More Energy and other ramblings

Remember the lazy days of Summer?  Yeah, me neither.  We sure didn't see any here!  And we're ending our summer vacation this week.  I'm sad to see it end, it has been nice to be on a less strict schedule, and to have less places to be on a regular basis, but alas, all things must come to an end.  So on this final week of summer vacation I'm busy getting some things in the freezer for when we're busier.  I'm also getting a visit from my BFF today.  We've been friends since High School, and live in the same city, but somehow rarely see each other.  What's that about?  Anyway, she's gonna come over today and go through some of Chickie's clothes with me and take some for her daughter, because we have WAY too many clothes.  I need to unload some.  Seriously.  The chick could wear a different outfit every day and still not get through all of her clothes!!!!!  So, we must share....  Tomorrow I'm getting my meat order from the coop.  It's the first time I'm ordering meat from them, I'm hoping it's good.  I got 20 pounds of apples last week from them :)  We also have family coming in tomorrow.  Michael's brother and his family are coming for a few days :)  It should be a great time

While on vacation I read a few books.  I've already mentioned Homeschooling at the Speed of Life: Balancing Home, School, and Family in the Real World and One Year to an Organized Life but another book I read that really affected my life was Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body!.  It was a different kind of book, and not at all what I expected.  She tells you to about all of the harmful chemicals that we put into our foods and how they affect your body.  It isn't a dry read, she really gets real and it's like having her sit beside you talking to you.  One thing I learned in that book was that people who are insulin resistant are significantly more likely to develop Alzheimer's.  Ok.  I was diagnosed with insulin resistance a year ago and my grandmother had Alzheimer's.  Alzheimer's is awful.  Terrible.  Kill me if I'm ever diagnosed.  Seriously.  I don't want my family to go through what I watched my mom and aunt go through with my Grandma.  It's terrible.  So obviously now I'm really needing that weight to come off.  Ok, so she really stresses in the book about all the junk that is in our processed food, and I am a processed/diet food junkie.  I have wondered why I continue to gain weight when I eat only diet food.  I haven't had a real soda in years.  I use low fat mayo, low fat milk, low fat butter/margarine, low fat meat, bread, crackers, ice cream etc.....  What in the world????  Well, she says that all the preservatives and other chemicals in all that "low fat" stuff, especially High Fructose Corn Syrup, and BPA that are "preserving" our food are also preserving the fat in our bodies.  Now doesn't that make a whole lot of sense?????

I really can't stress enough how much everyone should read this book.  I don't care if you are overweight or not.  I don't care if you want to lose weight or not.  If you care at all about your body, or you have children and care AT ALL about them, read the book. I'm not a big reader (I know it sounds like I am, but I'm not usually LOL), and I had a hard time putting this book down.  It really is that good.

I wish I could tell you that I came home and lost a ton of weight.  That hasn't happened yet.  But what has happened is I have begun to overhaul our diet and cut out white stuff, processed stuff, soda, etc.  I am doing a little more work in the kitchen, and I have spent a little more on groceries.  Hey, I'll be honest.  :)  So why am I so dead set on this?  Because the way I feel and the level of energy I have has increased 50 fold!!

Does this sound like you?  You get up, have your 25 cups of coffee in the morning, eat breakfast (or don't) and you're dragging.  Lunch comes around and you eat what you can find, usually something processed.  Within an hour you feel like a ton of bricks is on your shoulders.  So, you have an afternoon cup (or three) of coffee to get through the evening, get dinner on the table, eat it and crash.  No energy to get the dishes done, sometimes you fight your way through it, sometimes you just can't.  Sometimes you just sit in front of the the computer or TV until you finally give up and go to bed.  Only to wake up in the morning still tired.

Yep, that was me.  I've been eating more healthy for about 2 weeks consistently and I wake up ready for the day, have one cup of coffee most days, and feel motivated to do the things I want to do.  When I go to bed I go to bed when it's time, not because I'm totally dead, but because it's time.  And I go to sleep without problem.

Be on the lookout for future posts on my eating habits and my family's eating habits and how it is affecting our bodies.  I've also started reading Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.  I'll be posting about it too as I get through it.  But, I recommend you read Master your Metabolism first.  It's a MUCH easier read and really puts it in language you can understand.

This post is linked to Heavenly Homemakers where they host GratiTuesday each week.  Be sure to check out her site, she has TONS of ideas on eating healthy :)