So, I have this crazy neighbor. Let's call her Maria. She's 5 months pregnant. And she wants to keep running. Her running friends have all moved away so she went recruiting. I was one of her first targets. What better way for a big pregnant lady to run, than with her totally out of shape, hasn't done any exercise for years friend! I don't know why I agreed. But she's crazy so I did.
I have now officially finished Week 4 of the Couch to 5K training program. The first two weeks I thought I would die. But each run got a little easier. Not a lot easier, but a little. Enough that I notice it. Good enough for me.
Our first race is in 6 weeks. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I'm actually going out 3 nights a week in order to train for a race. Because I hate running. It's good for me though so I keep doing it. We are TRYING to wake up and run in the mornings before our husbands leave for work, but she's tired because she's pregnant and I'm just tired so usually we go at 9:00pm when it's cooled down to 97 degrees or so. No joke.
If you are at all interested in getting started I would suggest two things:
First, get one of the Couch to 5K apps. There are several to choose from. When I run I take my iPod Touch and some lovely British lady tells me when to walk and when to run. Actually, she's not lovely. I don't like her very much. She causes me pain.
Second, get yourself a crazy friend. The kind that will show up at your door and drag you out if necessary. If you can find a pregnant one that works even better because then you think, "If she can do it, so can I."
I've lost weight and my clothes are fitting much better. Between the running and our GAPS diet, I just might get healthy!
And if I, a 38 1/2 year old, 190 pound (now 178 pound) couch potato can do it, so can you.
Showing posts with label natural healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural healing. Show all posts
July 10, 2011
November 8, 2010
I'm going raw
As most of you probably don't know, because I don't talk about it much, my body is falling apart.
I'm 37 years old and have probably had more colonoscopies than all of you combined.
The entire left side of my colon looks like it has road rash. I know this because I've seen pictures. I can share them with you if you want. But you really don't want.
My fasting glucose levels are 160. They should be under 100.
My blood pressure was 144/95 last time they checked. That's bad. Really bad.
My cholesterol is 236, which is bad, but it's come down 30 points over the last few months.
I weigh 187 pounds and am 5'6". That's overweight. And I carry most of it in my stomach. That's the dangerous kind of fat, by the way. It's hard to find shirts that look nice with a 3-month-pregnant-looking belly.
I am exhausted. But I can't sleep. I am often awake until 1 or 2 in the morning, doing nothing other than wishing I could fall asleep. I walk through life feeling fuzzy and tired. I never, ever feel well rested.
I'm always sick. Always. If there is a virus in the area, I'll get it. And keep it for a long time because apparently we become good friends and can't live without each other. I just finished having pneumonia and then got a bad cold so basically I've been sick for over a month straight. My nose is literally peeling off my face.
I've reached a health crisis in my life and something needs to change. My doctor wants to give me more pills. And diagnose me with things I don't want to be diagnosed with. As my husband and I were discussing what we should do, I came across the movie Simply Raw. Well, not so much the movie, but the website talking about the movie. I have been watching their fascinating videos.
I have read about, heard about, learned about the raw "movement" for a while, but was not interested. Too much work. Too many weird ingredients. Too many expensive things to buy like dehydrators and food processors and such. And most of it is just plain weird...and I didn't want to eat it so I'm sure my kids didn't want to either.
Well, the thing that caught, and held my attention, on these videos (and the movie concept) is that for 30 days six people with diabetes (some with Type 1 and some with Type 2) went raw and every one of them was cured of the diabetes and no longer required medication. They also lost 20 or more pounds. Um, I could use that. The other interviews talked about reserving heart disease, overcoming chronic illness, high blood pressure and the list went on.
I thought, 30 days. I can DO 30 days. So, I'm going raw for 30 days and my husband is going with me (bless his heart).
So, the day after Thanksgiving we'll start eating as raw as we can and will go until Christmas day. At that point we'll discuss whether we want to continue raw, modify it or chuck it out the window altogether.
My initial thoughts are that I will most likely never be 100% raw after this initial 30 days. I love food, maybe I love it too much. I also think there are a lot of really healthy, wholesome, nutritious, necessary foods we should eat and they are cooked. I can see our family moving more rawish though. Perhaps we'll have a Raw day once a week like Monday is chicken, Tuesday is beans, Wednesday is beef, Thursday is raw. Or maybe we'll do 2 raw meals a day and one cooked, or vice versa. Who knows?
Once I officially start I'll be posting the recipes I use each day and how well we liked them and if they are "keepers". At the end of the 30 days I'll get re-tested for glucose, blood pressure, etc and post those numbers.
If you want in on the fun, I'd love to have company! Let me know if you want to accept the challenge and I'll link up with you every day so others can see your progress as well.
These are my "rules of operation" -
1. Eat as close to 100% raw as I can for 30 days. But I'm being realistic here. If a recipe calls for coconut water, I might buy a young coconut and crack it or I might use a can of coconut water. Depends on availability and price.
2. Minimize the use of recipes require a dehydrator since I only have a cheapy one
3. Use what I can find locally with only a few internet purchases - in other words, try to keep the price down!
4. Buy organic if I can and not worry about it if I can't
5. No raw meat (my son wanted me to make sure you knew that)
We plan on involving the kids in the following ways:
1. No cow's milk for the month. We'll be testing nut milks and such. We'll let you know what we think.
2. No breakfast cereals. We'll be eating raw fruit breakfasts, or raw, sprouted grains. I'm also going to 'allow' baked goods for the kids like muffins, bread, etc.
3. Have them drink at least one smoothie a day.
4. A large salad with each dinner.
5. More fresh fruits and veggies for each meal. I'm good with serving them at dinner, but not breakfast and lunch.
I'll continue to make regular foods for them, but will try to incorporate more raw foods with each meal. And if they ever want to try what I'm eating I'll share. Maybe. If it's really delicious I just might keep it to myself!
Here are some good resources for finding more information on raw eating and raw recipes:
http://www.rawfor30days.com/VideoSeries/ (p.s. I love David Wolfe's hair. I wish I had hair like that.)
The Raw Chef
Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)
J&M Ranch - this is my friend Misty's site and she has a few raw recipes
Gone Raw - has a helpful forum and a great recipe section
I have found that if there is a product you really want to try, most of the time Amazon has it much cheaper than the "raw sites". The manufacturer also, usually, sells it much more cheaply that the raw sites. Check prices before you buy!
I'm 37 years old and have probably had more colonoscopies than all of you combined.
The entire left side of my colon looks like it has road rash. I know this because I've seen pictures. I can share them with you if you want. But you really don't want.
My fasting glucose levels are 160. They should be under 100.
My blood pressure was 144/95 last time they checked. That's bad. Really bad.
My cholesterol is 236, which is bad, but it's come down 30 points over the last few months.
I weigh 187 pounds and am 5'6". That's overweight. And I carry most of it in my stomach. That's the dangerous kind of fat, by the way. It's hard to find shirts that look nice with a 3-month-pregnant-looking belly.
I am exhausted. But I can't sleep. I am often awake until 1 or 2 in the morning, doing nothing other than wishing I could fall asleep. I walk through life feeling fuzzy and tired. I never, ever feel well rested.
I'm always sick. Always. If there is a virus in the area, I'll get it. And keep it for a long time because apparently we become good friends and can't live without each other. I just finished having pneumonia and then got a bad cold so basically I've been sick for over a month straight. My nose is literally peeling off my face.
I've reached a health crisis in my life and something needs to change. My doctor wants to give me more pills. And diagnose me with things I don't want to be diagnosed with. As my husband and I were discussing what we should do, I came across the movie Simply Raw. Well, not so much the movie, but the website talking about the movie. I have been watching their fascinating videos.
I have read about, heard about, learned about the raw "movement" for a while, but was not interested. Too much work. Too many weird ingredients. Too many expensive things to buy like dehydrators and food processors and such. And most of it is just plain weird...and I didn't want to eat it so I'm sure my kids didn't want to either.
Well, the thing that caught, and held my attention, on these videos (and the movie concept) is that for 30 days six people with diabetes (some with Type 1 and some with Type 2) went raw and every one of them was cured of the diabetes and no longer required medication. They also lost 20 or more pounds. Um, I could use that. The other interviews talked about reserving heart disease, overcoming chronic illness, high blood pressure and the list went on.
I thought, 30 days. I can DO 30 days. So, I'm going raw for 30 days and my husband is going with me (bless his heart).
So, the day after Thanksgiving we'll start eating as raw as we can and will go until Christmas day. At that point we'll discuss whether we want to continue raw, modify it or chuck it out the window altogether.
My initial thoughts are that I will most likely never be 100% raw after this initial 30 days. I love food, maybe I love it too much. I also think there are a lot of really healthy, wholesome, nutritious, necessary foods we should eat and they are cooked. I can see our family moving more rawish though. Perhaps we'll have a Raw day once a week like Monday is chicken, Tuesday is beans, Wednesday is beef, Thursday is raw. Or maybe we'll do 2 raw meals a day and one cooked, or vice versa. Who knows?
Once I officially start I'll be posting the recipes I use each day and how well we liked them and if they are "keepers". At the end of the 30 days I'll get re-tested for glucose, blood pressure, etc and post those numbers.
If you want in on the fun, I'd love to have company! Let me know if you want to accept the challenge and I'll link up with you every day so others can see your progress as well.
These are my "rules of operation" -
1. Eat as close to 100% raw as I can for 30 days. But I'm being realistic here. If a recipe calls for coconut water, I might buy a young coconut and crack it or I might use a can of coconut water. Depends on availability and price.
2. Minimize the use of recipes require a dehydrator since I only have a cheapy one
3. Use what I can find locally with only a few internet purchases - in other words, try to keep the price down!
4. Buy organic if I can and not worry about it if I can't
5. No raw meat (my son wanted me to make sure you knew that)
We plan on involving the kids in the following ways:
1. No cow's milk for the month. We'll be testing nut milks and such. We'll let you know what we think.
2. No breakfast cereals. We'll be eating raw fruit breakfasts, or raw, sprouted grains. I'm also going to 'allow' baked goods for the kids like muffins, bread, etc.
3. Have them drink at least one smoothie a day.
4. A large salad with each dinner.
5. More fresh fruits and veggies for each meal. I'm good with serving them at dinner, but not breakfast and lunch.
I'll continue to make regular foods for them, but will try to incorporate more raw foods with each meal. And if they ever want to try what I'm eating I'll share. Maybe. If it's really delicious I just might keep it to myself!
Here are some good resources for finding more information on raw eating and raw recipes:
http://www.rawfor30days.com/VideoSeries/ (p.s. I love David Wolfe's hair. I wish I had hair like that.)
The Raw Chef
Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)
J&M Ranch - this is my friend Misty's site and she has a few raw recipes
Gone Raw - has a helpful forum and a great recipe section
I have found that if there is a product you really want to try, most of the time Amazon has it much cheaper than the "raw sites". The manufacturer also, usually, sells it much more cheaply that the raw sites. Check prices before you buy!
October 31, 2010
Things I've learned from this bout of illness
After my stint with pneumonia I had two days of good health and then I caught a cold that has hung on for over two weeks with no real sign of leaving any time soon. Two of my four sons have the same cold. Here are the things I've learned recently about colds.
1. Essential oils work to stop the coughing. I use doTerra oils (and sell them if you're interested). We used Breathe and Eucalyptus with great success. They'd be hacking up a lung at night and I'd go in, oil their feet and throats and they'd sleep quietly the rest of the night.
2. Eating raw garlic burns.
3. Placing raw garlic cloves between each of your toes and trying to sleep is rather painful. I made a valiant effort and woke up at 1:30am with aching toes. Once I pulled out the garlic my feet felt much better.
4. Eating raw garlic mixed with butter on bread only prolongs the pain. It still burns, only you get to enjoy each bite with the burn.
5. Even if you've lost all sense of smell and taste, raw garlic burns your mouth.
6. Even if you've lost all sense of smell and taste, others around you have not and they will think your breath is stinky. They'll even tell you to your face. And pretend to faint every time you walk by.
7. Warm apple cider with a whole lemon squeezed in and a plop of raw honey feels wonderful on sore throats.
8. Steam showers work for calming coughs and unclogging noses. So do steam baths with essential oils added.
9. Hot and Sour soup has wonderful healing properties. So does Chicken Noodle soup. It's been scientifically proven. Really. I alternate between the two. Although I have to get the Hot and Sour from a restaurant. Does anyone have a good recipe for making it at home?
10. Warm apple cider with a whole lemon squeezed in AND some ginger tea (make by boiling water and shredded ginger together) with honey also feels really good. It's a little spicier though.
11. Add cayenne to your chicken noodle soup for some extra healing power. If you have lost your sense of taste and smell you can add quite a bit. You know you've added too much when your tongue starts to burn.
12. You can keep your other kids healthy by making them do all the stuff the sick people have to do - eat the soups, put on the oils, go to bed early, etc.
13. Using On Guard (from doTerra) on the healthy boys feet seems to have helped in keeping them healthy since they are still healthy.
14. Drinking On Guard is truly disgusting. Peppermint oil though is great and eases the congestion.
15. Eating On Guard on crackers with honey and butter is even worse. I made my kids promise me that if I ever tried to get them to eat On Guard they were to run screaming.
16. You can make garlic oil to put on your feet and chest by cutting up some garlic and just barely covering it with extra-virgin olive oil. Let it sit for at least 2 hours, or a few days if possible. Cover the bottoms of your feet (and the top, right where the toes join the foot) and put on some socks. You can also spread it on your chest and throat, but your clothes might get greasy. Then pretend you live in an Italian restaurant because everything will smell all garlicy. Do not, however, lick anyone's garlic feet.
17. Sleep as much as possible.
18. You'll get better faster, or not even get sick in the first place, if you eat healthier. If you do get sick and start feeding your kids (and yourself) cold cereal for breakfast and lunch, they will get sick too. If your husband goes out for burgers or pizza or other such sundries every night because you're sick, and you, the sick person, eat it, you won't get better anytime soon. And everyone else will get sick. Don't fall back on junk food when you're sick.
19. Pray.
20. Pray some more.
1. Essential oils work to stop the coughing. I use doTerra oils (and sell them if you're interested). We used Breathe and Eucalyptus with great success. They'd be hacking up a lung at night and I'd go in, oil their feet and throats and they'd sleep quietly the rest of the night.
2. Eating raw garlic burns.
3. Placing raw garlic cloves between each of your toes and trying to sleep is rather painful. I made a valiant effort and woke up at 1:30am with aching toes. Once I pulled out the garlic my feet felt much better.
4. Eating raw garlic mixed with butter on bread only prolongs the pain. It still burns, only you get to enjoy each bite with the burn.
5. Even if you've lost all sense of smell and taste, raw garlic burns your mouth.
6. Even if you've lost all sense of smell and taste, others around you have not and they will think your breath is stinky. They'll even tell you to your face. And pretend to faint every time you walk by.
7. Warm apple cider with a whole lemon squeezed in and a plop of raw honey feels wonderful on sore throats.
8. Steam showers work for calming coughs and unclogging noses. So do steam baths with essential oils added.
9. Hot and Sour soup has wonderful healing properties. So does Chicken Noodle soup. It's been scientifically proven. Really. I alternate between the two. Although I have to get the Hot and Sour from a restaurant. Does anyone have a good recipe for making it at home?
10. Warm apple cider with a whole lemon squeezed in AND some ginger tea (make by boiling water and shredded ginger together) with honey also feels really good. It's a little spicier though.
11. Add cayenne to your chicken noodle soup for some extra healing power. If you have lost your sense of taste and smell you can add quite a bit. You know you've added too much when your tongue starts to burn.
12. You can keep your other kids healthy by making them do all the stuff the sick people have to do - eat the soups, put on the oils, go to bed early, etc.
13. Using On Guard (from doTerra) on the healthy boys feet seems to have helped in keeping them healthy since they are still healthy.
14. Drinking On Guard is truly disgusting. Peppermint oil though is great and eases the congestion.
15. Eating On Guard on crackers with honey and butter is even worse. I made my kids promise me that if I ever tried to get them to eat On Guard they were to run screaming.
16. You can make garlic oil to put on your feet and chest by cutting up some garlic and just barely covering it with extra-virgin olive oil. Let it sit for at least 2 hours, or a few days if possible. Cover the bottoms of your feet (and the top, right where the toes join the foot) and put on some socks. You can also spread it on your chest and throat, but your clothes might get greasy. Then pretend you live in an Italian restaurant because everything will smell all garlicy. Do not, however, lick anyone's garlic feet.
17. Sleep as much as possible.
18. You'll get better faster, or not even get sick in the first place, if you eat healthier. If you do get sick and start feeding your kids (and yourself) cold cereal for breakfast and lunch, they will get sick too. If your husband goes out for burgers or pizza or other such sundries every night because you're sick, and you, the sick person, eat it, you won't get better anytime soon. And everyone else will get sick. Don't fall back on junk food when you're sick.
19. Pray.
20. Pray some more.
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