Up and Running!

Tonight I launched my very first health coaching Facebook page. I had been putting it off for weeks, but tonight decided this was THE night.

After I made it live, I had 15 likes in less than an hour. How awesome is that?

Here's the link. It is entitled Health Coaching by Michelle. In addition, my official website can be found here.

Back to School

Monday was the first day of school, for me! I enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Did you know it is the largest nutrition school in the world? I was surprised to learn that.

It is a really exciting journey for me. I have been on a roller coaster with the health of my family for years. We spend so much money for medical care and health insurance and feel like we don't get much in return. I've become a skeptic of Western medicine. It is a shame because I work in the medical field. I am tired of band aid medicine where they just treat symptoms. I want to get to the root of our health problems and fix them.

I find the better I eat, the better I feel. Food has become my medicine. In addition, I am learning other alternative modalities. Are they really alternative? These are things that have been used for many years, but got squeezed out by Western medicine.

In addition to juicing, I have grown fond of oil pulling. My teeth really like it. They have gotten whiter and feel smoother with less plaque buildup. The main reason I use oil pulling is for my sinuses. After I do it, I have less congestion and mucous. This morning I woke up with a sore throat and after oil pulling (and drinking hot water with ginger, lemon, and cayenne), no more sore throat.

Back to my school excitement. I can't wait to share all of my new knowledge with you!

Shoulder Recap and New Adventures

Today I had a follow up appointment with the orthopedist for my snowboarding shoulder injury. She was doing her assessment and checking my range of motion and was impressed. She ultimately said, "You healed yourself!" and wanted to know what I did to get to this point. 

Now you have to realize she is the one that said 8 weeks ago that I needed emergent surgery to repair  (or screw the labrum back to my shoulder) the tear. I didn't feel surgery was in my best interest. I was on a mission to heal myself and I did just that. I went to physical therapy twice which I don't think was critical in my recovery.

I took to acupuncture, Body Talk, chiropractic care, Chinese medicine, yoga, positive affirmations, juicing, and eating whole foods. These were my ammunition against surgery. She was impressed by my regimen.  We talked more about it and got on the subject of me going back to school to be a health coach.

This is my exciting news to share. I am on a new adventure with my life and career. I enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a Health Coach. I start next week and can't contain myself from excitement. I'll be learning more than 100 dietary theories. 

I'll be studying with the world’s top health and wellness experts. My teachers will "included Dr. Andrew Weil, Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine; Dr. Deepak Chopra, leader in the field of mind-body medicine; Dr. David Katz, Director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center; Dr. Walter Willett, Chair of Nutrition at Harvard University; Geneen Roth, bestselling author and expert on emotional eating; and many other leading researchers and nutrition authorities." How cool is that! 

Now what makes this more exciting is that my doctor asked if she could refer some of her bariatric patients to me. Once I am able to see patients I just have to give her a call to set up my referrals. I am psyched! 

Shoulder Fate

I've been slacking, but I sort of have an excuse. Remember I told you about our ski vacation? I got hurt along with two others. I ended up with a SLAP tear to my left shoulder. That means surgery. Because of this, I really haven't been in a mood for anything.

That area that says GLENOID LIG. at the bottom center is what tore.

I've been trying to heal myself from within so I don't have to have surgery. I started juicing which I feel has been helping many other areas of my health. In addition, I have been seeing my Chinese medicine doctor/chiropractor and a Body Talk practitioner. I got a double dose of energy medicine on Friday.

Yesterday I started a 21 day yoga challenge. Yes, I am a bit challenged when it comes to my left shoulder, but I was able to do all the poses. I really hope this will help strengthen my arm.

Surprisingly I have had very little pain. The problem is when my shoulder starts to sublux. I just have it push it back where it belongs.

Tomorrow I meet with the orthopedic surgeon to see my options. I just hope they are open to seeing things in my light.

Feeling a Little Green

I was about to get to bed and I hear crying. When I get in there CG is covered in vomit.  If there is one thing I can't stand, it is vomit. It was the most vile thing.

Despite my thought of the bodily fluid in question, I got my little sweet pea cleaned up, hair washed, teeth brushed, and changed. Then she decided she wants her hair blow dried. At this point it is 12:30 and I was getting her bed ready. I hear crying again and all over my sofa this time.

Oh goodness! I just don't understand what's going on with her. No one else in the house is sick. She's been feeling fine except those few moments when she was upchucking. Well, I got the air mattress ready for her in my room.

One o'clock and she's going at it again. I feel so sad for my little one. We are going for clean up number three now.

The night is getting longer and longer and the morning is getting closer and closer.

Overwhelmed

Can you say overwhelmed! That is how I am feeling right now. I have six days to plan and prepare a meal for about 50 people on Christmas Eve, prepare one dish for Christmas Day, get everything ready for Christmas, decorate and sanitize our house, and pack for a ski trip. Oh and work throughout the week, too.

I planned on going grocery shopping on Sunday, but it never happened. I mostly know what I'm cooking, but I don't have my list together. I just have to do it and get it done. I thought to let everyone bring something, but I want to be able to eat, too. I have been getting stomach aches and nausea when eating out regardless where it is. So, I thought I would save myself a few tummy aches and add a bit more stress to my life.

I just need to remember to think good happy thoughts when I am getting stressed out preparing everything from scratch and unprocessed.

I may not be around much in the next few weeks because of all the holiday excitement. Have yourself a great holiday and stay safe!

The Power of Food

Food is a powerful source of fuel. This fuel can be good or bad. I have been, for the most part, processed-free since October 1, 2012. I have been able to see a clear difference in my overall wellbeing, mood, less fatigued, and just out right feel better.

Now this is the part where I show you how profound the effect food has on our bodies.  The past two weeks I've been in situations of fasting or eating what everyone else is eating. My mother cooked a "special" dinner for us to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Then a few days later we went out to dinner at a restaurant. Therefore, I ate what was available. Actually we dined out 3 times in 2 weeks + my mom's dinner.

The outcome is very moody and irritable. Since I went processed-free, my mood has been even keel without any outbursts. That's not the case right now. Since last Saturday I have been so irritable and moody. At first I thought maybe it was hormonal, but this has not been an issue over the last 3 months. I am really convinced it is the food. My kids are bearing the brunt of the situation because they are setting me off for the most random and tedious things. I truly need to apologize to them for my voice raising. They noticed something is just not right with me, too.

Some of the foods I ate which I normally wouldn't are white processed flour, white processed sugar, processed cornmeal, bread, and several other items which I know are GMO. Don't think I am nuts. I know these foods are affecting me in such a way.

My big challenge is the role of hostess for my in-laws on Christmas Eve. They want to bring junk food and I would prefer to cook everything for 50 people. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Headache Help

Do you have any headache remedies? Since my Complex Migraine episode on November 27 post, I've been getting migraines and bad headaches almost daily. I've been given Fioricet, but I don't really like taking it. Lucky for me I am not getting the neurological or stroke like symptoms or even the aura with these migraines, but I am still getting rather intense head and eye pain. It was so bad last night I went to bed at 8:00 PM.

I am not too pleased to have to take a barbiturate daily, but I don't really know of any other means to rid this. I've been going to see my chiropractor, but kind of feel it is making things worse. Since I started seeing him, if I turn my neck a certain way I hear and feel a click and that's when this intense pain appears. Maybe I'm just over analyzing this.

I stopped in Whole Foods and was recommended Butterbur. I purchased it, but haven't taken it yet. I was waiting to hear more about it. I am just doing a bit of research on it now. If you know anything about Butterbur or any other migraine treatment, please let me know. These damn things can be disabling.

Passionate about Heart Health

Have I ever told you how much I love my job and love what I do? Yes, I really do. When I was a little girl I wanted to be a teacher. When I finally got to college I realized how much teachers made and looked into other career options. That's when I decided to look into nursing.

For the first eleven or so years, I mainly worked in cardiac type units such as telemetry, CCU, ICU, and heart transplant. Within the last 8 years or so I decided I needed to scale back my working hours and not be in such high stress areas. Therefore I moved into the echo/stress lab running cardiac stress tests, helping out in the cardiology offices and my newest job as cardiac rehab nurse clinician.This is where my job comes full circle because I am clearly doing what I initially set out to do and love....educate.

Even though I am a nurse, I am the educator I always wanted to be. I spend my working days educating people about taking care of their health and hearts. We discuss diet, exercise, risk factors for heart disease, and what they can do in order to have a healthy lifestyle change.

Monday when I went to work, I had 15 patients that had heart attacks. This number is too high. I might see that many of heart attacks in a week, but in one day....I am slightly in shock by our culture. I try really hard to educate this population as to what one can do to try and reverse or change risk factors for heart disease.  The patients keep getting younger and younger.

Personally, I feel the food we eat is killing us. It is not uncommon to see a patient with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight, diabetic, and a smoker. To have one or even two of these I can accept, but to have all of these is unacceptable.

People, we need to wake up and listen to our bodies! Take a better look at your food. Read the labels. What are you actually eating? How much are you eating? Are you eating to live or living to eat?

I think one of the reasons I am so passionate about writing this topic today is because I lost one of my work colleagues last night. She was in her forties and had a massive heart attack. I am just crushed that I saw her one day walking and talking and the next day she is dead. She has children and grandchildren.

My job proves to me over and over again that if you eat well, exercise, take time for yourself and minimize stress you can avoid the risk factors for heart disease and end up a statistic.

I would like to challenge everyone I know and who reads this to eat well and healthily, exercise daily if possible, do not smoke or chew tobacco, take time for yourself everyday to meditate or just have quiet time, go to the doctor to have your blood work checked, and get a baseline EKG and possibly an echocardiogram.

My personal journey with food has been a great adventure and has taught me many great lessons. I have eliminated about 98% of all processed foods. I no longer use cows milk. I have increased the amount of fruits and vegetables daily. My total cholesterol in September was 179 and the result from last week was 136. I think eliminating the processed junk is a major contributor. In addition, I have minimized the acidic producing foods and try to go with the more alkaline producing foods to eliminate inflammation.

I don't like to preach, but I tend to see a lot of repeat offenders. Stop eating the crap, eat smaller portions, quit smoking, drink water with lemon, exercise, and take your probiotics daily. Remember we have to eat to live, not live to eat.

Oh What a Day!

Today started off as a not-so-good day. The most bizarre thing happened today with my vision. At about 0700 this morning my vision changed. My left eye lost peripheral vision. There was this weird prism-like light moving up and down supper fast where I would normally see peripherally. My vision was starting to decrease in other parts of my left eye.

But, it is now 0715 and time to head off to school. I was able to get my two oldest daughters to school without problem. As I am sitting in carpool line, my left hand starts to go numb. I am thinking this is fine and I'll shake it out. The next thought was there is no way I can get CG to school having these strange feelings, can't see and now numb. I decide to drive myself to the emergency room which is about 5 minutes from where we were.

As I am driving to the hospital, the left side of my face, teeth, lips, and tongue go numb. I am really freaking out at this point because I have my 4 year old with me. Somehow I made it to the ER. I whisk her out the car and run into the building. As I approach the reception area, I collapsed. The whole left side of my body is weak and numb. I got scooped up in a wheelchair and a "stroke code" is called. STROKE? I am only 42 years old. How can I be having a stroke? IV started, CT scan completed, meds given.

During this time I was having a headache...extreme headache. Finally the results are in. No stroke! They feel like it was a migraine with stroke like symptoms. I never knew there was such a thing. Next, I had an MRI and am still waiting to get those results.

As of now, I am headache-free, no numbness or weakness; everything is back to normal! I just have to wait until tomorrow to go home.

The official diagnosis was "complex migraine." I learned that this is an official disorder. Migraines that start with an aura of vision changes, nausea (which I have been having), and stroke like symptoms such as numbness, weakness, and speech impairment are classic signs of this type of migraine. I am due to see a migraine neurology specialist, but I think my first visit will be with my chiropractor/Chinese medicine doctor.

Pompous Grocery Shoppers

I've been following a few blogs and Facebook pages lately and got rather irritated. The basis of all these sites is to eat well. Don't get me wrong, it's not the owners of the sites I'm bothered with, it's the people commenting.

What I feel is that the ones making these horrible comments must be ones who don't have to work, are very rich and don't care how much their grocery bill costs, money is no object, make 6 digit incomes, and don't really know what happens in the world outside of theirs. The truth is that the majority of people are not in that category. People of all incomes want to eat well and do what they can to provide as healthy a meal as possible to their families.

A lot of us do this to stay healthy, it's the right thing to do, have food allergies or intolerances, doctor prescribed, and choice we make. I know there are many other reasons we do this, but I am sick and tired of people belittling others because they can't purchase organic foods 100% of the time, they shop at Walmart, or they buy organic foods from the Big companies that voted against Prop 37.

I don't agree with Walmart's practices, but I do shop there because it is more cost effective for my family. I try to avoid the Big company products when possible. I try to shop at Whole Foods when I can afford shelling out $150 on a bag and a half of groceries.

When I grocery shop it takes me forever. My family quit shopping with me because I have to read every single label. I can get good stuff at Walmart with a bit of reading and perseverance. Our Walmart even has a gluten-free section. Contrary to what people believe, Whole Foods and other health food store chains sell GMO laden foods. I put down many items at Whole Foods because of the ingredients, so don't go all pompous on us Walmart shoppers when you can get the same thing at Whole Foods.

True, I cannot get everything I need at Walmart, but don't discount the fact that they do offer healthier options that can also be found at Whole Foods. In addition, not every city has a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or other "health food" grocer.

Bug be Gone

I've been taking care of sick kids the last week. In addition, I've been feeling nauseated for about a week. Don't ask because I am not pregnant.

My oldest came home from school Friday with an upset stomach. She was pale, not very talkative (major cue for me that something is wrong), and listless. She claims she threw up a few times since she got home from school, but I didn't witness it. I contacted one of our friends (whose son is in my daughter's class) who said her son came home with a sick tummy, too. I wonder what's going on at their school to have two with the same illness, same classroom, on the same day. Hmmm. I gave her probiotics and she came around by morning.

My youngest had been feeling warm for a few days, but not quite a fever. Thursday night while she was sleeping I did hear her cough a few times. I sent her to school on Friday and let the teacher know my concerns.

When I picked her up from school she had 103℉. Her right cheek was red, her palms were hot, and she was listless. Next thing you know she starts coughing the weirdest cough. It is hard to describe but very high pitch. I called her primary doctor and she thought maybe it was croup. Then I hear her wheezing. I called the doctor back and the usual was said, "just keep an eye on her." As a parent I feel like I need to do something other that watch her. As a nurse I feel like she needs to be seen by a physician.



Then I decided to bring her to the after hours pediatric urgent care center. The whole time we waited, she was wheezing and coughing. Once the nurse took us back to the exam room, she commented on how audible the wheezing was without a stethoscope. Now you know I am not imagining this. The best part is the doctor comes in and assesses CG and she isn't coughing or wheezing any longer. Her temp went down and appears to be all normal.

How does that happen when you bring your car to the mechanic for a problem and it stops when you bring it in? That is the same concept here. CG quit wheezing and coughing. The nurse was chuckling over this, too. I don't get it. The best news was that she was negative for RSV. She got a diagnosis of unknown respiratory virus.

Whatever is affecting her little system keeps attacking. I have been giving her alkaline water, but I should probably give her probiotics, too. Six days later and she still has a temperature between 101-102℉, still not eating, and not her perky little self. I am giving her nebulizer treatments twice a day. I just hope whatever this is it goes away.

The Proof is in the Pudding

When my oldest daughter was young she was so busy. Some would say she was hyperactive others would say spirited. I didn't agree with either of these assessments made. Something just didn't seem right. Then I have baby number two and the same people told me the same things about my second daughter.

Many thoughts went through my head like:
1. Am I a bad mom?
2. How did I get such a busy and bad kid when I was so quiet and good as a child?
3. How can this child get into so much mischief?
4. And many other thoughts and questions.

So, I read many books on "spirited" children and they didn't really say much. I took matters into my own hands and I started experimenting with foods. What I learned was that there certainly was a link between the foods my daughter ate and her behavior.

From the time she was 2 until now, she is 8, I have watched closely at what she eats. I never went crazy and eliminated extreme amounts of food, but minimizing candy, sugar and milk seemed to make a big difference. I remember being at my sister's house in Pennsylvania for a hurricane evacuation. SG acquired some red licorice and went nuts. She was about 16 months when I saw this crazy side of her. She started hitting her head on the sofa, running back and forth in the room, laying down hitting her legs on the ground, and other very peculiar behaviors. At this point I just thought it was the sugar. I never really associated it with artificial food dyes.

Over the last 2 years she's had these crazy episodes where she gets crazy fits, sits on the ground and hits her head with her fists all while rocking back and forth. Her mood just goes blank and her eyes seem hollow. It is as though my child was snatched by some crazy creature. This happened again this week. Since we went processed and dye free last month it just hit me. It is red dye. We kept a few candies from Halloween. Sunday she started acting like the body snatchers got her. I happened to see a wrapper for Swedish Fish in the trash can. I asked her if she ate them and she did. I am convinced it is the red dye that her body is reacting to.

It has taken 2 days for it to clear her system. She knows I don't like her and her sisters eating food with dyes and I think this week she realized why. She seemed so scared like her body was making her act crazy and couldn't control it...Powerless.

This is proof to me that artificial food dyes are dangerous. They are out for our family. It is obvious what harm it does to my child.

31 Days of Unprocessed Food

It has been 31 days that I have been eating, for the most part, unprocessed food. It was very somewhat challenging at the beginning, but got easier as time passed. I got through it and plan to keep it up.

What I thought would be the most challenging day for my children and me wasn't so much after all. We got right through Halloween without too many obstacles. For me, I thought I would go crazy with the candy loot. But to my surprise, I wasn't really interested. I even went out to buy some UNREAL candies. I don't even want the better option candy. I was sitting next to the buckets full of candy and the smell of the sugar was grossing me out.

My eldest daughter ate a few pieces and said "let's get rid of this junk." What? Am I hearing that correctly? My two younger girls normally would eat and eat candy on Halloween literally until they fell asleep. This year, not a chance. They ate some, but didn't have the usual interest. This is a high five moment for me. This makes me feel good. Although they are not eating 100% unprocessed, they have not been eating food dyes and junk food. Some words and phrases I heard were, "too sugary," "too sweet," "yuck oh," "that has dye in it," "did you read what's in it?," "can you believe people eat this stuff?" They can taste the difference. They now know and can taste the difference in food that is good or bad for you!

Instead of keeping the candy (we won't eat) in the house, we learned that one of the local toy stores, Learning Express is having a buy back candy program. For each pound of candy you turn in, you get one Boo Buck up to 5 pounds. They each are hoping they will have 5 pounds of candy. It was quite ironic because we received a catalog in the mail this week from Learning Express Toys.

Well, back to my 31 days. I did loose some weight which I had not intended and my calcium level dropped but was corrected. Now looking at the up side, I feel much better. I don't feel sluggish. I have more mental clarity. I have more energy. I don't get cravings for junk any longer. My pH level has become more neutral therefore less aches and pains. I am enjoying the art of cooking once again and actually cooking. I am eating more fruits and veggies. I have learned to tolerate green drinks; still not a huge fan of them (I just can't get over drinking that color green). The skin on my face doesn't seem so splotchy. I have been an advocate for eating real food and educated many. But, I think the best part of this month is the progress with my kids. They can actually taste the difference between foods that are good for you and those that are not.

Thank you to Andrew Wilder from Eating Rules and allowing the public to participate in his October Unprocessed 2012 Challenge. You have taught me a lot!

Take Your Calcium

Lately I have been feeling so tired. Not just any tired, but falling asleep at 8:00 in the evening and waking up 9 hours later feeling exhausted. It doesn't matter what amount of sleep I get I still feel like a Mac truck hit me. I have been doing the normal things like checking my blood pressure which is in normal limits, drinking enough fluid, and eating well. So, I find myself baffled as to why I still have no energy.

Then it hits me this morning. I have ALL the red flags of Hypocalcemia (low blood calcium).
1. extremely dry skin, flaky, almost psoriasis-like
2. extremely tired, fatigued
3. brittle nails with ridges
4. palpitations
5. sharp chest pain
6. numb finger tips
7. muscle spasms in my face (tetany) by left side of my mouth
8. shortness of breath (talking and walking)
9. dizziness, especially when getting up from seating or lying position
10. muscle spasms and cramps to feet and lower legs
11. dementia or what we like to call CRS (can't remember sh*t)

Now I am determining what course of action I need to take. Do I just taking adequate amounts of calcium through supplements and food rich in calcium or do I call the doctor and get my blood level checked?

I think I am going to start off by taking supplements I have now and then call the doctor to check my level. It didn't get like this overnight so I know it won't be corrected overnight either. My extreme dry skin should have been a warning sign.

I am off to eat some calcium and get my blood drawn.

Day 9 of the October Unprocessed Food 2012 Challenge

Here I am at the end of Day 9 of the October Unprocessed 2012 Challenge. So far so good. Some days are a breeze and others are not such a breeze. Breakfast seems to be the most difficult meal for me to prepare. We have been a cereal family when it comes to breakfast. This is going to be the hardest thing to wean from my kids. They LOVE cereal. They eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack time.

I was eating grits the first 2 days for breakfast, but got tired of it really fast. I thought to make oatmeal, but I never have the time in the morning. Therefore my go to breakfast has been an apple. It probably isn't enough, but I am getting something healthy in my body.

I have noticed little to no food cravings. Sweet cravings is what I used to always have, but not anymore. I have been snacking on almonds and carrots when I get an urge to nibble on something during that 3:00 P.M. crash time.

I have been eating more salads and just about daily. I even starting eating spinach! To eats greens is one thing, but to drink them is another. I have been looking into juicing, but there is something about drinking greens I just can't get past. I bought 2 different store bought green drinks. I drank them but had (what felt like) a crazy I can't believe I am drinking this stuff look on my face. Maybe with time I will get over my fear of drinking greens, but in the meantime I will try to drink juice that has another hue.

My kids are finally getting what I am doing; maybe not 100%, but I think they are getting it. I have been sleeping better. So much better that I don't want to wake up. I have not slept this well in ages... like before kids 8 years ago.

The only down side of eating whole, real, unprocessed food is that I am loosing weight. I am 5'8" and am down to 125 pounds. I think it is on the slimmer side of what I should be. I am more comfortable in the 127-129 range. I know you are going to think, but that is only 2 pounds, but it is actually 5 pounds over the last 6 weeks since I have been more mindful of my food. I am having to pin and belt my pants which is rather frustrating. I am figuring I am just not eating enough or my body is adjusting to eating and using what it needs.

My next goal with eating well is to start exercising. I just wish I could find the time.

October Unprocessed 2012 Challenge

I just made the commitment to take the October Unprocessed 2012 Challenge. I am hoping it won't be that much of a challenge since I do this most days. I guess what makes it so much of a challenge is that it is a true commitment I am making to myself and the whole blogosphere.

One fix I will have to make is for breakfast. Mornings are so crazy around here it is so easy to grab a processed granola bar and go. My other morning go to is cereal. I need to come up with some quick and easy breakfast recipes.

Tonight I got the dry ingredients together for quinoa pancakes. For each cup of the dry mix I put together, I need to add some almond milk, vanilla, and cooked quinoa. Sunday morning will be the true taste test with the kids. Their favorite pancake mix is Krusteaz. I hope mine can compare.

Please join me and take the challenge, too.

Real Food

I have always kept a keen eye on what my family eats. I used to do organic, but it gets so costly with a family of five. I do when I can. My latest move is to eliminate processed foods. This is the slightest change that I feel has made the most impact on all of our lives.

Within the last few months I had one doctor say you need to eat a Paleo diet and the other said it should definitely be an alkaline diet. I bought books on both and was overwhelmed. This was so confusing to me. I don't eat beef and pork which are the bulk of eating Paleo. So, by default I thought to follow the alkaline way of eating.

I could never seem to get through the alkaline book and truly follow it. Therefore my pH is still lower than I would like. One of the simplest things I have done to implement an alkaline state is to add lemon to my water. With the other stuff, my family is always dueling (well, not literally) over what's for dinner. I decided just to cut out all processed foods. My general rule is if the earth or I didn't make it then you can't have it. For the most part, everyone is eating their dinner. This didn't happen before.

We are eating more whole foods. I still don't have it down to perfection, but I am on the beginning of that journey. I would really love to cut out bread completely. The girls do like sandwiches for lunch, but I just can't get myself to make my own bread. One day!

A really great resource is 100 Days of Real Food by Lisa Leake. She is such an inspiration. For the last six weeks I have been making most of our meals from scratch. It doesn't seem to take that much more time than using processed or prepared foods (although I never used many processed foods when cooking previously). Meal planning sure does help in this process.

Some of the changes I noticed for me was better skin, less moody, no discomfort during menstruation, eczema is gone, unintentionally lost weight eating well, no snacking, no food cravings, better sleep, and just overall feel better. Improvements in my girls are less moody and irritable, no food cravings (especially for sugar), better concentration, asking for fruit, better behaved and attitude. My husband claims no changes with him yet he lost 6 pounds without dieting.

I think there is something to eating real whole food!

Is 40 Really Fabulous?

Ok, so I turned 40 a few weeks ago and things just aren't right. Leading up too that point I was taking care of me and my health. But something happened. It is as though a switch was turned off (or on) and everything has gone downhill.

Is this typical for this milestone? So, here's what I am talking about. I have acne. I am a 40 year old with acne. I never had this problem before, not even in my pubescent days. I have been eating like a ravenous beast. I put on a few pounds, but the problem is that it has distributed itself in the thigh area. I have been the same weight for about 15 years +/- a pound here and there. Before, I never really liked to eat chocolate, but now I hoard it and have it tucked away so that the kids won't find it. I want it all to myself. This is just crazy! C-R-A-Z-Y ......I say.

I exercise and I don't get the results that I used to get. Maybe because I am eating like a ravenous beast, oh I mentioned that already. I realize I don't have and I probably won't have my tight 30 year old body, but good golly geez, why can't I get some results from my exercise routine?

In addition to all those things, my hormones have gone wacky and I am loosing my hair. Please tell me fabulous is somewhere around the corner waiting for me.

Baking Frenzy

Well, today I went on a gluten free baking frenzy. I started with cinnamon raisin bread, made some pancakes, and finally chocolate chip cookies. Since I am still learning how to bake gluten free, I figured I would try all sorts of new things today. Some good and some, well, not so good.

I'll start with the good.
Here's my cinnamon raisin bread. I cannot believe it, but it rose. To everyone's surprise, it tasted fairly well. The kids, especially loved it. I had to put some butter and sprinkles of cinnamon sugar to satisfy my taste. And, it sliced very well thanks to my electric bread knife.

Next were the pancakes. As you can see, they were rather flat. Once again, the kids loved my creation! The girls originally complained about how they looked, but ate every single pancake. I score again.
Now for the disappointment. Here are the horrible cookies. The only one who actually ate them was the baby. But, she eats everything. She's not very selective when it comes to food. I'll just try again. When all else fails, I know the Betty Crocker GF chocolate chip cookies are yummy. Thanks Betty!