Last day of Light Box Therapy

Today is the last day of my light box therapy.
I had an appt last week with my dermatologist. He told me to buy flax seed oil and take double the normal dose daily. We need more omega's than most people. He said I could do fish oil pills if I wanted - but some don't like the fish burps I guess. Personally I have been taking fish oil pills for awhile and never once burped up any fish taste. I would know - I hate fish! I take Market America's Heart Heath Fish oil pills.

He also suggested I switch over my lotions and body wash to CeraVe & Cetaphil. They are nice - no smell and both say for atopic skin - some kind of dry skin condition I guess. I found they're a bit pricey - but I guess if they help I'll stick with them. I have tried many other expensive products before also. I let you know how it goes. I bought the CeraVe lotion at Walgreens for $16.99 last week. It's a pretty large size bottle. He told me to put lotion on everytime my skin gets wet from the bath or shower.

My Dermatologist also wants me to try to get more sun. I have to have the "bad areas" of skin exposed though so that would be really tough. He suggested I walk/run in a running bra and also put my hair up in a bun so the sun can reach the back of my neck and my ears. I tried the bun yesterday and it was no different than a pony tail - so easy. I'm not willing to brave running down the road in a bra yet though - I think this is great motivation to start doing crunches though :-)

I have a follow up in 5 weeks - will keep you posted.

I love having a tan!

Well here I am rounding down my 3 1/2 months of light therapy. I have to say I'm really scared about what to expect now. I have a great tan and for the first time in a long time I have not had to worry about how low cut my shirts are. I also bought a nice one piece bathing suit and went swimming with my kids. I posted two new pictures I took recently. I'm amazed - my friends say it now just looks like I have a large birthmark or tatoo on my back. The chest area is pretty much cleared. The few leg spots look just like my back (a little dark spot). My neck still has 2 stubborn red spots as well as the back of my neck. All in all I'm thrilled with the results. I have a cream of vitamin D which I have used only once in awhile on my neck. The rest cleared up with the ubv light box therapy. I stated with 16 seconds and am now up to about 2min 20 sec. I go every m/w/f mornings before work and am in and out within 15 minutes. The extra traveling has been the only real hard part. My insurance has covered every appt for light box. I only pay my copay if I have a regular appt with the derm.

I wish I could keep this nice tan forever! I have a great tan - without any tan lines! It rocks :-) I'll keep you all posted as to how long my skin stays good. I've heard others say it returns with a vengance after - I am hoping not. For the moment I'm very happy with my dark "birthmark" and was happy to finally post some good pictures.

I have been still eating a lot healthier and trying to minimize the gluten. I have found my life to be extremely stressful as of late and have decided not to beat myself up when I eat something with reg. flour in it. I do however keep it to a min and only when it would be more stressful for me to make something from scratch just for me. I know the stress is not good for my skin either - but when you have teenagers as well as a 93 year old grandmother who lives with you your life is full of unexpected surprises.

Wishing all health and clear skin:-)

Update

Wow - I so lost track of time and didn't realize it's been a month since I posted last. I've been doing narrowband uvb light treatments 3 days a week. I'll be doing this for all of March/April/May. I have seen huge results on my chest area, neck and back. The leg spots don't want to budge yet. I'm up to a minute twenty seconds so far. I did have one time only that I got a small burn - the "clear" skin became red - however by morning I was nice and tan.

I might actually have a tan this year !!! Wow - I never have a tan. I have light skin so I usually burn outside and don't seem to ever keep a tan. I like the new look :-)

I noticed after the first few weeks the skin was looking much better - then I slipped up on the diet - the psoriosis got red again. I'm back on track now. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy journey - but I'll get there.

I'm really hoping to have clear skin for July. We're planning a trip out to Wisconsin to visit my husbands family. It's a large family reuinon and most people are renting cabins on the lake. I haven't worn a swimsuit in at least 5 years. I'm hopeing I can. Especially since my little girl loves to swim.

Pressing on

Well - I've gone through 4 light therapy sessions. I'm up to a wapping 23 seconds now. They keep asking if I burned any last time - I have not and really can't see how 23 seconds is enough to burn you. I can see a difference in the redness for sure. The scaling was pretty much gone before, but the bright redness was bad. Now it's more pink. I'm fading and am very happy about it. It's so nice to actually see something change. I also do my infared sauna 3 times a week and epsom salt baths.

I have to say I really really like my new dermatologist. Not only is he not pushing me on the drugs but he himself has psoriosis. He said out of all the treatments out there he's seen the most "remision" time with the light therapy. He wants me to go for 3 months for now. I also shared with him how my son had inverse psoriosis on the back of his knee that lasted about 6 months and went away and now he has patches on both his eyelids. He gave me some vit D cream samples for him to use. My son also uses my infared sauna and loves it. He's not willing to switch his eating habits much right.

So the diet - well I have to say I have come a long way. It's still a struggle though. I have been working on cutting out the dairy - this is really hard because I love cheese. I could care less about the milk. I also have no issues cooking with almond milk. My only complaint is that it only lasts 7 days in the fridge and I'm the only one using it. I don't eat cereal - so it's really just to cook with. I wonder if I can freeze half or if I can find smaller containers.
I find my digestive track is working better - but has a long way to go. You all know I was on antibiotics for 12 straight years - so all the good bacteria was gone and I was lucky if I "eliminated" twice a week. Now I find it's either feast or famine. I either go 3-4 days with nothing or go 3-4 times in one day. It's so weird and must be what I'm eating. I almost wonder sometimes if I have some lactose intolerance issues because a few of the "busy" days I ate yogurt for breakfast. I'm a work in progress :-) I also still go for colonics once every 4-6 weeks. This is supposed to also help tone the colon so it works properly as well as get out the older "crap".

I will post updated pictures soon. I have had some computer issues and need to find my disk to reload the camera software.

Narrowband light therapy

I started light therapy today. Yikes - insurance covers it but you still have to pay the copay. That's $60 extra a week. This is going to be really hard financially.
They started me off at 16 seconds. Boy that seems like nothing. You go into a room and the nurse punches your info into the computer. She tells you how long you'll be in. Because I have fair skin and it's my first time she did 16 seconds. There's a booth you stand in and shut the door then push a button for it to start. You wear dark glasses also. She gave the instructions on how it works, tells me I can leave my bra and underwear on if I want. If almost all the skin under the bra and underwear are affected then it would seem right to just go nude - which I did. Then you get dressed, pay your $20 and leave. I have one month of these scheduled for now. We'll see how it goes. I don't think I'll be getting a tan at 16 seconds a time :-) To bad - I really could use one.

Dermatologist appt.

I haven't been to the dermatologist in 16 plus years. I had a mole on my back that stuck out some and because my psoriosis is in that area I found I was constantly hitting it when I itched. At night if I was itchy I woke in the morning with the mole bleeding and irritated. It also would scab over. I decided it had to go - so I saw the derm this week. He said it looks fine - but removed it for me no problem. It was sore for a few days and I couldn't were a normal bra because the strap rubbed on it. So I've been wearing a sports bra for 4 days now. (Makes me feel like I should be at the gym).

He wanted to know what I was doing for my psoriosis and I said nothing. He let me know there were a lot of good drugs out now. I told him I would only be open to light therapy - nothing else. I spoke with his nurse for awhile while she prepared everything for the mole removal. I explained to her how I was on antibiotics for so many years and it really did a number on me - I'm not open to anything that will cause more harm in the long run. She told me you can do light therapy without having any drugs with it. It helps a lot of people. I know it's not a cure in the long run and I'm looking to get better for long term not short term - but it may help boost what I'm doing naturally. It also may make it so I can wear a swim suit this summer :-) So I'm going to start light therapy this coming week for awhile and see if it gives me that extra boost I need. I have minimal scaling right now but lots of deep red skin. I would like that to fade away :-)

I added in yellow saffron tea this past week also. It has very little taste. I ordered the yellow saffron and slippery elm bark tea the same day - but only the yellow saffron has arrived so far. I like it and thought I saw a little improvement with it - hard to tell so far thought. These are 2 teas recommended my Dr. Pagano.

loosing weight still / infared sauna

I am still eating pretty good. I never ever have processed foods now which is great. I do almost all my cooking at home from scratch. I am learning I like a lot more new foods (especially veggies). The good new is I've lost more weight. I'm down now to about 157 (Started at 173).
I love fitting back into my size 10 jeans.

Someone recommended I try an infared sauna. I thought they were quite pricey for something I was "trying" and didn't know if I would like so I had passed on the idea....until I saw someone had one on craigslist for a really really great price. She had bought one of the small portable foldable ones and used it only once or twice - then she had bought one of the large wooden models. So I went this weekend and pickup up the small portable one for really cheap. I tried it out this morning. You basically sit in a small chair and zipper yourself in. I feel like I'm sitting in a space suit :-) It heats up - but doesn't have steam like the regular saunas. I makes you sweat. I don't know if it will make any difference at all - but I found it very relaxing. I sat in it and watched the news on tv then took a nice hot shower to wash off the sweat and followed up with lots of coconut oil all over my skin. They say you should sweat for detox reasons - if nothing else I like the heat as I'm always cold! I think it's a great way to start the day.

I tried dark chocolate almond milk this morning. That stuff is great! My church had a big women's ministries chocolate event last night. We had 9 different rooms set up that you travel around to and do something different. I was in the craft room all night making marshmallow snowmen so it was easy to not eat all that junk. At the end of the night one of the rooms had leftover cartons of chocolate almond and soy milk. I took home one of the almond milk to try. It was a great addition to my breakfast. I've tried the plain almond milk before and find I don't like to drink it by itself - but will use it for cooking and smoothies no problem. Like I said - trying new stuff is fun - never know what you'll end up liking.

Some Improvement

Well - I must say I'm feeling some improvement. My skin on my chin area is no longer red at all. it's somewhat dry - but looking 10 times better. The skin on my belly button area/chest/back are all still red - but the flaking is not there anymore. The skin in the groin area is no longer red - which makes me feel much better. The spots on my legs seem the same and the spots on my elbow/arm seem the same - weird because those are the smallest spots.

So far I've completely eliminated any wheat/gluten.
I do not eat anything processed or manufactured. I try to eat things that are natural in nature. I have cut back on all nightshades - but still have spaq. sauce or ketchup about 1 time a week.
I do not drink milk at all - but I do eat eggs and I use cheese sparingly.
I drink lots of water and herbal teas - and limit myself to 1-2 cups of coffee a day (no cream).
I also don't have sugar unless it's naturally in something like fruit.

For supplements I take probiotics/zinc/kelp(for iodine)/Multivitamin/Calcium w/ Magnesium & OPC3.
The probiotics are because I had so many years on antibiotics my good bacteria is pretty much gone. The zinc because I've heard it's good for psoriosis, the kelp because I have an under-active thyroid and need iodine, multivitamin and calcium because we need it and OPC3 is a powerful antioxidant and inflamation fighter.

I know the diet process is slow because your body has to re-adjust - I'm just glad to see some improvement and knowing my body is getting healthier.

I ordered some american yellow saffron tea and slippery elm bark powder online to start drinking as tea. I should get them soon.

Oh Crap!

Apparently I'm getting the hang of this eating thing! I read somewhere that if you eat a diet based mostly on fruits and veggies your crap will float. I thought at the time that was the weirdest thing I had ever heard of. It does not float - it sinks to the bottom like a rock.
Well this morning I realized - wholly crap it floats! They were right. I just had to share that with someone and since no one else would understand I am sharing with you :-) I can't just go up to someone and explain I'm excited because my crap is floating now - so no right :-)

Goat's milk soap

This is what I'm using right now for soap. I really like it and it's fragrance free and doesn't have any extra "junk" in it. I get mine at Hannafords for $2.79 but I see you can order it online a little cheaper. Of course that depends on shipping costs.

Day by Day

Taking it day by day :-) I have eliminated the gluten and am so proud of myself for it. I never noticed in the past how sensitive I was to it - but once last week I though I'd "try" to see if I really had an issue with it. I ate a burger - didn't really enjoy it either. Within an hour my face looked like a red tomato, I itched everywhere, my stomach was very upset and my psoriosis flared bad! I have officially proven to myself the gluten is bad for me.

This is how an elimination diet works. Eliminate what you suspect you might have issues with - for about a month if you can (I did 3+ months on the gluten free diet). Then try the product. I only needed one try - but they say you should go back to eating it for several days and see how you feel.

I have to be honest - it took my many tries to stay gluten free. I started in August. I'm not in the process of doing the same with dairy.

Today I was dehydrating zuchini chips w/ sea salt and vinegar. (My version of potato chips because I'm avoiding all "manufactured foods".) My husband suggested I make zuchini bread with the rest of the zuchini. I told him I could - but it would be gluten free because I was out of reg. flour. He told me it's all in my head - he thinks I've just "decided" I have an issue because the doctors don't direct you towards diet. It was extremely discouraging. He's never made any comments about my skin - but thinks I'm a little crazy to be trying all these food eliminations. I am just having a really discouraged day. I will keep going though. I've heard some say it took them like 7 months of changed diet to see a change in their skin. I also know if nothing else I'm going to be healthy ( and thin ) once again.

Feeling Good/Losing Weight

Well I made it to day 7 on my detox cleansing week. Yeah!!! Once I got about half way through the week my energy picked back up and I wasn't so tired. It's normal to be tired at the beginning and more energized at the end. Right now I have no desire to go back to eating the bad stuff. I'm loving the ease of making my green smoothies for breakfast and prefer the fruits and veggies. I have a ton of new recipes to try that I found online. Today we're snowed in - so far about 12" and it's only 10 am. The storm is suppossed to go until around 7 tonight. Today is a good day to cook. I'm making some homemade baked beans (that way I can control the sugar amounts) and tomatillo guacamolie for a potluck on Friday (I have lots of avacado's right now). I'm also making a mushroom lentil bake and I have an awesome recipe for eggplant caserole that I'm making for the potluck also. As I see it the trick to a potluck is bringing stuff you can eat so you're not starving and everyone brought desert or something.

Well so far I've gone from 171 lbs to 162. That's almost 10 lbs without "trying" - just changing the eating habits. I'm happy about the weight loss though. When you have psoriosis your self esteem can really be damaged. You feel like your damaged and you don't want anyone looking at you. Because I have psoriosis between my breasts so bad I can't wear anything remotely low cut. I also have to wear longer shirts because I don't want anyone to see my lower back or my belly button area. For a women this is tough because we want to feel sexy and attractive - that's really hard when the last thing you want is for anyone to ever see you naked! I remember when I was younger and fit I felt good about myself. I wore sexy bras and underwear and even if no one was seeing them I still felt sexy in them. I'm really happy that I'm starting to loose some weight as at least then I'll feel good in tight jeans or something. I'm praying for the skin to clear - at the very least in the more private areas. I met a guy on facebook that has psoriosis on his private areas. My heart just breaks for men who have that problem. He said it was causing issues with his wife and his sex life - I can only imagine the pain he must go through (physically and emotionally). I'm so happy to have an understanding husband. He has never made a negative comment about my skin.

Here's to more weight loss and clearer skin. Cheers! (I'm toasting myself with a cup of hot green tea - no alcohol for me).

Detox Week

I started my 7 day detox on Tuesday. So far so good. Things are "moving" so to speak. I'm comfortable though and not having any issues like really loose stools. Work was a little tough because everyone in my office ordered out almost every day - I did good though and just thought of my skin and was able to eat what I brought. I made a large batch of veggie soup at the beginning of the week so I had it on hand in case of hunger. I've had some raisins and almonds as well as fruit for snacks. I've been drinking lots of hot tea - I love the stuff. I've been making a large smoothie to drink in the morning and on the ride in to work. I have refused to bring them in to work because they look horrible - depending on what I put in there it's either dark green or poop colored. People would be really grossed out if they didn't understand. I'm really getting to like them and find it's much easier than actually cooking breakfast. The hard part for me is making dinner for everyone else in my family and then eating something else myself.

I've been searching and doing a lot of research on diets people have results with for psoriosis. I have the book by Dr. Pagano called " Healing Psoriosis the natural alternative". I also have one called "Your healing diet" by Deirdre Earls. I've also been studying the diet from "how to beat psoriosis.com" All recommend the usual: Drink lots of water, get plenty of rest at night, exercise, etc. Dr. Pagano's book and howtobeatpsoriosis.com both show the importance of having regular bowel movements. As far as diets go ... howtobeatpsoriosis.com is the most restrictive, followed by Dr. Pagano's book and then Deirdre Earls book.

Here's my summary....
Eat more Alkaline forming foods and less acidic (80%/20%)
Drink at least 8 glasses of water or herbal tea daily
Make sure you're going to the bathroom daily
Get in your fiber - flax seed is a great way to add extra
Stay away from the nightshade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers)
- black pepper is fine and sweet potatoes are fine
- Nightshades contain solanine which contributes to inflammation.
Avoid shell fish - they are bottom feeders (Eat freely swimming fish instead)
Limit or cut out beef and pork. Beef is very hard on your liver.
For gluten and dairy you'll need to do an elimination diet to see if they affect you.
- Gluten intolerance if very high among psoriosis sufferers
Watch out for citrus fruits and berries (strawberry, black berry, etc)
- Blueberries seem to be ok per 2 of these sources.
Fresh squeezed lemon juice is great to add to water, tea or smoothies.
Nuts - one source says all nuts are bad, one says nothing about them and one suggest they're all good except peanuts. I for one itch with peanuts but have no issues with almonds or sunflower seeds.

My conclusion: I'm going to due my best to follow these suggestions until my psoriosis is pretty much clear. Then I will try adding in the nightshades and watch for any reaction, etc. I for one never ate very many nightshades - so I don't think they caused much of my problems - but they can contribute to inflammation. I spoke w/ my nuetritionist about them and she felt if I ate them I should just take extra omega 3 (anti-imflamatory) to combat it some. She didn't feel veggies of any kind are a problem - fruits either. She did warn me beef is very hard on your liver though and we determined peanuts normally have a mold that grows on them - which is probably why I itched so bad after eating them.

I have noticed since starting to detox things have gotten worse - yes worse. That's normal though. The redness is incredible right now - but the thickness of the scales is almost gone. The skin is very uncomfortable and sore also. I'm taking things a day at a time. I know it can take a long time for your body to heal naturally - but I feel it's worth it.

Happy New Year

Today is the start of a new year. I'm hoping today is the start of a new body also :-) I went to see my neutritionist yesterday and had another colonics. We talked about how things were going. I haven't seen a whole lot of changes yet. Things look good then bad then good. You know how that goes. She said basically my body is in a state of toxicity right now because the toxins are going to my skin. My liver is obviously on overload right now and not functioning at it's best. She wants me to do a 7 day detox before the next colonics session. She looked over the 7 day detox system I've used in the past and felt it was a good one. I also like it because it's fairly gentle and I can still work while doing it. I need to eat mostly fruits and veggies. For protein if needed I can have eggs/chicken or fish - without cheese or added fat, etc. My smoothies are good in the morning - but she wants me to up the amount of flax seed meal I was adding from 1 tbsp to 2-3 instead (more fiber). I'm starting this on Wed so I need to prepare by making some veggie soups to have on hand, etc. It's not good to get to a really hungry stage and not have things on hand to grab.

My colonics session went well. More came out than I normally see. She thinks my colon may be tipped a bit so that when I'm laying down on the table the angle's not working with my body as well as if I'm sitting on the toilet. From what did come through the machine she noticed I had a lot of mucus and we could see a lot of hard metal coming through. I asked about that and she said it comes from environmental toxins mostly as well as dental work. (Yikes). I'm glad most dentists have swithed away from the metal fillings.

I found some really awesome lotions that I like recently. They're from a company called SheaTerra Organics. They have a website and are made from shea butters. I got Shea Gold and Cape Lavender. The Shea Gold says right on it for psoriosis and the lavender smells heavenly! The products don't have any preservatives/parabens and other toxins so I feel safe putting them on my body. Right now I'm so leary of what I eat and what I put on my skin because I am seeing what all the toxins have done to my body over time. It's time for me to put an end to adding more in there. If you sign up with your email address at SheaTerra Organics they add you on the email list - then you get coupon codes sent to you. I signed up and waiting about 2 weeks before getting one - but I got a coupon code for 30% off. It was well worth the wait. I'm always one for a sale :-)

Last night I went to a New Years Eve party at my sisters. After we ate some I came down with an immediate migraine headache. I haven't had one in awhile so I knew it was something I ate or drank that caused it. After going back through everything I ate I narrowed it down to the punch. It had fruit punch in it with artificial flavorings and colorings. I was so good on what I ate I didn't even think about the punch. I was trying to avoid the soda! Ugh - very discouraging. I'll stick to water & tea like I have been doing.

I wish all a happy new year and also a year of clearer skin and less aches and pains!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I'm sorry I haven't written in awhile. I had some computer issues and couldn't get either one of them to work. I now have one back up and running.

I've decided trying to eat differently than everyone else is extremely difficult during the holidays. People think you're weird if you don't eat all the snacks and party food with them. Work holiday parties are the worst also. Instead of a potluck this year my work company decided to do a breakfast. They had pancakes, waffles, french toast, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. I had to go to every station and say "no thanks" at most. It's really hard to explain that I don't want to eat anything with wheat when I'm not celiac. I just know without any doubt that I have a food intolerance to it. I know the next day without a doubt by my skin and I know almost right away if I ate anything with gluten/wheat by the way my stomach/digestive track reacts. Special diets can be really hard to do. When you decide to change your eating habits try not to be hard on yourself. You can not do it cold turkey very easily. I'm doing it a day at a time and will not get discouraged - just press forward.

We had 18 people at my mothers this year for Christmas dinner. Turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, home made rolls and bread, stuffing, butternut squash, homemade pies and apple crisp for desert. (Am I making you hungry?) (I almost wish I had thought to make my own desert and my own gravy to bring with me - that was a tough meal to watch everyone else eat what I really really wanted to eat. I think next get together I'll cook and invite everyone to our house. That way I know what's in the food.

Merry Christmas!

Updated Pictures

I updated some pictures today. It's only been a couple of weeks since the last ones, but I was seeing some improvement on my chin area/ear area and chest area. The coloring has faded a lot on the chest area - before it was the color of a beet. My back doesn't seem to have much improvement yet.

I went for another colonics session this past week. It was similar to last time: very little comes out during the session - but TONS afterwards privately in the rest room. I didn't feel weak or wiped out after this time. Just so you are aware you wear a pair of mens boxers backwards the whole time. You never have to be fully undressed at all. I have another session scheduled for this coming week.

Trying to switch to healthy/organic/non-processed, etc foods has been a challenge. It's a learning curve everyday. I have really found I love a sprouted grain bread called Ezekial bread. You find it in Hanaford or the Whole food stores like Trader Joes. It's frozen. I really like the cinn/raisin.

I've been keeping a food journal for my nutritionist to try to improve on what I've been eating. I had a note on last weeks one day that I itched all night long. She looked back through what I ate that day. She noticed I ate trailmix as a snack. I made it myself with raisins, peanuts, almonds and cashews. She told me to watch out for peanuts/peanut butter/peanut oils. Apparently when they grow there's a mold that forms on them that's not visible to the eye. When they're processed this mold tends to be in the product still. That may have caused some of my itching. The night before I had soaked in epsom salts which is wonderful for you to do. It help draw out the toxins from your skin. It can however cause some itching due to this. It could have been one of these reasons or just plain psoriosis. It really was worse than normal that night though.

Trying new foods

As you know when I went for my colon cleanse they let me know I was dehydrated. I've been trying so hard to drink 8 glasses of water a day plus tea and my smoothies. I realized it's actually harder than I thought it would be. I'm getting up every single night to pea because of all the water - but I know my body needs it.
The smoothies are getting better. Today's was romaine lettuce/spinach/parsley/1/2 frozen banana/1/2 cup frozen strawberries and 1/2 tblsp flax seed meal. Not to bad. The Frozen things help a ton! I've found I don't miss the coffee or soda at all!

The other tough thing with the liquids is you should not be drinking with your meals. Apparently it dilutes your stomach acid making your body have an even harder time digesting foods. Any if you have any digestive challenges this is a big issue. You should wait at least 20min to 1/2 hour after a meal to have a drink. I was told you shouldn't drink with your meals awhile back by a lady who had gastric bypass surgery but didn't understand the reasons - now it makes since. I just don't think the rest of the world has caught on because when you go out to eat the first thing they do it bring you a drink and then after ask if you want coffee.

My neutritionist wants me to start trying raw foods and fermented foods. They apparently are really good for you. We need the living enzymes! I went to the natural health food store yesterday and got some raw milk cheese to try. It's in a block just like normal sharp cheese. I ate some with a few nut thins (by blue diamond nuts). It was a little more sharp the the regular stuff I had been buying - but not bad at all. She told me it melts really well also for recipes. I also bought braggs raw apple cider vinegar to try. I want to experiment with homemade salad dressing recipes. If you have a homemade recipe feel free to comment and I'll give it a try. I also bought fermented pickles (be real pickles company). It was either fermented pickles/red cabbage or sour-kraught. I went with the pickles. I haven't tried them yet thought.

I'm told I also need to get in some exercise. When you sweat you are flushing toxins out through your pores. I need to eliminate all the toxins I can. I was going to go to the gym yesterday with a friend but it started snowing and I didn't want to go out in it. So today we've planned a gym afternoon date. I will try to sweat more than usual instead of just walking for a bit on the treadmill and then switching to other weight machines.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!

I started the day with another "green smoothie". This time I added 1/2 a frozen banana, 1/2 an apple and romaine and spinach and 1 packet of stevia. I must say it was an improvement over yesterday's :-)

We're heading to my mothers for Thanksgiving dinner. There's usually about 30 of us and it gets a little crazy and tight - but fun anyhow. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Eat lots of the vegetables and limit yourself to only one piece of pie! (I believe I'm talking to myself as well).

Hydrotherapy Colon Cleanse

I went for my first session of Colonics yesterday. (I explained the procedure earlier in a post.) First we sat down and discussed my issues and diet choices. I had filled out a health sheet ahead of time. She said based on my answers she could tell I was dehydrated. I thought I was getting enough liquid - but I was wrong. She also let me know coffee and black tea are dehydrating, so I'm glad I recently gave those up. I'm supposed to aim for a gallon total of all drinks (tea/water, etc).

We discussed that I should be eating 80% fruits/veggies. I'm working on this one :-) She also gave suggestions on where to find natural, organic foods, vinegar, oils, etc. She highly suggested coconut oil as well as organic apple cider vinegar.

The colonic session was not bad at all. She inserts a tube that has two separate tubes attached to it (one larger than the other for waste. The water they use is really warm, you almost don't feel it - just a little pressure during the 6 second fills. She fills for 6 seconds then waits to see what the pressure is. If the valve shows little pressure she adds more water, etc. When the pressure indicates she switches the valve over to release waste. The waste passes through this clear glass tube in the machine for viewing. She can see if you have a lot of mucus or yeast or if it's really dry, etc. I found not a lot came out during the 45 min. session - this is ok because after you go into the restroom and TONS comes out. (More than I thought would be in there :-)

She said some feel relaxed or energetic after - I found I felt drained and really tired. I went home cooked supper and fell asleep at 7:30. I later read the "take home notes" and discovered some do feel sick, weak and tired. These people fall into the 5% category though and are the real sick toxic people with chronic fatique, dehydration, candida issues (yeast), imbalance in good/bad flora, chemical sensitivities, etc. I pretty much knew I was in the really toxic zone anyhow based on my health issues. I have an appt. next week for another session.

My homework for the week : Green smoothies! My first thought is Ugh! But I am willing to try anything right now. Basically you take a blender and add whatever you have on hand : romaine lettuce/spinach/kale/parsley/banana/apple/fruits, etc. You mix with water and drink it. Today I mixed romaine with spinach and 1/2 a banana. My husband thinks I'm nuts. My daughter actually took a sip and my grandmother who eats anything turned up her nose and walked away. I managed to get almost all of it down. Tomm I'm going to try to add ice. I think it'll be better cold than luke-warm. She said I could add stevia, raw honey or agave nectar for sweetness if I need to. It might come to that :-)

In summary for me: drink more water and tea (herbal/green), eat more veggies, meat is hard on the liver to digest so lean towards chicken/fish, drink green smoothies, probiotics are a must! Keep up with the omega 3/6 fish oils and B complex and Vit D (D3), Antioxidents (I take opc-3 w/ pycnogenol already). Stay away from milk because it's very mucus forming. Stay away from gluten/white flour as much as possible.

Switching drinks

As you know I'm trying to switch over what I've been eating to things that are better for me. My goal is to stop putting so many toxins into my system. The first way is through food and then I have to tackle all the things that come in contact with my skin (lotions, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, etc). My other goal is to get my body to stay in an alkaline state instead of an acidic state. You do this through what you eat. If your body is in an alkaline state then diseases can not survive. If your body is in an acidic state all kinds of diseases bread like crazy - especially cancer. We should be eating 80% alkaline based foods and 20% acidic.

I decided coffee is out for me. Coffee is very acidic - on top of that I can't take it black. I had switched over the last few months to using no cream and only stevia as a sweetener. Stevia is a natural sugar substitute and I do recommend it. I eat to much acidic stuff already - so coffee is now out for me. I am now drinking hot tea. Black tea's are a lot more acidic than Green teas and Herbal - so I'm trying all kinds of new flavors. I really like Chamomile Mango and Green tea with orange. I also started making my own ice tea. I bought a glass jar with a lid at Walmart. I put two tea bags in it (I hang them from the top) and then pour hot water in. I let it sit for awhile to cool then put it in the fridge. I don't need any sweetener for me - but I've found I have to add a small amount of stevia for my kids to drink it. My favorite is Bigelow's Red Rasberry for iced tea. If I want a cold drink it's this or plain water. Plain water is the best thing to drink for flushing out toxins also. 8 Glasses a day is recommended. To be honest I did not do this before - but am now trying to get in my 8 glasses.

Yesterday I went to the winter farmers market. I really wanted to get a feel for what the prices were because I want to switch over to farm raised and organic foods. I don't want pestisides used on my fruits/veggies and I don't want hormones and antibiotics used in my meat.
I bought myself a huge bunch of lettuce for $3. It was twice the size of the romaine lettuce I was buying at the grocery store for $2. They also offered 3 different varieties of lettuce. I also bought some butternut squash for $1 a pound. Last night I stopped by the grocery store and found butternut squash was $1.79 a pound. I have to say I was pleased at most of the prices. I know some were a lot higher than what I'm used to - but your health is not something to fool around with. I've learned that the hard way.

I've very happy that my sister has her own mini farm. She raises ducks, chickens, quail, goats & bunnies. I get all my eggs from her because I can go play with the chickens myself, I know what they eat and she doesn't use any hormones or antibiotics. I also have a neighbor who raises his own cows. He started adding one or two extra cows for friends and family. My family buys one full cow from him when he butchers them off. I know they're well taken care of and they roam all day in the pastures. Start checking out your local farmers - see if there are any farm stands near you or farmers markets. This is where you can find some really good food (also some of the safest).