Wednesday, December 24, 2014

The Complete Low Carb High Fat No Hunger Diet - Keto-Hybrid Diet - Journey To Health

After reading THM, Wheat Belly and Grain Brain. I wanted to read more about this low carb, high fat diet/lifestyle. I wanted to read about the different types of diets that there was out there. The two mains ones are the ketogenic diet and the paleo diet.

This book is, obviously, about the ketogentic diet. You may have ready about this diet before, in online articles and blogs about children with epilepsy. It has been proven to reduce the amount of seizures they are having, just by eating a low carb, high fat diet. If that isn't reason enough that everyone should be eating this way, I don't know what is.

I do remember first reading about that diet, and thinking how hard it would be. Now that I have been doing so much reading about this, it doesn't seem so hard. Mind you, if you are using it to help a child with epilepsy, you have to be quite a bit more strict than and adult just using it as a lifestyle change.

I will admit, I read this book (most of these books) in the summer, so they are not really fresh in my mind. I am not about to read them all again, so I will try to give my best opinion on them.

The Keto-Hybrid diet book was written by a mother-daughter duo . They simply wanted to share how this diet change has greatly changed their lifestyle for the better. It is a blend of the ketogenic, low carb and paleo diets, but most of the focus is on the ketogenic diet.

They are all about counting their "Macro" percentages. So keeping track of the percentage of calories that come from carbs, fat and protein. At first they say to record it, but eventually it is supposed to be come second nature and you wouldn't need to write it down anymore.

It was a good read, and I like the general idea of this diet. But there were a few things that kinda bugged me. Like not eating carrots or bananas. I understand wanting to keep the carbs low, but I think getting carbs from veggies and fruit is part of a healthy diet.

Again, this was another "diet". You can make it a lifestyle, but there was so much focus on losing weight. It is also not as well researched as some of the other books out there.

I did record my macros for a week, and I did go into ketosis (where you burn fat for calories), but it's alot of work keeping track of that stuff every day. I don't really have a tonne negative to say about this book, it's just another good read to reinforce the benefits of a low carb, high fat lifestyle.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Grain Brain - Journey To Health

Grain Brain is quite similar to Wheat Belly, except it's focus is more on what grains do to your mind. It's actually quite an eye opening read. Even after Wheat Belly.

I am not going to talk too much about it, because it is so similar in its recommendations. It's dietary guidelines differ slightly, but the low carb, high fat premises remains the same.

Again, I do recommend reading it if you want to do more research into what grains do to your body.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Wheat Belly - Journey To Health

My step-dad had a copy of Wheat Belly laying around for quite some time, slowly reading through it. And then I heard a few other people talk about it, and I was convinced it was time for me to read it.

It taught me a tonne about grains, and especially about our modern wheat and how it has been genetically modified SO much.

Reading this book turned me into a very anti-grain individual. I don't think anyone will ever be able to convince me that I NEED to eat grains to be healthy. 

Will I occasionally eat wheat products just for the plain enjoyment of the food? Bet your sweet tuchas I will.

But I will never eat it as part of my "healthy" diet. There is not one single vitamin, mineral or fiber in grains that I cannot get in veggies and fruit. Not even one. In fact, veggies tend to have the same if not more fiber in a cup by cup comparison to grains. They are just not necessary.

It kills me now to see people grabbing products labelled "Healthy Whole Grains" and consuming them like they are doing their body a favor. That term is no more than a marketing gimmick created by the food industry to sell more products. They don't care a lick if you are healthy, they care if they sell you as much crap as possible.

Anyways, I digress. Wheat Belly build upon the low carb, high fat concept that I was introduced to through Trim Healthy Mama.

My ONLY issue with Wheat Belly, is that he would would say never ever ever have any grains ever again. That, and fake replacement for junk foods. I want real food people. I just want to eat food that is healthy for me. If I am going to eat junk, I want it to be the fully gloriously terrible for me junk. Not a terrible tasting replacement for junk.

Also, I got the message from the book that if you eliminate grains, all your health issues will resolved forever. IBS? Gone! Allergies? Gone. Cancer? Gone. Athritis? Gone. Your dead? Alive! You catch my drift? Don't get me wrong, I am sure so many of these things will improve when you change you life. But it's not a cure-all.

Or maybe it is. Honestly I haven't followed the diet for more than 2 weeks.

That being said. Go read "Wheat Belly". It's worth the read. I own it, I will borrow it to you. It is a great start, and lots of good science!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Potty Training In 3 Days

Tallet turned 2. It was time to start thinking about potty training. I remember hearing about a 3 day method when my bro was a toddler, but I didn't really look into it. I headed to Facebook for potty training advice. I got lots of good advice, and some not so good. Another Mom in a mommy group recommended this 3 day plan, so I went for it. I was skeptical at first. Three days didn't seem long enough. Here is my experience:

Woke up in the morning. Tallet and I had breakfast. Coralee came over for out workout. After she left, we started potty training.

In the days leading up to potty training I made sure we had all the supplies on hand. I made sure I had enough food in the house, and no plans so I could totally focus on Tallet and potty training.

The supplies I found useful were:
-potty
-flushable moist wipes
-20-40 pairs of underwear
-gummy bears
-stickers
-potty training chart
-small toys as prizes for completing a row on the chart

The first thing I did was to take off Tallet's diaper and put on gitchies. I explained to him that he was a big boy now and that he needed to keep those gitchies dry. Then we went and packed up all his cloth diapers into a box. I told him to say bye bye diapers. He helped me pack them up and chanted "bye bye diapers" the whole time. Then we went to the bathroom and I showed him the potty and told him that is where he needs to go potty from now on.

Throughout the day I would constantly remind him "Tell mommy when you have to go pee on the potty" and I would quiz him "Are your shorts/gitch dry?" and give him praise when they were dry. I watched him closely all day. If he started to have an accident I would take him to the potty. It was essential that I catch him in the middle of an accident.  You get sick of your own voice repeating the same things over and over. But it works. I watched him closely for signs he had to go pee, especially before he started verbally asking. He would dance around or grab his crotch.

Rewards:
Peeing on potty - One gummy bear
Pooping on potty - Two gummy bears and a sticker on his chart. Once he fills a row he gets a small toy. We bought a multi-pack of hot wheels and will give him one at a time.

Day 1

10:40 - Started Training
10:45 - First accident. I went upstairs to get him a shorter shirt and when I came back down he said "I need help" and he had peed in his shorts.
10:52 - Large accident
11:30 - Large accident
11:37 - Medium accident
11:52 - Peed on potty, had a small accident beforehand
12:18 - Peed on potty, small accident beforehand
1:13 - Peed on potty, small dribble in pants
1:48 - Accident, caught him in the middle of it and he finished on the potty.
2:08 - Big accident, then finished on potty
3:20 - Peed on potty
3:35 - Pooped on potty
3:58 - Peed on potty. I asked him by accident if he needed to go.
4:55 - Peed on potty, gitchies slightly damp.
5:40 - Peed on potty, one drop in gitch
6:10 - small accident then peed on potty
6:42 - Peed on potty - told Eric to "Hurry, carry you" which means to carry him.
6:55 - Pooped on potty
7:03 - Caught him peeing his pants, then finished on potty
7:13 - Accident - then peed on potty a very small amount
7:35 - Accident, then peed in potty after.
8:00 - Peed on potty before bed.

Honestly, I was EXHAUSTED by the end of this day. I could not wait for him to go to bed. I was tired of staring at his gitch and hearing myself speak. It didn't seem like we were getting very far, but I knew it could take 3 full days so I still had hope. We are using pull ups for night because I don't have a proper mattress cover.

Day 2

9:30 - Wake up. Pull up fill of pee. Refused to sit on potty.
10:50 - Peed on potty. Asked verbally after me reminding him to ask me. Small dribble in pants.
11:15 - Peed on potty. Told me by "dancing" - No dribbles.
12:10 - Big accident, grabbed Eric's hand and showed it to him, then finished on the potty.
12:25 - Small accident, but then asked to go "pee potty" and had a big pee on the potty.
1:40 - * ASKED TO PEE ON POTTY*
2:35 - Asked to pee on potty, small dribble in gitch
3:15 - Asked to pee on potty, small dribble in gitch
3:40 - Asked to pee on potty, no dribbles!
4:25 - Grabbed Eric's hand and pulled him to potty, peed on potty
4:55 - Grabbed my hand and said "Go Pee" and peed on potty
5:30 - Said "I need help" and then peed on potty. Small dribble in gitch
6:50 - Grabbed my hand and led me to washroom, peed on potty.
7:30 - Bath
8:00 - Bedtime. Did not pee on potty before bed.

Today was a much easier day. He was grasping the idea of asking to go potty, and that was the main goal.

Day 3

9:15 - Woke up. Pull up full. Did not pee on potty.
11:00 - Went to bathroom alone, I followed him. He peed on potty.
1:45 - Asked to pee on potty
3:00 - Asked to pee on potty. Small dribble in gitch
3:15 - Pooped his pants. YUCK! Then he pooped and peed on the potty.
3:35 - Asked to pee on potty - dry gitch
4:45 - Asked to pee on potty - dry gitch
5:20 - Asked to pee on potty - dry gitch
7:45 - Eric and Tallet were wrestling and Eric caught him dribbling, peed on potty
8:15 - Did not pee on potty before bed.

This was by far the best day, and I think I could say that he was essentially potty trained. The pooping is hard because he doesn't always poop every day, so there are way less opportunities to teach him.

Day  4

I did not keep a log for this day.  His pull up was dry in the morning. We were heading to stay at Hecla in a hotel for the weekend. It was a good day. I caught him dribbling once when Terry was spinning him in a chair. Other than that he was dry all day, and even pooped in the potty at night before bed!

Day 5 & 6

Were essentially perfect days, except on Sunday morning (Day 6), he peed a bit in his gitchies before asking to go potty.

Day 7 and beyond. He has pooped his pants once at Coralee's house, but other than that has been essentially accident free.

Needless to say, I am a HUGE fan of the 3 Day potty training method. It clearly works. Well worth the money.  We still have a bit of work to do with the pooping, and we need to eliminate the nighttime pull ups ASAP. The method doesn't recommend them, and neither do I. I think it slows the training. I just bought a mattress cover so we probably wont be using Pull ups tonight. Last night he work up at 12 asking to go potty, and went straight back to bed after peeing.

I am sure he will have a few accidents here and there, especially in public when a potty is harder to get to. But that is ok, it will teach him he needs to hold it longer or ask to go sooner.

I would love to hear your stories! What has worked best for you?

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

I Miss You

Lately I have really been missing the blogging world. Sometime in the last few years the shift from blogs to Facebook has happened. I miss the intimacy of blogs. I miss hearing about people's  lives. I am tired of counting likes.

My last series of blogs really dropped off hard. I am going to try to pick that back up, as well as start to post here quite a bit more often. I hope it works out.

And I hope to find more active bloggers to follow again!

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Whirlwind

The last few weeks has felt insane for me!

Two and half weeks ago we went to Star Lake with Eric's family. We were there from Sunday to Friday. Eric only joined us on Tuesday. It was a fabulous time of relaxing, swimming, eating and game playing. Tallet loved it as well!

Friday we went to Lilac Resort with my family. It was a little busier, and Tallet had a hard time sleeping in the tent.

Sunday afternoon as we were driving home I got a call from Dayna asking if I or Eric could come up to camp for the week. Because Eric's parents were leaving for Europe, he could not go. I agonized over the decision and finally decided to go because I felt it was the right thing to do.  I had about 6 awake hours at home to do laundry and repack everything.

My head spun for the first entire day at camp. But it ended up being good. It taught me to let go of my agenda and focus more on God. Something I need to remember to do every day.

Now this week I am teaching crafts up at Grindstone. Being away for 2 weeks means I didn't have much time to prepare or shop, which has left me feeling anxious and unsettled about it all. Tomorrow is my last day, but I need to run to the city to grab supplies.

Anyways, all this has kind of interrupted my Journey To Health Posts, so I plan on picking that back up next week!


Sunday, July 27, 2014

Trim Healthy Mama - Journey To Health

I have written about Trim Healthy Mama (THM) before, so I won't go into too many details. 

THM was my very first intro to a high fat diet. It taught me that fats are healthy. That we need fats in our diets. It introduced me to so many healthy and delicious recipes, that are super quick! 

Pros: 
-good, easy recipes 
- LARGE online community for support and recipes 
-encourages lifestyle change 
-healthy fats 
-you can make your own chocolate easily and eat it every day! 

Cons:
- S , E , Fuel Pull and crossover meal types can be confusing. 
- 3 hour window between switching between S and e meals make snacking complicated 
- there are some pretty oddball ingredients needed
- some recipes are downright awful. I could not handle anything with glucomannan in it. The texture was not for me 

My conclusion: 

I love THM and everything it taught me. I learnt so much about optimal nutrition from those ladies. I did find the protocol hard to follow and stick to, but that was before my change in mindset.

I also found the change between meal types to be too much thinking and planning at times. 

THM does still include starches in moderate amounts, and things I have been reading lately are steering me away from that all together. I do think grains are  fine occasionally, and if you are going to eat them occasionally they should be in the healthiest manner. 

A lot of THM recipes have become beloved staples in our home! And they will be here to stay. 

But I don't think THM was meant to be the end of my journey to health. There was still so much more left to learn...

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Made To Crave - Journey To Health

This book is not really a diet or lifestyle plan at all. It is more for use in conjunction with whatever you deem as a healthy lifestyle. It encourages you to replace your cravings for food with God instead. It urges you to pray every time you feel temptation to cheat. 

I really liked it, I remember thinking when reading it that I wanted to read it over and over and over until it stuck! 

I do want to read it again, now that I have chosen the healthy lifestyle changes I want to make! I think it would really help me to stick to these healthy choices! 

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Thin Within - Journey To Health

I did two versions of Thin Within, the personal book and the group bible study. I am embarrassed to say that I didn't finish either of them. Story of my life. 

Thin Within is a grace based approach, it works on you spiritually, emotionally and physically. It tried to get behind my reasons for emotional eating. It's weight loss approach was to make you conscious of your hunger. And to only eat when you are truly, hungry or at a 0. It encouraged you to chew slowly and pause between every bite to re-evaluate your hunger number, 10 being overstuffed and 5 being perfectly satisfied. You were never supposed to eat over a 5. 

There were no particular foods to eat, as long as you only started to eat at a 0 and stopped at a 5. 

Pros:
-eat whatever you want
-works on all facets of your health
-involves God in the process

Cons:
-difficult to make a habit out of eating that way. 
-Arriving at a 0 often happened at inconvenient times, not at regular mealtimes. Made it difficult to do at work. 
-didn't teach you to eat healthy foods (although maybe it moved on to that if I would have finished the 30 days, I only got to 25)
-really required great willpower and self-control, something I obviously don't have much of. 

My conclusion:
I found Thin Within hard to make a permanent life change. I thought it would be "THE" answer because it is Christian based program. But I did find myself still wanting to learn about how to fill my body with foods that are good for it, not just to empty and fill my stomach with anything. I still may go back and redo the bible study one day! 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

17 Day Diet - Journey to Health

I shouldn't even talk about this diet, but it is something I tried so here I go. A couple friends at work were doing the 17 Day Diet and getting awesome results, so I wanted to try it too. At this time I still had the mindset that if I could quickly lose all the weigh, I could just go back to eating whatever I wanted when I was this.

The 17 Diet has 3 17 day phases. The first phase is very low fat and low carb, leaving mostly lean poultry proteins veggies and low sugar fruits. They also allow yogurt. The second phase adds in lean red meats, natural starches, beans, and starchy veggies. Phase three adds in even more meats, breads, cereals, pasta, all fruits, nuts, cheese along with some other things. There is certain food servings for all these phases of course. There is also a 4th phase that is basically a maintenance phase. You can pretty much eat whatever you want.

Eric and I started the diet right before Christmas. Bad idea. I tried to start it again after but for some reason it fizzled. I had probably moved on to another new fangled diet by then!

Pros:
-only 17 days until you can change, anyone can stick to anything for 17 days
-easy to follow plan, well explained, simple foods.

Cons:
-does not promote a permanent healthy lifestyle change
-loaded with grains/carbs, even in earlier stages of the diet

My conclusion:
I feel like I can't really come to a conclusion for this diet because I didn't give it a good try. I have been wondering if I should give it a try again just to say that I did. But from what I have been reading lately, I don't think this plan is the way to go. I KNOW it works for weight loss, I saw my friends succeed on it. But I did NOT see anyone succeed permanently because of this diet, and thats what concerns me the most.

Jeepers going over all these diets makes me realize how ridiculous I must sounds, jumping from this to that and the other thing. However in the last year I really have had a different mindset. I remember thinking for HARD the first 17 days are. And now I look at the food list and think it would be so easy to stick to that now! 

Monday, July 21, 2014

Gi Diet - Journey To Health

The GI Diet was my introduction to the glycemic index. It was highly recommended for the treatment of the symptoms of PCOS, so naturally I had to give it a try.

The plan was basically a low carb, low fat diet. You only eat foods that won't spike your blood sugar. Spikes in blood sugar result in high insulin secretion which leads to obesity. Keep your blood sugar stable, lose weight.  I am not here to explain the science behind it all, if you want to know you can read up on it!

Pros:
-short book, easy to follow plan with a simple chart of green, yellow and red columns. Green is eat freely, yellow is eat with caution and red is never eat.
-great for PCOS and diabetes.
- there was some really great recipes

Cons:
- low fat, did not allow much for red meats,
-required some hard to find ingredients
-allows for a lot of grain products & carbs

My conclusion:
This diet was a great introduction to low GI eating. It is short and simple. However I feel that humans do require a decent intake of healthy fats for optimal nutrition. In my opinion, it would be hard to maintain this diet for a lifetime. I definitely would like to go back a read through it again and try some of the recipes again.


Sunday, July 20, 2014

Naturopathic Medicine - Journey To Health

Naturopathic medicine was something I sought out after battling a terrible bout of anxiety that lasted months. I have often been heard saying that I never felt better than when I was seeing a naturopath.

I love the whole idea of naturopathic medicine. I loved that the Doctor listened to me and examined every single symptom I had, instead of giving me pills to fix one singular symptom.

I did eventually stop going to a naturopath because the one I was seeing in Gimli left, and it wasn't convenient. It also became quite the financial burden to keep up with all the things. We were also set to start out first fertility treatment, and I wasn't supposed to be taking any sort of herbal medications at the time. I ended up getting pregnant and didn't pursue naturopathy any more.

Pros:
- I feel like everything about it is a pro. Love that the medicine is based one listening to each individuals body. And not only does it care for your physical body but also every facet of your health, mental, spiritual, emotional.
-I felt great

Cons:
-Can get expensive for the extra tests, supplements, herbs, etc.
-Time consuming for the appts.
-She had me avoid dairy, which was very difficult. It made it hard to go anywhere to eat.

My conclusion:

I love naturopathy, and I would like to go again! However this time I would like to be more vocal about what I can and cannot afford. I don't want to walk out with 10 different kinds of  supplements that will cost be $600 a month to maintain.

I would encourage everyone to go see a naturopathic doctor! But again I would encourage you to be vocal about your finances and get them to recommend affordable options for supplements!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Visalus - Body By Vi - Journey To Health

Oh Visalus. My best friend/ sister-in-law / business partner Alyssa still laugh about this one. We thought we were going to be so rich from it.

Visalus is a direct selling company that basis is protein shakes for weight loss. The program was simple, shake for breakfast, shake for lunch, healthy well rounded meal for supper with healthy snack in-between. My cousin first introduced me to it, and I had no interested for the first few months. But I had gotten into drinking protein shakes for several months, so I figured I would try out this brand.

If you get people to buy shakes from you, and you eventually get your shakes for free. Get even more and you start making money. I do know people who have done very well from this. I thought for sure I was going to be driving my very own Visalus BMW.

They also sell vitamins, metabolism boosters, and all sorts of other health products to go along with the shakes. The probably have even more products today, I haven't looked at them for quite some time.

I actually enjoyed the shakes, I had fun creating all sorts of flavours, I lost about 15-20 lbs while on that diet. But I felt awful. I spend a lot of time on the porcelain throne, if you know what I mean. There was something in that shake mix that did not sit well with my stomach.

It was not a healthy way to live. Plus the shakes are artificially sweetened which is now a big no-no for me.

Pros:
-cheap. Only $100 a month for two meals a day for a whole month. Even cheaper if you got other suckers to go along with you.
-Simple, easy, not very time consuming.
-Tasty

Cons:
-artificial sweeteners
-made me sick
-did not promote a healthy, long term lifestyle change.
-hungry

My conclusion:
I truly have nothing against Visalus and I think they have a decent product, but again it is not one for a permanent lifestyle change. I don't want to drink two shakes every day for the rest of my life. I want to eat real food. Healthy, nourishing, real food.

Plus it made me sick. I read other people experiences and I honestly wondered if there was some sort of laxative in it and that is why you lost weigh on this plan.


Friday, July 18, 2014

Weight Watchers - Journey To Health

Weight Watchers (WW) is probably the most well known weight loss programs in North America. I first tried it a few years back, and found it relatively easy and effective.

WW goes by the points system, the more fat and carbs in a food, the more points it is. Fruit and veggies are 0 points for the most part. It is essentially a low fat/ low carb diet. You also get bonus point for exercising, meaning you can eat more.

Pros:
-flexible, you can eat whatever types of food you want, so long as you don't go over your points.
- encourages exercise by rewarding you with bonus points.
-I loved the super handy iPhone app for tracking points.

Cons:
-does not teach you healthy lifestyle habits because you can eat a chocolate bar every single day and still be within your points range
-expensive. You have to pay a monthly fee which is just over $20, plus a sign up fee. You can also attend meetings if available in your area, not sure of the cost of that. You can join on a sale that waives the sign up fee, usually at the beginning of the year
-tracking points can be time consuming, especially if making your own food. It is easy to track points with something with a  nutritional label. I feel that this steers you towards processed foods because of ease of tracking.
-low fat, which equals high hunger. You cannot take out both fat and carbs and expect to be satiated.

My conclusion:

WW works to help you lose weight. If you stick to it. Forever. Stop tracking your points and start piling on the pounds. Although WW steers you towards making healthy choices, it does't really teach you how to completely change your lifestyle. It is only permanent if you want to keep paying for it for the rest of your life.

I think you are going to hear me sing this same tune a lot. If you want to change your health, you need to change you lifestyle. That is a lesson that has been hard learned for me. For some reason, in the last couple months this had FINALLY been engrained in my head. I really believe all these diet programs and plans that I have tried have taught me lessons. They may not have helped me to permanently lose weight, but there is something positive to take from all of them. 

T.O.P.S. - Journey to Health

I can't begin this walk back into my diet history without talking about TOPS, short for Take Off Pounds Sensibly.

I was 16 years old when my weight loss journey officially began. Looking back I was just barely overweight, maybe 20 lbs to lose, maybe 30 at the most. I would be wonderful to be that close to my goal weight again. I had been told my whole life I was fat, and had a huge gut to lose. Thus when my mom and aunties started attending TOPS, I did too.

I managed to lose 10 lbs before my graduation.

TOPS is not a diet plan. It is a support group than encourages you to make healthy choices. I have considered starting to go again just for the accountability.

Pros:
-weekly weigh ins
- support group
-education about healthy eating, sometimes with guest speakers
-prizes and incentives for weight loss (there are badges you can earn)

Cons:
- monthly fee
-no official plan to follow, you just do you own thing.
-doesn't necessarily teach you how to make permanent healthy lifestyle changes.

My conclusion:

TOPS is a positive environment, and it could be a great place to find support and encouragement. However TOPS alone was not enough for me to learn a healthy lifestyle change needed. I proceeded to gain 20 lbs while randomly attending a TOPS in the city, and then another 50 once leaving TOPS.

I do feel like TOPS encourages fad diets in a way, because there are no dietary guidelines, and there is prizes for the people who lose the most weight every week. Also every week after the TOPS meeting there would be a get together which would be a cheat night filled with sugary and carb loading treats. Not exactly promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Like I said before, I would be curious to join again now that I am an adult. Plus most of my aunties still go so it would be nice to spend more time with them! :) 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Journey to Health - And a Web Address Change

I have been on a journey for many years. I have blogged about it many times. I have talked about the struggled. And now I am going to document it all here.

I am talking about my journey to a healthy lifestyle. I have tried so many diets/eating plans. From all of this I have gleaned that if you want to be healthy, you need to change your lifestyle. Permanetly.

This summer I am planning on reading a bunch of diet/lifestyle/healthy eating books. I am going to be reading Wheat Belly, Grain Brain, Neandrathin (Paleo), a ketogenic diet book, and Nourishing Traditions. I am going to talk about them all.

I am also going to be writing posts about the previous books I have head and diets I have done.

So far all of my reading had steered me in the direction of a Low Carb, High Fat lifestyle. I am hoping by the end of the summer I will have enough knowledge to make some permanent changes in our life!

I hope you will join me! I would also love to hear your stories about diets that worked for you. Tell me about lifestyle changes that changed your health for the better!


**ALSO**

I have updated my web address, it no longer redirects from my domain name to the blogger address. My domain is www.diaryofacrazyperson.com. You may have to update you blog list to keep getting my blog updates on your blogroll!

Thanks!

Monday, July 07, 2014

1000th Post - Small Encouragements

Wow. This is the 1000th time I have written something here. Let's take this time to pause and remember all the great posts I have written…

Moving on…

Today I was expressing my frustration to Eric about my diet. Not in the terms of diet plan. but in the terms of the sum of the food I consume in general. I really struggle with this. I enjoy eating healthy, and for the most part I do eat very healthily, especially lately.

But in times of stress, I eat sugar. Candy, cupcakes, etc. I can't seem to control that part of my diet. I have great restraint most of the time, but one unexpected bill. One broken glass. One argument. One ruined sewing project. One negative feedback from my businesses and I am heading for the cupboard for a sweet treat. A lot of sweet treats.

I was telling Eric that I am destined to be forever fat. I will never be able to control this. I might as well give up and just live my life.

Then I picked up my bible. I have this grand plan of reading it front to back again, this time with the NLT. I haven't been getting a far fast. But today I decided I was going to sit and read it for a while. The first thing I ready was Genesis 15 - 18. In it God promised Abram he will have a son. Sarah laughs at the thought of it, being an old woman past the childbearing age. I feel like Sarah most of the time.

I have always looked to this story as encouragement when struggling with infertility. But today I saw it as hope in a desperate situation, any situation. God does promise that I will triumph over this struggle. God does care about it.

It really is true that the devil is the king of opportunism. His negative ideas spread like a virus to the point that you don't think you can recover. He fills your mind with "never", "can't", "you're not worthy", "nobody cares", "give up" and the like. He tries to validate your negativity and he wants you to believe it as truth. But it is not truth. It is lies.

I can triumph over this struggle. I am always looking for the right diet plan, exercise, book, or article that will cure me. That will get me over this. I am always trying to do it alone. Today I was reminded that I cannot do this alone. I need God.  I will always need God.

I didn't go to the Bible to find answers to today's problems. Today's problems were a kick in the pants to read the Bible again. It just so happened that I found the answers I needed anyways. God is cool that way, He meets you where you are and lifts you up.

"We will overcome, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Everyone, overcome" - Jeremy Camp

Thursday, June 05, 2014

9th Anniversary

Yesterday Tallet had his 18 month dr appt, so we headed to the city for the day. It also happened to be our 9 year wedding anniversary! 

First we saw some street canoeing:


We first went to Tal's appointment, and then did a bit of shopping. 

After that Eric announce he had a surprise for me, and took me to Woodcock's Cycle where he has purchased me this beauty: 


It is perfect! I have been dreaming of one like this for a few years, and he totally and genuinely surprised me with it! 

Tallet tried on helmets.


We went to Saffron's on Corydon for lunch. 

Then we headed to Assinaboine Park! 

Tallet loved the Nature Playground!

We did some not shopping and headed home. Love spending days with my family. 

I also miss blogging like this. Going to try to do more picture filled posts like this from the Blogger app! 

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Mother of Ten

I have talked to a lot of people on the last few days and weeks about our babies in the freezer. It seems that people are not sure what to think about them. I have gotten a lot of comments along the lines of "They probably all won't take, you won't have 10 children".

It has made me think long and hard about what those babies mean to me. And maybe this is just coming from an overstimulated, super hormonal woman, but these are my feelings.

All 9 of those babies are alive. They are all humans. As a Christian, I believe life begins at conception, and these babies have lived and grown 5 days after conception before they have been cryopreserved.

It is hard to fathom that someone microscopic is alive, and just as important as any other baby.

So comments like "It is doubtful that all of them will work, anyways", are hurtful. I would never say to a pregnant woman "You could easily miscarry that baby" or "Your baby could be still born".

Are those possibilities? Of course they are. Anything could happen at any time. I fully understand that my babies might not survive the thaw, that they might not implant, that they could miscarry early. Any of those things will be considered a loss for me, and I will be devastated.

As crazy as it seems, I WANT all those babies to survive. One of the things we understood when deciding to do an IVF is that we could end up with a lot of embryos to freeze. And we decided to be commit to giving all of those embryos a chance at life. Nobody will be discarded, nobody will be forgotten about. If that means we have a large family, then we have will have a large family. Something I have always dreamed about, but never thought it could be possible with infertility. 

Recovery

Wednesday morning I woke up and felt a bit better, I thought things had finally started to turn out. But after breakfast I was feeling worse than ever. I was starting to get cramps in my diaphragm, it was very hard to breathe, I could not get comfortable. And then I had a panic attack. It was very scary when it hurts to breathe. 

Lucky for me, the panic attack pushed up my urgency, and I finally got an ultrasound and my abdomen drained in the afternoon. They drained 2.5 litters, which was apparently only half the fluid in there. 

The drain hurt much more than I thought it would, but the relief was immediate. I could finally breathe again. 

I spent a few more hours in the hospital and finally got to go home! 

Every day after that I felt better than the next, until Saturday. I got the flu. It was awful, but I was sure glad I got it when I was feeling better. Eric had gotten it the week before when I was really feeling the OHSS so I was glad I didn't get to me until later. 

Today is a week since the drain, and I feel pretty much back to normal. I know my ovaries are still pretty large, so I still have to take it easy for a while. I am kinda bummed because I was just getting back into running, and I won't be able to do that for a while. 

Thanks everyone for your support and prayers! 

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

IVF

Confession. The reason I wanted to blog again is to get this all off my chest. Each day I have put It off, there is more and more to say! I will try to keep it short. 

We doubled the meds for our second IUI attempt. My body overreacted, which is apparently typical of PCOS. We were given the option to cancel or switch to IVF. We chose to switch. While more expensive, it would have been our next step anyways if this IUI didn't work. 

About a week into the meds I started to feel bloated and nauseous. This past Wednesday we had our egg retrieval and they got 22 eggs. 

I felt fine right after the procedure but once the pain meds wore off I was in a lot of pain. 

Thursday we found out that 17 eggs fertilized. I was starting to feel very uncomfortable and bloated, but hopes it would go away. 

Friday I woke up feeling worse, and I had has a terrible sleep. I called the clinic in the morning to see if how I was feeling was normal and they advised I come to be seen. 

At the clinic after much waiting got an ultrasound and the doctor said I had a lot of fluid accumulating in my adbomen as a result of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), and he wanted me to get admitted to the hospital to be drained. 

Well there was no beds available, so he advised I go home and come back in the morning. We decided to stay the night in the city so we didn't have to do so much driving. 

Saturday morning we called the clinic and were advised to go to HSC emergency to get an ultrasound and get drained. We waited there for 5 hrs only to find out I didn't have enough fluid to get drained, so we went home. I got some t3's to take home. 

Saturday we also found out that all 17 of our fertilized eggs were growin/dividing. She said 40% would turn into blastocysts they could freeze. 

Sunday I was relatively comfortable with the T3's. By Monday afternoon my bloating had gotten so bad that I was having a hard time breathing or getting comfortable in any position. I called the clinic and my doctor wanted me to get admitted to the hospital. 

So last night we packed up and I checked in. I got X-rays, bloodwork and an IV. 

Today, Tuesday, I waited for an ultrasound. And I waited. And waited. Until it was too late to get one. I am stuck here for another night, and hoping I can get an ultrasound and be drained tomorrow. 

I have gained 20 lbs of fluids since Friday. I am very uncomfortable, nauseous and I can only eat very small amounts at a time. My back is hurting whether I sit, stand or lie down from the pressure.  I cannot wait to have relief. 

On the bright side, today we heard that we had 9 embryos make it to blastocyst stage to freeze! Meaning I am now mother of 10! 

They will be transferred at a later date, one at a time. Whenever I am feeling better. It will take several months before I am back to normal. 

I hope that means that I am done with fertilty drugs forever! 

Sunday, May 04, 2014

A Failure

Back in January I posted that we were going back to Heartland. 

We were surprised how fast we got in, and even more surprised how fast they got us in for a cycle. Everything seems to be going smoothly. 

At our appt. the Doc went over IUI and IVF info, and was kind of trying to steer us towards IVF. We opted for IUI because it worked on the first try last time, surely it would work like that again. 

Well, not so much. I did about 13 days of injects, wasted 1000's of dollars and our cycle got cancelled. My body didn't respond to the meds at all. For Tallet I had 3 follicles that grew, this time I had nothing. 

We were fairly laid back about this cycle, assuming it would work but knowing in the back of our minds that we got incredibly lucky the first time. 

I was crushed. It was so much harder than I expected to have a failure. It is unreal how all the old feelings crop back up again. Infertility sucks, and the suckyness doesn't go away after you have one babe. 

This will be a struggle for the rest of our family growing years, and that is hard to accept. Friends around me continue to get pregnant with the greatest of ease. I thought it would be easier to deal with once I had a child of my own. But it isn't. 

Saturday, May 03, 2014

I'm Alive

I am still around. Everyone once and a while I come back to this lonely blog and think that I need to start blogging again, but I have never gotten around to it!

Things have been busy around here with photography, an online fabric shop and a sewing business, PLUS raising a toddler! So blogging has not been #1.

But I do miss it, and I said I was going to come back.

Soon.

I promise. 

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Free Zin Frame!


To celebrate 500 likes on our Linen & Lace Photography FB page, we are giving away a 4x6 Zin Frame to one lucky follower!

To enter, visit our Facebook Page for details!

Good Luck! 

Monday, January 20, 2014

So Close

The cravings hit bad today. I just wanted a moist cupcake with a mountain of icing. Or a chocolate chip cookie, or twelve, fresh out of the oven. I tried to curb the cravings with skinny chocolate, almonds, an apple and drinking copious amounts of water.  But nothing was successful. 

Then I saw it.

A full bag of chipits.

I started convincing myself it was ok to eat them. 

No one would find out. 

I wouldn't have to tell anyone. 

I could lie. 

I prayed. I wrestled with my thoughts. I asked Eric, and then argued when he said no. 

But now I am lying in bed and the bag of chipits lies unopened on the shelf. 

I would consider today a win. 

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

One Week Down

I have officially made it through a full week of my No Sugar New Year. I will be honest, it has been pretty easy so far. The hardest thing I have done so far is to go into the bakery for some kuba dogs. The smell of the sweet treats triggered major cravings. Luckily my husband was there to say no. I have also had one really bad candy craving, but thats about it! My hopes are high and I have lasted longer than I predicted so far! Only 51 more weeks to go.

Actually, I have the rest of my life to go. Once the new year comes I will probably add in honey, but I still want to avoid sugar for the most part. Diabetes runs in my family, and with PCOS I can't afford to have sugar be a regular part of my life. I will probably have it on special occasions.

Something that has helped my sugar avoidance was my new oral appliances for my TMJ problems. I am supposed to eat with them in, but it is difficult. And taking it out makes my jaw ache, so it is WAY easier to say no to snacking now.

I also haven't been feeling great. Since weaning Tallet in Mid-November Aunt Flo has been here to visit. I am feeling pretty tired these days. I got some bloodwork done, so hopefully they can figure something out and stop this. I also have an appointment at Heartland on the 27th. Hoping to figure out a plan for baby #2! 

Saturday, January 04, 2014

No Sugar New Year

Has it really been almost 3 months since my last post? Yikes, talk about quiet. In my defence I have been quite the busy lady getting ready for the craft sale season and such, I didn't have much time for extras like blogging.

In fact I have many other things I could be doing now while Tallet naps, but I wanted to share about my new challenge I have given myself.

I have declared 2014 my No-Sugar New Year. I have challenged myself to go without sugar for the entire year. Today is Day 4 and so far so good.

I am looking to my Trim Healthy Mama book a lot. I am not going completely back on plan just yet, but they have a lot of great sugar free recipes. Yesterday I made a chocolate nut slab, fudge and tummy tucking ice cream, all of which are amazing. With recipes like that, it will be easy to stick to this.

My biggest challenge however will not be at home, it will be when we are at others people's places and they serve treats. It will be hard to say no. But as long as I know I have yummy chocolate fudge waiting for me in the freezer, I should be good.

Eventually, I would like to go fully back on the THM plan, but I need to take baby steps. Every time I start something new I go all-in, and I never stick to it. I want to make one small change at a time, and hopefully it will stick for life. If all I do for this entire year is give up sugar, then so be it. There is always next year to make another change. I have been dieting on and off for 12 years. If I make 1 small positive change for the next 12 years and actually stick to them, I will be way further ahead then trying to make a enormous life change all at once.

I am hoping to blog a bit more as well. Even thought I am sure the few readers I did have long since abandoned this page. At least it will be here for me to read back on one day!

Happy New Year Everyone! 
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