I saw the writing on the wall, butterflies going south, a few yellow leaves falling, birds acting funny and the squirrels are busy, really busy. Last night the temperature was in the upper 40's. I'm going to have to start paying attention to this, the passion flower on my arbor probably won't like a whole lot of that. I hate to bring it in until it is absolutely needed. I'll have to cut most of it off and try to get as much as possible to be brought in. It is already in a hanging pot by the arbor, but quite a lot of the vine is well wound around the structure. It's blooming so nice right now...
So I see it's been 18 months since I blogged. Honestly that's because my mother was my biggest blog fan and it was just too hard, and easy to blame on being busy. Perhaps she can still "read" it from her more celestrial surroundings.
Morgan has been in Africa since Thanksgiving time last year and will honestly been home again quite before we know it. This has been rough of me and the boys in different ways. I just get exhausted with all the different hats. I'm not much of a meal maker and have already informed CDR Shepard that I expect a different dinner every night for a month when he gets home. That suits him fine, he loves to cook and misses it. I'm sure he won't really miss the buffet.
Going to have to take the legos from Sam so he can nap. I had hoped he could lay down and play quietly with them, thus allowing him to slip into sleep but now I see he is standing with them to prevent such measures. Oh well. This might not be pretty, hold you ears!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Sugar Free
I'm not a very good blogger but I do try. Today I've started a sugarless, white flourless diet. Why? Because it's no good for you and it calls to me. Who's calling? Probably Candida in my system that makes me crave only sugar and have no interest in "real" food. So, I'm starving them out. Haha!
Since I've craved sugar for as long as I can remember I suspect I am ridden with Candida and/or their friends. I've had a sort of "thrush" rash on my arm for a long time now and even with remedies that clear up Sam's, mine keeps coming back. This makes me concerned that my body is the perfect place for infection right now. Stress, acute grief, adorable small children that I interact with 24/7...I need rest and cleansing! :)
So although my Facebook says I'm going Sugar/white flour free, the truth is I'm trying to follow an anti-Candida diet. What does the entail? Pretty much reversing everything that I eat. I'd challenge you to think about what foods "call" to you and then carefully consider if they truly nourish your body. Things like white flour, sugars (including all corn syrups), powdered milk and so on have had anything that might have been redeeming blasted out of them. Your body has to take it's own resources to digest them, leaving you worse off then before you ate. They should be called anti-foods or something...
So for the month of April (save once maybe around the 21st) I'm going to stay away from Sugar/white flour, learn to eat things I wouldn't normally and try to follow an anti-Candida diet. If you need to do something similar I'd challenge you to come along side me for the month. We can do it, together. :)
Since I've craved sugar for as long as I can remember I suspect I am ridden with Candida and/or their friends. I've had a sort of "thrush" rash on my arm for a long time now and even with remedies that clear up Sam's, mine keeps coming back. This makes me concerned that my body is the perfect place for infection right now. Stress, acute grief, adorable small children that I interact with 24/7...I need rest and cleansing! :)
So although my Facebook says I'm going Sugar/white flour free, the truth is I'm trying to follow an anti-Candida diet. What does the entail? Pretty much reversing everything that I eat. I'd challenge you to think about what foods "call" to you and then carefully consider if they truly nourish your body. Things like white flour, sugars (including all corn syrups), powdered milk and so on have had anything that might have been redeeming blasted out of them. Your body has to take it's own resources to digest them, leaving you worse off then before you ate. They should be called anti-foods or something...
So for the month of April (save once maybe around the 21st) I'm going to stay away from Sugar/white flour, learn to eat things I wouldn't normally and try to follow an anti-Candida diet. If you need to do something similar I'd challenge you to come along side me for the month. We can do it, together. :)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Plants!
To prove that I am trying to follow my own advise I give you pictures of the 10 house plants I purchased at K&W Greenery. Yes, I know they won't do me much good hanging out in my new little greenhouse but hanging pots are hard to come by in sub-zero weather. If you have a favorite air cleaning house plant be sure to let me know! I'm always excited to procure a new plant. So far we have spider plants, snake plant, dracaena, peace lily, English, ivy, golden pothos, and maybe some others that I can't think of at the moment. We looked at weeping figs and chinese evergreens, but those only came in big 6 or 8 inch pots and I like the little 4 inch ones. Much more cost effective. Ben noticed that the spider plant had a baby plant and insisted I get a little pot for the baby plant. Mother and baby are doing well. :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Cancer Prevention
Since I have pretty much lost faith in mainstream medicine, I am determined to change my lifestyle to be the best advocate for my body and my family. I do not want them to have to go through again, what the last several months brought us. Watching out mother fade away over several months and really being helpless to stop it was/is very painful. Pancreatic cancer is a terrible disease. My mother was a shadow of herself when she passed. I would like to find a way to make sure research is funded but I'm not sure that's enough. I feel that cancer is a symptom of something that has gone very wrong. Treating the cancer is like a tissue for a runny nose. Our western ways need to be challenged. The way we eat, socialize, work, play, love all contribute to who we are and our wellness. So I am going to start my own plan of prevention which will be the topic of this blog for a while. Maybe I'll start some huge awareness campaign, write a book or go into politics. Time will tell...till then I give you my wellness ideas.
Reduce your Toxic Load!!!
- Houseplants around your house to clean up the air. Make sure you let the soil dry out so you don't start a mold farm. There are resources online that can tell you which plants clean up what your air.
- Consider carefully what chemicals you use to clean...and don't trust marketing. Look into using only products that are natural, fragrance free. Detergents, glass cleaners, kitchen & bathroom cleaners etc.
- Avoid air-fresheners, scented candles and the like. They make the air you breathe in your home toxic.
- Consider carefully what you put on or near your skin. Shampoos, body lotions, shaving creams, cosmetics, hand soaps..most contains stuff that is toxic. I've read that 4lbs of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your body every year...ewww.
- Prescriptions and over the counter remedies. Almost all prescriptions and remedies that can be found at the drug store treat symptoms and cause additional symptoms or conditions. This is a deadly circle that should be avoided. Throw out all your drug store remedies, and work with you doctor to get off of prescriptions. You might need to find a naturepath doctor to work on the true cause of whatever is bothering you. I'm willing to bet most conditions can be treated with proper diet.
- Eat organic food. Buy local! Shop the edge of the grocery store and avoid packaged foods. When at all possible eat foods that you grew/raised yourself. When that isn't possible do as much processing as you can yourself. Bake your own bread or better yet grind your grain just before you bake. Most can't raise their own grain but this would be ideal. Find a place where you can pick your own produce that you can't grow yourself. If you can't make it yourself, consider if this is something that is essential to your diet. I find that if it's something I'm not willing to spend the time making myself, I can live without it. (example. I can get motivated to make Creme Brulee, but haven't tried making homemade pastas.) Find a friend that raises animals for eating. This meat will be much better for you. Get a big chest freezer and buy meats in bulk from a local farmer. Consider carefully the journey your food has taken before you eat it and decide if you want to incorporate that journey into your body. Think about or research all the machines chemicals, and processing that it takes before a product gets to the grocery store. In many cases it's only "food" by technicality. Consider the teenagers that assembles your Value Meals from "foods" processed and shipped from a factory half way across the world at the local fast food establishment. I believe that everything that happens to your food before it gets to you becomes part of you. We have become disconnected from our food sources...it's time to reconnect.
Reduce your Toxic Load!!!
- Houseplants around your house to clean up the air. Make sure you let the soil dry out so you don't start a mold farm. There are resources online that can tell you which plants clean up what your air.
- Consider carefully what chemicals you use to clean...and don't trust marketing. Look into using only products that are natural, fragrance free. Detergents, glass cleaners, kitchen & bathroom cleaners etc.
- Avoid air-fresheners, scented candles and the like. They make the air you breathe in your home toxic.
- Consider carefully what you put on or near your skin. Shampoos, body lotions, shaving creams, cosmetics, hand soaps..most contains stuff that is toxic. I've read that 4lbs of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your body every year...ewww.
- Prescriptions and over the counter remedies. Almost all prescriptions and remedies that can be found at the drug store treat symptoms and cause additional symptoms or conditions. This is a deadly circle that should be avoided. Throw out all your drug store remedies, and work with you doctor to get off of prescriptions. You might need to find a naturepath doctor to work on the true cause of whatever is bothering you. I'm willing to bet most conditions can be treated with proper diet.
- Eat organic food. Buy local! Shop the edge of the grocery store and avoid packaged foods. When at all possible eat foods that you grew/raised yourself. When that isn't possible do as much processing as you can yourself. Bake your own bread or better yet grind your grain just before you bake. Most can't raise their own grain but this would be ideal. Find a place where you can pick your own produce that you can't grow yourself. If you can't make it yourself, consider if this is something that is essential to your diet. I find that if it's something I'm not willing to spend the time making myself, I can live without it. (example. I can get motivated to make Creme Brulee, but haven't tried making homemade pastas.) Find a friend that raises animals for eating. This meat will be much better for you. Get a big chest freezer and buy meats in bulk from a local farmer. Consider carefully the journey your food has taken before you eat it and decide if you want to incorporate that journey into your body. Think about or research all the machines chemicals, and processing that it takes before a product gets to the grocery store. In many cases it's only "food" by technicality. Consider the teenagers that assembles your Value Meals from "foods" processed and shipped from a factory half way across the world at the local fast food establishment. I believe that everything that happens to your food before it gets to you becomes part of you. We have become disconnected from our food sources...it's time to reconnect.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Our Mother, Rest in Peace; Cynthia Thomas (54-08)
To All,
As some of you may have heard by now but our mother, Cynthia Thomas of Charletstown, RI, went to Heaven on Christmas Day, 25 December, 2008, after a short illness. She was surrounded by family and loved ones as we all celebrated Cindi's favorite day together.
There will be a Memorial Celebration on Friday, January 2 at Wakefield Baptist Church, 236 Main Street, Wakefield, RI, 6-8pm. In lieu of flowers/gifts we are asking that donations "In Memory" be made to Pancreatic Cancer research at http://www.lustgartencommunity.org/cindi. Research is needed to find the cure and ways for early diagnosis of this devastating disease.
We thank you for your prayers and thoughts during this past year.
God Bless,
Morgan, Kate, Ben & Sam
http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000122019197X
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Modern Medicine
While staying with my parents to help out I have found some medical practice things that frustrate me. I'm going to try to respect my mom's privacy and stay about from specifics pertaining to her situation....think of this more of an overall frustration(s) with Mainstream thinking.
Sam is 99.9% breastfed. Yes, I know he's nearly 11 months old but he seems to be doing just fine without "solid" food. I'm offended by the baby food companies that try to tell me otherwise. I'm equally offended by the formula companies that send samples of formula for "the next step." Cow's milk wouldn't be lacking if they quit mistreating animals and treated the milk gently. Let the cows out into the pasture to feed freely on the nice green grasses and stop treating cows like machinery. Unsafe, unclean conditions are what makes for unsafe meats and dairy products. Mistreating the milk is just their answer to covering their butts and saving money. Pasteurizing and homogenizing ruins the milk...but formula made with science and chemicals is certainly not the answer. Human milk is best, then unfooled-around-with milk from a farm that you trust would be next. We need to stop mistreating our animals and children.
I am grateful for the parade of volunteers, nurses and lab techs that come through our door. However I feel that instead of sending nurses to take vitals 2-3 times a week, healing would be much better if they sent Whole Food chefs to make nutrient dense mini-meals. Have them come in a couple of times a week, make up easy meals with lots of good foods and toss them in the fridge or freezer. Sick people don't seem to be motivated to feed themselves and those taking care of them get so busy it's hard to make really good food. Please send us a chef that knows about healing foods!
Also I am frustrated with the way Mainstream Medicine approaches care. They seem quick to medicate the symptoms and not deal with the deeper problems. If there is sickness, it's because something in the body is out of balance. If there is infection it's because something allowed the bad bacteria to defeat the good ones. Now, with a life threatening, out of control infection I'm sure some anti-biotics is the first thing to do...but this does not deal with the original problem. You have now killed of all the bacteria, friendly and otherwise. When are doctors going to prescribe pro-biotics to help restore balance? When are they going to analyze their patients diet to see that their dependency on fast carbs and denatured foods has made their body the perfect place for chronic disease and infection? If you are sick, even just a little there is a reason and it isn't always as obvious as taking something over the counter for your runny nose. Your body is talking to you, listen.
I'm frustrated also by the FDA. I believe there are many very helpful remedies for acute and chronic disease out there that the FDA doesn't approve because of pressure from the drug industry. I've heard that the extract of mistletoe is perfect for cancer patients...but to get this therapy you have to either go to Europe or search for a USA doctor who will get it for you...and even then I think it would be a challenge. Mistletoe is said to fight the cancer cells (without damaging the rest of the body, a claim that Chemo can't make) and build up the immune system. Sounds like a good option to me.
We need to take care of the whole person. We need to realize that, just like unleaded cars dying on leaded fuel we need to take care and pay attention to what we put in and near our bodies. The government isn't going to help with this...they are driven by money. The food and drug industries are running things right now and this needs to be changed. I am outraged by the new commercials on TV that are trying to say that high fructose corn syrup is nutritionally the same as sugar and okay in moderation. 1. I do not believe it is the same but much, much worse for you and 2. there is no such thing as moderation when HFCS is the main ingredient in almost all packaged foods, sweet or otherwise. Have you noticed that most soda (pop for those back in WI) contains no sugar anymore and just HFCS? These lies are paid for by the corn refiners industry.
Okay, now that I have these thoughts out on my head, perhaps I'll rest tonight. They have been bouncing around up there long enough. Time to get my Weston A Price Foundation books out and do some more reading on nutritionally dense eating. "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" by Sally Fallon and "The Fourfold Path to Healing: Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutics, Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine" by Thomas S. Cowan are my reads these days. Both available at Amazon.com for much less than their list price. Happy reading! :)
Sam is 99.9% breastfed. Yes, I know he's nearly 11 months old but he seems to be doing just fine without "solid" food. I'm offended by the baby food companies that try to tell me otherwise. I'm equally offended by the formula companies that send samples of formula for "the next step." Cow's milk wouldn't be lacking if they quit mistreating animals and treated the milk gently. Let the cows out into the pasture to feed freely on the nice green grasses and stop treating cows like machinery. Unsafe, unclean conditions are what makes for unsafe meats and dairy products. Mistreating the milk is just their answer to covering their butts and saving money. Pasteurizing and homogenizing ruins the milk...but formula made with science and chemicals is certainly not the answer. Human milk is best, then unfooled-around-with milk from a farm that you trust would be next. We need to stop mistreating our animals and children.
I am grateful for the parade of volunteers, nurses and lab techs that come through our door. However I feel that instead of sending nurses to take vitals 2-3 times a week, healing would be much better if they sent Whole Food chefs to make nutrient dense mini-meals. Have them come in a couple of times a week, make up easy meals with lots of good foods and toss them in the fridge or freezer. Sick people don't seem to be motivated to feed themselves and those taking care of them get so busy it's hard to make really good food. Please send us a chef that knows about healing foods!
Also I am frustrated with the way Mainstream Medicine approaches care. They seem quick to medicate the symptoms and not deal with the deeper problems. If there is sickness, it's because something in the body is out of balance. If there is infection it's because something allowed the bad bacteria to defeat the good ones. Now, with a life threatening, out of control infection I'm sure some anti-biotics is the first thing to do...but this does not deal with the original problem. You have now killed of all the bacteria, friendly and otherwise. When are doctors going to prescribe pro-biotics to help restore balance? When are they going to analyze their patients diet to see that their dependency on fast carbs and denatured foods has made their body the perfect place for chronic disease and infection? If you are sick, even just a little there is a reason and it isn't always as obvious as taking something over the counter for your runny nose. Your body is talking to you, listen.
I'm frustrated also by the FDA. I believe there are many very helpful remedies for acute and chronic disease out there that the FDA doesn't approve because of pressure from the drug industry. I've heard that the extract of mistletoe is perfect for cancer patients...but to get this therapy you have to either go to Europe or search for a USA doctor who will get it for you...and even then I think it would be a challenge. Mistletoe is said to fight the cancer cells (without damaging the rest of the body, a claim that Chemo can't make) and build up the immune system. Sounds like a good option to me.
We need to take care of the whole person. We need to realize that, just like unleaded cars dying on leaded fuel we need to take care and pay attention to what we put in and near our bodies. The government isn't going to help with this...they are driven by money. The food and drug industries are running things right now and this needs to be changed. I am outraged by the new commercials on TV that are trying to say that high fructose corn syrup is nutritionally the same as sugar and okay in moderation. 1. I do not believe it is the same but much, much worse for you and 2. there is no such thing as moderation when HFCS is the main ingredient in almost all packaged foods, sweet or otherwise. Have you noticed that most soda (pop for those back in WI) contains no sugar anymore and just HFCS? These lies are paid for by the corn refiners industry.
Okay, now that I have these thoughts out on my head, perhaps I'll rest tonight. They have been bouncing around up there long enough. Time to get my Weston A Price Foundation books out and do some more reading on nutritionally dense eating. "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" by Sally Fallon and "The Fourfold Path to Healing: Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutics, Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine" by Thomas S. Cowan are my reads these days. Both available at Amazon.com for much less than their list price. Happy reading! :)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
eeek!
It's been weeks since I've posted last...hmmm let me think of some good reasons why. (Pictured left if my new little 2G MP3 player)
I had been looking forward to September thinking things would slow down and we could catch up with life...but that doesn't seem to be the case. Morgan has meetings now and then, Awana on Wednesday night, I go to Curves 2-3 times a week, Pilates twice a week, Irish Dance on Wednesday nights, and we have a Financial class at church on Thursday nights. Once a month I have Weston A. Price Foundation, La leache league, Food sensitivity support group, and there seems like there are others that I'm forgetting. Sometimes I throw in a Pampered Chef party for fun. I'm looking for hosts if that is something you could help me out with. :)
In addition to this, if you haven't heard my momma has been in and out of the hospital, currently in and that has been on my mind a lot. We are praying for healing and for her to be on the mend soon.
Our contract to sell our house with Shorewest has expired and we are moving on to a different builder and realtor. They are doing a market analysis (or lack there of) and we will know more tomorrow whether or not they would buy our house so that we can get into one of their houses. We'll have to see how the finances pan out. I have been diligently sending in my Publisher's clearing house entries in hopes of winning the 5K a week for life. That would certainly help with process! With the new builder we will also need to sell the lot we bought as the new builder only builds on his lots.
I have been grumpy, dog tired and think that the stress of my mom's condition is wearing on me. I have continued exercising hoping that this will help me through. Usually I would turn to junk food to give me a boost (and drop) but even our wholesome food doesn't seem to get me going. I need to find another way of getting energy instead of grabbing a Snickers, but so far all the seems to work is exercise...sometimes talking with Sam helps because he is usually all smiles, but poor Benjamin just wears me out.
Speaking of Sam, it seems it's time for a game of "chew mama's chin" so that's all for today!
I had been looking forward to September thinking things would slow down and we could catch up with life...but that doesn't seem to be the case. Morgan has meetings now and then, Awana on Wednesday night, I go to Curves 2-3 times a week, Pilates twice a week, Irish Dance on Wednesday nights, and we have a Financial class at church on Thursday nights. Once a month I have Weston A. Price Foundation, La leache league, Food sensitivity support group, and there seems like there are others that I'm forgetting. Sometimes I throw in a Pampered Chef party for fun. I'm looking for hosts if that is something you could help me out with. :)
In addition to this, if you haven't heard my momma has been in and out of the hospital, currently in and that has been on my mind a lot. We are praying for healing and for her to be on the mend soon.
Our contract to sell our house with Shorewest has expired and we are moving on to a different builder and realtor. They are doing a market analysis (or lack there of) and we will know more tomorrow whether or not they would buy our house so that we can get into one of their houses. We'll have to see how the finances pan out. I have been diligently sending in my Publisher's clearing house entries in hopes of winning the 5K a week for life. That would certainly help with process! With the new builder we will also need to sell the lot we bought as the new builder only builds on his lots.
I have been grumpy, dog tired and think that the stress of my mom's condition is wearing on me. I have continued exercising hoping that this will help me through. Usually I would turn to junk food to give me a boost (and drop) but even our wholesome food doesn't seem to get me going. I need to find another way of getting energy instead of grabbing a Snickers, but so far all the seems to work is exercise...sometimes talking with Sam helps because he is usually all smiles, but poor Benjamin just wears me out.
Speaking of Sam, it seems it's time for a game of "chew mama's chin" so that's all for today!
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