Friday, October 15, 2010

Seeing changes













Greetings all!!!

As this week comes to a close I reflect back on how hectic it's been. It seems like I haven't had a free moment to myself all week. Not that that's anything new, but it prompted me to take a look my health (emotional included) and recent changes we've made.

I'm up every morning by 5 and although I'm typically in bed by 11 I usually only get a few hours of sleep because of my back, with the exception of when I take medication. If I take medication I sleep like a ROCK, and I do mean rock, but I'm trying to get away from doing that. This week was extremely busy and I just noticed I've had an tremendous amount of energy for the amount of rest I'm actually getting every shadow hours. I've even, to my surprise noticed that I've actually lost a few pounds as well. Hooray Me! Not anything that's going to make me run out and buy a new wardrobe, as much as I would love to do that but a few pounds is better than no pounds and even better than weight GAIN. So if anyone wants to fund that shopping spree please let me know. :o)

I have NO choice but to attribute these things to the changes we've made in our diet. I mentioned these changes a few blog entries back. If you didn't read about it we'll all hold while you go back and catch up...... All caught up? Great! Let's move on.

We (Hubby and I) had initially decided we were going to fast during the day. The plan was that we were going to drink our green concoction (juiced green veggies) during the day, water and then only eat dinner. The juiced greens would provide us with the energy and the vitamins we need during the day, or that was the plan at least. I just couldn't do it. That crap was soooo nasty. Maybe we just haven't found the right combination of veggies, I don't know, but it just makes me nauseous thinking about it. So we've resorted to drinking water with lime.

I'm proud of myself because I'm not a big water drinker and am surprised that I've never been chronically dehydrated. I think I have the worlds tiniest bladder because I would drink a cup of water and literally be in the bathroom 5 times within an hour. I'm not exaggerating either. And don't let me drink water before bed. I may as well plan on being up for the night. So for that reason I would rarely drink water which is SO unhealthy, I know.

So all this to say pretty much all we've been drinking over the past 3 weeks is A LOT of water. We've had fresh squeezed lemonade with Agave Honey and strawberries or raspberries but that's been it. We haven't had any bread, which is good for us because in the past we would typically have bread with every meal. We've had no white flour, refined sugar, candy or heavy starches (that convert to sugar). We haven't had any dairy in about a year I think, or close to it, which has made a big difference also. More that 80% of our dinner is vegetables (that are high in alkaline) and we haven't had anything processed. A majority of our foods we've eaten and prepared, for quite some time has been from scratch.

Six months ago I would have been exhausted and ready for bed by 6 or 7. I'm usually a little tired when I first wake up, but then after a few minutes I'm ok, where as in the past I would have felt sooo fatigued and hit my snooze button so many times that I end up rushing trying to get my daughter to the bus on time. I'm not mentally and physically drained by the end of the day and I feel like I have more patience. I usually just go to bed because it's getting late and I know I have to get up in the morning, but it hasn't been me going to bed due to lack of energy.

I all know is FACTUALLY we've made some changes in our diet and I've seen a big difference in how I feel physically. There haven't been any other changes that have been made so you do the math. What's YOUR conclusion? Uh Oh! I sound like Hubby relating life to math, Go me!!!

I chose to share this, because, hey it's what I do. Lol. Know seriously though. I've had people question me about why we chose to become vegetarian and then vegan. I caught flack for YEARS from people for not eating beef or pork. I still get people looking at me sideways when I say we don't eat meat, like it's something totally foreign. It seems like whenever we do something that will benefit US and our health in positive way there's always someone that has something negative to say. They act as if we're crazy for eating the way we do or choosing not to eat foods we feel are unhealthy. There MUST be something wrong with us!! We are just choosing what we fell is a healthier lifestyle and you don't have to like it or respect it. It's what WE do over here and you don't have to be a part of that if you don't choose to.

A sister on FB shared a video of Dr. Sebi. He speaks a lot about electric foods and uses herbs for natural healing and it's actually documented that he's cured numerous people of various dis-eases. She mentioned trying to share this information with people and how often they just aren't trying to hear her. It got me to thinking how in the past I've often felt the exact same way. My response was, all you can do is to provide the information. So this is me sharing and hoping that someone, if only one person, finds something in this that may be as helpful to them as it has been for me.

So with all that being said..... I'm wishing everyone a very blessed and beautiful weekend.

Peace and Blessings!!!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Beginning the process....

Hey all! Hope it's been a great weekend for everyone. It's been gloomy and chilly all weekend here, needless to say I haven't been pleased. I notice how my mood is seriously determined by what the weather is, at times. I'm not looking forward to winter and cant think of ONE TIME where I ever have. There is NOTHING about the season that I enjoy. BLAH!!!!

I've been, for so long, contemplating going back to school. I come up with a million and one reasons why the time isn't right or why it's not feasible and while I continue to talk myself out of it time continues to pass and I continue to have the same conversations with myself why I should or why I shouldn't. So since it's an idea that I can't let go of, and it's becoming more apparent to me that I'm NOT going to be able to work in the type of environment I want to work in, or even really work for myself, without furthering my education the decision has been made.

I looked into a few schools, got information on the programs I was interested in, had a few phone and email conversations and have begun the process to start school in the spring. Hooray!! So of course winter can come and go soon enough now. Lol. I filled out my Fafsa, which was probably a waste of time. Since Son wasn't eligible for any financial aid, I'm sure I won't be either, but it doesn't hurt to try. CO also has something called the Colorado Opportunity Fund which is a stipend that CO residents get that pay a portion of their tuition. I think the max is $500 per semester.....every little bit helps right. So I applied for that as well. I think really the only requirement for that is that you be a CO resident.

I'm pretty certain that I'm going to be starting from scratch since it's been so long since I've been in school. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that at least SOME of my credits will transfer, so we'll have to wait and see on that one. I guess what ever the case is, the bottom line is time is going to come, and time is going to go and for me to not make the best use of my time is crazy. 4 years from now I could be sitting in the same position weighing my options; but instead of doing that I've decided to put myself in the position where in 4 years, hopefully much less than that, I will be in a better position career wise.