The Road to Health is Paved with Good Intentions

I knew a woman who used to joke that as women we have an eleventh commandment: Thou shalt feel guilt.  I thought that was such a funny thing for her to say, but I've since realized that there's a lot of truth to it.  Part of my homework from counseling is to write my emotions.  I'm supposed to open a door to the emotions I've been sup pressing and let myself feel them.  There are two things I've learned from doing that.  First, I'm angry and second, I feel guilty. My husband moved to Texas almost 3 months before me and our kids.  The housing market in our area was (and is) very competitive.  We were told by our realtor that an offer contingent on us selling our Utah home wouldn't be accepted.  He had a place to stay, but it wouldn't accommodate our entire family.  As he was trying to find temporary housing, I stayed with my only sister and her family.  We were with her for a few weeks before my husband found a place for us to stay and...

On New Year's Eve, my husband and I decided to do a cheat day for obvious reasons.  We had some friends over and we indulged in a variety of foods and it was glorious.  The cheat day continued into New Year's Day basically to finish up the leftover food.  Two days later I noticed that my knees were hurting.  I hadn't changed my exercise routine and yet they were achy.  I noticed that the tissue above my knees was swollen also.  The pain and swelling lasted a few days and then cleared up. My husband had to work on my birthday so we celebrated with a keto cake a few days before.  My husband loved it, but I wasn't a fan.  It was too sweet for my personal preference.  Because of that, on my actual date of birth, I decided I wanted a real cake so I made a Texas sheet cake* in it's original goodness including flour, sugar, and butter.  It was delicious.  The interesting part is that within a day or two I noticed that my knees were hurti...

When I started this blog, my intent was to talk about my journey with diet and exercise.  Although I'm a private person, I don't mind talking about this side of me.  I can talk about what I'm eating, whether I'm losing or gaining weight, how I'm exercising, or any other weird body thing without thinking twice.  Maybe it's because we all have issues with these things, so why not be open about my own experiences?   I was on track to complete my first six week program of diet and exercise and looking forward to the next six week program.  I had formulated a few experiments that I was going to do, but all of that crashed when I hurt my back.  Instead of experimenting, I'm just happy that I can sneeze without having  excruciating  pain.  I went from being able to touch the floor with straight legs to barely being able to touch my knees.  Trying to straighten my legs when I'm sitting with my feet up is ridiculously painful. The intere...

There was a day about two weeks ago that for whatever reason, I wasn't able to exercise.  As the day wore on, so did the depression.  I was a little surprised how quickly it came and how heavy it was.  In that moment I realized that all my exercising, supplements, and eating healthy were helping keep the depression away, but they weren't healing me.  Sure, I'm mostly happy, but I wouldn't say I'm joyful or light or at peace.  My husband and children deserve a joyful wife and mother.  I deserve to be a joyful wife, mother, and woman.  That's when I decided it was time to seek professional help. This isn't the first time that I've thought about seeing a counselor, but it is the first time I've acted on it.  During my husband's deployment, I was encouraged to see one, but I told myself that I didn't need to, and that I was fine.  I was strong enough to handle my husband being gone, my two small children, and being pregnant.  I was Superw...

Over a decade ago I belonged to a gym and had a fantastic trainer.  She told me that an exercise routine needs to be switched every 6 weeks because your muscles become used to it and it's no longer a challenge.  To see growth, you have to change.  Tomorrow is the last day of week 6 following the routine I talked about in  Depression and Exercise .  I don't usually exercise on Sundays so I'm reporting today.  I planned on doing a weekly report, but that failed so here's an overall summary of the last 6 weeks. Goals: no more than 20 grams carbs, 112 grams fat, 90 grams protein First column is the exercise program, whether I did physical therapy (indicated with a T), and what weights I used for the arm exercises (half, one, or two pounds). The second, third, and fourth column are carbs, fats, and protein respectively. The last column is for notes.  D means I ate dairy and CP shows I had collagen peptides. Week 1 1/1 - Barre 1 half (this was a ...

When I think about it, I started this journey several years ago.  My sister was struggling and after reading " The Hormone Cure " by Sara Gottfried , she met with a hormone specialist.  Although now she doesn't feel she got a lot out of it, she did learn a few things about her body that benefited both of us.  I figured if she wasn't able to absorb certain formulas of vitamins, I probably couldn't either.  I also decided to see an OB/GYN who specialized in hormones.  We talked about what was going on and due to the fact that I was nursing, she kept it simple.  She had my blood work run, and based on the results recommended that I take magnesium*, calcium, iron, and vitamin D.  Through my sister's experience, I added the methylcobalamin form of vitamin B.  I have since learned that some of the formulas I was taking weren't the best.  Turns out buying your vitamins from regular grocery stores isn't the best idea.  They tend to have fillers ...

I started following a ketogenic diet about 7 months ago. I lost 15 pounds quite quickly, but then I started to feel... off. Without going into details, I'll simply say that last month it got to the point where I was starting to think something was seriously wrong and was researching doctors. Then I was given the opportunity to read Keto: The Complete Guide to Success on The Ketogenic Diet, including Simplified Science and No-cook Meal Plans  by Maria and Craig Emmerich. I've been researching the ketogenic diet for quite awhile so when I started this book, I was a little skeptical that there was anything else I could learn. Not only was I wrong, but I also realized that a lot of what I had previously learned wasn't correct.  Craig and Maria have done a wonderful job breaking down the science in a way that's easy to understand. Their knowledge and experience show you how to be successful on keto and how to break through plateaus so you can achieve your health goals. Thi...