Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Sleepy Head

This is interesting ...


... I share this with you because that's where I am heading right now, to experience the cycle of sleep.

Tomorrow, I am off on the first leg of my week away, so by lunch time I will get to cuddle my little Chicklet.

You all know that usually on the first night at Chicklet's house, I'm too exhausted to write here, but you'll hear from me soon and hopefully with photos of my bubba to share.

Meanwhile ...

Nite all.

Exciting!

Today, I received in the mail, my super duper, extra strength, very special, probiotics and enzyme supplements.

I ordered them a week ago and they were supposed to take 6 weeks to arrive, but to my joy, they arrived much faster.

I am not one for supplements. I don't pop any pills for any reason. No fish oil, no vitamins, no calcium, no nothing.

A good probiotic has been on my wish list for some time and I've been looking into the different brands and different strengths for probably a year now with little success.

All of the new research suggests that our stomach is our second brain, in fact, some research even suggests that the stomach is our first brain and that it is the one that sends all the messages to the brain in our head.

So it's important that it is functioning at an optimum level and that all the good bacteria is thriving and doing the job that they are there for .. keeping us healthy, strengthening our immune system, receiving and utilising all the nutrients and digesting the food efficiently and effectively.

I believe that my digestive problems began with the medication that I took for Grave's Disease seven years ago. The information sheet listed 87 different side effects which included quite a few different digestive issues as well as possible damage to liver and kidneys.

Despite my doctor issuing me with a second year's worth of prescriptions, I only took the medication for one year. Long enough to stabilise my condition and that's when I really started to focus on my diet and well being.

So tonight I took my very first dose of probiotics and enzymes and now I wait and hope for the next stage of improved health.

We all know that sleep is important for good health too .. it's after midnight .. AGAIN .. so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.  

Thursday, February 5, 2015

It's done.

Yesssss!!

The essay is finished.

I haven't submitted it yet because I want to read it tomorrow with a fresh brain and clearer eyes.

Of course, I'm second guessing myself (as I do) and wondering if I've covered everything that I'm supposed to cover. Does it make sense? Does it flow? Have I got the referencing right? Are my explanations clear?

I'm not going to spend any more time on it! Just a good clean proof read in the morning and then submit it and forget it!

Tomorrow we have to go into The Bay in the morning. I have to cook some meals for Adoring Husband for while I'm away next week and make up two weeks worth of dog food. Attempt to get some housework done. Write a 'packing' list.

Saturday should be good for washing and packing and possibly 'relaxing' and then on Sunday, it's a mid morning train, so I can take my time getting ready.

Then I'm off!

My first stop is for three days to visit my Chicklet family. It's been forever since I was down there and I'm so excited to see them! We'll be celebrating an early 4th birthday for Chicklet .. can you believe she is FOUR already!?

On Wednesday, it's another train ride down to Brisbane to spend three days with the girls. The camera will get a workout and I'm going to spend a lot of time on the river ferries and possibly exploring some boutiques in the suburbs as well as the city.

As soon as I get back, I will have 3 weeks to cram for both Chemistry and Physiology exams due on the 6th March. So prepare yourself for more stress blogs!

I have to congratulate Number One Son who applied for his dream job in November and was informed today that he was successful. The job is in Wagga and the company is paying his moving expenses as well a month in a motel until he finds accommodation. The salary is beyond excellent and he is a very happy chappy. He will be close to family there too.

Things seem to be going along nicely for my kids. Vegan Chickie was recently accepted into a Bachelor of Arts (Professional Writing and Publishing) undergraduate degree course, which she commences next month and is very excited about and Bubbles has just commenced a Cert IV in Business Management course and is studying hard.

Obviously, they inherited my intelligent genes :)

It's 10.30pm and I think I can be in bed before 11pm for a change! Wahoo!

Nite all.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

What the!?!

So here I was, feeling like I finally had things under control with my essay.

I figured out the referencing problem, typed out the actual essay, counted the words and then re-read the requirements.

Oops!

I missed two whole sections!

Ugh!

Sometimes, I'm such an old woman and I scare myself with how easily my brain can go so completely blank over 'some' things.

I've re-read the requirements four times in the last week. How the hell could I have missed that?

So I quickly researched and added the new sections .. but .. woops, now I am 200 words OVER!

Ugh!

Seriously?

Late this afternoon, I was able to reduce it by 100 words, but then it was time to put it away til tomorrow. My brain just couldn't cope any more.

So the ongoing essay saga continues.

I was really hoping that I could have it all over with by the end of today, but now I have to stretch it another day. Time just goes so fast when I'm focused and this week is zipping by oh so quickly!

You do all realise that I bring you this drama so that you can suffer as much as me? I'm taking you on this ride in hell whether you like it or not!

Bed time to rest the brain.

Nite all.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Intense

I've had an intense day of study.

So intense that I didn't even stop to make Adoring Husband some lunch.

I have completed my essay, BUT I'm now trying to reference correctly (I have never referenced an essay before .. ever) and then I have to type it up and figure out how to include the diagrams and equations correctly.

Just when I think I'm figuring it all out, I discover something else that's going to take a little more time than I expected.

I started the day with a lovely morning tea with the girls and then on the way home, I stopped of at Mardi's (aka Kaz) place to have my blood pressure taken. Whenever I've had my blood pressure taken in the past, it has always been perfect. Always.

Today it was 124/118 which is considered pre-hypertension.  This was shocking for me!  It probably contributed to my stressful study day, worrying about my blood pressure ... and then I realised that I've been stressing so much over my studies, THAT has probably contributed to my high blood pressure! It's a Catch 22 situation really!

Tonight after two glasses of wine, it was 115/75 which is in the 'normal' range.

The only answer is to drink wine regularly.

Yes, I know, I'm not supposed to drink alcohol while on my 10 week Paleo Way program *insert smiley face here* but I earned it!

At 4.30pm, I suddenly realised that I had 30 minutes to get organised for our monthly barbecue at the river. Adoring Husband was picking up the SES trailer from The Bay, so I had to do it all myself.

In 30 minutes, I cooked our lamb loin chops (because I didn't think AH would arrive early enough to cook them on the barbecue .. and "I" wasn't going to do it!), I chopped a plate full of mango, pineapple and grapes for nibbles/dessert, I changed my top, packed our plates and eating implements, wine glass and bottle of wine, shut the windows and blinds and locked the doors, piled everything into the basket of my trike and headed off.

I was impressed with my efficiency!

I was hoping for a nice sunset tonight so that I could include a nice photo here for a change, but there was a heavy shower just before sunset and the cloud closed in over the horizon so that there was nothing to photograph.

I feel sad for my camera that it has been so neglected lately, but I will definitely be taking it with me to Brisbane next week and it will get a workout and a half!

Be prepared for photo overload :)

Enough for now.

Nite all.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Brain Explosion

Again!?

Yes, after such a fabulous day yesterday, it was back to the grind today.

I'm still struggling with the same part of the essay as I was on Friday and Saturday. I feel like I'm so close to that magic light bulb moment, but I'm not quite there and it's a little bit frustrating.

I'm feeling a touch overwhelmed and like I don't have much control over anything at the moment. I only have until Sunday morning to get my essay finished and do all the other chores that need to be done before I go away for the week and I can feel the panic beginning to well inside me.

I'm looking forward to starting the day tomorrow with the girls for coffee (except I'll be drinking water .. but that's ok). An hour with friends will be a nice relaxed way to start the day and then it will be another intense study day while Adoring Husband fulfils more SES duties.

We had our main meal at lunch today (chicken casserole with roasted broccoli, bacon and garlic) because AH is at an important (aren't they all?) SES meeting tonight.

I had a follow up phone call from our lovely new vet today, asking how Ruby is managing. That was a pleasant surprise. Our last vet wasn't one for following up.

Anyway, it's been an uneventful day and after my very late hour to bed last night, I think I will make up for it tonight by heading to bed now.

Nite all.

Happiness is ...

Today was inspirational.

I spent 4 hours sitting in a very hot pavilion-style cafe listening to 3 amazing women between the ages of 24 and 40 share their personal life stories of how they triumphed chronic ill-health, one even cheating death.

When doctors couldn't help them, they took control of their own well being, doing their own research, changed the way they ate and created a whole new lifestyle for themselves.

Between them, they've had chronic asthma (she was actually in a coma for 6 months because of it), type 2 diabetes, liver cancer, polycystic ovaries, eczema, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, morbid obesity, candida, aspergers and more that I can't remember off the top of my head.

All of these women either cured some of their conditions (type 2 diabetes, eczema, polycystic ovaries, depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, candida) or controlled it (liver cancer,  chronic asthma, aspergers) and between two of these women, they lost approximately 140kgs (that is NOT a typo), all by changing the way they ate.

There was an X-scientist now Naturopath who gave a talk about acidity vs alkalinity and buffers in the body.

There was a Nutritionist (with many other qualifications) talking about nutrition, healing the gut, good and bad bacteria in the body, how the body processes and digests different nutrients, new research into various foods that have been listed as unhealthy in the past, probiotics, enzymes etc etc.

My very favourite speaker of the day was Jessie Reimers. She is the young lady who has put together a petition to force the Heart Foundation to cancel their tick of approval rating, because they are funded by the food companies who bear the tick of approval on their food. None of the food is healthy or deserves any health recommendation.

Jessie is 24 yrs old, married, with two beautiful boys, the youngest of whom she gave birth to at home in a birthing pool and he weighed 9lb 8oz!!  I estimate that she weights about 53kgs, but at her sickest, just a few years ago, she was only 38kgs. She is from Brisbane and drove here today with her family, including her husband, who reminded me so much of the Bare-chested Chef!

She announced that she is high functioning aspergers.

She was even more passionate about health, nutrition, toxins, doctors, medications, chemicals, vaccinations, pharmaceutical companies, the food industry .. EVERYTHING .. than me, and as she began to speak, I had a lot of trouble controlling my emotions.

I felt like I had found my soul mate!

She was repeating so many things that I have talked about in here and she was so passionate that she had trouble controlling her language lol.

Her health, during her short life, was filled with horror stories beginning with the meningococcal virus at age two. Her health issues were many and varied and all very, very serious.

I can't even say that her story was the most inspirational because all three women moved me to tears and I am even more motivated to continue my journey to optimum health after hearing them all today.

You can go to Jessie Reimers's blog here. (but be warned she swears a LOT)

Telaine was born a heroin addict, because her mother was a heroin addict. She was immediately placed into foster care and spent the first few years of her life in various care situations. This affected her mental state and health and at a young age, she was wrongly diagnosed as bi-polar and given medication for two years that made her worse because she didn't have bi-polar at all. She was later diagnosed with a different mental disorder and given the correct medication.

The medications, along with a bad diet, sent her weight soaring to 169kgs. She suffered from Type 2 diabetes, anxiety, chronic fatigue, panic attacks, eczema, depression and liver cancer (she was on the list for a liver transplant until recently).

She changed her eating habits (under sufferance because her husband was the cook in the family) about 3 months after her husband started a low carb, high fat way of eating.

That was two years ago and all of those diseases (except the liver cancer) have now gone, she has lost 73kgs and she has been taken off the liver transplant list because the tumours have stabilised.

You can go to Telaine's and her husband Derek's website here

The third woman, Beccy, is a chronic asthmatic. She was so bad that she had to take a concoction of drugs every day (she had the empty packages there of each drug that she took and made a 3 foot tower from them) and she spent around 10 months every year of her life in hospital.

About 7 years ago, she fell into a coma and was put on life support. After 6 months her husband and her father made the decision to turn off the machines. She miraculously woke up from her coma and the doctors still don't know how she survived because they couldn't find any brain activity.

She couldn't do anything for herself when she woke up and took 3 years to rehabilitate.

All of those medications made her gain weight until she reached 146 kgs.

When she was well enough, she began to do her own research and discovered 'clean eating'. In just one year, she lost 69 kgs and is off all the medication except her puffer which she needs occasionally and she carries it with her religiously. She is still classified as a chronic asthmatic and takes her illness very seriously, but she hasn't been in hospital for three years.

She doesn't have a website to share with you.

Here are a couple of photos from the day ...



... I have spent the afternoon and evening devouring as much of their information online that I can and it's now after 1am!

I am so happy that I attended today's session and even though I knew almost everything that was talked about, it was wonderful to have it confirmed and acknowledged by people who live this way and have experienced improved health because of it.

Now I'd best call it a day.

Nite all.