Day 3 ...could also be titled what was I thinking!?!

Photo by Shane Ford
Shane Ford Photography

I am writing this Wednesday morning because let me be honest with you here, yesterday was a hard day.   I normally like to recap my day that night and then edit in the morning and post, I was not getting this blog down last night.

I stuck to my plan, but yesterday I didn't want to.  I was in a terrible mood and had a rotten headache the whole day.  I think I may have felt worse yesterday then I did on my 3rd day of quitting smoking.  

I drank my water and exercised quite a bit but honestly it didn't do much to curb what I was feeling. If it had a major effect and I was unaware I can't imagine what I would have looked like without them.

I will say that this morning I feel a small sense of accomplishment having made it through it.  But honestly yesterday was terrible.  I am trying so hard to make these changes but I can see clearly now that it won't be with out struggles and I feel fairly certain at some point I will slip up.

I stuck with lemon water in the morning and skipped my cup of coffee. Clearly I have gone absolutely insane to attempt that right along side everything else I am doing but those of you who know me, know that anything I do I do BIG! That being said I don't really have the stones to do caffeine and sugar at the same time, so this morning I am having my  3 quarters to a cup of black coffee.  It is one of the few things that makes me feel normal.  Besides  a half to one cup of black coffee is not the worst thing in the world.

I can tell you one thing that is close to one of the worst things in the world.  I made the mistake of going grocery shopping without a list while hungry!  Not a good idea, I was roaming  those isles almost in a trance.  It seemed truly impossible to pick foods that had not been prepackaged.  It was so bad that I did not in anyway complete my shopping.  I found a quick meal for George and the kids and decided on reheated soup for myself I grabbed some cashews and was on my way! I will be back there again today, this time with list in hand and right after my breakfast!

I have been sticking to the exercise, but may need to spend a little more time with my calm app. given my mood yesterday.  I am truly hoping today is a better day.

Progress: Made it, stumbling the whole way, through another day without processed food.
Notes: learned a valuable lesson about shopping during the early phases of cutting something out of your diet

Day 2

A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are.  Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do you can learn about the new world your in and take advantage of it.

Nikki Giovann

I did some research about the herb garden and it seems the best way is to cut from a portion of a plant that is in the ground.  Seeing as how we are in New York where there is 2 foot of snow everywhere it looks like I am waiting until spring to start one outside and then transition it indoors in the fall.  

When I woke up this morning I had a headache still and wanted to call it quits already.  But I didn't, instead of pouring a huge cup of coffee for myself the way I wanted to, I made myself a big glass of lemon water.  I drank that and then waited 20 minutes,  I still wanted my coffee so I had a half of a cup.

 I chose my breakfast to be liquid form this morning because after I got my little one ready I was headed off to go visit my grandma in the home and to see my husband's grandma as well.   So I made myself a spinach smoothie with some strawberries, blueberries, and almonds and was on my way.  Speaking of smoothies, I would love to hear your favorite smoothie recipes so feel free to share in the comments!

I feel like I am actually starting to adjust to this a little bit.  Having a little more energy, and feeling a lot less grumpy.  Although for most of the day the kids were at school and the hubby was at work so I didn't have to watch everyone eating things I couldn't have.  At dinner I was completely satisfied because I made an amazing homemade chicken soup and it was so good I am using it for lunch tomorrow!

Progress:
Day two NO Processed foods!!
Notes: On to researching planting an herb garden!

Day 1

There is a beginning for everything, Semi Sonic says " Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."  I'm sure they didn't come up with that saying but that is the song that is ringing in my ears.  Starting a journey off any course you have ever imagined yourself on can make you a little nervous.  I am a little excited too!

Today marks the end of me eating crazy processed foods.  I keep telling myself that I quit smoking back in August so this should be a breeze.  Something tells me that breaking this habit isn't going to be that easy.  I am afraid that my vices I have let go of already like alcohol and nicotine are nothing in comparison to my addiction to refined sugar that I have been cultivating since I was a child.  I love it in all it's terrible forms.

Today is my first day of trying to eat cleaner and so far what I have noticed is that having a glass of Lemon water in the morning did help me to cut way back on my coffee consumption.  I only had 3/4 of a cup this morning.  I was in a pretty good mood most of the day.  During the  late afternoon I felt pretty grumpy. I took time to go be on my own for a little while and use the free Calm app I down loaded.  It seemed to help!
 This evening my moodiness has been coupled with a pretty nasty headache so I have been drinking water to try to help get rid of it.  I also am noticing a little bit of break out on my face.  I suspect toxins leaving but not sure.



 Progress:
I made it through without eating anything prepackaged.  With the exception of seasonings I used at dinner.  I LOVE LEMON WATER!!!

Notes:
I would like to even begin to make my foods with fresh seasoning...I think I will look into indoor herb gardens !

I hope to update again with more experiences tomorrow.

(I am writing at days end and posting the following morning)

Change is in the air

This blog is probably going to go through a bit of a change in the upcoming weeks.  I will still post deals as I see fit but honestly my focus has changed.

 As I am sure most of you have noticed I have gone on a bit of a hiatus.  I have been going through some personal struggles that have kind of taken the wind out of my sails.  I was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.  I have Alopecia Areata, Most simply put it is thought to be an autoimmune disease that makes my immune system think my hair follicle is something bad so it attacks it.  The only symptoms the hair loss and sometimes it itches a little bit.

When it started it was merely a dime sized patch on the back of my head, The spot has grown into something between the size of an orange and a grapefruit.  There are other spots all over my head from the size of a dime to the size of a quarter or bigger.  As you can imagine it has been a bit upsetting.  My morning ritual can be a bit time consuming trying to make sure all the bald spots are covered by the hair I do have...think Christian Bale at the beginning of American Hustle.  It's okay laugh it was meant to be funny.  I have gone through some stages of pretty nasty depression trying to deal all the while continuing to do all the things I have to do.

 I am seeing a dermatologist and I have gone through the joy of having needles injecting steroids into the spots in hopes of hair regrowth.  The great thing is that I am seeing some results.  I will continue to see my Dr.  but in truth I just don't feel like it is enough and my hair may be regrowing but it is still falling out at an alarming rate as well.

One of the first steps I am taking is to change my diet.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I have always had a pretty awful diet.  I have been known to eat more pizza in a week than any person should admit to, and in my life I have consumed enough chocolate to lay m&ms from New York to California several times.  I knew it would catch up with me.  I had hoped it wouldn't but I knew it would. I think I just thought it would hurt me in an ever expanding waistline and clogged arteries when I became elderly.  I didn't think I would see health ramifications when I was this young.  Which lets face it I am not as young as I used to be.

I have read that there have been people who have had success going gluten free, I am at this point willing to try anything, And I get it, it seems to be a buzz word everywhere these days, but I am seriously willing to try ANYTHING to help this to stop.  I don't know exactly what I am doing or where this will lead but I thought I would write about my observations of how this changes me.

I am also going to try meditating and increasing my exercise.  I am going to limit my social media use and focus on my family.  I am going to go back to reading books in the solid form.  I am hoping that just by living a whole life I will start to get better, and if not at least have a whole bunch of new healthy habits to keep me busy.

I am starting these changes today..so I will have my first post to share my experiences tomorrow.

Christmas Tags By Artful Creations By Deb

My Good Friend over at http://www.artfulcreationsbydeb.com/ just sent me the cutest Christmas gift tags I have ever seen.  

Christmas Tags with Sass!!

(I completely stole this picture off her Etsy page because my pictures aren't going to do these justice)

These sell for $4.00

I like these ones so much because they are completely unique, I think that the adults I exchange gifts with will get a real kick out of them. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am pretty sarcastic..I like that these tags seem to have a bit of my personality in them.

I also like when I can make my gift unique and special in every way for the person I am giving it to.

For The Kids!!

(Stole this too :) )

These sell for $5.00

I think my children will absolutely love that these feel like they came straight from the North Pole.  Plus they are personalized so I can save my hand a little bit of the hand cramping that writing all the tags gives me!  

Here is my picture..which does not do them justice.  

These tags look just like the picture off her site if not better!!!

Head on over to Deb's Etsy Shop and check out all her other amazing creations!!!

Pasta E Fagioli Crockpot soup

Pasta E Fagioli

I had my carrots and cellery from my Tops Organic Trip earlier this week so I decided to make my favorite Crockpot soup.  It is super easy!!

1 cup chopped onion 

3 minced cloves of garlic (they are in with the onions)

1 cup chopped cellery

1 cup Julienned carrot

Okay I have a secret...I am super lazy and uncoordinated so I did not Julienn the carrots...instead I used a cheese grater

Brown 1lb of ground beef then mostly drained it..then you add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute' for ten minutes 

While that is saute'ing

Put 1 28oz can petite diced tomatos

 12oz V8 juice

 1 table spoon white vinegar

1 15 oz can Great Northern Beans

1 15oz can Kidney Beans

1 15 oz can Tomato Sauce

in the crockpot

add 1 tsp Oregano

1tsp Bazil

1/2tsp thyme

1/2 tsp pepper

1 & 1/2 tsp salt

When your beef and veggies are done saute'ing add them to the Crockpot

I let it cook on low for around 4 to 5 hours

Before you are ready to eat boil pasta as directed and add to bowls of soup

Do not add to left over soup as pasta will absorb all the liquid

My Christmas List!

Today while talking with my husband he asked me to make a Christmas list.  He asks me to do this every year...and every year as Christmas gets closer and closer he gets more frustrated with me because I haven't made a list.  It has never been as hard as it is this year to try to come up with a list. 

 In this past year I have received the KRMA Jade leather jacket that I have wanted since the Vampire Diaries came on the scene.

I finally got my Dyson Vacuum cleaner that I have wanted forever, which now that I have a dog actually seems like a necessity!

I even got my Minivan a Kia Sedona that looks a lot like this:

We were able to drive it to my brother's wedding this summer which was a big change from trying to squish our big ole family in a Cavalier!!

I feel blessed beyond belief to have the amazing family I do, to live in a house that is right next door to my parents, and to have such a full life that I can't possibly think of something more I could want.  

I told that to my husband...he said that wasn't very helpful.  I don't know what in the world to put on that list.  

Any suggestions??