The Power of Gratitude

Well, here I am again, it's been over a MONTH since I've blogged.  A MONTH.  That is unacceptable.  Okay fine I guess it has to be acceptable, because it happened.  But here I am, so let's do this.

I had a whole idea about Halloween to blog about (we had the best Halloween yet, by the way, it was SO much fun!) and never got to it.  Then I had this post that I wanted to write before Thanksgiving and never did.  But what can I say?  I'm living life.  Running a business, being part of a family - those two things in themselves are time consuming.  But it's a good thing to have that problem!  Life is definitely good right now.

Which brings me to this topic.  Gratitude.  I wanted to write about it before Thanksgiving, but really it reigns true throughout the year, throughout all of life, so anytime is a good time to talk about this.  But since I like to be all theme-y, I guess technically it's still within a week of Thanksgiving so I'm good, right? :)

This is SO TRUE.  This quote says it all.

Story time!

Granny would always  make comments about how I live a "charmed life".  She would ALWAYS say that.  And she's right, things have always sort of worked out for me.

My dad kind of set that foundation for me.  He got me started in life with the awareness that a positive attitude attracts positive things into life.  And I found it to be true.  But don't just think positive thoughts - BELIEVE them. And a step further from there, live as though you've already received what you're asking for.

And be thankful for it.  Be grateful.  Stop and honor what you've been given in your life, and more good will come.  More things will happen to you thank you can be grateful for.

And not just all the good things.  It's one thing to say "I'm grateful for my spouse.  I'm grateful for my kids.  I'm grateful for the roof over my head, the clothes on my back and the food on my table."  Finding silver linings in bad things and finding ways to be grateful for those can make a HUGE impact on your overall life and well-being.  I ALWAYS reflect on my gratitude for my learning experiences.  Yes, I agree with Granny that I've lived a charmed life, but it hasn't been perfect by any means.  But for that, I am grateful.  Here's why.

This post ties in with my post about The Other Side of Hardship, Depression, Pain, and Trauma.  But I'm going to dig a little deeper - perhaps you'll be able to relate to some of these experiences, or they'll help you to reflect on your own and find your own gratitude.

My first love (yes, we were only in like 8th grade but teenagers know what love is.  Granted, it's not the same when you're in your 20's, or 30's, or 70's, but it's love.  Just throwing that out there.) broke it to me that he was gay and it crushed my poor little teenage heart.  It was a huge struggle for both of us - him with his confusion and realizing he may have to face a lifetime of persecution just to be happy, and me having to come to terms that we can't be together, and I have to be open-minded and accepting of his lifestyle, which was completely foreign to me.

I learned to love and accept people.  If it weren't for him I wouldn't be as open and accepting and understanding as I am today.  Everyone has a journey.  Everyone has a story.  Everyone has battles.  I accept everyone for them, no matter who they are or what they're battling, or if it even makes any sense to me.  For that I am grateful.

I've been stabbed in the back, and nearly lost a job over it.  I had to learn not to harbor anger and resentment.  Life ended up working out for the better for me, as life usually does when struggles arise.  For that I am grateful.  It taught me to be cautious with my trust. Sometimes maybe a little too cautious... And I also had to learn forgiveness.  That's a hard lesson to learn.  But for that, I am grateful.

I've been in an emotionally abusive relationship, without even realizing it.  I was trapped for nearly two years, unable to see what it was doing to me.  I finally got out of it, and realized the importance of protecting my emotions and listening to my heart.  I had a bad feeling about it the whole time, I just never tuned in and listened and instead made excuses.  I know better.  I tune into my gut instincts, and I've developed my ability to understand what my heart is telling me.  For that I am grateful.

I've been the victim of huge misunderstandings founded in jealousy, close-mindedness, and lack of empathy or flexibility or willingness to change or stretch.  Another lesson in forgiveness, and a reminder that everyone has inner demons and personal weaknesses.  I can choose to either get sucked in with them, or let them travel their own journey.  I have the choice.  For that I am grateful.

I've fallen in love with someone still battling inner demons.  I was about to leave when a good friend gave me some sage advice that has stuck with me to this day, and I will share it with you:

"When you pray, what do you ask for?  What kind of person do you want to be?  What kind of qualities or characteristics do you want God to give you?"

And I thought about it and then said, "Patience, strength, courage..."

To which she said,

"Isn't that what you're getting from this experience by being with him? Isn't that the kind of lessons he's brought into your life?"

God (or Universe, or Spirit, or Source, whatever you want to call it) can't just GIVE you the qualities you want in yourself.  You have to earn them and develop them.  That's what you're here for!

I went back with patience in my heart and a new readiness to forgive and give it one more chance.  We both were willing to put in the work, which we did, and we made it through, stronger and more connected than ever before, and we're married today!  For those hardships, for his personal battles and how they affected us, I am grateful.  And he's amazing - through all of that, he grew in his own strengths - patience, forgiveness, understanding, and perseverance.  For that, I am very grateful.

I poured my heart and soul into my desire for a home birth with Harlee, who resulted in a hospital transfer and c-section, followed by the darkest days I've ever experienced in my life.  It left me questioning if my "charmed life" was all just a sick joke played by the Universe.  That there's no such thing as "think positive and positive things will happen."  Even though my entire life has proven otherwise.  I lost all faith and trust in everything I once believed in.  That is a very scary place to be.

But I made new friends through my search for support.  I strengthened friendships with people I didn't realize had gone through similar experiences.  I was led to discover fitness, and then healthy eating habits.  My life changed physically and I regained confidence and most of my happiness.  I then "stumbled" (divine intervention at it's finest, I like to believe) upon a therapist who led me even further into my journey of self-discovery.  I grew stronger.  I developed awareness, stronger consciousness, and I was more "tuned in" to myself and the world around me.

Which, interestingly enough, is everything I wanted before.  I used to want more awareness, higher consciousness, and connectedness.

The sage advice my friend gave me came around again.

I earned those characteristics and strengths.

And so, for the trauma of Harlee's birth and the darkness that followed, I am SO grateful.  Eternally grateful.  I could cry just thinking about how grateful I am.  I never EVER thought I'd be saying that when I was in the midst of the darkness.  But it's restored my faith in life and the Universe, that EVERYTHING happens for a reason.  And the worst of things that happen, if you handle them properly, can turn into the best learning experiences you'll ever get in this life.  And the person you can become when you rise from the ashes is more amazing than you ever dreamed you could be.

For my friend's advice that stuck with me, I am grateful.

For the people that came into my life "by chance" when I needed them most, I am grateful.

For my restored faith in the Universe, and my trust that good things happen when you think positive, I am grateful.  But also for the realization that you do get what you ask for, but sometimes you have to put in the work too which can turn out to be pretty difficult, I am definitely grateful.

Gratitude.  It's huge.  It's what makes the who positive attitude "Law of Attraction" thing work.

Now, every day I express gratitude.  Especially for the little obstacles that later unveil their reason for happening (which is always SO cool).  Like the other morning, I was about to head out the door when Harlee said something that reminded me I forgot something inside.  I felt gratitude for Harlee's comment. I went inside to get it and realized I left the fireplace on.  "Yikes, that could have been bad!" I thought.  I took a moment to feel gratitude for the fact that I forgot something that required me to come back inside and see that I needed to turn the fireplace off.  Call it a guardian angel, call it God's protection, call it coincidence, but I call it the law of attraction in action.  The more gratitude I express, the more things come into my life to be grateful for.

Try it!  What are you grateful for?  Of course you're grateful for your family and friends, your job and your home and your well-being.  But stop and think about where you've been in this life.  Everything that happened to you that brought you to where you are today.  Who are you because of it all?  How was your life made better because of the things that once made it worse?  Life is filled with learning experiences and opportunities to make the rest of your life absolutely incredible.  Seize them with gratitude and enjoy the ride!

Candida, Yeast Infections, Thrush, Group B Strep, and All That Nastiness

Yeah, this is a nasty topic.  One that not many people want to discuss.  One that I tirelessly searched the internet for answers to and information about for a very long time several years ago.

A topic that I've fortunately been able to not have to think about for about three and a half years.  But now I do.  Because I'm in that boat again.  Yay.  Years ago, when I was in that boat last, I didn't really want to blog about it because of the TMI factor, but now, I remember how much time I spent searching desperately for answers, and instead of finding answers I found so many people on forums desperately searching for answers themselves.  So I'm just going to blog about it in the event that I'll help somebody who was as desperate as I was years ago.

I think I mentioned in a past post that I was blessed with a monthly yeast infection for lord knows how long (it was way too long.  Like a couple of years, I think.  I try to block that out of my memory because it was miserable.).  It was one of the driving forces behind me really avoiding Western Medicine.  I had been on several antibiotics for several different things back when I was about 17 years old (I think?) - I had gotten sick, then got an abscess tooth, etc., and then found out the hard way that I'm allergic to penicillin, which was pretty ugly, and that's about when the yeast infections started.  Every month, without fail.  I could have bought stock in Monistat or Miconazole.  Which, by the way, can potentially make yeast infections worse if used too frequently, as the yeast develop a resistance to it, but I was unaware of that at the time.  And to this day that stuff doesn't work for me.  I didn't even bother trying it this time, I knew it wouldn't do any good.

Our local massage therapist at the time had a LOT of knowledge on holistic and natural healing, and I finally went to her and told her my situation.  That's when I got to learn more about probiotics and the balance of bacteria in our guts.  This is the post I wrote about that, which I STRONGLY encourage you to read, and if you already read it before, go back and read it again as a refresher.  It's not a long one, so you're fine.  Click it - right now - do it.  Thank you.



Ah, welcome back to this post.  Okay so you're now aware of how important it is to have a good supply of beneficial/friendly bacteria in your gut.  It's the powerhouse of your immune system.  Antibiotics kill ALL the bacteria, and down goes your immune system.  Probiotics help rebuild the beneficial bacteria population.

I haven't been on antibiotics since I wrote that post about my UTI.  My boys have NEVER been on antibiotics.  Well, I take that back, Harlee had a mild one when he had surgery on his broken arm.  But you can bet I was bombarding him with probiotics to keep his immune system strong.

So what is my problem now, then?  I believe it's a few different factors.  I hadn't been eating as clean as I would like to, and Justin and I have been indulging in wine quite a bit in the evenings (makes for a nice date night at home!), so I feel like I've killed off a few good guys.  I haven't been taking probiotics regularly, and I know I need to.  Plus, I've been craving chocolate like it's do or die, and at times it's been such a strong addiction that I can't fight it - one time I stopped at a gas station just for a chocolate fix, got a bag of mini Twix and ate the whole thing in like 4 minutes.  It was awful.  I'm embarrassed to admit that.  That's actually the first time I admitted that to anybody... you should feel special. 

I feel like since I had so many issues before, my immune system will forever be slightly compromised.  I need to take extra special care of it.  I've learned a LOT about yeast since having my issues years ago, and it would be unfair of me to keep that information from everyone else who's desperately searching for answers to this miserable situation.

So, once this yeast infection hit, I understood where the cravings were coming from!  An overgrowth of yeast and an imbalance in the gut leads to unhealthy cravings, especially for sugar and carbs.  Yeast feeds off of sugar, so the more they grow, the more they want, and the more you crave.  It's a vicious cycle.  And it truly is an addiction, because it's part of you that you have no control over making decisions for you.  You can't fight it.  You can't say no.

Let's Break it Down:

Candida is a form of yeast, or fungus, that helps out with digestion and nutrient absorption in the intestines, and exists in our bodies in small amounts.  Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by an overgrowth of candida, and it ain't pretty.  When there's too much candida, it can break down your intestinal walls and get into your blood stream, which of course leads to a lot of health issues.

Thrush is a yeast infection commonly found in the mouth and breasts.  Elliot is down to only nursing at night, but it's enough that he caught my infection, and both of us are suffering.  He nurses and then cries while playing with his mouth like it hurts, and I won't get into the pain I'm experiencing on my end.

Group B Strep is a bacteria often found in the vagina, rectum, and bladder of women.  It's not dangerous unless it's present during birth.  I didn't know much about it originally, but after testing positive for it when I was pregnant with Harlee I did some research and discovered that it's associated with candida, as that's the primary organism present when group B strep is present.  I was able to retest in two weeks after testing positive with Harlee at 36 weeks and, thanks to a strict regimen of all my candida-busting tricks I learned, I tested negative and was in the clear at 38 weeks.  I repeated the same regimen two weeks before testing during my pregnancy with Elliot, and tested negative right off the bat.  I'll get to how I did that in a bit.


A lot of people have a problem with yeast and bacterial imbalances in the gut.  Here's an excerpt from Mind Body Green: 10 Signs You Have Candida Overgrowth:

1. Skin and nail fungal infections, such as athlete’s foot or toenail fungus
2. Feeling tired and worn down, or suffering from chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia
3. Digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, or diarrhea
4. Autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Ulcerative colitis, Lupus, Psoriasis, Scleroderma or Multiple sclerosis
5. Difficulty concentrating, poor memory, lack of focus, ADD, ADHD and brain fog
6. Skin issues like eczema, psoriasis, hives and rashes
7. Irritability, mood swings, anxiety or depression
8. Vaginal infections, urinary tract infections, rectal itching or vaginal itching
9. Severe seasonal allergies or itchy ears
10. Strong sugar and refined carbohydrate cravings

I know I certainly fit the bill for #s 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10.  Big time.  How many of these signs do you currently have?

The #1 best way to beat candida (yeast overgrowth) is to cut out sugar COMPLETELY for at least two to three weeks, and if that's all you're doing to treat it, it could take three to six months.  And not just plain ol' sugar - ALL sugar - carbs too, meaning grains and legumes and starches - all your breads, pastas, beans, potatoes, everything.  Alcohol is also on that list, and so is dairy, as lactose is a form of sugar that can disrupt the system and hinder your progress.  You need a total, low-carb, clean diet.  But, if you're helplessly addicted to sugar in all its forms, thanks to the yeast overgrowth making you crave it, it may feel like it's next to impossible to do it.  But you have to.  It's the only way to beat this.  It takes willpower and determination like none other.

Here is a list of tips on how to beat candida, and also what I did to test negative for Group B Strep, and how I heal faster from yeast infections and thrush when it does occur (and how you can too!):

• Cut out sugar.  Completely.  Like I just got done saying but it's so important that I have to repeat it.  Just get it in your head that you HAVE to do this for your health.  It's like any addiction.  It's bad for you, you know it, you know the more you indulge the worse your problem is getting, you feel like you NEED it, you can't live without it, but deep down you know that's not true.  Dig deep.  Remind yourself constantly that this is the way you're going to get back into good health.  No more itching, no more burning, no more searing pain.  Isn't missing out on the taste of a cookie or ice cream for now a fair trade for no more pain?  I think so.  If you can't cut out sugar, then don't read any further.  You're not going to have any luck.  Period.  You just aren't.  You just need to accept a miserable life of burning and itching and all the other problems associated with it.

• Oh, you're reading on?  Good for you, congratulations on your choice to ditch sugar and move on with your life!  Maybe check into a 12-step program - I'm serious, cutting the sugar addiction is VERY VERY HARD.  Start getting excited about eating nothing but meat, vegetables, nuts, and seeds!

• Probiotics.  You have to fuel the good bacteria and build them back up.  Take around 100 billion live cultures or more throughout the day.  You can find them in the refriderated section of your local health food store.  There's an excellent probiotic formula called FemDophilus that I highly recommend for any woman suffering from yeast infections, whether chronic or infrequent.  Another good product is HLC MindLinx capsules, which is a strain of probiotic that isn't normally included in conventional probiotic supplements, but can be very helpful in combating candida.  Take these two as well as your conventional probiotic from the health food store, and you should be smooth sailing.  By the way, you don't only have to take probiotics orally - you can use the capsules as a suppository overnight too.  Get those guys working directly on-site and bypass the digestive system!

• Garlic is a very effective antifungal.  You can take it in supplement form or include the cloves in your food.  Another very effective way to use it (and to beat that burning and itching problem) is to thread a clove cut in half (to expose the good stuff) with dental floss or string for easy removal and use it as a suppository every night for about a week.  You'll smell like a pizzaria... but it's better than feeling miserable!  It cuts those symptoms out pretty quick, and if you're dealing with a yeast infection, you'll do ANYthing to free yourself from that nightmare.

• Black Walnut is another very effective antifungal.  So effective, in fact, that one study showed it to fight candida better than most over the counter antifungal drugs.  You get this treatment in tincture form, which you can add to your water as directed and take it orally or soak a cotton swab and apply it topically followed immediately by coconut oil.  Goodbye itching and burning, almost instantly!  That is definitely a win.  This is one of my favorite treatments for immediate relief of symptoms.

• Gentian Violet is an antiseptic purple dye that's used more as a treatment for thrush, which is usually an issue if you're breastfeeding.  It appears as white spots in baby's mouth, and while it isn't dangerous or anything to worry about, it is annoying and can be painful.  On mom's end, however, it's pretty awful.  I don't need to get into the gory details.  Gentian violet can be applied directly to the nipples and also in baby's mouth.  It stains everything purple so be careful with clothing!  And your baby will certainly look pretty funny with a purple mouth, but it seems to be very soothing upon application - both my boys have seemed happier after I applied it any time they had it (which fortunately wasn't that often, and just one time for Elliot).  While used primarily for oral thrush, it can be very helpful for vaginal yeast infections too, and most people (including myself) say it works better than any prescription treatment (and trust me, I've gone through plenty).

  

  Harlee at 3 months old sporting his purple mouth :-P

• Boost the Immune System.  Your immune system will improve with a clean diet, so you're automatically getting that benefit by following step 1.  No refined carbs, no sugars, no processed foods = healthy body with a healthy system.  To help your immune system along, you can take supplements such as echinacea and goldenseal, vitamin C, olive leaf extract, cinnamon, and pau d'arco.  Just to name a few of my favorites.

• Coconut oil has so many benefits I don't even know where to begin with it.  But in the case of candida, coconut oil is very soothing for that burning and itching (I apply it directly after applying the black walnut and that usually kicks symptoms right away), and it also contains caprylic acid, a fatty acid that is a strong antifungal that both kills candida and also restores balance to your stomach's pH.
 

I hope that helped!  Check out the links I shared throughout, as they link back to other helpful sites that you can get more information from.  But this list is everything I've tried and had great success with.  This time around, I only had a couple days of actual "suffering" - the first day it started until I got symptoms under control, and then a couple days later we went out to eat and while I had a salad, I wasn't thinking and got raspberry tea and I'm pretty sure the sugar in that flared it up again.  Other than that I've had mild to no symptoms, reminding me that I need to keep my diet in check, but reassuring me that everything is under control.  I plan to continue my no-sugar regimen with extra probiotics and garlic for another couple of weeks for sure, because I don't want to run the risk of this coming back (which I know it can!).  I'm happy to say I haven't used a single drop of a conventional Western treatment, yay!  I think that says a lot that I've had a better experience treating this situation naturally than I ever did treating it conventionally.  Mother Nature always looks out for us, and for that I am very thankful!

Why I Make My Own Toothpaste

Following up with my last post about the homemade toothpaste and how it saved the day after Harlee's fire ant attack, I said I'd share why I started making my own toothpaste.

There are several different factors, but mainly, conventional toothpaste has a lot of crap in it.  Fluoride being the main one.  It's not good for you, people.  But there is a lot of other junk in toothpaste too that really shouldn't be put in our mouths.  If you don't want to make your own toothpaste, there are several natural options on the market.  Here are a few ingredients to avoid when shopping for toothpaste or any other body care or personal hygiene products:

Fluoride

Fluoride is highly toxic.  It used to be used in rat poison as it is slightly more toxic than lead and slightly less toxic than arsenic.  The FDA requires fluoride toothpaste manufacturers to include a warning on their labels to contact poison control if more than what is required for brushing is swallowed.

A lot of health concerns and problems can arise from too much fluoride consumption, including but not limited to arthritis, bone/skeletal issues and disorders, thyroid problems, endocrine problems, fertility problems, gastrointestinal issues, and neurological issues.  Fluoride has also been discovered to be a mutagen, which means it can cause genetic damage.  Genetic damage can lead to the growth of cancers.  Fluoride is most linked to osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, which develops during the teenage years.  Fluoride has also been found to accumulate in the pineal gland in the brain, which can have many adverse affects including sleep disturbances and early onset of puberty in females.

So why is this stuff added to our drinking water??  And why is it also added to our toothpaste??  Well, some research has shown that fluoride helps prevent cavities and tooth decay.  This may or may not be true, but adding fluoride to water for this reason started back in the 1940s.  It's since been discovered that swallowing fluoride doesn't have any affect on dental health, yet the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water hasn't  really stopped since then.

Even if fluoride does help prevent tooth decay when applied topically, I'd still prefer to avoid it, knowing how toxic it is and seeing how many health problems can arise from too much of it.  I'm definitely not taking chances on my kids, who invariably swallow their toothpaste instead of spitting it out.

Triclosan

"Triclosan is an ingredient added to many consumer products to reduce or prevent bacterial contamination."  Studies have shown that triclosan is a hormone disrupter, which can effect the thyroid, cause learning disabilities, and can lead to infertility or breast/prostate cancer.  As if that's not bad enough, triclosan can also create antibiotic resistant bacteria, meaning if you come down with an infection and take antibiotics for it, the antibiotics won't be effective in killing off the bacteria.  Antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been the cause of over 60,000 deaths each year.

It's not just in toothpaste, either.  It's in antibacterial hand sanitizers and soaps, many body care products, cosmetics, even clothing, furniture, and toys!

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

This is a cleansing agent and detergent that can damage eyes and irritate skin.  It can stay in the body for up to five days and accumulate in the heart, liver, lungs, and brain.  It can even be carcinogenic (cancer-causing) when combined with other chemicals.

Propylene Glycol

This stuff is everywhere.  It's the active ingredient in antifreeze.  Interestingly enough, the EPA won't allow its workers to handle it without wearing protective gear, yet it's perfectly acceptable to slather it on our bodies in soaps or scrub it into our gums (and how many of you brush your tongues too?).  It's in lotions, sprays and colognes, cosmetics, even personal lubricants.  It can be rapidly absorbed into the skin and can cause some big problems for the brain, liver, kidneys, and other organs.

Polyethelene Microbeads

Plastic.  Tiny little plastic microbeads that are intended to be a mild abrasive to help whiten teeth.  Instead they get embedded into your gums and between your teeth and cause more harm than good.  They're also in scrubs and body washes as an exfoliant.  But it's not just your gums it's harming, it's the environment too, as they slip through water treatment plants and spill into our waterways, lakes and oceans.  Fish eat the microbeads and the pollutants in them, and then in turn they work their way up the food chain back to humans.

Intermittent Fasting

A great thing has happened in my life!  I saw a commercial for Dell where you can buy a laptop and get a free TV, so Justin and I decided to just go for it, let's get a new laptop.  The old one works okay-ish, it's just super slow and frustrating when I try to use it for photo editing and whatnot.  So the new laptop came, the old one moved to my office, and now during my freetime at work I can finally BLOG again!!  I'm so happy!  I've missed this so much, but at home there are things higher on my priority list than sitting at the computer typing my thoughts about healthy lifestyles.  For instance, actually living the healthy lifestyle I talk about is important.  Instilling that in my kids, teaching them about good food and natural healing, staying healthy and what to do to take care of your body when you do get sick.  I grew up with a natural healing mindset, and that's why I have a broad spectrum of knowledge on it today.  I want that same thing for my kids.

Anyway!  Gosh, so much has happened since I last blogged... We took a family vacation to Myrtle Beach, we went camping, Justin and I ran our first official 5k in two years, and in the meantime I've been really encouraging Harlee's interest in cooking, too, as my Facebook friends have probably noticed with all the "Chef Harlee" videos ^_^.  I've tried and invented new recipes, learned new bits of information, discovered new remedies, so it's hard to narrow down my list of things to share on this blog and choose just one for this post.  I figured I'd just follow up with my last post, in which I mentioned intermittent fasting.  Then I'll go from there!

Intermittent Fasting

I've been giving the intermittent fasting thing a try, and I must say I'm sold.  There is a lot of information out there to back up why it's so effective, and according to my results, I'd say it's working.  I wanted to be sure to share this information with you and tell you about my experience.  Because, guess what?  It's a super easy way to lose weight!  Who doesn't want that??  But there are more important things to it than just losing weight, which makes it even better.

Here's the article from The Paleo Mom that I shared in my last post (I may have talked about Sarah, "The Paleo Mom" before, but I'll just briefly mention that I love her articles, she takes a very unbiased, scientific approach to things, backing her work with tons of research, and she's got an impressive educational background to support it).  I'll share a few tidbits from that article in this post.

What Is It?

Intermittent fasting is a way of scheduling your eating, rather than a diet.  You can still consume your normal amount of calories, just in a different time span, and you'd fast the rest of the time.  This doesn't have to be done daily, but you can.  The most beneficial amount of time to go on a fast is between 16 and 24 hours.  It takes anywhere from 6-12 hours for your body to completely deplete its glycogen, or stored sugar.  So if you eat three meals a day, your body never depletes its glycogen, and you're constantly burning that as your fuel rather than being able to switch to your body to burning fat as fuel.  Of course there are a lot of other elements to this, such as what you eat as well as when you eat (like restricting your carb and sugar intake to switch into fat burning mode).  But I'm finding that IF-ing is a super easy way to switch your body into burning fat for fuel.

For most people, the easiest way to fast is to simply skip breakfast.  For example, you finish eating dinner at 8pm, and you don't eat again until noon the next day, which would be 16 hours later (nearly twice as long as it takes you to deplete your glycogen).  If you want to go the full 24 hours, you won't eat again until 8pm the next day.  Or you can skip dinner, and stop eating after lunch at noon and start eating again at noon the next day.  You can tailor it to your lifestyle, which is one of the many nice things about IF-ing!

Now, if 16 hours is plenty to get your body to burn energy from your fat stores, why would you go a full 24 hours?  Well, there are a ton more benefits than just weight loss and fat burning.

How Does it Work?

Let's get all sciency!  What's going on in the body when we eat?  So as I already explained, it can take 6-12 hours for your body to metabolize your glycogen stores and burn it up before it can start burning fat.  So your body will burn energy from your blood stream - aka the food you just ate - before it'll burn your fat.  If you ate a lot of carbs/sugar, it'll burn that up first.  That's why it's hard to lose weight if you consume a lot of carbs/sugar.  And if you keep replenishing your glycogen by eating frequently, it's harder for your body to burn your fat as fuel.

However, if you're fasting, your body doesn't have any food to burn energy from, so it automatically burns from your fat stores.  Yay!

If you want to look at this on a cellular level, you'll see a process called "autophagy", which is when a starving cell breaks down its own components (including damaged elements of the cell) to fuel more important cell processes.  Autophagy has many benefits such as destroying viruses and bacteria, or helping the cell identify a viral infection, or even preventing cells from becoming cancerous!  I think I like that even better then the weight loss!

More Benefits  

Now that you know how it works on a basic level and a scientific level, let's list some of the benefits of intermittent fasting (copied from the Paleo Mom article):

1. Increase lifespan. 
2. Increase insulin sensitivity, which can result in an increase in insulin signaling in the brain which is thought to be how fasting/calorie restriction works to increase lifespan.
3. Lower blood lipids, triglycerides and other markers of metabolic syndrome.
4. Fight/prevent cancer.  There is also some evidence that fasting before chemotherapy treatments can help reduce the negative side effects. 
5. Increase growth hormone secretion (which builds muscle and burns fat).
6. Normalize expression of the hunger hormone ghrelin, thereby reducing appetite.
7. Promote brain and peripheral nervous system health which can result in boosting the mood, memory, and mental clarity.
8. Increase dopamine production, meaning we get more enjoyment from less food. 
9. Increase energy through regulating metabolic hormones.

And one of my favorites: Intermittent Fasting is a little like hitting a reset button.  It can help curb sugar cravings, restore energy, and even promote deeper sleep.

Guess what?  I've experienced a lot of these benefits.  My hunger and appetite have been curbed and I'm less interested in food, I've been sleeping amazingly well and I feel so refreshed in the morning, I'm less and less interested in sweets the more I try fasting, and I've been feeling overall GOOD.  Plus, I've been losing weight without losing strength.

Another thing I like about it is that it's an easy way to restrict calories in a day.  Calorie restriction has been proven to have TONS of benefits, but it's next to impossible to stick with as hunger is a basic human function that's hard to override, when you cut your meals down to smaller sizes, that'll probably drive most of you crazy.  With intermittent fasting, you eat normal-sized meals, but in smaller windows of time (such as skipping breakfast as mentioned above). Here's a little more information about all that.

Why It Makes Sense to Me

Since discovering Paleo, I feel like I've compared everything to "the caveman days".  Not that I know exactly what those days were like - for instance they probably ate bugs, and I'm not real keen on that idea, and they very well could have eaten grains, which the modern Paleo diet says they didn't.  Another example is that if I were a cavewoman, and I found a peanut, I'd eat the peanut.  Modern Paleo is against peanuts.  There's a lot of gray area, and I just kind of hang out in that gray area rather than go full-blown strict with it.  But there are a lot of elements that make sense, like eating what's available to us through nature, because that's what our bodies were designed to consume from day one.  That, to me, is the focal point of Paleo.  Intermittent fasting fits very will with the Paleo lifestyle, because I'm sure our primal ancestors didn't schedule specific mealtimes and eat around the clock.  They ate depending on what was available to them, and that may have meant going without eating for spans of time depending on the success of their hunt or what they gathered or foraged.  Our bodies would have had to be able to still function in a fasting state - we'd have been in big trouble if it was necessary to our health to eat constantly throughout the day.

Where I'm At on my IF Journey

So far, I've loved my experience with IF-ing.  It took a little bit of growth and self-awareness to get to a good place with it, though.  One of my pain issues has been junk food.  I have definitely noticed that I don't crave sweets nearly as much, if at all, when I'm fasting, but that craving isn't gone permanently.  During my research to learn more about the health benefits of IF, I came across this article, which was full of good information but also a bad statement:

It’s with an intermittent fasting protocol that I feel you really can have your cake and eat it too. You need to be strict with the timing aspect, but besides that I’ve found you can eat a lot more of the foods you love but “should” abstain from on a daily basis.

Yes. Daily. (I’m not saying you should go and eat McDonalds every day, but treats can certainly be included).

I latched onto that and started using IF as a crutch.  I'm human, and I'm not going to hold back the negative details from you!  I started learning about IF around spring/early summer.  We had lots of picnics and parties and holidays and therefore lots of bad food.  I got excited when I read the article I just mentioned because it basically said it was okay to eat that stuff, I'd just have to fast before or after doing it to deflect the negative consequences.

It took a few times of feeling like absolute crap after eating junk (tired, fatigued, run-down, foggy brain, etc.), regardless of the fasting, to remember that I'm on a health journey here.  I'm in this for the long haul.  I want to keep my body healthy, and not only look good but feel good.  Paleo has become a lifestyle for me, and I want to keep it that way.  I think it's okay to indulge on treats every great once in awhile, but not make it a habit, and definitely not make excuses for it by fasting around it.

So now, at this point in my journey, I'm being careful with it.  Yes, if we wind up going out and I overindulge on not-so-healthy food, I will fast afterward to help my body along.  But I'm careful with my mindset - it's not an excuse to eat junk, and I'm not going to make a habit of it.  However I am human, and sometimes I just want to taste junk food.  Otherwise, I fast when it's convenient.  I don't do it daily, but usually 2-3 times a week.  Sometimes I'm rushed in the morning and it's just easier if I don't have to think about my own breakfast, then I wind up waiting until lunch to eat.  I've been continuing to lose weight, inches, and body fat, so whatever I'm doing is working for me.

Is This For You?

Intermittent fasting is not for everyone!  If you have a health concern, like diabetes or hypertension or whatnot, you should probably talk with a health care professional first (preferably someone with an open, holistic mindset!).  Especially if you have a blood sugar-related disease, IF-ing isn't for you.  Of course if you're pregnant or nursing, you should hold off on trying it as well.  Also, if you're happy with where you're at in life, your current diet and exercise plan is working great for you, and your body and health is right where you want it, then you probably don't need to mess with IF.  Though according to the research, a good 24-hour fast a few times a year may not be a bad idea!

Also, I came across a couple articles about how IF-ing may not be the best thing for women.  I haven't found any issues while trying it, but it's worth mentioning too.

Here's a very good article about possible health concerns regarding women and IF-ing:  http://paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/

And here's a very interesting story about one woman's demise with IF-ing: http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/reviews/how-intermittent-fasting-saved-mewhile-slowly-killing-me/

I'm sharing that with you because it's not a perfect approach.  Yes, it can be "too good to be true", especially if used incorrectly.  I could have wound up where Kaleigh, the author of the last article I just shared, wound up.  Luckily I had a wake-up call before it got out of control.

Be Smart

Don't obsess over it.  LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.  That's the number one important thing!  Nourish your body with healthy foods found in nature, not processed junk from factories.  Fasting can have wonderful health benefits, if you're doing it with the right intentions and the right goals.

I'm going to stick with this IF lifestyle, I'm really liking it!  Especially now that I feel that I'm doing it for the right reason - to obtain the health benefits from it, not six-pack abs.  I'm not fasting every day, but rather at the most convenient times throughout the week, between 1-3 times a week for 16 hours at a time, or a full 24 hours if I really feel I need a recharge (but that's only maybe once a month).  I break fast with clean, Paleo or mostly-Paleo foods, I don't binge on gigantic platefuls of food when I break fast, and I stick with clean foods throughout the days between fasting.  I try to focus on eating when I'm hungry, and stopping when I'm full.  Plain and simple.  And IF has actually helped with my stress levels too, as when I fast it usually involves skipping breakfast, which allows me more time in the morning to get the boys' breakfasts made and while they're eating I can prepare lunches for the day or get caught up on some cleaning or whatever - who doesn't like extra free time in the morning??

So I'm happy with where I am right now.  If you decide to try it, let me know what you experience!  But most of all BE SMART and BE SAFE about it.  Obsessing over it or using it as an excuse to eat poorly can ruin everything.  Make your health your priority, and find what works for you!

For more information about IF, check out this article on NerdFitnes.com, it's a good one!

Emotional Eating

Hello strangers!  I think about my blog quite often... and I've just accepted the fact that there aren't enough hours in the day to get around to it.  But that's okay because it's SUMMER!  My favorite season!  It's the opposite of COLD (I strongly dislike the cold), and there's so much to DO! But I can talk about that later.  If I have time...

I actually have something specific to talk about today.  Food.  Okay, I know I always talk about food, but I want to talk about the emotional component of food this time.  Actually there are a lot of components.  And I'm certainly not a psychologist, but I've experienced emotional eating first-hand.  I'm still guilty of it!  I think we all are, right?  It's when we eat to fill our hearts, not our stomachs.  Or when we eat because we're bored and it's a habit.  Or because we're addicted to something (usually sugar) and it tastes soooo gooood that we can't just stop at one.

Harlee loves Big Hero 6, so I felt this shot worked well for this post!

Food is fuel, and food is medicine.  I've discussed this before, and finally more and more people are becoming aware of how important a healthy diet is to true wellness.  But so many people use food as a crutch or a comfort measure, and that's where it gets a bit unhealthy.  Comfort food is different for everyone - it can be a warm, buttery bread roll, a slice of pizza, a fast food cheeseburger, a piece of cake, or, if you're like me, a chocolate candy bar.  For a lot of people, it takes a lot of work to consciously avoid these comfort foods.  If we're unhappy or stressed or even simply bored, it's even harder. And for most people, it's not a bad habit - it's an addiction.  And you need to treat it, and beat it, like an addiction.  I'll elaborate on that topic in a future post.

I was addicted to chocolate and junk food starting with Halloween last year and all the way into Easter this year. I totally fell off the Paleo wagon and could not get back on.  Junk food was engrained in my brain!  I started personal training, hoping that would motivate me to make changes, but I still could not stop thinking about chocolate.  I felt like my exercising was going to waste.  I was sabotaging my own progress.

What helped me was realizing I should stop being so hard on myself.  So instead of beating myself up for ruining my progress toward a healthy lifestyle whenever I ate too much chocolate, I'd say to myself, "That tasted good, I enjoyed it, and that was enough.  I'm done, and my clean eating starts NOW."  I'd remember I'm human, I make mistakes just like all humans, and that's okay.  Mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow.  I'll learn from this, and move on.

And with that mindset it became easier and easier each day to say no.  I cut out gluten completely, which was starting to become an addiction too when we'd go out to eat.  When I cracked down on that, I was starting to feel a LOT better. I was happier, my mind was clearer, I had more energy through the day, things didn't stress me out so much, my workouts were going better, and my cravings were becoming more for healthy foods rather than junk food, and I finally got off my weight loss plateau and started losing again!

Then, after the few experiences I had with eating dairy and it flaring up my pollen allergies, which I wrote about in my last post, I cut that out too.  That's when it finally clicked for me - it's not worth it to enjoy the flavor of food only to feel like crap for days after eating it.  And that was the breakthrough I needed to stick to eating healthy on a regular basis.

Take the time to recognize your eating habits.  Are you really hungry?  Or are you just giving yourself something to do?  Or are you upset about something and since that cupcake tastes so good maybe it'll make you feel good too?  Think about the consequences.  Are you going to feel like crap for eating that?  How many calories is that?  Is it worth it?

Reread my post about Motivation if you'd like a few more tips on how to break your habits and make a healthy lifestyle change.

It took awhile, but I got there.  You can get there too.  Just start by being kind and gentle with yourself.  Allow yourself time, because you need to form new habits, and break an addiction.  It takes work, self-discipline, determination, and perseverance.  And if you have a goal, whether it be to look better or to feel better, you can get there.

Hope you're all having a great summer so far!  I'm hoping to find time to blog more - I have lots of ideas.  But in the meantime, follow me on Instagram @NaturallyJami or Like me on Facebook to see what I'm up to!

Confessions of a Human and New Year's Wishes

I can't believe I haven't posted ANYTHING for a whole MONTH.  It's been a crazy busy month, though.  To the point where I haven't really been able to make time to sit and write.  We hosted two Christmas gatherings plus New Year's Eve, so the month has been spent catching up on little projects around the house plus decorating, gift shopping, all that jazz.  I attempted to make cookies and candies but for some reason they didn't turn out... I wasted a lot of ingredients in the process too, which was a total bummer.  I made chocolate covered peanut butter balls, though, and they were a success - I'll try to post that recipe before Valentine's day, if you don't mind the wait!

I have so much to talk about, because so much has happened!  So hopefully this means a lot of exciting posts for 2015.  This past month I've learned more about essential oils, I'm about to acquire a salt room so that I can offer salt therapy at my office (awesome for respiratory ailments as well as skin conditions from minor to acute), I'm selling homemade soaps so I'm excited to tell you why those are better than store-bought, and I cured two earaches (never got them diagnosed as infections so I can't say that) and a case of pink eye using natural remedies!

To kick off the New Year, however, I decided to write a simple post admitting that I am human, just like everyone else.  The only thing I've succeeded at this past month is sticking to my drug-free way of life - no pharmaceuticals were used to treat any ailments we came across, including the two ear aches and pink eye mentioned above, a furiously teething baby, several sore throats, coughs, runny noses, etc., plus a case of sciatica that decided to randomly revisit me (hadn't had to deal with that since my pregnancy with Harlee...).

I wish other areas of my life were as second-nature to me as avoiding conventional medicines.  Like diet and exercise.

I have a confession to make.  I've been experiencing a growing case of burn-out...  I stopped going to Flex sometime in November, because I could feel it coming on and didn't want to force myself to do something I was slowly losing interest in - I do NOT want to lose interest in CrossFit!!  It changed my life, it's a fun and effective way to burn fat and build strength, and it makes me feel good both physically and mentally.  But I've been doing a lot of the same thing, and because of the weather I'm now confined to a spot in my basement rather than being outside.  I look forward to Sundays when Rachael and Cassie come over, because working out in a group setting still keeps me going and I thoroughly enjoy it just like I always used to.  But, I must say, I'm becoming more and more amazed that I did what I did while pregnant.  I'll crank out 20 burpees without stopping and imagine having a big pregnant belly hanging off of me while doing that.  I did that.  I push-pressed 95lbs of weight over my head WHILE in labor.  I did that.

And now I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight and I don't even feel like push-pressing a bar over my head.  Or cranking out one burpee.  Okay okay, who wants to do burpees anyway, really?  But they're a great form of exercise and I like working them into a WOD under normal circumstances... What's happening to me??

And diet.  Oooohhh have I fallen off of the Paleo wagon...  I try not to beat myself up TOO bad - I mean at least one meal every day has managed to stay completely Paleo.  But I think snacking on candy all day, or loading up on carbs the many times we've gone out to eat, and the way-too-frequent trips through drive-throughs we've made, completely negates that one Paleo meal a day.  Added to the fact that I haven't been working out anymore to burn some of that junk off... well...

Yeah.  That's pretty much me.  I look in the mirror and TRYYY so hard to say, yeah, I look good for being 5 months postpartum!  Because in comparison to 5 months after Harlee was born, I look pretty good!  But when I look at pictures of myself at just a couple months postpartum after having Elliot and see that I look BETTER than I do now... that's just sad.

But it's not just about physical appearance.  I know that's a big thing right now - social media is trying to help people feel better about themselves no matter what kind of body they have and stop comparing ourselves to photoshopped celebrities in magazines, which is awesome, and I do want to focus more on my health and well-being rather than just my appearance , but regardless, physical appearance does play a huge role.  I don't expect to look like a photoshopped celebrity.  I don't want to, anyway.  I'm perfectly fine with the stretch marks on my belly.  I'm perfectly fine with my droopy boobs.  Why?  Because I worked my ass off a couple summers ago and I felt REALLY good about myself and my appearance.  I know what I CAN look like, and I was almost back to that just a couple of months after Elliot was born.  And because of all the crap I ate this past month and my lack of exercise, I'm losing my progress.

And I feel like crap.  I've been tired and sluggish, I've needed to get back on St. John's wort to help manage my moods when normally diet and exercise do that for me, and I've been noticing aches and pains creeping in - my knees have ached, I had a sciatica flare-up, my wrists have been sore, and some days I've just felt sore and achy all over.  I know it's because of the junk I've eaten.

I guess it's a good reminder of how much diet really does affect us.  We are what we eat.  If we eat junk, we'll feel and function like junk.

So, I'm going to challenge myself.  The holiday celebrations are finally behind us, so there's no reason for me not to get back on the Paleo wagon.  I'm going to experiment with different things, like meal prep so I have lunches pre-made for me throughout the week, and menu-planning so dinner is thought out ahead of time.  I need to go back through and flush the house out of junk food.  I'm a chocoholic, there's no hiding it.  I just need to manage it a little better.  I'm sure I'll still grab a pack of peanut M&M's when I swing through a gas station, but I don't need a bowl of them sitting on my counter to eat every. single. day.  And I need to remind myself that it takes work to get rid of the cravings, but eventually they will go away.

I'll share my stories as I go, too, so maybe you'll feel inspired to try simple things to make your lifestyle a bit healthier.  Mainly, though, don't beat yourself up if you slip up.  That's what I've been working on.  I'm trying not to be too angry with myself for being a complete slob with my diet and exercise all month.  I know I can get back on track, and I will.  And so can you!  We all have to start somewhere.

So, it's a new year.  Time to hit the reset button and strive to be better than we were the year before.

Before I sign off, I have a few New Year's wishes for you.

I wish you motivation to try something new to get your body moving - join a gym, buy a new piece of exercise equipment - kettlebell, dumbells, jump rope, or even a hula hoop! (I bought one and it's actually a blast!)  Try something you haven't tried before - running, weight lifting, spinning, skiing, whatever!  Find something you enjoy so you'll stick with it.

I wish you creativity to make healthy eating just as delicious and achievable as eating junk food.  And it truly can be!  Stick with that, and eventually healthy foods will taste even better than drive-through or take-out food.  And learn ways to plan ahead, like I have been, so you'll be prepared on busy days.

Last, but not least, I wish you courage to ask questions.  This is something I'm wanting to delve into more in future blog posts.  Take responsibility for your health and the health of your family.  Don't rely solely on what you're told by doctors or healthcare providers.  Take charge of your body.  Take time to learn more about ways to be healthy.  With that knowledge comes great empowerment, knowing that you can heal yourself or your loved ones and not need to run to a doctor for every little thing.  When I healed Harlee's earaches and cured Elliot's pink eye without once having to consult a doctor - that's an awesome feeling.

Ask questions.  It can get you so much farther ahead than where you ever were before.  Before you pick up a drug from the pharmacy - What is in this?  What are the side effects?  Are there safer alternatives?  Before you agree to get on a prescription - How long am going to have to take this?  Is this drug just masking the symptoms of a problem rather than addressing it?  Or if it's controlling a problem, are there healthier ways I can control it on my own?  Blood pressure or cholesterol, for instance, CAN be controlled by diet and exercise.  You do not need to rely on drugs, and you'll be that much better off if you avoid them.  And before you or your children get a shot - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read the package inserts.  They should be given to you at the office, but can also be found on the CDC or FDA websites.  Don't just get a shot because you're told to, because everyone else does it, because of the fear tactics used to make you blindly do it without question - read the ingredients of what you're injecting into you or your child's body.  Read the possible side effects.  Sometimes side effects include seizures, paralysis, even death.  Ask your doctor to look you square in the eye and promise your child won't experience any of those side effects before you agree to anything.  This is something I'll talk more about in a later post, but I at least want to put the thoughts out there, to encourage you to take your health into your own hands and advocate for yourself because your health is, well, YOURS.

I hope to spend more time blogging this year, I have so much to say and share with you.  But I also have a family to care for and spend time with, a business to run and grow, and a new house that still needs its finishing touches, so be patient with me if I slack a bit...

I hope your year is off to a great start!

A Day in the Life of Jami: Thanksgiving, Viruses, Earaches, and Preventive Health Care

Sooo it's been nearly a month since I've posted.  I've wanted to, trust me, but finding the time to has been next to impossible.  I got both the boys in bed right now without passing out myself, though, so here I am.  I'm going to catch up.  I've got so much catching up to do I don't even know where to start...

In fact, I have so much to say, I think I'll break this post into two parts.  The first on being an update on life, the second one being my Paleo Thanksgiving.

So, first of all, I can say that this fall/entering into winter has not been kind to us.  We've been sick enough, and I'm sick of it!  Okay so it could be worse - Harlee is the only one who got sick this month, the rest of us are hanging in there.  But we've all had our turns!  Wednesday Harlee woke up in the middle of the night/early morning with a 101 fever and a headache.  We put a cold washcloth on his head and rubbed a bit of peppermint oil on his temples and within minutes he said his head felt better and he went back to sleep.  The next morning the fever was still there, so I gave him a FluGuard tablet (homeopathic remedy) but wasn't real sure if that would do the trick - usually those homeopathic remedies have to be used right at the first sign of symptoms.  I made up a remedy cocktail blend in his juice for him consisting of:
Childlife Multi Vitamin & Mineral
Childlife First Defense
Colloidal Silver

He will not take chewable vitamins.  I've tried all kinds, he won't do it.  So I've turned to liquids and I've been thrilled with the Childlife brand.  This was my first time trying the colloidal silver, though.  Silver is naturally antibacterial.  It's pretty amazing, really.  Have you ever heard of the Norwex cleaning products?  Their cloths have silver imbedded into the fibers.  I had a Norwex party a couple weeks ago - she smeared raw chicken on my counter.  Yeah.  Then swabbed it with a sanitation test swab from the health department to show it was, of course, unsanitary.  Then wiped it down with the cloth - no chemicals, just wet with water - and then swabbed it again: sanitary.  Amazing.  So colloidal silver is silver particles suspended in water, so you can get those same antibacterial affects internally.

I went to work and instructed Justin to dilute some oregano oil and rub it on his chest and rub Thieves oil on the soles of his feet.

On my lunch break I ran over to the Healthy Nut and bought some liquid Olive Leaf Extract (seriously everyone needs to own this stuff (though I prefer capsule form) - it's so amazing) to add to Harlee's juice and boost his system even more.

Justin and I started taking more olive leaf extract ourselves, along with Young Living's Inner Defense capsules, added to our regular daily supplements (which includes Juice Plus).  So far we've been in the clear!

Well, either it was a short-lived virus, or all the stuff I gave Harlee worked, because by evening he was all better and the next morning he was ready for Thanksgiving!

It snowed Wednesday, so I snapped a picture of our winter wonderland ♥

We went to my parents' house for an afternoon meal.  I stuffed myself like I do every year...

I was feeling crafty!

Dad and Harlee selfie

Opa and Elliot

Oma and Elliot

No tryptophan crash for us!!

Then Justin had to go to work :-P.  Yeah, gotta love his line of work.  He's a boilermaker, and basically the hall calls him whenever jobs come available and he can either take them or turn them down.  So a job came up this weekend, Thursday through Sunday, night shift, and it's kinda hard to turn that down with that kind of pay soooo he packed up the leftovers and headed out.  Same thing the next day - had dinner with his stepdad's family and headed out again.

Made one for Grandma and Papa too

Harlee playing with Cousin Claire and Uncle Kirk

He discovered the carrot cake...

Elliot getting some love from Grandma and Great-Grandma

Chilling with Great-Grandpa

By the way, Justin is prone to sinus infections and he seems to get one almost every time he starts a new job on nights.  He was hacking and carrying on Friday morning so I loaded him up with even more olive leaf extract, vitamin C, and inner defense.  I also diffused Thieves oil in the bedroom while he slept.  The hacking has since subsided and there are no signs of a sinus infection.  Horray!
 
My friend Rachael came over to keep me company Friday night, which is always fun!  Saturday my friend Kim celebrated her 30th birthday and annual chicken soup gathering, which was conveniently moved to the afternoon so Justin got to go, although it was only for a short while.  I could have blogged that night... The boys both passed out and I honestly thought about sitting down to write but found The DaVinci Code on tv and decided to watch that instead because I love that movie.

I was determined to write tonight, though.  Today (Sunday, which is now yesterday to you readers) was a rather productive day.  Justin came home around 9am and went to bed, I dropped Harlee off with Grandma, and Elliot and I went to town to pick up a few things for dinner that night.  I decided to have Paleo Thanksgiving with Rachael and Cassie after our Sunday workout, and I was super excited!  Picked up Harlee and headed back home where I managed to get a few loads of laundry done, cleaned the bathrooms, swept and mopped the floors, got all the dishes loaded in the dishwasher, vacuumed the rug, tidied up Harlee's playroom, PLUS got the chicken marinading, peeled and cut up a butternut squash, trimmed and prepped green beans, got my vegan pumpkin "cheese"cake started, all while being mom to a 3-year-old who needs help going potty, needs a toy fixed, needs the channel changed, etc., etc., AND a 4-month-old who happens to have the remains of an earache and wants to be held constantly.

How the heck I pulled all that off I have no idea.  But I got pretty much all of that done before Justin woke up at 2:30.

Earache - yeah, not fun.  Elliot had been a bit fussy for a few days and then I noticed he was rubbing his fist on his ear.  I poked around it and he fussed some more, so I put a homeopathic earache drop in it and he settled down right away.  Got him in to see our pediatric chiropractor and she looked in his ear and confirmed that yes, it was a bit red in there.  I started rubbing lavender oil around his ear (not in it - don't do that) and kept up with the homeopathic drops as well as adding in homeopathic Pulsatilla.  Within a couple days he was back to himself again and caught up on sleep.  Then I guess it must have crept back in because he was back to fussing this morning (which, again, to you readers was yesterday morning) and rubbing his ear again.  This time I texted the chiropractor and asked what else I could do and she said put a little breastmilk in his ear.  I had heard of that before... and I had heard of it actually working... so what's the harm?  I'd give it a try.  I syringed a little in his ear from what I had pumped the other day, diluted some Thieves oil and rubbed it around his ear and on the bottoms of his feet, and he was pretty content after that.  I let him play on the floor while I got a few things done (see list above), then when he fussed again I'd hold him, put lavender around his ear, and he'd fall asleep, which is when I continued on with the above list.

Cassie was kind enough to bring over a bottle of wine this evening.  As I recap my day I am amazed that I completely forgot to pop it open and toast my productivity and the fact that my sanity is still in tact...  How did I forget about it??  Crazy.

Unfortunately Rachael wasn't feeling well so she backed out, but Cassie came over with her two kids and we got in a somewhat successful workout!  By somewhat I mean we had to take a break for her son to go potty and for me to call Santa because my son was NOT behaving.  Not sure what his deal was my holy moley he was crabby.  So I got Santa on the phone and told him to put Harlee on the naughty list.  I thought that would work better than it did... no, Harlee continued on with his meltdown so we continued on with our workout and let him be.  With Elliot being fussy with his ear and wanting to be held constantly, we incorporated him into our workout and did:

5 Rounds
20 squats holding Elliot
10 burpees
10 lunges each leg holding Elliot
10 deadlifts (90lbs)


Basically we passed him back and forth - she held him and did squats while I did burpees, I held him and did lunges while she did deadlifts, so on and so forth.  All that up and down motion must have been pretty soothing to him because it lulled him to sleep, which worked perfectly - at the end of the workout I transferred him to his swing and we got on with dinner!

Cassie and I chatted about the whole Paleo thing, and our conversation gave me some ideas of what I can talk about here on the blog.  I started writing my ideas tonight, but it got so long I decided to write a separate post just for that topic!

So that's a wrap for this post.  Hope you learned something from my story about Harlee's bug and Elliot's earache!  Can't imagine rushing my kids to the doctor over things like that and possibly getting drugs to treat them.  Obviously that's necessary in some cases, but I feel like pharmaceuticals are way over-used in today's world.  Being able to treat my kids with natural remedies that don't cause harmful side-effects is definitely something I am very grateful for!

And on that note, hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A Day in the Life of Jami: My Medicine Collection

So I was all excited about this new series... And now it's almost been a month and I haven't written another post in it.  That's what I get for being busy I guess.  I should try to schedule blogging into my day.  It can't be that hard, can it? I mean, I schedule my clients at certain times on certain days of the week, I schedule appointments for the family on my days off, I schedule working out every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday (and add in work-outs as the opportunities arise). That's just how things get done, it's scheduled in.  Aaaaand that's why my laundry piles up... Because I don't schedule it in... But we won't go there.

Justin got sick a couple days ago.  Pretty sure my mom shared it, because she had the same symptoms.  Nothing major like the virus we all got hit with awhile back, but still no fun.  He was tired and achy and whatever this was attacked the digestive system.  So that was no fun.  I got him taking homeopathic FluGuard, which I had never tried before so he was kinda my guinea pig with that one, he was taking shots of oregano (see his strep throat adventure to learn more about that), and I upped his olive leaf extract, vitamin c, and echinacea/goldenseal (good for the immune system - I should probably write a post about those). He also had a low sugar intake, as I've been trying my best to be more strict with Paleo cooking at home, and I know that helped.  Sugar weakens the immune system - it heightens your body's inflammatory response so it more or less steals all the attention from your immune system, which isn't good when you've got a bug or virus needing attention first.  I believe he recovered quicker than my mom did, and I'm fairly certain diet played a big role in that... But I pester my mom enough about needing to form clean eating habits so I won't drag it out here ;-).

In the meantime, I was diffusing Thieves oil all over the house, rubbing it on our feet each night, plus I made a cleaner in a spray bottle - I put half witch hazel and half hydrogen peroxide (I would have used rubbing alcohol but we seem to be out) with several drops of Thieves, Purification, and Oregano and sprayed it all over everything - the furniture, the bed and bedding, pillows, rugs, surfaces, everything.

All has been well.  Until Harlee and I got hit by allergies.  Our noses are like faucets, ugh it's awful.  My throat is getting scratchy because of the drainage too.  And speaking of sugar earlier, I've been bad and stole more than my fair share of Halloween candy... so I'm really not giving myself the best chance at recovering quickly.  Harlee's been good and drinking more water than juice, plus I rub RC and Raven oil blends on his chest and that seems to help clear him up.  I'm sitting here with a cup of hot jasmine green tea with honey and lemon oil.  It's my fourth cup this morning.  I've been using lavender around my nose, which seems to help but goodness gracious does it make me sleepy... I also rubbed oregano oil around my nose (diluted with coconut because it burns) to help dry things up, which also seems to help.  I'm trying to talk myself into gargling a bit of oregano oil in a shot of my tea, but I haven't done it yet.  It's horrible.  Well, it's horrible for like two minutes, then after the hellfire in your mouth and throat wears off it turns out to be a fantastic resolution to a sore throat.  And that's what I need right now.  It's getting past the hellfire part that has me stuck...

All this excitement made me decide this is a good opportunity to share my medicine drawer contents with you.  I also got several requests for that since I posted that picture of my special delivery on Facebook.  A couple weeks ago my iHerb order came in -  I swear I get way too excited about that.  I usually try to place a big bulk order every so often - all our vitamins, immune boosters, general supplements, etc.  Then when it arrives I feel like Christmas came early.

So in this box I got cod liver oil, which is a great source of Omaga-3s and DHA.  Oscillococcinum (don't ask me how to actually pronounce that) which is a great homeopathic remedy for the onset of the flu, as is the bottle of FluGuard, and after our recent bout of that I decided I should be armed in case we ever get hit again.  I also ordered some colloidal silver, which needs a post all its own.  It's a natural antibiotic, again, a great thing to have on hand in the event of a nasty virus.  There's a bottle of vitamin C, a few bottles of liquid vitamins for Harlee (he will not take chewables or gummies for some reason, so instead I put these in his cup of juice or whatever hes drinking and it's been working great.  There's also a bottle of Echinacea/Goldenseal for immune support and pau d' arco, which is also great for the immune system.

All this got added to my medicine drawer:

I'm super proud of this drawer.  It's so much easier to locate different things than it was when I used to have everything in a cabinet, but best of all it's becoming quite full with a great variety of remedies!  I've got my growing supply of essential oils in the bottom left corner (and that's not even all of them - my most frequently used ones are in the diaper bag), my most commonly used homeopathic remedies in the bottom right corner, then throughout the middle-right I've got a bunch of herbal remedies, vitamins, etc like olive leaf extract, vitamin c, echinacea, vitamin d, and so on.  I've got things in here in place of common conventional medicine cabinet items like papaya instead of Tums or Rollaids (and it works way better and tastes better, too), homeopathic eye drops and ear drops, and the multitude of essential oils play roles like lavender for wound healing (to replace Neosporin), peppermint for headaches (although we do have ibuprofen in there, that's the only conventional medicine we've got I think) and also for digestive upset for cases beyond the scope of papaya, Purification oil in place of anti-itch cream, the list goes on and on, and continues to grow as I learn more and find more!  In the back I've got replacement bottles of things like my Juice Plus and olive leaf extract and cod liver oil - basically the things I take daily as a supplement, plus the things I don't want to run out of like Harlee's vitamins and elderberry syrup, which I add in with his vitamins if it seems like he might be coming down with something or if he's been around other people who were sick.  I'm currently giving that to him with his vitamins.  The temporal thermometer is in there, a tub of coconut oil for diluting essential oils, and a bottle of witch hazel for mixing up cleaners, bug sprays, etc.  Oh I also have Little Remedies fever reducer, too, just in case.  Little Remedies seems like a good brand of products for conventional medicines without the conventional additives, so in the event of a high fever striking that my natural remedies aren't strong enough for, I've got a safe alternative.  Luckily we haven't really needed it though, as peppermint has always helped keep fevers from creeping up too high.

Ta da!  That's my collection so far!  I'll say it again, I'm quite proud of it.  It just makes me feel really good that I've got plenty of things to help us stay healthy or recover if we do get sick, while at the same time not pumping us full of harmful chemicals or risking the side effects of conventional drugs.  Justin's learning his way around the drawer too, which is great.  I'm so glad he's open to learning more about alternative medicine, and I've enjoyed watching his trust in it grow as everything we use continues to work.  We're definite in the same boat as parents - we want to keep our kids and ourselves healthy in the safest ways!

I should get back to work now - I'm off on Fridays so this is when I try to get things caught up like laundry, cleaning, and obviously blogging :) (which obviously doesn't always happen).  Have a great weekend!