Catching Up

I can't believe it has been since April that I've blogged. I've had lots of things to happen that I could have blogged about however unfortunately I just haven't had the time. I should probably say I haven't made the time.

The last couple of years has been a sea of change for my family. Trevlyn is now 18, almost 19, and started college this fall at a local community college. Yes, he still lives at home! I wouldn't have it any other way. Elizabeth is a senior in high school, and planning her college future. She doesn't want to live at home once in college. She wants to live on campus of any college that will take her! I wish she'd stay at home too, but I'm trying not to hold her back. Once I had a lady tell me that if your children couldn't make it own their own once they were raised then you didn't do what you were supposed to do as a Mom. That is what we raise them to do, right? Be successful adults! I just wish I could wind the clock back a few years. I miss them being little. I miss the basketball games, t-ball games, and football games that we watched. I miss helping them with their homework. There is no way I can help them now! Trig, what's that? I just nod and smile when they start telling me about their homework. They are learning so much more than I did 20 years ago in high school.

I decided to post today because I wanted to record what is going on in my life right now. I am on a new journey. I have had many health problems over the last 2 years. Some of them I recorded here earlier. I've finally decided that the medical doctors weren't going to do anything for me other than make me addicted to medicine. I started going to a chiropractor in July of 2009 for the migraines I was having daily. The doctors at Exodus Chiropractic are absolutely fabulous. It is a christian atmosphere, and the doctors believe that God made our body to heal itself. This is what I've always been taught so it has been very easy for me to continue going. I visit them 2-3 times a week, and I always leave feeling refreshed both in body and mind.

One of the doctors is also a nutritionist. Back in April, he had a meeting about healthy eating. I went to the meeting and I really liked the plan but at that time I just didn't have the money to do it. It involved a full diet makeover and a detox. Oh, I forgot the most important part! Since April of 2009 when Charlie's parents were killed, I have gained a massive amount of weight.

The first of August 2010 I went back in to renegotiate our yearly contract, and I was told that over the last year I had overpaid. Oddly enough it was within $40 of what it would take me to start the nutrition program. I asked if they would be willing to take the overpayment and apply it to the program then let me pay the difference. The doctors agreed to apply my overpayment however they didn't make me pay anything extra. The doctor said that he had been praying for me. He said he had watched me struggle with my weight and he had prayed that if the Lord wanted me to do the program then he would make a way. HE made a way!!

To give you an idea of what is going on. Per my medical doctor and my nutritionist, my body is in adrenal failure or adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal failure is brought on by prolonged stress. To keep it simple if your adrenal glands quit producing enough hormones then your body doesn't process food(sugar) correctly, and there are a whole host of other problems that come along with it too. The symptoms include recurrent infections, muscle weakness and back pain, problems sleeping, dizziness, inflammation, hypoglycemia, headaches, moodiness, salt craving, swelling, brown spots on skin, and even heart problems. These are all the problems I've had over the last 18 months. You should see the brown spots on my face that have appeared just this year. I look older than my Mother!

In order to do the full program I must do a full body detox, and change my diet. I have to make my body start using the food that I eat for energy rather than using the quick sugar and caffeine hits that I was using. As of August 16th I haven't had any caffeine. I was up to drinking at least a pot a day if not more. Yes, I had major withdrawals. That in itself made me very angry. How could become so addicted to something and call myself a Christian? I'll have accomplished a lot if all I do is break my addiction to caffeine! As the days have went by I have removed more and more of the sugars from my diet, and as of August 30th I am only eating vegetables, protein, and a few berries. I can not have starches like potatoes, corn or pasta, sugar of any kind, wheat, flour, or fruit that is high in sugar. I can have 15g of protein with each meal and unlimited mostly green veggies. I only drink water, and herbal tea with no added sugar. Mostly, I just drink water. I've had hot tea the last few days just because I wanted something hot to drink! I make my own salad dressing out of apple cider vinegar and olive oil. I have learned to eat hummus, and I actually like it. I love almond butter with celery.

I know this isn't going to be easy. The doctor told me that it might take 60 days before I see any results. Some days when I'm eating my salad I think that I could hate this, but then I remember why I'm doing it. I want to be healthy! I do not want to die young. I have lost 5lbs as of today. That doesn't seem like much when I need to lose 50! I do feel better already. I can come home from work and not need to lay down immediately for a nap. This is going to be a long journey. I will have to make this a lifestyle change. My family is supporting me so that makes it a little easier.

I am going to try to record my daily challenges and meals. For the last few weeks I've been eating boiled eggs for breakfast, a salad at lunch, and then a protein and vegetable for supper. I do eat snacks during the day. Usually that is green peppers with hummus, celery with almond butter, cheese and olives, or cottage cheese and berries. Snacks are important to me because I feel like I am getting a reward!

Here we go....this is day 12 of the journey!