Are Doctors Getting Tired of Drugs?

I have been seeing my family doctor for quite some time now for treatment for chronic depression. This is more then just a sad feeling or a little of the "blues". Chronic clinical depression is related to chemicals in the brain… whether too much, too little, or just not getting where they need to get, it's definitely a real problem, not a fabrication or just a "mood" one happens to be in today.

Well I've struggled for years on different medications and some of them do seem to work for a while but I always seem to be back in the doctor's office after a few months or even a couple of years. So she referred me to a psychiatrist to see if he could sort me out, or offer some suggestions.

After taking a history he did recommend a regimen of rotating medications. It seems there are actually a sub-class of patients with chronic depressive illness whose brains seem to reset after being on a medication for a while so he recommends switching every few months to avoid this. And THAT is where the traditional advice stopped!

The unexpected non-doctor advice

Now he leaned back in his chair, made a steeple with his fingers and put them under his chin, crossed his ankle up on the knee of the other leg and changed his tone to conversational. He asked me if I was aware of the body of research on light therapy for depressive illness. Of course, I am aware of it, but didn't have any kind of depth of knowledge. He proceeded to tell me about studies and clinical trials, gauging my response, and when he saw I was open, he actually took out a prescription pad and wrote a script for the "Day-Light" light therapy lamp pictured above!

OK so now I am pleasantly surprised but he's not done! We then discuss the research on diet and depression… how consuming fatty fish several times a week for the Omegas 3 and 6 can have benefit, and how flax seed oil, olive oil and avacados would be good as well. He talked about how sweet, fat processed foods are craved by people with depression because they stimulate serotonin release (a feel good chemical) but that it quickly crashes, so no matter how intense the craving do not give in to it, as this kind of carb consumption makes things worse. He talked about how replacing the cravings with slow release carbs like fresh fruits and vegetables would be healthier for the body AND the mind.

Next we're on to the topic of exercise and now I am really liking the guy. He talked about aerobic exercise and how it releases endorphins that elevate mood. He noted that the endorphin release has the ability to lift mood and help you feel better. 

So now I am really shocked. I have never had a doctor talk to me, with any kind of knowledge, about diet. I've never had a doctor recommend exercise as a treatment for depression, and I have certainly never had a doctor write out a prescription for an alternative therapy device. How wonderful. How refreshing. How absolutely delightful…. Maybe we'll get there after all!

Cardio is not enough. Add Weights for Strength.

This statement in obvious to most people. If not obvious then it is certainly something you have heard said before! You probably have already heard how weight resistance exercises can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis, increase metabolism, help prevent injuries, and look really great after you lose that weight.

Has anyone told you how you will FEEL though? Has anyone told you that you will stand with a more erect posture after only just a few days because you can actually feel your muscles. Has anyone told you that you will feel physically stronger after only a few days, even if there isn't a measurable increase in actual strength. Psychologically when you can feel your muscles your mind associates that feeling with strength, and when you feel physically stronger you also get a subconscious boost in self confidence.

Not only will your body LOOK better after the fat layers are shed, but you will actually feel stronger inside and out. You will walk faster, your posture will be better, you will hold your head higher and straighter, and long before you see a difference in your clothing you will feel a difference in your body, and people will notice a difference in your carriage. That difference will be the feeling that keeps you going back to your workout until it becomes a habit.

I feel fantastic this morning, and I can actually tell you this is why!

Now I want to share a site I came across last evening. You know, there are a lot of inspiring and motivating stories out there. If you travel the internet enough, you will find SOMETHING or SOMEBODY that will help to keep you on track. Here is the personal story of Buffed Stuff. There was something about reading her blog last night that had me dreaming about being THAT fit. It is a state I never imagined for myself before. I don't know if I am dedicated enough to get a 'lifters' body, but if an over 40 woman can transform herself to that, then I can get to looking good in a bikini again!

Talk about middle age spread I gained over 60 pounds in my early forties.I was overweight, tired, feeling old and having health problems. I could either grow worst or better I am a woman on a mission. The quest is good health and being in the best physical condition possible. I'm not looking for the fountain of youth. I just want to reap what I sow. If I eat healthy life producing foods,at least 90% of the time and I train my body with laser focused intensity at least six days per week…how will I age? Will I simply grow older or will I grow better? If I treat my body as a sacred temple, my mind as control center and my spirit as the source of my very being……How will it effect the way I age. Do I go with conventional foolishness(hey your over forty you might as well neglect yourself that is what aging is all about why bother) or do I go with pure wisdom, totally against the grain and choose life? I think I will choose life and my kind of prosperity, A fit body and a happy heart, a soul that is at peace and mind that is totally in control.

Thanks for the inspiration this morning. When I wonder why my muscles are scraming, I have you bookmarked so I know exactly where to find you! :-)

It is amazing, I feel stronger, lighter, and happier. If you read my post from yesterday, then you know that I finally conquered the exercise demon. I simply changed the way I viewed moving my body. Isn't it amazing what happens when you no longer give over the power, but take it back for yourself?

Today, my muscles feel sore. It's the good sore that comes from DOING something! I am walking with an energetic step. I am standing erect of posture. I feel strong, confident and healthy. IMAGINE all of that in just a day. Just one day that I've been building up for, and laying the foundation for this past month.

This afternoon for a while, and again this evening I browsed the internet, exploring fitness blogs. I have been browsing "loss weight" blogs for the past month, and it is interesting how the energy changes slightly with the keyword.

so while I was browsing tonight I came across a fascinating post from Dave at TheTruthAboutDiets.com. It seems that he has been saying for some time that exercise is not enough to lose weight, unless you make diet modifications as well.

Here is his post… Enjoy!

Exercise Alone Ain't Enough to Get It Done

Anyone who's read my stuff or followed any of my programs knows that when it comes to losing fat, I say that nutrition is more than half the battle.

Well, now there's some very good research that proves this point.

Basically this research took two groups of sedentary people, and gave one group a well-designed fitness program to follow for 12 weeks, while the other group remained sedentary.

They didn't change their eating patterns at all. The results might surprise you. You can read the details in a post from Dr. John Berardi, who was part of the research team.

Here's the link to the post.

If I were to go 2 weeks without losing a pound I would be thrown in to the absolute depths of despair! I would go on a rampage, exercise myself sick, and starve myself and by golly i would conquer that weight!

I am at peace this time that changing weight is easybut changing the habits (i.e. lifestyle) that created the weight in the first place requires much more discipline. I believe I said in a different post that I am laying the foundation upon which the rest of my life will be built.

 So today, given that I am a month old, I did a lot of reflecting. I realize that I've been trying to conquer the exercise demon and I've been not really sure why that is such an issue for me. Like everything though, I  have come to see that it is my attitude towards exercise that has been holding me back.

Exercise is work. Exercise is not fun. If you ask most people they will tell you they do not like exercise. These are the impressions that we have in our mind. My mind, body and soul resists that which I do not like. I don't do anything I don't like any more, and that is the truth about my life now. Luckily I have the luxury of being able to choose in that regard.

So here is how I decided to see exercise… I am approaching as the new me, and I don't look at anything the way I used to. That was another life, a different woman. Now I am a person who honors myself, and the people, and beings that I come in contact with every day. A part of honoring myself is not just putting good nutritious nourishment in my body, but also keeping this vessel supple. What good is fuel if it is not expended. Fuel is meant to be used.

So to continue on this theme, and to follow what I have practiced all of my life, I am only going to do what feels good, and honor myself. What a wonderful decision. I felt like a huge pressure had been lifted. I've got it all figured out.

I had also sent away the other day for a book and DVD set on Yoga… which I have been wanting to explore for a long time. I purchased the set from Monica Matthews Yoga and it came on Wednesday. (The DVD and Manual combined was only $40).

So I hopped on the exercise bike and set it for 20 minutes and started reading. Now let me tell you that I was soon totally engrossed in what I was reading. I find it very interesting that I have been led to explore Yoga given that I am on this journey of connectivity, and exploration of self.

Yoga seems to be the right thing for me philosophically right now as well.

Before I knew it the timer was going off, and I was still reading. How about that! I pedaled for another 10 minutes so that I could end at a place that made sense in the book, and then I decided that I would like to do some lower body work.

I imagined how good it was going to feel to be in control of the muscles of my lower body while I stretched each muscle group. I truly took my time stretching, and being present for the movement, allowing myself to really feel the muscles extending and enjoying the feel of that. When I felt sufficiently stretched, I did some crunches, some lateral leg lifts, some lunges and some squats. Yes I really did enjoy it! When I was done I felt good, and as I stretched out again I took some time to marvel that a simple change in the way I saw something could make such a profound difference in the way I allowed myself to feel about it. For me it seems to be all about choice. "I am not doing this because I have to, I am choosing to do it because it feels good."

You know I even got on the bike later in the day and did another 20. hehe I wanted to read some more and didn't want to waste the time!

I feel like I have crossed another small marker on this journey. You may be wondering what the significance of the journal picture is. Obviously this online journal is very motivating to me, and hopefully inspiring to others, but I have not been really tracking exactly what I am eating nor am I writing down my exercises for the day. I think it might be helpful for me in the future if I have some kind of physical progress record, so I started writing down those things today. Won't it be fun to look back and see what a difference it made that day I decided to love moving my body!

I was surfing through some of the sites in the Be Naturally Well Community and thought I would share some of the articles I found. I think I will do this regularly. There are a lot of great author's out there!

From Robin Plan

How Super Sized Drinks Were Born

Do you know how supersized foods and drinks came about? Think it was McDonald's? You're not too far off but no it wasn't McDonald's or 7-11 with the Big Gulp.

The history of Supersizing:
In the 1960's a man named David Wallerstein worked for a chain of movie theaters, where he struggled to expand sales of soda and popcorn, the high-markup items that theaters depend on to make profits.

Wallerstein tried everything he could think of to boost sales, two-for-one deals, matinee specials, but found he couldn't get customers to buy more than one soda and one bag of popcorn. Why? Because going for seconds makes people feel like pigs.

Wallerstein discovered ……Read More

From Althea Hughes Wills:

For the love of Aaron and Paula

I love the Food Network. I love food, food, food…but raw vegan food because I know that is what's best for me. But…when I watch Food Network, I'm always thinking, "how can I vegan-ize that?" And since my husband and kids are still cooked vegans, anything that calls for chicken can easily become tofu. (And I was SO happy yesterday when they had an episode of Rescue Chef where Dan helped a sister named Zion in the kitchen. Everything was vegan.)

Today my whole family watched  Read More

From Tom Rooney:

We Are Eating Ourselves To Death

Have we finally reached the point where we “as a society” can’t control our weight?  The disturbing trends of overweight Americans is an epidemic now and there is no clear change in sight.  Today’s people have gotten to the point where things are too convenient.  Fast food, comfortable cars, video games, and remote controls have made our life so easy that we don’t do the things our parents and grand parents did in order to control weight gain. 

I blame the start of this all on McDonalds as Read More

From EJ Cooksey:

Exercising and You – How to Get Started

We all know it's necessary, but we don't want to get up early in the morning to do it.

What is this "it" I'm talking about?

It is exercise and it is essential for a long and healthy life. I'm not just saying that either. Ask anyone who has lived to be sixty, seventy, and over who move better than some people half their ages. They have used exercise to turn their life around.

Exercise is getting our bodies moving and burning calories. To lose one pound, it takes a deficit of 3,500 calories. I know what you're thinking – it might as well be a million calories. But, it is not as hard as you think. Exercise doesn't have to be organized at a gym for it to be legitimate and to "count."

The best thing about exercise is that it is cumulative. That means Read More

From Mark:

Fat How Much Are You Eating ?

We know as people that we all need to eat less fat but when you’re eating foods like take-away’s and eating food in restaurants there is no real way to tell how much you are exactly eating.

The only way to get a idea of the amount of fat you are eating is by reading  Read More

From Carb Queen:

Be the Turtle

My favorite leader, Karen, has been enamored of Uno, the beagle, since he won best in show at the Westminster Dog Show in February. She has talked about "being the beagle" off and on since then.

I'm about to celebrate a birthday — my double-nickel to be exact — and a very good friend of mine recognized my birthday by giving me a small turtle. It's heavy for its size, which makes it just perfect for dropping into a pocket to fiddle with or holding while on the phone with a computer user (I do tech support, among other things, for a living) who is having trouble with a Word document. When I opened this marvelous little package, my friend told me to "be the turtle."

I knew immediately what she meant:  Read More

From Cynthia:

The good, bad and the ugly

Monday could've gone better for me…

The good part is simple, a one pound loss!

The bad, well, I went too hard in the pool, aggravated upper right arm and shoulder again. Had no idea until this morning when I could barely move it. Gack! New goal… go a little easier for a bit. I do not HAVE to do my water aerobics like I'm on speed! Though that will take some of the fun out of it!

But then there's the UGLY. Apparently, my body was just raving for calories and when I Read More

That's just a few excerpts from the bloggers in our community this last week or two. To visit more bloggers from the Be Naturally Well community you can click <===  there, or up above where it says  Health Links.

The entire news report is below, followed by my reaction.

In addition to limiting calories, overweight and obese women may need to exercise 55 minutes a day for five days per week to sustain a weight loss of 10 percent over two years, according to a report in the July 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

More than 65 percent of U.S. adults are overweight, a public health concern, according to background information in the article. "Among obese adults, long-term weight loss and prevention of weight regain have been less than desired," the authors write. "

Therefore, there is a need for more effective interventions." Current recommendations prescribe 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week, for a total of 150 minutes per week. However, a growing consensus suggests that more exercise may be needed to enhance long-term weight loss.

To calculate the amount of exercise needed, John M. Jakicic, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues enrolled 201 overweight and obese women in a weight loss intervention between 1999 and 2003. All the women were told to eat between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day. They were then assigned to one of four groups based on physical activity amount (burning 1,000 calories vs. 2,000 calories per week) and intensity (moderate vs. vigorous). Group meetings focusing on strategies for modifying eating and exercise habits, as well telephone calls with the intervention team, also were conducted over the two-year period.

After six months, women in all four groups had lost an average of 8 percent to 10 percent of their initial body weight. However, most were not able to sustain this weight loss. After two years the women's weight was an average of 5 percent lower than their initial weight, with no difference between groups.

The 24.6 percent of individuals who did maintain a loss of 10 percent or more over two years reported performing more physical activity (an average of 1,835 calories per week, or 275 minutes per week over the baseline level of activity) than those who lost less weight. They also completed more telephone calls with the intervention team, engaged in more eating behaviors recommended for weight control and had a lower intake of dietary fat.

"This clarifies the amount of physical activity that should be targeted for achieving and sustaining this magnitude of weight loss, but also demonstrates the difficulty of sustaining this level of physical activity," the authors write. "Research is needed to improve long-term compliance with this targeted level of physical activity. Moreover, continued contact with the intervention staff and the ability to sustain recommended eating behaviors also may be important contributing factors to maintaining a significant weight loss that exceeds 10 percent of initial body weight, which suggests that physical activity does not function independently of these other behaviors."

 

---

There are a few things about this study that are "missing" for me. What kinds of jobs do these women have? What is their average physical activity NOT including their exercise? Do they really need MORE exercise to maintain, or did they slip back in some regard to their previous eating habits?

The bottom line in weight gain, or loss (half full or half empty?!) is that you need to burn more calories than you take in. You can effect your metabolism to hang on to those calories and may need to exercise more, and yet for someone else matabolism may differ and they don't need to exercise as much in order to maintain.

This study (and so many studies that I've read on weight loss) always try and put people into groups as if they are all the same, and they really are not. I haven't had a McD meal or a fast food meal of any kind more than 2 or 3 times a year for many years now, and yet.. I have a LOT to lose. My neighbor has terrible eating habits and she drinks like a fish, and wears a size 2, and her muscles are all very well defined. She is 50 years old and doesn't go to the gym or workout in ANY way.

Everyone is different. Let us STOP spending so much money on why people aren't maintaining, or why ethel weighs 300 pounds. Let's get rid of the garbage people are eating, ban fast food and soda commercials to late night, focus more on helping people exercise and make healthy whole food choices. If everyone focussed on weight in the same way that the focus has been on cigarettes, we would be so much further ahead!

My Best Day Yet!

Gosh darn I just feel so fantastic today! I really do! It’s a little over 2 weeks now of consistently eating real, whole, nutritious food and this morning when I woke up I just felt like singing! I have a ton of energy, and that cloud of depression that’s been doggin’ me for years seems to have lifted somewhat!

How AMAZING!

So this morning since I felt SO good, I did everything right! First I headed in here to the computer and checked my email with my coffee. Then I went out to the kitchen, grabbed a juicy nectarine and ate that while I flipped through the mail. Off to the livingroom for some stretching, and then downstairs to the tread mill. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill, and then upstairs to do 20 minutes on the recumbent bike. More stretching, and a BIG glass of cool alkaline water.

Then I went back to the kitchen to prepare for the day. One of the things I’ve noticed while doing this (almost) completely raw vegan diet is that I am eating fruits and vegetables in quantity, and having to prepare something every time I need to eat makes me grumpy.

So here’s what I did. First I ran 3 huge carrots and a Granny Smith apple through my juicer, so I would have something filled with life and sunshine while I worked (I saved the pulp for… see picture!) :-). Then I grabbed some containers that I already had of larger pieces of broccoli and cauliflour, and another container of carrot and celery sticks and grabbed a handful of each and chopped them up, along with a green pepper, red pepper and small garden onion (top and all) tossed it all together and put it in a comtainer back in the fridge for my salad later in the day.

Apple-Carrot Juice – fresh from the juicer- SOOOO good!

There are many people who will tell you that you shouldn’t be drinking to much apple-carrot juice straight from the juicer because there is too much sugar in it. This is true IF you are eating a diet that includes grains, fats, meat and dairy. If you are eating vegan or mostly vegan, 80% or more raw, mostly whole fresh foods, you don’t need to worry about that. Just make sure you eat a whole piece of fruit before hand, to add some fiber to the mix.

So the next thing I did was make a batch of cornbread muffins. Now I use a mix – a brand called Bob’s Red Mill – It’s a brand that I can get in the health food and organic goods section of our local grocery store. It is a fantastic product for busy health conscious people.  You need to add 1/4 cup oil, water and 1 egg (or substitute)

Ingredients in package:

Product Details Cornbread and Cornmeal Muffin Mix is just plain good!

Contains stone ground whole grain cornmeal, whole wheat pastry flour, evaporated cane juice, buttermilk powder, sea salt, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), and baking soda. 

The next thing I add is a half cup of raisins and the pulp from my carrot and apple juice. You will probably need to add another 1/2 cup of water or so. Mix up, drop into muffin tins and bake 3 minutes longer than called for because of the extra ingredients.

Is your mouth watering?

I will put this over in the recipe section as well. You’ll see me talk a lot about Bob’s. I am not affiliated with them in any way what-so-ever. They simply have fantastic products.

Talk about a productive morning! Now I have all afternoon to work on the website. I’ve promised a forum for the Be Naturally Well community, and I want to add a couple more recipes and a product review. It’s a BIG day!

Have fun, stay fit!

It’s time to work out a Workout!

Wow do I feel awesome this morning. I woke up this morning filled with energy and happiness. What a wonderful way to start the day… I had almost forgotten that feeling! I even awoke before the alarm clock! Of course for all you working folks, or Mom’s of tots, waking up before an 8 AM alarm is hardly an olympic medal performance… for me it’s amazing!

Now that I have a general map of what my new eating habits are going to look like, I need to work on my exercises. Going to the gym is O-U-T! I detest doing a weight work out in a public gym, so I need to find a home routine that I will do every day.

I think I will research Yoga, and try a beginner routine today. One of my biggest problems right now is that I have been immobile for so long that yesterday my left hip and lower back were bothering me, and I was having muscle spasms if I twisted too fast one way or another. My muscles need to be gently stretched and then strengthened. So I think maybe Yoga would be a good thing to play around with. If I like it, I’ll see if there is a class at the local community center. Even though I hate weights in a public gym, I probably won’t mind Yoga in the community center. Maybe it’s because a yoga class is likely to be all women. Well, whatever the reason, I’ll just take it a step at a time and we shall see how this journey unfolds!

So how did I do yesterday? Fantastic! I ate raw all day until supper. At supper I tried a stuffed mushroom recipe that I wasn’t too fond of …. it had macademia nuts crushed with lemon, garlic and tomato. It called for cilantro, and I love cilantro but it’s an herb we only use in moderation here and only in a couple of specific dishes, so I think it gave the mushrooms a foreign flavor. At any rate, I ate 1, Justin ate 3 and Jim ate 4 and they were a little larger than golf balls! Funny thing… Justin and Jim both said they didn’t care for them at all. hehe

I also broiled some salmon steaks. That’s one of the great things about living next to the ocean. We get great sea-food. So I will be vegetarian most of the time, but don’t ask me to give up my fish!

 mmmmmmmmm Looking at that picture up there has made me ever grateful for leftovers!

OK so …. YOGA…. LOL back to that! If anyone knows a good site where I could go to learn about Yoga I will be ever grateful. As it is, I will just be surfing the internet this morning looking for what I need to start with, and then I will just dive right in!

I PROMISE to get to my first article on juicing! I’ve been talking about it for a couple of days now, and haven’t found the time to get it together. So that will be a priority. Now I need to go and juice me up a nice big mug of sunshine in a glass to start my day! Enjoy your morning. Don’t forget to acknowledge and appreciate the wondrous miracles and blessings in your life.

I am going to leave you this morning with a revelation that I experienced.

This morning as I was making the bed, I got a glimpse of myself in the bureau mirror. Normally I would look away very quickly, but today I didn’t. I stopped what I was doing and stood up. I looked at myself from the front, and from the side. I saw the large sized body there in the mirror. I placed my palms over my arms, my tummy, my hips and just looked in amazement. I have been avoiding mirrors for many years now, except for mirrors from the shoulders and up so this was a ‘discovery’ of sorts. Rather than feeling disgust, which I would have a few weeks ago, I took time to love and appreciate where I have been and what each of those cells represents.

Each fat cell on my body represents a family get together, a beer or two on the boat, a Christmas dinner, or our Boxing Day bash with our best friends. Some of them represent the pain of a dying relationship, the fear when Mom first told us she had breast cancer, the realization that my baby was a grown woman, capable and kind, caring and responsible. In fact, every single fat cell on my body tells a story, and those stories are my life. In our society, food is the central part of any event. We eat at weddings and wakes, graduations and christenings. We eat when we are happy and when we are sad. we eat when we are stressed, angry, excited, celebratory, meeting friends for the first time, and getting together with lifelong soul-mates. I recognize that there are many times when I will find a different way of recording an event than with food. That doesn’t change the fact that when I looked into the mirror I saw my life mapped out on my body, and for the first time in a very long time I appreciated what that meant.

I challenge each of you to go to the mirror this morning, and see your life in that body. And love it. Doesn’t that make you want to care for yourself?

OOPS Mexican Restaurant Food on Friday night!

Ok well I never said I was going to be perfect, especially in the beginning. As I mentioned on day one, I believe that when you are changing lifelong habits you need to make baby steps. So if I eat very well all week long and then eat fried foods on Friday night (along with a double strawberry marguerita) don’t say I didn’t say so at the beginning! Unless we are planning to become a raw food purist, then we still need to live our LIFE. Living life to me means "when in Rome…. enjoy yourself).

So I did the whole salads and good raw healthy foods yesterday all day.and even though I was tired I did my exercises. I didn’t feel like I had energy for weights yesterday, so I got on the exercise bike. I rode for 20 minutes with resistance, and then one of my business partners phoned me, so I popped into the office and grabbed my headset and went back to the bike and rode without resistance while we spoke on the phone. That was another half an hour! WOW It felt good, and I wasn’t ‘tired’ when I was finished but I still didn’t feel like doing weights so I just didn’t.

So breakfast, just toast, and a glass of orange juice. Lunch was a great big salad, and I had 2 apples in the afternoon, plus lots of water. I know that’s not very much, so when Jim called and asked if I wanted to go for supper I only hesitated for a moment! We went to El Burrito Loco… a great little Mexican Restaurant downtown, and we had a tortilla soup (which is VERY good!) and split the El Grande platter which is a little of a lot of different mexican dishes… a taco, a flautus, a burrito, a handful of nachos. half a quesadilla, some beans and rice and likely a couple of other things that I ate and forgot. When we left, we were both stuffed. ooooooo I don’t like that feeling! I was uncomfortable all evening! But it was nice to get out!

A word on getting out:

I’ve been embarrassed by all of the extra weight.

When Jim first called and said "Let’s go out for supper" my first instinct was to say "no". I don’t want anyone to see me this way. Then I realized that my car hasn’t moved since I got my nails done a week and a half ago. Literally I haven’t left the house in 10 days. That is SO not good for me. I am such a social creature! Is it possible that my lack of interaction with real human beings face to face is contributing to my depression, which in turn contributes to my weight loss? It isn’t just possible, but I belief it is probable. So I took care with my appearance…. makeup, hair, nice clothes… before we went out. I felt good about myself, and didn’t allow those bad feelings to creep in.

Well today I feel ‘dry’ and yet fluid retentive. SO it will be lot’s of water today, and more good food and exercise.

I also want to let you know that I did wrtie that promised article on Chocolate! Not just once but TWICE! Twice written after a full day of research, only to have my browser freeze before I saved it. Talk about frustrating! Well I will re-write it today. That will only happen a few times before I remember to hit the save button every once in a while! LOL

Have a wonderful day!

Many Blessings,

Shelley

Boy Am I tired!

Anyway, I digress! Today I am tired and I don't really know why I didn't sleep well last evening. I feel vaguely unwell, which isnot really like me. Although I have read about people experiencing a 'depression' kind of feeling when they cut back drastically on the refined flours and sugars etc. I didn't have anything processed or refined at all yesterday except for that gra-candy-nola bar. That is pretty dramatic for me. Maybe my body is rebelling against all of that raw natural healthy food.

Anyway, I did my exercises yesterday… stretching, 20 minutes on the stationary recumbent bike, and some upper body exercises with the lightest weights I have (2 lbs). I am still kind of sore today but in a good way. A way that tells my body I actually did something yesterday. I haven't exercised yet today though, and I want to get to it before I put it off and then find an excuse to not do it at all.

So back to the 'depression' thing. I have found an answer to the 'deprivation' I feel and the associated 'down' feeling from denying myself the food pleasures I am used to. It's a healthy chocolate product that comes without guilt. It is actually recommended that you consume AT LEAST 3 pieces a day for 'optimum health effect'.

3 pieces of chocolate daily for HEALTH!

Hmmm Imagine THAT! I am going to write an article but in the meantime you can get a sneak peek and order some healthy chocolate by visiting    ChocolateDaily.com. If it is too much of an effort for you to eat chocolate every day on a healthy eating plan then this probably isn't the blog you should be reading! hehe

In all seriousness, cocoa has been shown recently to be packed full of antioxidants and other really good for you things. It also stimulates a "feel good" release of natural brain chemicals. Some scientists believe this has something to do with serotonin. It is the processing that makes it so awful for us. All that added fat and sugar, and all that cooking the LIFE out of it makes it something that harms our health. Hmmm sounds like US doesn't it? Taking nature's bounty and turning it into a Big MAc! 

Anyway, I don't care WHY this particular chocolate is good for you. I am just glad someone showed me this early on so I don't have to SUFFER needlessly! :-)

So I am off to exercise now. I will be back, hopefully later today with my chocolate article, and some new changes/improvements to the website.

Many Blessings,

Shelley