Fun and Mental Changes

I could really use a miracle!  Today is day two in whatever this thing that I'm doing is going to end up being.  I'm hopeful, as I always am, that THIS time it is going to take and my life with be transformed.  And by "it", I'm talking about overcoming my addiction to eating and living a healthy life!  Maybe now is the time!?!  I mean, when I was a smoker, I remember trying over and over again to quit and it just wouldn't take..... until it did.  And when it did, it was effortless and it was for good.  So I have experience with big, successful changes in my life.  Why couldn't the stars be aligned this time? Well, I believe they have.  And I'm not ashamed to say that I'm tapping into WHATEVER I have in my arsenal to take it on.  My Body For Life workout schedule, a daily Bible devotional, becoming addicted to self-help books (already there really) and taking advantage of a newly retired husband who can p...

I'M ON DAY 12 OF THE MASTER CLEANSE!!!!! For anyone who has ever done a fasting cleanse, you know that it is a big deal to get to day 10.  Anytime I can make it to the 10 day marker is a HUGE triumph for me (if you really knew me, you'd know that getting to day 3 is like a small miracle and I've only made it to day 10 a few times in the years that I've been cleansing), but this time around I discovered a little trick that seems to be making this whole process SOOOOO much easier.... and it was given to me by non other than Matthew McConaughey!  That's right, the actor... Alright, so he didn't DIRECTLY give me this trick, but I came about it after watching The Dallas Buyer's Club.  I googled (that's a real word now right?) interviews with him discussing his weight loss and I picked up on a little something he said about his transformation:  he said that he spent a lot of time reading and writing.  In other words, he occupied his mind!  BRILLIANT!!...

I've been gluten free in short bursts on and off for years, but I think this is the first time I've ever accomplished STAYING gluten free for a long period of time.  I'm coming up on a whole month and it feels WONDERFUL!!!!  I had no idea how bad I really felt.... all the time.  Sometimes you don't know how bad you feel until you start feeling good.  Well now I'm learning that it is a problem A LOT OF FOLKS might be having.  I just started the book Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis after hearing Dr. Wayne Dyer mention it on his New You Now video interview over at Hay House (click HERE to watch it) and then another friend of mine read it, cut out gluten and ALSO noticed a big change.  Well, with everyone getting these amazing results, I thought it would be worth a little shout out here on my blog. Just what if you could feel better?  What if you could have more energy?  What if mysterious symptoms weren't so mysterious after all?...

It FINALLY hit me!  The other night while hanging out with my crop-girls working on upcoming design team projects, the subject of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga (and my love for it) popped up.  In the past, it has nagged me that the name "Twilight" was somehow known to me.  Distant memories of the color palettes of Twilight, the allure of the paranormal subject, there was just SOMETHING so familiar to me.... like deja vu.  "I've been here, seen this, somewhere before." Yep, it hit me this morning.  Those distant memories, and the feeling of deja vu that I've had for YEARS since Twilight's first release, hit me like a ton of bricks this morning.  When I was in grade school, there was a series of books that I used to LOVE reading.  Because I was an air force brat and moved quite a bit, I only got to enjoy these books for a short time at one of the MANY schools I got to attend as a child (yay for well-stocked libraries for children).  I don't kno...

So... it has been a TERRIBLE month!!!  With the passing of our lab and now my husband having a stroke, I gotta say, I'm exhausted.  After all, this IS about ME, right?!?  HAHAHAHAHAHA!  I'm really only making a joke here because I'm on overload with every other emotion.  The reality is, my husband had a real scare and it left me with real feelings of guilt because I've allowed (and in most cases, led the coup) us to fall off our path of healthy living that we worked so hard on over the past two years.  We backslid into unhealthy eating and missing workouts.  Welp, we just had a wake-up call in one of the biggest ways imaginable.  There are only two things more important than our health, God and the health of our spouse.  And it's a funny thing that happens when we put our priorities in check, we actually DO take care of ourselves in the process.  Enter the 17 Day Diet.... and we are now on day 6. Health and diet books were at the ...

Well... all is well! It has been a tough two weeks, but as always, when you make it through, things get significantly brighter. As is the case today. I'm on the Master Cleanse again (it's that time again folks... I'm twice a year now) and I'm doing very well. I'm going to cleanse for 40 days this time, so I'm in it for the long haul. I'm reaching for homeostasis, and only TIME cleansing can give you that. I will then be following that up with a much slower cleanse with raw food so hopefully by the end of the year I will look 10 years younger! HA! Don't judge! God uses vanity to motivate too! LOL! Seriously though, my goal is ALWAYS divine health!!! So if things weren't already wonderful today with the cleanse, I was also just asked to be a Copic Marker demonstrator for a scrapping event this weekend!!! What an amazing honor! And this will work out perfectly with this cleanse because it will occupy my hands and my mind and keep me from eating!!! LOVE ...

So, I said a short while ago that I was going to get Jillian Michaels' new book, Master Your Metabolism, and I did! OMG!!!! IT IS THE BEST BOOK EVER TO BE PUBLISHED.... ok, that might be a little dramatic, but it's close!!! My health journey began years ago after having a nurse practitioner prescribe an antidepressant for me to take when there was nothing chemically wrong with me ON TOP of the multiple pain killers I was also prescribed prior to the antidepressant. And for those who do not know... if you ARE NOT depressed due to a chemical imbalance that the body cannot balance on it's own, chemicals added to your system cause SEVERE PROBLEMS.... like wanting to kill yourself problems! At least, that is what happened to me. I thought I was crazy and sought help which led me to work with a life coach out of a holistic clinic. I was FREED by this holistic doctor and set on a long path to achieve optimum health. My journey would later pick up pace when my sister invited me to ...

Most "Lemon Heads" know that The Master Cleanse includes a lemonade made with cayenne pepper. I know that lemon is a cleaning agent as well as breaks up mucus (sorry... kind of gross), but what about the benefits of the cayenne? I mean, come on! Cayenne pepper in lemonade, that can't be good... can it? YES! It not only tastes good, but is so good for you. There's just something about that sweet and spicy mix that just really works. Ask any culinary guru... they'll tell you. So, I just finished reading The Healing Power of Cayenne Pepper by Dr. Patrick Quillin because, while doing this cleanse, I just HAD to know... "Why cayenne pepper?" . Wow... GREAT book! It's not a thick book at all, but is FILLED with wonderful homeopathic uses for cayenne pepper. From allergies and asthma to obesity to ulcers (yes, I said ulcers), this book has got some amazing information in it. And while I certainly appreciated practical information to increase one's heal...

So I was doing a Bible study with my new ESV Bible that I got for Christmas and got to Matthew 17:21 and it wasn't there. The scriptures jumped from 20 to 22. What??? I called my sister (who loved my study Bible so much that she got one for herself) to ask her to check out that verse; it was missing from her Bible as well. What the heck??? I hit the panic switch! That Bible was my new favorite. I can't rely on a Bible MISSING scriptures. I was in shock that this Bible that had over 95 contributors to make it, had this big of an error in it. In my panic I began raving that I was going to call someone to get reimbursed for the Bible. Sure enough, my sister jumped on my panic train and added that she was going to burn hers. Ok, hang on a sec. Does every girl come equipped with a panic switch??? I'm laughing too hard to finish this post. My side is hurting.... hahahahahahaha! I was on the phone dialing the makers of the Bible when my sister saw the teeny tiny #4 footnote that ...