me. I need to feed it for my kids, and my husband, and my parents, and my siblings, and my inlaws. I need to feed it for my church, my coworkers, my friends, my acquaintances. I need to take care of ME, so no one else has to! I need to teach my family, and friends how to take care of themselves, so no one else has to.
This concept keeps going over and over in my mind. We don't put water into a car gas tank and expect it to run properly. Why would be put chemical food into our body, and expect to stay healthy? When I have started to understand what our food supply really is, well, it has been clear to me, it is no wonder that people are sluggish, cranky, miserable, drowsy. This all leads to obesity and disease. If you are obese...guess what is around the next corner? And then the next, and the next. It is a journey towards death, and not a healthy one.
So, I want to renew my commitment to my health every day. What can I do today... to make a lifetime of a difference??
Researching... learning...exploring...
So, I have been spending time reading, watching, and researching. I feel like I am learning so much, my brain must be getting full, but then I realize there is so much more to learn.
There may be some of you who think I have gone off the deep end. I realize that this journey I am on, is going in a completely different direction than most people. But, I want you to see how good it can be. Healthy lifestyles needs to be the future of this country. Lets turn around this epidemic!!
I have watched a few movies recently. They are currently on Netflix, but I think they are probably available on DVD, too. Anyway.
Food Inc, was the first one, I watched. Wow. That changed my opinions about even the "healthy" food that you buy in the supermarket. Is it really healthy? The movie really just confirmed what I have been thinking for awhile... if you don't get your food from the source, it probably isn't as healthy as it could be. Leigh thinks I'm crazy, but I want to get as much of our food from our backyard as possible!
The next movie I watched recently was Vitality. An excellent movie about how holistic we are as humans. What we eat gives us energy to live, which gives us the ability to rest, which gives us the energy to be productive, and the cycle continues...
Today, I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It is a story of a man who treated, and put in remission his autoimmune disease by juicing for 60 days. The premise is to give your body the best nutrition, in the easiest form, so it can do the job of detoxing. He says that 60 days may be extreme, but juicing vegetables and fruits is wonderfully healthy. I like the concept that you can juice/blend together several servings of veggies/fruits into a drink... talk about rapid nutrition. How long would it take to eat 6 servings of veggies/fruits? In our fast paced world... this is a pretty cool option. Give your body at the cellular level, just what it needs to function. Once those toxins are cleaned out ( in a couple of days) your health will start to improve!!
Somehow, we need to break the cycle. Why eat chemicals? Why eat food that does nothing to feed your body? Even the "healthy" food that is marketed today, is processed to the point of very little actual nutrition. In one of the movies they said that we are OVERFED, but UNDERNOURISHED. Does that make sense to you?
Feeding your body incredible nutrition, will reverse everyday aches and pains, in addition to reversing disease. It will dramatically decrease or remove the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, obesity, and the 1000s of issues that go along with those and many others.
It just has deepened my resolve to change this for me, and for my family. I do not want my kids to do further damage to their bodies. I want to reverse this for the future. I would love to encourage anyone else who wants to do this too. I have lived in fear of a diagnosis that would change my life for the negative. I work at a hospital, and I see on a daily basis, what this does to people, and families. I want to fix the problem before it starts.
There may be some of you who think I have gone off the deep end. I realize that this journey I am on, is going in a completely different direction than most people. But, I want you to see how good it can be. Healthy lifestyles needs to be the future of this country. Lets turn around this epidemic!!
I have watched a few movies recently. They are currently on Netflix, but I think they are probably available on DVD, too. Anyway.
Food Inc, was the first one, I watched. Wow. That changed my opinions about even the "healthy" food that you buy in the supermarket. Is it really healthy? The movie really just confirmed what I have been thinking for awhile... if you don't get your food from the source, it probably isn't as healthy as it could be. Leigh thinks I'm crazy, but I want to get as much of our food from our backyard as possible!
The next movie I watched recently was Vitality. An excellent movie about how holistic we are as humans. What we eat gives us energy to live, which gives us the ability to rest, which gives us the energy to be productive, and the cycle continues...
Today, I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It is a story of a man who treated, and put in remission his autoimmune disease by juicing for 60 days. The premise is to give your body the best nutrition, in the easiest form, so it can do the job of detoxing. He says that 60 days may be extreme, but juicing vegetables and fruits is wonderfully healthy. I like the concept that you can juice/blend together several servings of veggies/fruits into a drink... talk about rapid nutrition. How long would it take to eat 6 servings of veggies/fruits? In our fast paced world... this is a pretty cool option. Give your body at the cellular level, just what it needs to function. Once those toxins are cleaned out ( in a couple of days) your health will start to improve!!
Somehow, we need to break the cycle. Why eat chemicals? Why eat food that does nothing to feed your body? Even the "healthy" food that is marketed today, is processed to the point of very little actual nutrition. In one of the movies they said that we are OVERFED, but UNDERNOURISHED. Does that make sense to you?
Feeding your body incredible nutrition, will reverse everyday aches and pains, in addition to reversing disease. It will dramatically decrease or remove the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, obesity, and the 1000s of issues that go along with those and many others.
It just has deepened my resolve to change this for me, and for my family. I do not want my kids to do further damage to their bodies. I want to reverse this for the future. I would love to encourage anyone else who wants to do this too. I have lived in fear of a diagnosis that would change my life for the negative. I work at a hospital, and I see on a daily basis, what this does to people, and families. I want to fix the problem before it starts.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Cruising along.
Hello again!
It is a bitter cold day in northern PA. The kids had a 2 hour delay for school. I am starting to get cabin fever, I think.
I am encouraged when I hear about other people and their successes with changing their health. I have my own experiences, and they are encouraging, true. But it reinforces things, when I hear about other people and how much better they are feeling.
This may be TMI, but one of the most difficult times for me has been PMS and during menstruation. When I was a teenager, I knew when my period would start. every time. It was 28.5 days. One month it would start in the morning, then next, at night. Crazy, eh? Well, 4 kids, and weight fluctuations, and poor eating, changed all that! For the past decade or so, I have struggled. My hubby has said on many occasions "I hope you get your period, soon!!" Of course this did not go over well. Several days before it was due, I would be cranky, miserable, and all my issues came to the surface. If Leigh ticked me off about something small... every issue I had with him came out at once!! Then, the day before, a debilitating migraine. My cycles would be anywhere from 21-36 days, and the menstruation itself, 3-9 days. I thought maybe I was starting into menopause. However, I am happy to report, this has reversed. The last several have been 27 days, and lasted 6 days. Regular. Also, the amount has slowed dramatically. Very minimal headache, not sure I would even call it a migraine. Each month it has been less dramatic. So, hopefully, it will ease all together!!
I tend to get in a rut. Do you do that? Cook the same things all the time? Fall into the same habits, no matter how hard you try to change? Well, I seem to be in a rut right now. I love the food I eat, but I need to get adventurous again. I am looking forward to spring, and being able to get out of the house. I am looking forward to new fresh foods in the stores! And Farmer's Markets! And starting plants, and gardening! All new experiences this year!
I am proud of my kids. They are working hard at changing their foods, and life, too. We had concerns about them last year, when we were cyber-schooling, because they spent so much time at the computer. And the kitchen was right there. All of the kids seemed, to eat constantly! As you can imagine, they all gained a bit. Well, this also made them sluggish, and unmotivated. Several months ago, I told them that I missed their energetic selves! I have been wonderfully surprised to see changes in their moods! They are happier kids, and more motivated to dive into whatever needs done! I'm not saying they are perfect kids, because they are trying to change their health. Nope, they are still kids. But overall, we see an improvement over the sulkiness that pervaded our home just 6 months ago. I love to watch them make food and exercise choices because THEY know it makes them feel better. I do not want my kids doing this because I MAKE them. They are old enough to decide on their own.
Heidi has been talking to some kids at school. It makes me sad how our country has taught us to eat. The things they say to her about what she is eating for lunch, are all the typically, brainwashed, statements said buy anyone who has not done their own research. Interestingly, the people who know anything about Anatomy and Physiology, are encouraging. Anyone who is educated in the human body, understands these things. The folks who get their nutrition education from magazines on the newsstand, well, they are sadly lacking in accurate information. Heidi has to take a health and wellness class next quarter. It will be interesting to see how that goes!
I am struggling a bit, with the fact that my weight doesn't seem to be budging still. I am slowly losing a few inches. Some of my clothes are almost too big! GASP!! I keep trying to change things up a bit, but the scale doesn't move much. It doesn't overwhelm me, like it would have several years ago. But it is a pleasant thing when you see the numbers dropping. I am happy though, that the numbers on the scale is the only thing I am struggling with at this point. I have no complaints about my diet, or how I feel. How can I? I feel so much better than I ever have!
It is a bitter cold day in northern PA. The kids had a 2 hour delay for school. I am starting to get cabin fever, I think.
I am encouraged when I hear about other people and their successes with changing their health. I have my own experiences, and they are encouraging, true. But it reinforces things, when I hear about other people and how much better they are feeling.
This may be TMI, but one of the most difficult times for me has been PMS and during menstruation. When I was a teenager, I knew when my period would start. every time. It was 28.5 days. One month it would start in the morning, then next, at night. Crazy, eh? Well, 4 kids, and weight fluctuations, and poor eating, changed all that! For the past decade or so, I have struggled. My hubby has said on many occasions "I hope you get your period, soon!!" Of course this did not go over well. Several days before it was due, I would be cranky, miserable, and all my issues came to the surface. If Leigh ticked me off about something small... every issue I had with him came out at once!! Then, the day before, a debilitating migraine. My cycles would be anywhere from 21-36 days, and the menstruation itself, 3-9 days. I thought maybe I was starting into menopause. However, I am happy to report, this has reversed. The last several have been 27 days, and lasted 6 days. Regular. Also, the amount has slowed dramatically. Very minimal headache, not sure I would even call it a migraine. Each month it has been less dramatic. So, hopefully, it will ease all together!!
I tend to get in a rut. Do you do that? Cook the same things all the time? Fall into the same habits, no matter how hard you try to change? Well, I seem to be in a rut right now. I love the food I eat, but I need to get adventurous again. I am looking forward to spring, and being able to get out of the house. I am looking forward to new fresh foods in the stores! And Farmer's Markets! And starting plants, and gardening! All new experiences this year!
I am proud of my kids. They are working hard at changing their foods, and life, too. We had concerns about them last year, when we were cyber-schooling, because they spent so much time at the computer. And the kitchen was right there. All of the kids seemed, to eat constantly! As you can imagine, they all gained a bit. Well, this also made them sluggish, and unmotivated. Several months ago, I told them that I missed their energetic selves! I have been wonderfully surprised to see changes in their moods! They are happier kids, and more motivated to dive into whatever needs done! I'm not saying they are perfect kids, because they are trying to change their health. Nope, they are still kids. But overall, we see an improvement over the sulkiness that pervaded our home just 6 months ago. I love to watch them make food and exercise choices because THEY know it makes them feel better. I do not want my kids doing this because I MAKE them. They are old enough to decide on their own.
Heidi has been talking to some kids at school. It makes me sad how our country has taught us to eat. The things they say to her about what she is eating for lunch, are all the typically, brainwashed, statements said buy anyone who has not done their own research. Interestingly, the people who know anything about Anatomy and Physiology, are encouraging. Anyone who is educated in the human body, understands these things. The folks who get their nutrition education from magazines on the newsstand, well, they are sadly lacking in accurate information. Heidi has to take a health and wellness class next quarter. It will be interesting to see how that goes!
I am struggling a bit, with the fact that my weight doesn't seem to be budging still. I am slowly losing a few inches. Some of my clothes are almost too big! GASP!! I keep trying to change things up a bit, but the scale doesn't move much. It doesn't overwhelm me, like it would have several years ago. But it is a pleasant thing when you see the numbers dropping. I am happy though, that the numbers on the scale is the only thing I am struggling with at this point. I have no complaints about my diet, or how I feel. How can I? I feel so much better than I ever have!
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