Wait, I thought that was GOOD for me!

Broccoli. Cauliflower. Brussel Sprouts. Garlic. These are all foods I LOVE - even though my family doesn't. Okay, my husband likes Brussel Sprouts (roasted) and Garlic. They're also foods that are supposed to be healthy.

And they are among a rather large list of foods my GI doc gave me the other day of foods that are bad for me. Okay, he didn't state it quite like that - but the list of foods are things that could potentially (and quite likely) be bad on my stomach.

Fodmaps is an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides Disaccharides Monosaccharides And Polyols.  .....  The problem with fodmaps comes when foods containing them hit your intenstines - they're hard for the body to absorb.

There's a whole diet plan worked around low-fodmaps. On the advice of my doctor, I'm going to be experimenting with some fodmap elimination.

Very unsurprisingly, milk is on the list to avoid. Hmm, have we heard somewhere else that milk isn't all that good for us? I've actually wondered about milk for years and years - mainly why our culture drinks it where most of the world population doesn't.

Most of the foods on the "Don't Eat" list are healthy - well, ice cream isn't exactly healthy, but still.

So I'm back to no dairy. That's not quite true. I'm willing to have minimal butter and cheese - there are some cheeses on the "Do Eat" list that I can have! But I'm saying no to milk. And I'm also trying to focus more on the foods it says are good for me to eat. But I'm going to do this slowly, so I can keep track of which eliminated foods make a difference.

If anyone is interested in learning a bit more about which foods contain fodmaps and which don't, here's the list my doctor gave me. It obviously doesn't cover everything, but it's really sad to see some of the foods I shouldn't eat - apples, peaches, avocados, mushrooms, honey, watermelon, onions (except the green part of green onions).

Anyway, here I go on a new adventure. If it helps me feel well, it'll be worth it!

No Sugar Group!

Some of my girlfriends and I were up at a cabin over this last week and as we ate WAY too much junk food we decided we needed to take action!  So we have all agreed to stay off sugar (including diet soda) for a minimum of two weeks, three weeks for some and even longer for a few others.  This is no easy task, but WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!! And we want our sugar bug/worm gone! We want to have more energy to play with our kids and just feel better!  Every time we chose yourselves over sugar we have won a small victory and that is very empowering.  It takes 2 weeks to rid yourself of addiction and your taste buds start to change.  The first couple days are the hardest, but be strong, sugar is the enemy here and we will win!   

I will be posting some recipes that are free of sugar and oh so yummy! We start on Monday Feb. 10th let me know if you want to join in our fight against the sugar bug!

 



ThePaleoMom Presents... Green Plantains

Found this interesting.  I've never had a plantain before but I have seen them used in a lot of recipes I've found, so I thought I'd share this with all of you.  Have you had a plantain before?  What are your thoughts?



~Christy

“Did I see God’s Hand in my life today”

I love Mercy River!  Their music is so inspirational! These women are truly beautiful inside and out! 

Read about how Soni learned a valuable lesson from being sick:  
http://mercyrivermusic.blogspot.com/2014/01/what-i-learned-from-having-mono.html?m=1

Brooke writes about her goals:
http://mercyrivermusic.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-contented-heart.html?m=1

Whitney writes about not procrastinating anymore: 
http://mercyrivermusic.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-did-something-stupid.html?m=1

Body image

This blog post goes right along with the one Lynette posted about stopping the fat talk. 

“For many people, their body is the target of their harshest judgments and the barometer by which they measure their self-worth. They hold themselves up to an unattainable standard and berate themselves for coming up short of perfection.

Imposing harsh judgments on your body limits the range of experiences you allow yourself to enjoy. How many times has a potentially wonderful day at the beach been tainted by your judgments about how you look in a bathing suit? Imagine how liberating it would be to happily walk across the warm sand without feeling self-conscious. Think of all the activities in your life that you have deferred until you look different, better, or perhaps even perfect.” Quote by Cherie Carter-Scott

Read the rest here:    http://conniesokol.com/blog-posts/being-gentle-with-your-body-image/

Stop the Fat Talk!

This is a must read!!
http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2013/12/shhhh-utting-it-down-this-year-stopping.html?m=1

Test Results

Well, my CT results came back, and everything looks "pretty normal" (whatever that means....).

So now, with all these tests having come back normal, we know there's "nothing structurally wrong" with me. And we get to move on to testing functionality. (Didn't the Dr. say the CT was the last thing they could do???) Also, I now have a take-as-needed medication to see if it will help.

Anyway, now that we know there's no reason not to, I can start up with yoga! Seriously excited for that. I'm going to start easy - with 15 min of beginner relaxation yoga. Then I'll slowly introduce strength and balance asanas. The point, though, is I finally can get moving!

Also, I think I'm going to try some food elimination experiments..... After listening to 2/3 of the podcast Claudine posted - it froze up and wanted me to start from the beginning and I didn't have time to run the whole thing again - I'm thinking I'll start with milk. :) That one should be fairly easy, since I've never really liked the taste of it!

If you haven't had a chance to read this months first presidency message, I suggest you do! So motivating and uplifting.

The Best Time to Plant a Tree

By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In ancient Rome, Janus was the god of beginnings. He was often depicted with two faces—one looking back on the past, the other looking forward to the future. Some languages name the month of January after him because the beginning of the year was a time for reflection as well as planning.

Thousands of years later, many cultures throughout the world carry on a tradition of making resolutions for the new year. Of course, making resolutions is easy—keeping them is a different thing altogether.

One man who had made a long list of New Year’s resolutions felt pretty good about his progress. He thought to himself, “So far, I’ve stuck to my diet, I haven’t lost my temper, I’ve kept to my budget, and I haven’t once complained about the neighbor’s dog. But today is January 2 and the alarm just went off and it’s time I got out of bed. It’s going to take a miracle to keep my streak going.”

Starting Over

There is something incredibly hopeful about a fresh start. I suppose at one time or another we have all wanted to start again with a clean slate.

I love getting a new computer with a clean hard drive. For a time it works perfectly. But as the days and weeks pass by and more and more programs get installed (some intentional, some not so intentional), eventually the computer begins to stall, and things it used to do quickly and efficiently become sluggish. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Even getting it to start can become a chore as the hard drive becomes cluttered with miscellaneous chaos and electronic debris. There are times when the only recourse is to reformat the computer and start over.

Human beings can likewise become cluttered with fears, doubts, and burdensome guilt. The mistakes we have made (both intentional and unintentional) can weigh upon us until it may seem hard to do what we know we should.

In the case of sin, there is a wonderful reformatting process called repentance that allows us to clear our internal hard drives of the clutter that burdens our hearts. The gospel, through the miraculous and compassionate Atonement of Jesus Christ, shows us the way to cleanse our souls of the stain of sin and once again become new, pure, and as innocent as a child.

But sometimes other things slow us down and hold us back, causing unproductive thoughts and actions that make it hard for us to get started.

Bringing Out the Best in Us

Setting goals is a worthy endeavor. We know that our Heavenly Father has goals because He has told us that His work and glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Our personal goals can bring out the best in us. However, one of the things that derail our efforts in making and keeping resolutions is procrastination. We sometimes delay starting, waiting for the right moment to begin—the first day of a new year, the beginning of summer, when we’re called as bishop or Relief Society president, after the kids get into school, after we retire.

You don’t need an invitation before you start moving in the direction of your righteous goals. You don’t need to wait for permission to become the person you were designed to be. You don’t need to wait to be invited to serve in the Church.

We can sometimes waste years of our lives waiting to be chosen (see D&C 121:34–36). But that is a false premise. You are already chosen!

At times in my life I have spent sleepless nights grappling with issues, worries, or personal sorrows. But no matter how dark the night, I am always encouraged by this thought: in the morning the sun will rise.

With every new day, a new dawn comes—not only for the earth but also for us. And with a new day comes a new start—a chance to begin again.

But What If We Fail?

Sometimes the thing that holds us back is fear. We might be afraid that we won’t succeed, that we will succeed, that we might be embarrassed, that success might change us, or that it might change the people we love.

And so we wait. Or give up.

Another thing we need to remember when it comes to setting goals is this: We almost certainly will fail—at least in the short term. But rather than be discouraged, we can be empowered because this understanding removes the pressure of being perfect right now. It acknowledges from the beginning that at one time or another, we may fall short. Knowing this up front takes away much of the surprise and discouragement of failure.

When we approach our goals this way, failure doesn’t have to limit us. Remember, even if we fail to reach our ultimate, desired destination right away, we will have made progress along the road that will lead to it.

And that matters—it means a lot.

Even though we might fall short of our finish line, just continuing the journey will make us greater than we were before.

The Best Time to Begin Is Now

An old proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

There is something wonderful and hopeful about the word now. There is something empowering about the fact that if we choose to decide now, we can move forward at this very moment.

Now is the best time to start becoming the person we eventually want to be—not only 20 years from now but also for all eternity.

Teaching from This Message

President Uchtdorf explained that when we fail to reach our goals, “we can be empowered. … Even though we might fall short of our finish line, just continuing the journey will make us greater than we were before.” Ask family members to share experiences in which they learned more from the process than they learned from the outcome, such as graduating from school or receiving an award.

Youth

Become Your Best Self—Starting Now

President Uchtdorf teaches that “personal goals can bring out the best in us.” Consider setting some goals in two or three areas of your life, such as physical health, spiritual health, and friendships, for example. What successes would you like to have in these areas this year? As you prayerfully think of some goals, make sure they are attainable but will require you to grow. In your journal, describe your goals in detail so that you will be able to see your progress when a year passes.

Go me!

I have to just put this out there because I'm kinda proud of myself. I kept moving and busy all day. When you're sick daily, it's super easy to let it ruin your day. I've spent countless days laying around sick. Today I accomplished so much!  I started early and didn't stop til it was time for bed, plus I did have a headache all day, I just choos to not let it ruin my day.  I fought through it and won!  Go me! Here's to tomorrow!  (Just praying I don't get a migraine, those are way harder to work through!)

Exercise!

My Stake allows us to use the Stake Center gym M-F, to promote healthy lifestyle and socializing with our kids. The teachers are strictly voluntary.  What a better way to start your morning than w/ a FREE place to exercise and bring your children!  There is every type of Woman there- old and young, some w/ kids and some w/o; some trying to maintain-some trying to loose; some regulars and a lot of newcomers.  One cannot feel out of place in this environment.  If you haven't been exercising regularly easy your way in and go at your own pace. There are rules of course; we are in a chapel so no food and only water is allowed.  You can bring a few small toys for your children and they are to try to stay on the carpeted area so they won't get hurt.  The chapel is located at the top of Palisade Rd (formerly Juniper Crest) past the new Holiday like traveling to Providence elementary school. 

Here is schedule and they will all start at 9ameveryday this week!!!

Monday- Amber- Cardio/weight mix

Tuesday- Mary- Turbo kickboxing

Wednesday- Staci- Zumba

Thursday- Aroura- Ballet

Friday- Trisha- Weight/ Strength mix

I really love this quote by Elder Cook.  It's so very true!  Anytime my kids "play house", I have to laugh at how they parent their "children". It upsets me sometimes at what they've picked up from me. Not all bad but they've picked up a lot of my habits. Just another reason that I need to work on the goals that I'd mentioned. I don't want them to go down the same road as me. Race already gets migraines.  I know the majority of them are caused by not drinking enough water and the junk food he eats. And where did he learn these from?!
"What we are speaks so loudly that our children may not hear what we say" I need to read this daily because my children are my world and I want them to grow up to be happy and healthy adults.
~Christy

My new lifestyle goals ~Christy

Hello again----It's me Christy.  
Please read my previous post if you'd like to learn more about me.

I'm a true believe in you are what you eat!  This statement couldn't be more true in my case anyway.  Not only am I struggling with all the things I previously posted about, (migraines, fibromyalgia, sinus, depression, etc, etc, etc!  I really could go on and on! Not fun!) , I now have a bleeding ulcer.  If I don't take care of myself now, it really could get life threatening.  My father-in-law almost died from one and it really could end up being a serious thing.  It was caused by all the medication I take for the above listed.  If the illnesses before weren't enough of an indicator to change my lifestyle, this one needs to be!  I will be doing the candida cleanse with Lynette.  We have done it together in the past and I was starting to feel a lot better.  Why oh why did I let myself get bad again!  It truly has to be a lifestyle change for me.  It can't just be a diet.  If I want to have a good quality of life or any life at all, I need to change.
I'm so grateful to Lynette for introducing me to the 'my feel good foods' program.  I know that we were meant to be friends right now to help each other through this.  I haven't met anyone before that understands how I feel, like she does.  It really helps knowing she understands but then breaks my heart at the same time.  I'm grateful for this blog and the opportunity for all of us to support each other through our own individual trials.  I know we all have different goals but we all have the same wants and needs.   I was telling Lynette the other day about how awful and guilty I feel for knowing that the spirit led me to this program and I'm not doing it.  I don't know how many hours I've spent praying for answers and help to understand what I need to do to get better.  Or where to go.  Or who to turn to.  But I do know what to do and I'm not doing it.  I'm choosing not to do it because I'm too busy or I'm not feeling well enough to care.  It makes me sick to think of all the time I've wasted being sick, when I have the power to change things and make it better.  It's really in my control.  I don't know if food will fully cure me but I do know that it will make me feel 100% better than I do right now.  I'm ready to start! I'm ready to feel well. You know what's sad, I really don't remember how it feels to really feel good.  I've spent half my life feeling like crap!  Well it starts now! I'm ready and 100% committed to feel better.
I loved Claudine's goal to work on loving herself.  This is going to be my first goal as well.  I think I will try harder to work on my other goals if I truly learn to love myself.  This is something I've always had a hard time with.  I've always cared more about my family's  happiness and well being over my own.  This of course isn't always a bad thing, I just forget to take care of myself in the process. I know this will be a hard thing for me to do but I'm going to start putting myself back at the top of my list.  I will be a better mom, wife, friend, etc. when I'm healthier!  I need to remember this.  My next goal is changing the food choices I make.  I'm going to customize the 'my feel good foods' program to work better this time around.  I will still be following the program pretty closely but I'm going to allow myself an occasional treat.  I know that I failed before because I was so extremely strict, I would fall off the wagon, so to speak and then it would be too hard to go back on again.  I think allowing myself a little something now and then, will help me follow through better.  I will go more into detail as I figure it out.  I would really like to add in some kind of an exercise program but to be more realistic, my goal is to just add some kind of movement each day.  I've had so many migraine filled days, that my house usually goes unattended.  So if my movement just involves cleaning one bathroom, that's good enough for me.  Then as time goes on, I will add more.  My other goals involve spiritual growth: more personal study, family study, etc.  More individual time with each of my children.  More quality time with Brad, meaning not on my cell when cuddling, etc. LOL!  I'd also like to serve at least one person daily.  So many times, I'm so involved with not feeling well, I forget that there are others out there that I could help or that I could make a difference in their day.  I have so many more goals in mind but I need to be realistic with myself.  I know that if I make too many goals at once, none of them will happen. 

This statement is 100% true!  Boy do I wish I had followed through with my goals from last year.  How much better would I feel now?!?  Let's help each other follow through with our goals this year, so we can celebrate our accomplishments in 2015, instead of our regrets!  Whether I've know you a long time or just I'm just meeting you, I love you all and I will be praying for your success!  Together, with the Lord on our side, WE CAN DO HARD THINGS! 

My Goals

Okay, ladies, I'm jumping in! My name is Becky, and Lynette is my sweet friend and neighbor. And I want to thank her for organizing this because I do so much better if I have to be responsible to other people for what I'm doing. :)

I've been having problems with my health for over a year now - I feel like I'm falling apart. I had surgery in the summer, which fixed some of my pain and didn't touch some of it. And I'm still having tests while they try to figure out why this spot in my low abdomen is hurting most of the time. Lucky me, I get to have a CT scan next week!

Anyway, that's all leading up to my first goal:

* To feel better.

I know, that sounds vague, but I have a plan. :) I'm going to:

* Eat a lot of whole grains, fruits & veggies.

* Become a Yogi!

That's right, Yoga is going to be my best friend. (Just as soon as I'm cleared by my doctor to do it - probably mid-next week.) I've only tried a tiny bit of yoga, and I absolutely loved it. And, as a bonus, for the 2-3 weeks I was trying it, that pain in my stomach got so much better!

Those are my long-term health goals. I have stepping-stone goals, though. The first one is to introduce better foods while cutting way back on the foods I love (like ice cream) but should be eating. And doing yoga twice a week for 2 weeks, then going to 3 times a week.

Non-health goals are a bit trickier for me - I have long-term goals but am still making stepping-stones. :)

80% mental 20% physical!!

While I was on the treadmill today, (3 cheers for me haven't done that for a really long time) I was watching The Biggest Looser.  I use to follow this show faithfully, but this season I haven't watched it at all. So today I thought I would try to get inspired while I walked on the treadmill, it worked!  I want everyone to take 10min and watch the beginning of  episode 249, air date 01-14-2014.  You won't regret it, it was so inspiring for me. Let me know what you thought and how you are going to be better because of it. Remember an unwritten goal is only a good idea, still waiting for your goals gals!  I love that Claudine is focusing on loving herself and knowing that she is beautiful! We all need to care more about how we view ourselves.  Life is hard enough w/o being kicked from the inside out! Happy Hump day, drink up your water!

Claudine Miller

Hello everyone. My name is Claudine and I am Lynette's older sister. I am 39 and the mother to four children ages 16 - 8, My main goal is to love myself. I have fitness and health goals as well, which I will post another time, but my #1 goal is to love myself. There is a quote I love which reads "Don't workout so you can love your body; workout BECAUSE you love your body. There is a difference". One way in which I am going about achieving this goal is daily affirmations. My goal right now is to stand in front of the mirror naked and tell myself "I am beautiful" "I love my body" "I am strong" etc. three times in the morning as I get out of the shower. I also have a goal of three times at night before bed (this time I have clothes on). I must look at myself in the mirror and say it out loud with feeling. 

What other ways have you guys found affective in loving yourself?

Healthily Eating Pod Cast

I made two comments on Lynette's post thinking I was doing my own post then I figured out how to do it correctly, yay me. hahaha

Ok I tried to post a link before but it only put the URL address so here is the link this time.

This is a link to a podcast I listen to called The Cultural Hall. The topic of this episode is healthy eating and I found it very interesting especially the part about milk. I would love to discuss this with you all as those who haven't heard it think I am a bit crazy. Download it to your phone or ipod or whatever and listen while you clean, workout or drive around, I think you will like it.
http://www.theculturalhallpodcast.com/2013/12/healthy-eating-ep-109-the-cultural-hall/

Check out the wellness tracker at the link below:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByYQeggP1mx6Wi1aaEpRcTlYXzQ/

New Year New You!

I am excited to be doing this with all of you, I have so much information I want to share from what I have learned and I am hoping that by doing this blog I will be able to not only help myself achieve my goals (as talked about in my email), but to learn more and to help anyone else striving to be their best self. This is something that has been on my mind for SO long and I am glad to finally do it. Thank you for taking this journey with me. You are welcome to do this as long or as short as you like, for me it is meant to be more of a life style change for the better in all aspects of my life. I will be doing an extreme cleanse and diet change to try and get my migraines and fibromyalgia under control. It is going to be a process of elimination and I have several resources to try. It is all very individualized for each and everyone of us, I hope to be able to help you get inspiration, courage, and the information to make you successful in achieving your goals. An unwritten goal is only a good idea, so please share your story with us and what you would like to achieve/learn from this process. We are all in this together and here to give support, encouragement, and love when needed. I am not an expert and wont ever claim to be, but I sure learn from my mistakes and know I will continue to learn and grow with all of you! I need to recognize Christy Morton, she has helped me come up with a list of goals for all of us. Christy will be doing a candida cleanse w/ me, we are twins when it comes to health problems, she has done this w/ me before and is a huge support for me. Its nice to know someone who knows how you feel, but so hard to also know what they are enduring. You can read her story below, but she will do a new post w/ her goals for this year. Please feel free to post as much as you would like: questions for the group, suggestions, inspirational quotes, recipes, or even a little vent session (we all have our moments.) My husband, Coby has made a spread sheet for all of us to keep track of our successes. Some of the things on there are personal and you need to decide for yourself how you are going to improve in that area- please share it with us, it will help you be accountable. We will need to decide on a reward at the end of each week if you have met your goal in points. Something's will be easy and others will be hard, this is meant to help us be healthy and happy in all aspects of our life. I will set up a group email for instant feed back on rewards and feel free to change something on the spread sheet if it doesn't apply to you. I just want everyone to achieve their goals and be successful, long term. -Lynette