169398 Dealing With A Teen

Let's just say, nothing happens in a vacuum, and options were considered. My daughter is moving to VA for a few months. Gas prices are down, but Bus/Train/Plane prices are up for Spring Break! It looks to be much less expensive to drive there and back than to send her one-way alone on the least expensive public transportation. My elder daughter wants to go with us. That's good, because I did not look forward to driving back alone. I'm planning my meals now, which will entail bringing my own butter and coconut oil to add to hot water while driving. Also, I have some dehydrated, organic foods that will fit the diet. My SIL is on the Bulletproof, so while there, eating will be no problem. My girls have their own money, and can buy their own food when I stop for gasoline and hot water. When driving like this, I do well with Polyphasic sleep. I fall into what this article calls the "Everyman Cycle". I sleep for two to four hours, then take several short naps as needed. It keeps me alert while driving, and I don't have to down mass quantities of coffee. On this schedule, I can drive those four days without drinking any coffee at all! Every time I've tried the Uberman version, I just revert to the Everyman. In fact, the Everyman cycle was called "Insomnia" by my doctor, but as long as I can get the naps, I feel fine and healthy! Before I go, I'm going to start some more celery in the camper. When I get back, I should be able to plant it in pots to leave outside.

160211 New Blog

Today, I started a new blog for political posts. This blog will return to just oils, family, and maybe some Bible. The new blog is located at livingandenergetic.blogspot.com

Thank-you!

160115 Consented to Chemicals

About midnight, pain was a 10, and my daughter, who doesn't have a driver's license, almost tried to drive my 6-speed to the ER while I whimpered in a fetal position. I kept asking for ten minutes until we both fell into fitful sleep. When I woke, the pain was down to dull ache, so I thought I was through the worst of it.

At noon, the pain meter started to rise again, so I took myself to the clinic. As usual, the medical people frowned and asked me how I was tolerating this, and prescribed a lot of med. I have massive infections in both ears, all my sinus' are totally blocked with infectious crud, and one eye is diseased. Also, the creeping crud is attempting to make a foot hold in my lungs. While I was paying the bill, my right eardrum burst, so they dragged me back to the examination room to clean that, too. At least the pain quit, even if once again, I have to see a person's lips to know what he or she is saying.

They worked with me on the drugs, so it didn't take my life savings. After one set of doses, however, I remembered what really bothers me about Albuteral, and that I have to continually remind myself why Predisone is so very bad for me, because steroids make everything OK. (Reading warning labels NOW!) I find it funny that opiates make me paranoid and receive my undying hatred, but steroids make me feel really, really good. (I am, in fact, indulging in a little gluten right now, because Predisone keeps its horrible reactions away.) Tomorrow, I will be getting some drops for the infections in my eye and ears. I'm supposed to pick up over-the-counter Flonase, which I hate, so I'll pass. I cannot take showers until my ear heals, but I can breathe steam when I make tea. That will take care of most of what Flonase is supposed to do.

I'll be drinking lots of fluids, including Jewish Penicillin. The doctor thought this started as Cedar Fever. "Cedar Fever" is actually an allergy to the pollen from Mountain Cedar. Pollination started a few weeks ago and will continue through March. I moved into the worst place possible for Cedar Fever. It will develop into an infectious disease when the immune system is shocked or weakened. Driving 3000 miles with little sleep and emotional stress qualifies as a system shock. Next year, I shall prepare myself for this Hill Country gem.

151208 Healed!

This morning, I went to the doctor. He took x-rays, and showed that I don't have to go back. We are done. :D

151207 Oils For This Winter

My Winter Oils Nov/Dec 2015

Eyes:

Uplifts and strengthens. It contains the essential oils of rosemary, juniper, lemongrass, nutmeg, Idaho balsam fir, clove, and black pepper. These have been used traditionally for mental alertness, but the combination also has properties that make this blend beneficial in the fight against cataracts. Which brings me to:

Also uplifts, strengthens, and fights cataracts. It has so many wonderful healing properties, that it is no wonder than it was one of the gifts given to the Christ child. The combination of frankincense and myrrh covers every possible childhood illness. I alternate En-R-Gee and frankincense for my eyes.

Broken Bone Blend:

contains basil, marjoram, lavender, peppermint, and cypress to make a blend that soothes and relaxes. Its constituents also encourage the regrowth of bones.

High Blood Pressure:

contains ylang ylang, (a Chinese flower), cypress, helichrysum, and majoram to energize and support one's life force. This combination also reduces blood pressure. I apply it over my heart and on my left foot at the Vita Flex heart point.

Diabetes:

lowers insulin needs for diabetics while stabilizing blood sugar. It also addresses high blood pressure. I need both. We used to have this growing in our front yard!

has many good uses, but I chose it for its anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties.

is anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory. It also helps with obesity. I used to chew the seeds for bladder infections.

These are all the oils I'm taking regularly this winter. I add others as needed, such as Thieves. I thought I was getting a cold, so diffused Thieves over night, and the scratchy throat is gone. :D

151123 Emergency Supplies

Today, I was reading about emergency supplies. This is something that interests me. Here is part of the list of things one needs for emergencies.

Medical supplies to have on hand:

• Scissors
• Cloth or paper medical tape 1-2 inch wide
• 4 x 4 gauze; it can be folded over when the injury is small.
• Ace bandages — 3-5 inches wide for the lower and upper extremities
• Slings
• Splinter remover to remove foreign bodies
• Ice pack

Although I edited this list a little for my own needs, I had to totally scrap his list of medications. We use essential oils, which have something like a twenty year shelf life.

Oils we need for common ailments and emergencies:

1. Thieves® treats all viral and bacterial infections.
2. Pain medications:
   1. Severe pain: equal parts copaiba, balsam fir, and frankincense. Place four drops each into 00 capsule and take every three to five hours as needed.
   2. Headache: vetiver, marjoram, lemon, and coriander. Place three drops each into 00 capsule and take as needed.
   3. Body aches: cypress and lemongrass. Place three drops each into 00 capsule, add several drops of olive oil, and take as needed.
3. Breathing medications: Peppermint, Wintergreen, or eucalyptus. Smell one or all.
4. Gastrointestinal medications: Apply DiGize® to the tummy area, or take internally.
5. Skin medications: frankincense, lavender and carrot work well for skin conditions. Mix with equal parts of carrier oil, and apply topically. For sunscreen, add about thirty drops of lavender to four ounces of sesame oil and apply to skin.
6. Psychotropic medications: Ha! Use Peace and Calming®, Grounding®, or Common Sense® or some other blend that address the specific complaint. Frankincense is also good for improving one's mood, especially when coupled with the Word of God!
7. Diabetic medications: Common Sense® works. My favorite blend uses four drops each of ocotea, clove, and bergamot.

So, now I have the ultimate list of oils to keep with me. I shall build my supply. These oils keep for years, even decades, unopened, so stockpiling is not the waste of money that chemical medications could become. Plus, some of them can be grown locally.

My short list of valuable oils:

Aroma Siez

Balsam fir

Bergamot

Clove

Copiaba

DiGize

Fennel

Frankincense

Lavender

Ocotea

Peppermint

Thieves

Ylang Ylang

These guys are the ones I use on a regular basis. Other that I that would be nice to have on hand would be:

Common Sense®

Coriander

Cypress

Eucalyptus Globulus

Grounding®

Lemon

Lemongrass

Marjoram

Peace and Calming®

Vetiver

Vetiver is one I should probably have, because it provides emotional grounding and sleep support. Frankly, I have no problem with my sleep. I have come to like the cat naps I take instead of the one long chunk. Insomnia is good for writing. On the other hand, 

vetiver is a vital ingredient in the alternative to acetaminophen.

151120 What Helps With Winter Illness?

Jewish penicillin helps, and I force it onto my children. Another thing that really works are Young Living (R) essential oils. In 1976, I caught my first case of bronchitis in my first year of college. It was horrible and I received penicillin for it. Every year thereafter, I caught a case of bronchitis, and doctors treated it with antibiotics. Antibiotics give me the runs. By 2005, I was getting bronchitis twice a year. Sometimes, it escalated into walking pneumonia. Antibiotics were no longer eliminating the disease after the normal course of ten days to two weeks. The side effects became worse. I also developed a continual case of asthma. I suffered from the side effects of the drugs, but ignoring the disease made it last for months instead of weeks, and it still took a two week dose of ever stronger antibiotics with their side effects to stop the horrible chest infection.

In 2009, I became involved with essential oils. I was at work, but had accidentally left my inhaler at home. A friend shoved a bottle of peppermint essential oil at me, so I used it like an inhaler. It worked as well. I could breathe again. I used it once more that day. She told me to keep the bottle. Six months later, I threw away my inhaler, because I no longer needed it. I've had all of one attack since 2009; peppermint quickly took care of it.

The next time bronchitis hit, I used a variety of oils on my feet, covered them with socks, and went to bed with socks in place. I did this every night for two weeks as if it were the old prescription of antibiotics. Bronchitis came only once that year. The following year, bronchitis hit again, but instead of two weeks, it lasted only one. For the winter of 2014, it didn't come at all. I have not had so much as a cold since then. Respiratory allergies do not plague me anymore. I confirm this by regularly checking my vitals. It's wonderful to be well.

When I broke my foot last month, pain stopped with the application of essential oils. I use a "Bone Blend" to speed healing. My diabetes has been under control without chemical medication. I pursue a low carbohydrate diet, perform regular exercise, and apply essential oils. Learn more at www.youngliving.org/mynesdojomom and oil-testimonials.com/1217697.

150707 Cream, No Coffee

Have you ever read the book, Eat Right 4 Your Type? A lot of nutritionists and natural food affectionados hate it, because it challenges everything we 'know' about food. I found it compelling, but the author said that Type Os that followed the Type O diet would find it so. I have type O blood, and I used to be a vegetarian. I was sick all the time. ER4YT convinced me to go on the Atkins. My personal diet looks like Atkins meets Bullet Proof. (Sorry - got busy and quit posting it.)

Type Os have to eat meat and must avoid grains and dairy products. When I did that, my lifelong eczema cleared up. I had smooth skin for the first time in my life. Itching stopped. Flatulence stopped. The ringing in my ears stopped, and I gained energy. The list of foods a person can and cannot have is detailed and perplexing, so one must carry the list everywhere. My ex and my elder daughter have Type A blood, so they had to eat opposite what I did. It made meal times complicated. She prepares her own vegetarian fare while my other daughter and I consume our carnivorous delights. My ex has to eat what they give him.

This brings me to coffee. I miss coffee. Coffee is bad for Type Os. We can have tea. We cannot drink tea with impunity. We must confine our tea drinking to green tea -- small amounts of green tea. Apparently, caffeine is bad for us. Type As, however, thrive on it. They may have mass quantities of strong, hot coffee! It is considered to be HIGHLY BENEFICIAL for them to drink coffee. My daughter lives off of the stuff. She drinks coffee like a marine, i.e., black, no sugar, and strong enough to stand without the cup. I miss coffee.

150628 Feet and Frostbite

My feet and ankles feel a little better. Did I mention that I injured them a week or so ago? That makes it hard to exercise, but wheelchair exercises can burn a few calories. I have to continue wearing my pair of SAS in this heat because my Birkinstocks do not have enough stability to keep my feet from twisting as I walk.

Swimming could be a good exercise option, but that involves driving to the pool. In six months, I plan to live where a pool is.

Why is it so hard to wear shoes? I grew up barefoot, then in my 20s, I started hiking and camping in CO. One weekend, we were surprised by a sudden snow storm. The truck wouldn't start and my feet froze. The frostbite messed up the nerves in my toes, so when they get a little warm, it feels like my feet are on fire. When they get chilled, they ache like day they froze. They feel best when free, enjoying soft grass and a warm breeze, or while swimming in warm water.

Shoes are jail for my feet.

So, I posted this story on Fat Secret, and someone targeted my diabetes and suggested a series of expensive pharmaceuticals. Well, the frostbite came thirty years before the pancreatitis attack in 2010. The pancreatitis attack caused the diabetes. The problems with my feet have nothing to do with diabetes. She just wanted to help, but sometimes help is not helpful.

I suppose I should make this into a site for stories of healing only, and start another site for personal stuff. This will entail actual study on how to make good links and how to get actual traffic. Here are some oils I use. Between limiting protein and carbohydrates, and using these oils daily, my fasting glucose levels have been steady and under 100. This is very good news.

150320 Essential Oil "Morphine Bomb"

No, there are no opiates in it. For the last few days, I felt like seeping garbage. I probably smell funny, too. A week or so ago, I bragged that I hadn't had so much as a cold for years, and guess what? I have a cold, or a flu, or the creeping crud. I am feeling like nine-day-old vomit that the dog won't touch. Why is it that a cold feels so much worse than a near-death experience?

Last week, a friend asked me about the "Morphine Bomb". It was all over Facebook for awhile. Essential oil people claim that it alleviates pain. I made one for Moon, and she said her migraine left. Then that Mack Truck hit me...

I was laying in bed wondering if I could possibly feel any worse when I realized that the oils I used on Moon were still on the counter.

Five drops each into a gelatin capsule makes a pain-killing combo that also makes me happy. I wonder if this stuff is addictive? My sinus cavities are still stuffed and draining out the back, so my throat is still scratchy, but the pain is gone. Did I mention that it also made me happy?

It's not cheap; it costs about $5 a dose, but compared to chemical meds, it's a bargain! These three bottles together cost $240.00 and make about 50 capsules. In come cases, money CAN buy happiness. In additions to certain other properties, Frankincense is a mood lifter. ;)

Find these and other oils under "Product Line"

150318 Bleach Alternative

Farmer's Almanac published this:

Bleach Alternative

1 ½ cups 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/2 cup lemon juice
Water to fill a gallon jug
12 drops lemon essential oil

Place a funnel in the top of a gallon jug and pour in the hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice. Remove the funnel and fill the jug with water. Add the lemon essential oil. Cap the jug and shake to combine.

To use:  Add one cup of bleach alternative per load of white laundry.  Add one cup of the bleach alternative solution to the bleach dispenser in your washing machine or directly into the washing machine along with cleaning liquid as the machine fills up with water, before adding the white laundry. Wash as usual. The clothes will come out of the washer fresh, clean, and whiter.

150209 Water Is Not a Problem; Godzilla is.

I thought I'd better update everyone on the 'water' problem. The plumbers fixed it. The end.

Or is it?

Fans of the old Japanese science fiction horror films might see the humor in that. It was the tag end of the old black and white Godzilla films. It could be that a miniature version of Godzilla now lives in the pipes. Every time I flush the toilet, the bathtub glubs. Online research says that there is trapped air in the line, or maybe an $8 valve is defective. Either way, I'm not removing the wooden skirting and crawling in the soggy mud under the house to find it. It is too minor for that. Internet 'experts' suggested that it may be caused by too much TP, so we'll start with reducing that. Isn't this a fun topic?

Yesterday, I told people that I talked about essential oils in my blog. Yeah, I need to do something about actually doing that. Essential oils won't fix plumbing. They may make me feel better about it, but they are not designed to deal with technology! For the first time in years, I have been experiencing 'hay fever'. It used to be so bad, I could not function without heavy doses of antihistamines and decongestants. Then, I discovered that certain foods made the rhinitis worse, and drinking more water made the stuffiness go away. Why did it come back?

Usually, a whiff of peppermint or lavender would stop the drip, but that wasn't working this time. I went all out and tried Harmony:



At $85 for this little bottle, I should hope it would work, and it did. I like the smell, too. Back to my question - why did the rhinitis come back? The answer lies in the diet aid someone suggested to me. I've been guzzling Bullet Proof Coffee. It contains cream. Cream comes from cow's milk. Cow's milk products cause my body to fight itself, (a.k.a. allergies). I've also been eating quite a bit of cheese. I was using cheese as a substitute for various high carbohydrate snacks. Mystery solved. Quit the cow's milk products. Bullet Proof Coffee without cream needs a lot of stevia. My body will thank me for this, even as my mouth cries over the lack. I should check to see if goat's milk causes the same excess of drip. Almond milk might work.

Bullet Proof Coffee came from the Paleo Diet (220-270 calories and 0.5 carbohydrates)
1 large cup coffee
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of cream (optional)
stevia to taste.

123014 New Year

There really is nothing magic about changing the calendar. Tradition makes a fuss over it with celebrations that emphasize their pagan origins, such as trees and presents to Woden, elves in chimneys, socks on mantles, holly boughs, special lights, special colors, etc. Yeah, I’m no fun at this time of year, because I know too much about how all our happy little traditions have their origins in paganism. (Christ was born on Tishri 1, or Rosh Hashana, and not on the Winter Solstice like so many pagan gods were.)

The drunken revelry known as New Year’s Eve is simply part of that pagan festival over the return of the Sun God. These stories can be traced all the way back to the times before Babylon when Noah’s great-grandson rejected the True God. Enough of that. This bit of archaeological knowledge simply fuels the depression I feel year after year for the battle-cry of the “reason for the season”, which has absolutely nothing to do with the Son of God and everything to do with frenzy.

So, despite my feelings for the change in calendar, I plan to re-start some resolutions on January 4th. I pick this day, because it allows me to consume the rest of the non-compliant foods in my refrigerator, such as those sweet potatoes a friend gave me or the sugar-free cranberry sauce I made. This is not a “New Year’s” resolution. This is this week’s resolution. I also have to make daily resolutions. I live too much in the present to control my eating habits for a whole year. It has to be a day by day decision. Days become weeks and so on.

I also plan to exercise. Ugh.

141218 Atkins Crosspost

141218 Morning BG Is One Ten.

...and I feel nauseous. I ate nuts yesterday. My intestines feel wobbly today. I'm guessing that nuts don't work for me. This is the first time in two days that my blood glucose levels got out of the normal range. 

Unlike some people, constipation is not my problem. I went to the doctor for gas and diarrhea in the early 1990s. He said it was I BS and put me on a high fiber diet, which included lots of wheat bran. The condition became much, much worse, but I had neither money, nor insurance to go back to the doctor.

 

Five or six years later, I read ER4YT, The runs quit, because I eliminated all wheat, rye, barley, oats. etc. from my diet. Bye, bye cow's milk products, which ended the stinky gas. My intestines loved me until panceatitis and gall bladder surgery in 2010. Then once again, I had the runs for two years. This time, it was certain fats that caused it. Through process of elimination, I found that I have to be careful with olive oil. I can't even touch corn, canola, or peanut oils. Chicken fat can send me running, as does pork. 

"How could I do the Atkins?" one may ask. Well, beef and tallow give me no problem whatsoever. I've learned to love steak. That certainly goes against common thought. Coconut oil is a Godsend. I use it for everything, because again, it causes no intestinal backlash. Eggs are cheap, versatile, and cause no backlash. One strip of bacon keeps things moving for me.

For meals, I follow a list I made for myself, but I hate recording what I ate afterwards. Perhaps I shall attempt it and post it here. I designed my personal diet so that I would not have to think too much about what to eat. When I am hungry and have to think, I get frustrated and pop things into my mouth. I am attempting to break 20 year of training and 36 years of habit here!

141203 Not Writing Much

Must be all the writing I did last month. ;)

Not much going on other than the diet. I went off after Thanksgiving, and it has been difficult to return to the restrictions. I have tried, however, to keep to the glycemic stuff to avoid another blood glucose horror. It worked. Mango is all sugar, but when I mixed it with chicken, I did not have another episode.

Today, I really must find me a doctor who will fill out the forms for free testing supplies. They cost way too much for me to keep up with them. It's $50 a bottle, or a dollar a strip. At this point, I need to test six times per day, so fifty strips last about eight days. I ran out just before the holiday, and have been flying by the seat of my pants. This gives me all the more reason to get back on the diet!

Get back on the diet!

141127 More Thanksgiving Posts

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it's more than just food; I am truly thankful for many, many things! I have your average dysfunctional family where hurt feelings arise and people say stupid things. That's why we confine our festivities to my dad and my sisters. Extended family has their own thing where they devour each other. They might even unite on occasion and say nasty things about us, but we don't care anymore. I get that from my dad. He never said this, but his body language indicates, "You harpies are not going to give me indigestion. Goodbye."

Several years ago, I reconnected with my cousins. We were all hugs and laughs until someone mentioned the dreaded twins: politics and religion. I refuse to lie about my beliefs, so by answering a direct question, I discovered why my father stays as far away from my mother's family as is humanly possible. To my dismay, they found me on Facebook and continued the argument. Oh, how I enjoy those new privacy settings!

Yesterday, I forgot to take a reading after Chinese food (no rice). Then, I blew off readings for the rest of the day. I think my bg was up, because I fell asleep early, and first thing this morning, it was 105. While the menu I made for myself counts carbs and calories, eating out is iffy. I had beef and broccoli, but what other ingredients did they use? What's in the hot and sour soup? I gave the rice and the egg roll to my daughter. 

I count calories, because I have been on the Atkins before, and got hungry. My diet at that time had too few calories, so it became necessary to find carb-free calories and to introduce fats into my diet. My brother-in-law has been an insulin dependent diabetic since childhood, and we go round and round on this. He has a medical degree, and follows the ADA diet religiously. He doesn't like the Atkins and regales me with the benefits of high-carb vegetables and low-fat dairy.

He'll be at dinner today. At least we can agree on the turkey. 

141127 Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry, I haven't been blogging so much around here. How about I cross post? I have been blogging at:
http://blogs.atkins.com/Blogs/Moons%20Mom/Default.aspx

141126 Warning: Higher Power Mentioned! My blogs work as a journal, but then I found the journal function. Hmm. I'll just keep blogging. You don't have to read it, but someone might enjoy my ramblings. I haven't posted in a couple of days. My girls came back from a cross country trip, and I was occupied. Guess what? I stayed on the program!  I have a new friend whose screen name references the Bible. What's not to like? I reference the Bible frequently. My favorite passage for weight loss is:  1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.  25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:  27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. The Epistles contain many examples of athletic terminology. That shows that God is interested in our health and well being. Some may say it isn't so, but that does more to show the limitations of their thinking than any supposed limitations of God. Anyway, we could reduce this concept to a sterilized discussion of an amorphous 'higher power', but I might as well make my stand known. (Joshua 24:15) Yesterday, my blood sugar dropped to 65, but after dinner, it spiked to 145. I'm not sure what I had eaten, but it had a dramatic effect. The first few days after starting the diet, my readings seemed to stabilize, until day 5. My children came back, and my blood sugar spiked. All that 'sugar', I guess. ;) Time for a reading. Posted Wednesday, Nov 26, 2014 4:25 AM by Moons Mom | 2 Comments [Edit Post]

141123 Progress I already forgot what day I'm on, but I think it is day 4. I haven't been counting carbs so much as following a menu. I devised the menu last week by assessing all the nutrition, including the carbohydrates. Since I have Celiac disease, that eliminates a lot of heavy carb foods already. I just have to quit the rice and watch the starchy vegetables, as well as tweak a few other foods to limit my carbs to vegetables and high protein foods. Dr. Oz said to automate some meals, so I have the same breakfast and same lunch every day. Both have six carbohydrates and 240 calories in them, although one has beef that the other has chicken. Snacks vary, but have no more than two carbs each. Supper is usually some kind of fish or eggs with vegetables that have no more than four carbs. I keep the total calories between 1200 and 1400 per day. So far, I do little exercise. After Induction, I'll work a plan for that. This morning, before breakfast, my blood glucose reading was 97. Finally, a morning where it was below 100! An hour and a half after breakfast, it was still 97. Does this mean that I have reached ketosis? What would those readings look like? Posted Sunday, Nov 23, 2014 8:07 AM by Moons Mom | 3 Comments [Edit Post]

141122 Tough Day I tore out of here at 6:30 am. Took Beef Jerky as a snack, even though that stuff is made with sugar. Got home by 11, but I have to go out again at 2:30. After that, I'll probably get home after 9. Posted Saturday, Nov 22, 2014 12:38 PM by Moons Mom | 1 Comments [Edit Post]

141121 Doing Well OK, it is Day Three. Things are going well today. I finished my NaNoWriMo challenge nine days early! W007! What is NaNoWriMo, you ask? National Novel Writing Month started some years ago with the challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. In 2008, I wrote my first ever novel, which is how a person wins. Then, I edited it and sent it for publication. Sadly, the general public will not be reading my tome. I wrote another one in 2011, but it was disjointed and vague, so I never let anyone see it. (I'm sensing a pattern here... :p) Every three years I write. What does this have to do with food? Well, I tend to eat better food when I'm happy. When I am happier, it's easier to eat good food.  Today, I checked my blood sugar twice. At waking, it was 102. I ate breakfast of beef, with a little bit of tomato. After typing for four hours, it had dropped to 84, so I ate two Italian sausages. Now, after eating two eggs, an ounce of cheddar, and some coconut oil, it reads 82. Maybe I should wait two hours after eating. I'm still jazzed about finishing my novel. :D Posted Friday, Nov 21, 2014 1:38 PM by Moons Mom | 2 Comments [Edit Post]

141120 Day Two - So Far So Good Today, I have vague hunger. This morning during cravings, my blood sugar was 107. A half an hour ago, I had some beef to try to counteract this afternoon's cravings. My blood sugar was 105. I'm checking to see if the cravings coincide with a spike or drop in blood sugar. The cravings are subsiding, so I probably didn't wait long enough after the meal to check it. Today, when I logged on, there were friend requests and comments to read. This pleases me! I really smiled to see them, and it encourages me to keep this up.  One problem common to many dieters comes in the form of familial needs. I have to feed my two daughters. Neither one will eat the foods I need to eat. (One, however, will eat bacon -- all of it!) It would be easier with them out of the house, but then the real world seldom bends to our wishes. The only real change we can effect is to our own minds. It always comes down to motivation and the willingness to bend one's will to what is best. There. I feel better and the craving is dissipating. Maybe I'll check the blood sugar again. I am having so much fun with this kit, I may use all my supplies in the first two weeks. If the Atkins works to keep my blood sugar stable, I'll never have to go on drugs. There was a diabetic cyclist who was on the Atkins. It would be nice to find that website again. Posted Thursday, Nov 20, 2014 3:07 PM by Moons Mom | 5 Comments [Edit Post]

141112 Again With the Ringing

Once again, my ears are ringing. I have been eating a lot of fruit lately, and I just finished eating some fried rice. My guess is that my blood glucose levels are up. I almost collapsed in the kitchen last night. Emily thought I'd been drinking, but I hadn't. While it seems like such a little thing to control one's diet, the truth is that cheap food has a lot of carbohydrates in it, and carbohydrates turn to sugar in the body.

The constant ringing in my ears had started to go away, but I was going crazy on the restrictive diet. Food prices also took another jump, so I went back to the food bank. What they give falls mostly into the "breads and grains" category, so I dropped off the expense of the Atkins and added rice to my diet. Emily took the other grains. The ringing is back full force, and although I've had only water so far this morning, I feel like I am drunk. My brain is fuzzy and that low level buzz makes me think of alien bombardments.

Temperatures here took a drastic nose dive yesterday. Monday's high was near 80F (26C). Tuesday's high came at about eight o'clock in the morning. It got close to freezing last night, and we should have a hard freeze tonight. Yes, northerners laugh, but adapting to survive the summers here does come at a price. Cold bites.

If this doesn't sound incredibly depressing, it is because I am fighting SAD with all I have. The novel has become dark, but I'm on track with my goals concerning word counts. I have discovered that I cannot write an outline, then write the book. I have to just write. I thought this was a failing, but then I listened to a favorite author, John Erickson, discuss writing. He doesn't plan, either, and sixty-four published books says outlines don't have to be.

OK, how can you be depressed listening to "It's me again..."

What? Children's books can be fun and funny. He didn't write the first two for children, but when children loved them, he decided to make a whole series of them. He's a good speaker, too.

I'm just a lump on a log. I miss ice cream. Ice cream tastes wonderful and is fun to eat, but would just make my body feel worse. *cries*

141027 Bumps and Bruises

Saturday was Estella's wedding shower. I baked a cake and made name tags. In my excitement, I attempted the stairs without my walker, and fell. My ankle swelled to half again its size, and my knees became loose and painful again.

Determined not to miss the shower, I rubbed Pan Away on everything. I took oils with me and applied them occasionally. I stayed off my feet as often as possible.

Sunday, I could get by with the cane. Today, the swelling in gone, and the pain is only in the plantar fasiitis. Even the latter is greatly diminished from what it was three weeks ago. This is why I love the oils. They remove both the symptoms as well as the causes of my pains.

140901 Kidney Pain

A lot of these testimonials were written by other people, but this one is about me:

First, be advised that one should consult a physician with symptoms like this:

For a day or so, I had been having discomfort in my lower back, but no history of lower back pain. Also, for the last week, it had been difficult to urinate. This happens far too frequently with me. I knew I needed to drink more water, but at the same time had trouble doing so. 

Suddenly, sharp pains attacked my kidney area. It was as if someone had plunged a knife there! Immediately, I grabbed the closest oil, put it on the back of my hand and slapped my hand onto the area of pain. It was DiGize. I had meant to use Thieves, but utilized the DiGize by mistake. DiGize, however, ended the pain. Just to be sure, I put a drop of Thieves on a clay pendent to wear it close to my face all day. Then, I put a few drops of Grapefruit in every glass of water. Over the course of the next six hours, I drank almost four liters of water in between eating fresh vegetables with sea salt. (Water flushes out salt. Salt is necessary for life. Sea salt provides the proper electrolytes, without the chemicals that are added to ‘table’ salt.)

The pain is gone. After reviewing the EODR, it seems that DiGize was the correct choice. I plan to follow the advice there, which includes other oils and nutritional supplements. Having these oils blesses me.