Frustrated is the only word that comes to mind. I woke up on Monday feeling dizzy - it wasn't too bad so I thought, or hoped rather, it would just go away....well come Tuesday it was worse. Glenn ended up staying home and taking me to the Chiropractor for an adjustment as the last time I was REALLY sick and with dizziness the adjustments really helped. I did feel a bit better last night, still dizzy but not as intense so I think the adjustment did help. This morning I woke up feeling just as dizzy as I was yesterday so another adjustment is probably in order as often times it won't "stick" until you have a few - the Chiropractor did say I'm out in my C1 vertebra which will cause dizziness.......I just want to scream...or cry...not sure.
Here I am, doing everything right, eating right, adding fruits and vegetables to my body.......exercising....doing everything I've been advised to do to "feel better" and out of the blue I get this freaking "vertigo" again! It SUCKS!
I'm sorry I don't have anything great or positive to say in this post today - I'm more than frustrated with my current situation - and to not know WHY just drives me crazy. Glenn has asked me to write a letter to The Mayo Clinic in hopes that they might take me in and figure out what is going on. Not only with the dizziness but in general. All of this just makes it too easy to say screw it and lay down and give in - but I can't - I can't go through this again, not for the length of time I did last time (over a month of straight dizziness) and I won't - I can't stop living my life again because it will send me into another downward spiral that I emotionally just can't afford to go through again. It's only been about 2 months since I stopped being dizzy from the last time, too soon, way too soon to be going through it all over again.
I know I have been diagnosed with "fibromyalgia" and am tired of hearing some people say how it's the "catch all diagnosis for when the Dr's just don't know what's wrong" - and feel if that is the case then it could be possible for the Mayo Clinic to accept me and help me......I pray PLEASE GOD, someone help me! Although out of all the material I've read about the diagnosis, dizziness isn't part of it so this is something entirely separate from that.
There are several reasons why someone could have episodes of vertigo. Funny thing, or not so funny, when I had my last MRI a few months ago, they did comment that they saw something that appeared to be "fluid at the base of my brain" - concerning YES - but after review of the MRI the radiologist decided it wasn't anything to worry about - WHAT? Now I'm beginning to really wonder!
Another thing I've read which concerns me is that vertigo is often a presenting symptom for Multiple Sclerosis with the onset of vertigo being abrupt and examination of the eyes will reveal an inability to move them past the midline toward the nose - well guess what - I can't move my eyes past the midline toward my nose - it's impossible - my left eye will shoot off the the left and my right eye doesn't go inward....when I mentioned to my neurologist the possibility of MS - she said the lesions on my brain don't indicate MS and she wasn't concerned one bit - well she isn't me - my biological mom has severe MS and has for years told me she is worried that I have it but haven't been diagnosed yet. I have lesions on my brain from the past episodes of meningitis and migrains - according to the neurologist those lesions have changed slightly over the past 5 yrs but not enough to warrant concern. Another possibility of vertigo is caused by brain lesions. Of course I'm worried that any one of these things could be the cause...a bit extreme one might say but hey, if you know me, my health issues are to the extreme!
I have a sinking feeling that I'm on a long road still - although I have this diagnosis of fibromyalgia, I feel it's just one step on the journey to finding out what is REALLY going on - out of all the material I've read about fibromyalgia - I have some of the symptoms but not all and in my heart just feel it's a temporary diagnosis, or one of many things that will be diagnosed for me.
For those of you who follow this blog and feel like I do that there is something wrong and nobody has found it yet, I hope you find strength to fight for yourself - it's hard, I know, but if you don't do it, nobody will and there is someone out there, there has to be someone out there, who will take the time to really listen to you and help you figure out what is going on inside your body. It's simply not normal to feel like shit all the time and get crazy, intense and bad viruses all the time. It's not right.
Until next time - hopefully things will be better.........I leave you with a link to learn more about Vertigo
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
What's the difference between FRESH juice and store bought juice?
Simply stated, juicing has amazing benefits for your body. Many people think purchasing a carton of OJ at the grocery store is the same when in fact they are simply purchasing a carton of juice that has been stripped of it's potential health benefits because of the processing and preservatives that are added to make it last long enough to get to the store and be purchased by the end consumer.
Fresh juice is "live food" with it's FULL complement of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and enzymes. It also has a living ingredient - "light energy" that revitalizes the body. You feel different when you drink FRESH juice.
Commercially processed, canned, frozen, bottle or packaged juices have been pasturized, which means it's been heated to HIGH temperatures and many of the vitamins and enzymes have been killed or removed. This allows your juice to have a longer shelf life but won't give your body the kind of life you get from drinking Fresh Raw Juice.
Making your own juice also allows you to get a wide variety of fruits and vegetables as well as stems and leaves you wouldn't otherwise get. Most of your processed juices won't have Beetroot, Jicama, celery leaves and parsley to name a few of the good things that you can put in your own juices.
A lot of people have also asked me over the past few weeks if it's expensive. While I find that my grocery bill is slightly higher, I have many more fruits and vegetables in my basket and I'm not going to the grocery store as often so it actually ends up less expensive overall. When you break it down, it's actually economical in the long run to make your own juice and the benefits will outweigh everything else. You will most likely save money on Dr visits and medications in the future as well.
In addition to the above, it is recommended that we get 9-13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day compared to the old "5 a day" most of us grew up being told. It's very difficult to get 9-13 servings a day for most people, so doing it through juicing makes it MUCH easier.
To give you an idea, in order to get your 9 servings a day it looks something like this: 2 cups green leafy vegetables which is about one good size salad, and 4 cups of fruits and vegetables....that's A LOT!
Take it from me, it's really easy to incorporate juicing into your life. If you have a busy schedule you can juice what you need for the day and take it with you to enjoy throughout your busy day - it will give you a nice energizer in the morning and afternoon as well.
I've also had people asking me what kind of juicer is a good one to get. The juicers you can find on the market vary in price from low end $30 ones to higher end upwards towards $200 ones. I purchased one that was $90 and works great! Now remember, a BLENDER is not a juicer - the difference is a blender liquifies everything you put in it, a juicer seperates the liquid from the pulp.
From what I understand here is what you want to look for in a good juicer:
*Horsepower of at least .5
*sustainable blade speed while juicing - you don't want the blade to slow down or stop when you push things through it
*able to juice all types of fruits and vegetables
*Large feed tube
*Ejects pulp into different area than where the juice goes - a machine that keeps the pulp in the same section as where the juice goes can't juice continuously as it will get too crowded
*Only a few parts to clean - juicers with many parts to clean are difficult and time consuming thus you are less likely to want to juice regularly. Not only that, juicers with too many parts tend to have parts that are difficult to clean.
My juicer is called "juice man" and has 3 parts to clean. The main basket, the blade and the pusher. It's easy to clean and put back together thus I'm juicing 2x a day because of it. I can imagine if it were more than that I wouldn't be likely to want to do it 2x a day.
The entire machine ready to go:
The Blade and separate Pulp area:
The pusher to push your items through the tube (two sizes for different size items)
Large feeding tube area:
For those of you interested in all this I hope this post was informative and helpful for you if you are considering purchasing a juicer. I HIGHLY recommend it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I'll do my best to answer your questions based on what I know as of now - I'm still learning about all this you know!
Fresh juice is "live food" with it's FULL complement of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and enzymes. It also has a living ingredient - "light energy" that revitalizes the body. You feel different when you drink FRESH juice.
Commercially processed, canned, frozen, bottle or packaged juices have been pasturized, which means it's been heated to HIGH temperatures and many of the vitamins and enzymes have been killed or removed. This allows your juice to have a longer shelf life but won't give your body the kind of life you get from drinking Fresh Raw Juice.
Making your own juice also allows you to get a wide variety of fruits and vegetables as well as stems and leaves you wouldn't otherwise get. Most of your processed juices won't have Beetroot, Jicama, celery leaves and parsley to name a few of the good things that you can put in your own juices.
A lot of people have also asked me over the past few weeks if it's expensive. While I find that my grocery bill is slightly higher, I have many more fruits and vegetables in my basket and I'm not going to the grocery store as often so it actually ends up less expensive overall. When you break it down, it's actually economical in the long run to make your own juice and the benefits will outweigh everything else. You will most likely save money on Dr visits and medications in the future as well.
In addition to the above, it is recommended that we get 9-13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day compared to the old "5 a day" most of us grew up being told. It's very difficult to get 9-13 servings a day for most people, so doing it through juicing makes it MUCH easier.
To give you an idea, in order to get your 9 servings a day it looks something like this: 2 cups green leafy vegetables which is about one good size salad, and 4 cups of fruits and vegetables....that's A LOT!
Take it from me, it's really easy to incorporate juicing into your life. If you have a busy schedule you can juice what you need for the day and take it with you to enjoy throughout your busy day - it will give you a nice energizer in the morning and afternoon as well.
I've also had people asking me what kind of juicer is a good one to get. The juicers you can find on the market vary in price from low end $30 ones to higher end upwards towards $200 ones. I purchased one that was $90 and works great! Now remember, a BLENDER is not a juicer - the difference is a blender liquifies everything you put in it, a juicer seperates the liquid from the pulp.
From what I understand here is what you want to look for in a good juicer:
*Horsepower of at least .5
*sustainable blade speed while juicing - you don't want the blade to slow down or stop when you push things through it
*able to juice all types of fruits and vegetables
*Large feed tube
*Ejects pulp into different area than where the juice goes - a machine that keeps the pulp in the same section as where the juice goes can't juice continuously as it will get too crowded
*Only a few parts to clean - juicers with many parts to clean are difficult and time consuming thus you are less likely to want to juice regularly. Not only that, juicers with too many parts tend to have parts that are difficult to clean.
My juicer is called "juice man" and has 3 parts to clean. The main basket, the blade and the pusher. It's easy to clean and put back together thus I'm juicing 2x a day because of it. I can imagine if it were more than that I wouldn't be likely to want to do it 2x a day.
The entire machine ready to go:
The Blade and separate Pulp area:
The pusher to push your items through the tube (two sizes for different size items)
Large feeding tube area:
For those of you interested in all this I hope this post was informative and helpful for you if you are considering purchasing a juicer. I HIGHLY recommend it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I'll do my best to answer your questions based on what I know as of now - I'm still learning about all this you know!
Another week.....and returning nasty "symptoms"
So I woke up at my normal time today with Taylor but we went back to bed because it's a snow day - we didn't get too much snow to call a snow day but due to the frigid temps they called it to keep everyone off the dangerous and icy roads this morning. So back to bed I went which probably wasn't the best idea. I find that if I go back to bed I'm even more tired when I wake up the next time..oh well, it was nice to get some extra snooze time anyway.
Today I'm dealing with dizzy spells - not sure why other than I took my meds a little late - but usually I don't get dizzy spells from taking my meds late, only when I completely miss a day of them - I hate being dizzy - it's the worst feeling to have your head spinning....hopefully it'll pass and isn't the beginning of another month of dizziness - I don't think I can do that again. As long as I don't make sudden quick movements I'm ok, but if I get up too fast, turn my head too fast or anything like that, I'm spinning and dizzy.
When the cold weather came in on Saturday I noticed that I started not feeling well - I think I'm seeing a pattern here with cold weather - my hips start to hurt, my headache comes back and I just don't feel well - hmmmmm maybe the dizziness has something to do with it too, I don't know - they do say that colder temps cause symptoms to flair so I guess that's true because it happened. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to plan for cold weather and avoid the symptoms that go with it - not sure how I can but I'm going to try to figure it out, if there is a way then I'll find it - it would stink to have to move because of it - although Florida doesn't sound so bad :) I even have friends there so if we were to ever move from here I think that would be one place that would be in the running for us just for the climate - warm weather is a good thing for Fibromyalgia.
Last night we went to the annual Colorado Slumber Parties holiday party. We also do it in Jan as it's less expensive and more people can attend since they aren't dealing with all the December parties going on. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone. The food was fabulous and all in all it was just a super fun night. I'm really glad I went, for a bit I wasn't going to go due to my headache but I went ahead and sucked it up and went - and I'm glad I did. It was a masquerade ball so everyone was wearing their fancy masks....
I'm still juicing daily - I've read that I need to have a diet of 75% raw foods - so juicing is definitely the right thing for me - now to figure out the other things I need to add to the juice such as powders to include protein and vitamins. I'm getting there, it's just a slow process to figure it all out.
Until next time!
Today I'm dealing with dizzy spells - not sure why other than I took my meds a little late - but usually I don't get dizzy spells from taking my meds late, only when I completely miss a day of them - I hate being dizzy - it's the worst feeling to have your head spinning....hopefully it'll pass and isn't the beginning of another month of dizziness - I don't think I can do that again. As long as I don't make sudden quick movements I'm ok, but if I get up too fast, turn my head too fast or anything like that, I'm spinning and dizzy.
When the cold weather came in on Saturday I noticed that I started not feeling well - I think I'm seeing a pattern here with cold weather - my hips start to hurt, my headache comes back and I just don't feel well - hmmmmm maybe the dizziness has something to do with it too, I don't know - they do say that colder temps cause symptoms to flair so I guess that's true because it happened. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to plan for cold weather and avoid the symptoms that go with it - not sure how I can but I'm going to try to figure it out, if there is a way then I'll find it - it would stink to have to move because of it - although Florida doesn't sound so bad :) I even have friends there so if we were to ever move from here I think that would be one place that would be in the running for us just for the climate - warm weather is a good thing for Fibromyalgia.
Last night we went to the annual Colorado Slumber Parties holiday party. We also do it in Jan as it's less expensive and more people can attend since they aren't dealing with all the December parties going on. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone. The food was fabulous and all in all it was just a super fun night. I'm really glad I went, for a bit I wasn't going to go due to my headache but I went ahead and sucked it up and went - and I'm glad I did. It was a masquerade ball so everyone was wearing their fancy masks....
I'm still juicing daily - I've read that I need to have a diet of 75% raw foods - so juicing is definitely the right thing for me - now to figure out the other things I need to add to the juice such as powders to include protein and vitamins. I'm getting there, it's just a slow process to figure it all out.
Until next time!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Bet you didn't know .........
All the different health benefits from various fruits and vegetables - but I'm going to tell you! Starting with:
Honey Dew Melon
The basics you need to know when purchasing and consuming a Honey Dew Melon. I've included a link to the source where you can read even more information about this amazing and yummy fruit.
The edible portion is an excellent source of Vitamin C, provitamin A and potassium, zinc, and valuable digestive enzymes. They are fairly low in carbohydrates but since it is big you can usually get enough of your recommended daily requirements. The simplest way to know if its mature is its ground color ranging from greenish white (immature) to creamy yellow (mature).
Nutrient Value: per 100 g
* Vitamin C: 18 mg
* Fiber: 1 g
* Protein: 0.5 g
* Carbohydrates: 9 g
* Sugar: 8 g
* Sodium: 18 mg
* Fat: 0.1 g
Buying Tips:
* Quality is determined by the honeydew having a nearly perfect round shape with a smooth surface free of defects.
* Honeydew should feel heavy for its size and have a waxy (not fuzzy) surface.
* The honeydew that weigh about 2.2kg, have creamy yellow stem ends that is slightly soft when pressed, are bound to be the sweetest and best tasting. Avoid melons that are as hard as bowling balls because its flesh is also hard. The hardness is maybe because it is picked too early.
Honey Dew Melon
The basics you need to know when purchasing and consuming a Honey Dew Melon. I've included a link to the source where you can read even more information about this amazing and yummy fruit.
The edible portion is an excellent source of Vitamin C, provitamin A and potassium, zinc, and valuable digestive enzymes. They are fairly low in carbohydrates but since it is big you can usually get enough of your recommended daily requirements. The simplest way to know if its mature is its ground color ranging from greenish white (immature) to creamy yellow (mature).
Nutrient Value: per 100 g
* Vitamin C: 18 mg
* Fiber: 1 g
* Protein: 0.5 g
* Carbohydrates: 9 g
* Sugar: 8 g
* Sodium: 18 mg
* Fat: 0.1 g
Buying Tips:
* Quality is determined by the honeydew having a nearly perfect round shape with a smooth surface free of defects.
* Honeydew should feel heavy for its size and have a waxy (not fuzzy) surface.
* The honeydew that weigh about 2.2kg, have creamy yellow stem ends that is slightly soft when pressed, are bound to be the sweetest and best tasting. Avoid melons that are as hard as bowling balls because its flesh is also hard. The hardness is maybe because it is picked too early.
Change is not easy, not easy at all....
When someone tells you that you have a lifelong disorder that will require you to change everything you have always done, you would think it would be a no-brainer that you just do what you have to do to move forward and make sure you do the things you need to do to get on the road to feeling better and staying that way.....welll.....
Damn! It's not that easy! I've had many days of frustration this week with trying to 'change my ways'. I'm frustrated that I just can't 'do it' and that it's harder than I thought it would be. Everything from when I go to sleep to when I wake up, what I do when I wake up and throughout the day - changing all my routines, or lack of, is taking longer than I thought it would and it's really frustrating. Slowly but surely I know I'll get there and all will be good but getting there is proving to be a rough road. I'm tough, I can do it.......I CAN do it. I HAVE TO DO IT!
I'm realizing as I learn more about my disorder that I have to change everything in my diet......as you may or may not know, I've been juicing since getting a juicer on Christmas - that has been going great and I think helping me a lot in regards to changing my food choices. I've done well this week I think and just need to continue eating more lean meats, veggies, fruits and non processed foods. Bread is my downfall, as are many other things so slowly eliminating these things from my diet is my plan - although as I am writing this I feel the need to mention I did have pizza tonight, stuffed crust at that! UGH.......I guess that's a "slip up" I can afford every now and then until I get to the point of just saying NO - it's like quitting smoking - just have to give it up! It's so hard especially when I have two kids and a husband who have no interest in changing their eating habits - hopefully as we get further along in this they will slowly adapt with me......that's all I can hope for as I chug along.
On a good note I've lost 5lbs since the first of the year - I would like to lose a total of 25lbs so just 20 more to go - I've been exercising and eating better so the weight shouldn't be too difficult to get off - especially as I continue to cut out specific things that I shouldn't be having because of the fibromyalgia. I bought a new book that focuses on juicing for health and I've learned that ideally I need to eliminate sugar and white flour products, avoid alcohol and caffeine
increase vegetable and protein servings and choose only whole grain products, detox my body especially the liver, gallbladder and colon, juice plenty of vegetables, have short juice fasts, and make up to 75% of my diet raw food which means plenty raw fruits, vegetables, green salads, carrot and other vegetable juices in the amount of 2-3 glasses a day, nuts, seeds, and dehydrated foods with some cooked food at dinner should, over a 2-3 month period improve my pain, stiffness and quality of sleep.
So with what I just put above, I think I'm on the right path. The hard part for me will be eliminating my morning caffeine and some of my favorite foods that I've always allowed myself to indulge in - although with the help of specific vitamins to replace the energy I get from the caffeine and feeling better I think I can do it. We have already made the switch from regular coffee to 1/2 caff - to give our bodies a chance to adjust to less caffeine - I told my husband I don't want to just cut it off as I don't want the headaches that come along with that.....I've had enough headaches over the past several months to last me a lifetime. So we'll give it a couple weeks then see if we or at least I can cut out the coffee all together - one of my favorite morning things - I hate to give it up! Sorry Starbucks, I'll no longer be able to come in the afternoon for my mid-day pick me up! (wiping the tears away)
It's a slow go but I'm going to beat this disorder and get better!
Damn! It's not that easy! I've had many days of frustration this week with trying to 'change my ways'. I'm frustrated that I just can't 'do it' and that it's harder than I thought it would be. Everything from when I go to sleep to when I wake up, what I do when I wake up and throughout the day - changing all my routines, or lack of, is taking longer than I thought it would and it's really frustrating. Slowly but surely I know I'll get there and all will be good but getting there is proving to be a rough road. I'm tough, I can do it.......I CAN do it. I HAVE TO DO IT!
I'm realizing as I learn more about my disorder that I have to change everything in my diet......as you may or may not know, I've been juicing since getting a juicer on Christmas - that has been going great and I think helping me a lot in regards to changing my food choices. I've done well this week I think and just need to continue eating more lean meats, veggies, fruits and non processed foods. Bread is my downfall, as are many other things so slowly eliminating these things from my diet is my plan - although as I am writing this I feel the need to mention I did have pizza tonight, stuffed crust at that! UGH.......I guess that's a "slip up" I can afford every now and then until I get to the point of just saying NO - it's like quitting smoking - just have to give it up! It's so hard especially when I have two kids and a husband who have no interest in changing their eating habits - hopefully as we get further along in this they will slowly adapt with me......that's all I can hope for as I chug along.
On a good note I've lost 5lbs since the first of the year - I would like to lose a total of 25lbs so just 20 more to go - I've been exercising and eating better so the weight shouldn't be too difficult to get off - especially as I continue to cut out specific things that I shouldn't be having because of the fibromyalgia. I bought a new book that focuses on juicing for health and I've learned that ideally I need to eliminate sugar and white flour products, avoid alcohol and caffeine
increase vegetable and protein servings and choose only whole grain products, detox my body especially the liver, gallbladder and colon, juice plenty of vegetables, have short juice fasts, and make up to 75% of my diet raw food which means plenty raw fruits, vegetables, green salads, carrot and other vegetable juices in the amount of 2-3 glasses a day, nuts, seeds, and dehydrated foods with some cooked food at dinner should, over a 2-3 month period improve my pain, stiffness and quality of sleep.
So with what I just put above, I think I'm on the right path. The hard part for me will be eliminating my morning caffeine and some of my favorite foods that I've always allowed myself to indulge in - although with the help of specific vitamins to replace the energy I get from the caffeine and feeling better I think I can do it. We have already made the switch from regular coffee to 1/2 caff - to give our bodies a chance to adjust to less caffeine - I told my husband I don't want to just cut it off as I don't want the headaches that come along with that.....I've had enough headaches over the past several months to last me a lifetime. So we'll give it a couple weeks then see if we or at least I can cut out the coffee all together - one of my favorite morning things - I hate to give it up! Sorry Starbucks, I'll no longer be able to come in the afternoon for my mid-day pick me up! (wiping the tears away)
It's a slow go but I'm going to beat this disorder and get better!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Morning Treat
makes about 2.5 cups of juice
1 red pear
1 orange
2 wedges of honey dew melon (about a 1/4 of a small melon)
1 large golden delicious green apple
1/4 of a lemon
1 small piece of ginger
It's a New Year with tons of hope for the future
Well here we are! 2011!! WOW - I'm sure we have all made some "resolutions" - I try not to make "resolutions" as that tends to only lead me to fail - however I do try to make new promises to myself - it's just how I like to look at it and I do feel that with a promise to myself I am more apt to keep it and not let myself down. I know, it's the same thing just worded differently :)
In my last update I had mentioned the pending sleep study - well after I posted that things changed. We had a snow storm come through the area and due to the amount of snow I wasn't able to go. Being that my insurance deductible has now started over I am going to try to work towards finding a way to combat my chronic fatigue using exercise, weight loss and healthy eating choices. We'll see how far I get with that but for now I am confident there are other ways to deal with it other than using that apnea machine and/or medications.
I am currently dealing with some excruciating pain in my right shoulder/arm/hand every morning that is really very frustrating. I have been waking up for several months now with my fingers (index, middle and ring finger mainly) tingling and numb. Some days my pinky is included, some days the thumb but always those three fingers. More recently over the past few weeks a new pain has joined the party. I think it's a nerve issue as I can feel the pain go all the way up my arm into my shoulder where I do have quite a large knot (or two or three or four) but one in particular that when you rub it you can feel it roll - it's quite the party conversation piece. I do everything from get up against the wall with a tennis ball and roll it over the spot on my shoulder (around the curve in the scapula) to massage it, rotate my arm, scream, cry, roll around the floor, stretch...you name it - anything I can try to do to ease the pain. It use to go away relatively quickly after I would get up and rub that spot but now it is taking a good hour up to 2 hrs for it to stop being tingly, numb and painful. I think a few chiropractor trips are in order to get things straightened out and possibly release whatever is causing this - of course it won't completely "fix" it but will at least give me some relief for the time being. Continual work on it is what is going to be needed and I guess as I can afford to pay those professionals who can help me I will (Chiropractor and massage)
I continue to juice with my new machine and have come up with some really good mixtures that even my kids are enjoying. I'm thrilled about this as they rarely eat vegetables or fruit for that matter so getting these things into their bodies makes me one happy mom. Glenn is also enjoying the fruit/vegetable combinations so it's a great thing that we have brought into our home. The cost of purchasing so many fruits/vegetables will be worth the benefits it gives us all over time.
Here is a really good juice recipe that even the pickiest of children will drink down willingly - I only know because my son is one of them and LOVED this one! We'll name it "Child's Choice"
1 orange
1 beet slice (about a quarter chunk of a med size beet, peeled)
2 red pears
2 large golden delicious green apples
50 red grapes
1/2 med size lemon
4 small/medium carrots
Push all through the juicer and enjoy! You can't taste the beet in this recipe as the sweet fruits will cover it up - beets should be used sparingly in any recipe as they tend to not be liked by many people but are very good for you.
Today is a great day - kids are back in school and it's time to get life back on track after the 2 wk holiday break. It's been a bit slow going this morning with the 20 degree weather, pain and all but it's time to pick up and get the day under way - lots to do including taking down the Christmas tree, putting away the ornaments, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry - the list is so big, hopefully it'll all get done today......wish me luck!
In my last update I had mentioned the pending sleep study - well after I posted that things changed. We had a snow storm come through the area and due to the amount of snow I wasn't able to go. Being that my insurance deductible has now started over I am going to try to work towards finding a way to combat my chronic fatigue using exercise, weight loss and healthy eating choices. We'll see how far I get with that but for now I am confident there are other ways to deal with it other than using that apnea machine and/or medications.
I am currently dealing with some excruciating pain in my right shoulder/arm/hand every morning that is really very frustrating. I have been waking up for several months now with my fingers (index, middle and ring finger mainly) tingling and numb. Some days my pinky is included, some days the thumb but always those three fingers. More recently over the past few weeks a new pain has joined the party. I think it's a nerve issue as I can feel the pain go all the way up my arm into my shoulder where I do have quite a large knot (or two or three or four) but one in particular that when you rub it you can feel it roll - it's quite the party conversation piece. I do everything from get up against the wall with a tennis ball and roll it over the spot on my shoulder (around the curve in the scapula) to massage it, rotate my arm, scream, cry, roll around the floor, stretch...you name it - anything I can try to do to ease the pain. It use to go away relatively quickly after I would get up and rub that spot but now it is taking a good hour up to 2 hrs for it to stop being tingly, numb and painful. I think a few chiropractor trips are in order to get things straightened out and possibly release whatever is causing this - of course it won't completely "fix" it but will at least give me some relief for the time being. Continual work on it is what is going to be needed and I guess as I can afford to pay those professionals who can help me I will (Chiropractor and massage)
I continue to juice with my new machine and have come up with some really good mixtures that even my kids are enjoying. I'm thrilled about this as they rarely eat vegetables or fruit for that matter so getting these things into their bodies makes me one happy mom. Glenn is also enjoying the fruit/vegetable combinations so it's a great thing that we have brought into our home. The cost of purchasing so many fruits/vegetables will be worth the benefits it gives us all over time.
Here is a really good juice recipe that even the pickiest of children will drink down willingly - I only know because my son is one of them and LOVED this one! We'll name it "Child's Choice"
1 orange
1 beet slice (about a quarter chunk of a med size beet, peeled)
2 red pears
2 large golden delicious green apples
50 red grapes
1/2 med size lemon
4 small/medium carrots
Push all through the juicer and enjoy! You can't taste the beet in this recipe as the sweet fruits will cover it up - beets should be used sparingly in any recipe as they tend to not be liked by many people but are very good for you.
Today is a great day - kids are back in school and it's time to get life back on track after the 2 wk holiday break. It's been a bit slow going this morning with the 20 degree weather, pain and all but it's time to pick up and get the day under way - lots to do including taking down the Christmas tree, putting away the ornaments, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry - the list is so big, hopefully it'll all get done today......wish me luck!
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