Banana Island – Healing Journey Day 21

Journal:
Today, I finally did it. I did a full day of consuming only bananas. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t overly hard either. My biggest complaint is simply that everything seems so sweet to me now so the ripe bananas are almost too sweet, but the majority of my bananas tasted not as ripe. There was no perfect middle today.

I didn’t do much in the morning. In the afternoon, I managed to get up, gather a few things that I had left at work, and went to the gym. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the earlier Sabbath hour, I had enough energy to do a full hour of cardio on the elliptical instead of the normal half hour I did. I hadn’t even eaten that much today so I’m not completely sure where the energy was coming from. But regardless, it felt good to feel so good.

What didn’t feel good today was my neck. All the stress is starting to show in physical symptoms. I had an ache in my hip (never had this before without just cause) and my neck was in pain. Ugh… live a stress-free life as much as possible! The suffering is not worth it.

Other than that, the rest of the evening was very “chill” as well. No further developments have happened at my mother-in-law’s except for her own upgrading in security equipment. But just to be sure, when nobody was home, my dogs were also at taken out and put at the grandparents. No risks taken when not necessary.

Total bananas eaten for the day = 8.

Review of Symptoms:
-Energy is good.
-Caught up on some sleep = awesome!
-Lazy Day = nice break amongst the stress.
-Not craving bananas… would have been nicer to add a little coconut sugar to not very sweet bananas but I wanted to be completely reliant on solely bananas.
-Tastebuds are definitely much more sensitive.
-Elimination hugely improved!

Weight at the end of the day = 174.6 lbs (still the same)

Total Calories = approx. 923 (94% carbs, 3% fat, 3% protein)

Watermelon Island – Healing Journey Day 18 – Experiment Time!

Journal:
Wowee! What a day. Where do I even begin?

Well, let’s start with the fact I was running late this morning, so I packed 3 mini watermelons with me. I attempted to eat one before leaving on our field trip only to find out it tasted ROTTEN. Not a good start to the day.

After returning from the field trip, I attempted to eat another one for lunch. This one tasted better, but still not like the watermelons of true summer. I’m hitting the end of the season and the results are nasty. Why did I choose to eat fruit at this time of the year?

So needless to say, my idea of getting in some watermelon was a disaster. So I decided to use today as a true experiment day. For the past 17 days, I have only had MINIMAL amounts of fruit. I have not had anything else. Well, today I decided to see how I would react to some vegan junk food.

First I had a slice of vegan carrot cake. I wish I would have taken a picture of this beauty, but I was so nervous to actually eat it that it didn’t cross my mind. I actually was nervous to eat this piece of cake! I think back to my childhood days where we ate sweets REGULARLY (and here I was questioning a piece of carrot cake!!). Well, my body was dying while I ate it. It was so unbelievably sweet that I honestly started not feeling well. I stopped after a couple bites. It was not “good” to me at all. Oh have my tastebuds changed! As I forced myself to eat some more, I noticed that I even could end up with a headache if I continued eating this way. Oh man. Processed sugar is clearly bad.

Then I had some Ruffles All-Dressed chips. It was a very small amount, but the salt almost felt like it was burning my mouth. Oh it was so strong I can’t even begin to describe it to you. I felt like I might even go puffy around my eyes. Thankfully I didn’t as I was in a staff meeting, but man! Once you’ve been eating clean for so long, you really notice the unhealthiness of such foods when you eat them again. The power was potent!

I didn’t leave work until around 7:30/8:00 at night. It was a long, stressful day. But after I got home, I was starving. I didn’t get around to eating the third watermelon and I was STARVING. All I could think about was going ANYWHERE to get some kind of food. Fruit was not on my mind. It took a bit of willpower to prevent myself from getting in the car and driving to a drive-thru but I knew it was the effects of the junk I had today. It’s honestly terrible. Why do we do these things to ourselves?

In the end, I cracked open the third watermelon I had. The flavour sucked. It almost tasted like the red parts were the same as the rind. I couldn’t even eat it. I maybe had 2 or 3 bites. Fruit just sucks in quality here right now so my calories are staying very low. I’m not eating what I need, especially with the long hours I’m pulling and the stress I’m going through at the moment. Tomorrow is a banana island day and I’m hoping my bananas show better results. So here’s to going to sleep hungry and awaiting to have bananas tomorrow. Let’s hope it’s a better day.

Review of Symptoms:
-Acne is bad, especially on chin and where cheeks meet neck. Hating it.
-Hungry. Fruit quality is sucking right now.
-Almost a headache from sweet vegan junk food.
-Burning mouth and feeling of swelling from chips.
-Hair is slight greasy after water washing today.

Weight at the end of the day = 174.6 (up 1.8 lbs from yesterday… salt retention much?)

Total Calories = Approx. 966 (63% carbs, 32% fat, 5% protein… way too high in fat!!)

Multi-Day Mono-Juice Feasting – Healing Journey Day 7

Journal:
Wow! Today marks a week. After suffering with that awful – weird – stomach pain/aching last night, I am happy to wake up feeling good again. I slept solidly through the night, only quickly waking up once and not remember falling asleep… haha. My body was tired. What more can I say.

I woke up happy and ready to take on the day. I had a dentist appointment at 9:00 am so my morning was dedicated to getting ready. And what did I find this morning that had to go away before I went to the dentist? My tongue covered in white again. Yuck. If this really is toxins leaving my body, then my body was very toxic. Of course I’m just saying this because I’m not a professional on the subject, but the stuff looks and tastes disgusting. I don’t even have to look in the mirror to see if it’s there. I can taste it. It’s not good. So before the dentist started getting too inquisitive, the tongue had to be scraped off and brushed. I haven’t really told anybody around me about my healing journey. I’d rather them see the results and ask themselves, just not the yucky results like a white-covered tongue.

After I got dressed, I did my usual check in the mirror. Believe it or not, I had to stop myself. I’m wearing yoga pants with a tank top and a light cardigan-type thing over top, and for once in absolute months, I did not have to adjust my pants to hide my stomach just the right way. Yes, clearly I’m still overweight, but my stomach fat is not as bloated as it used to be. It almost looked flat from a head-on view. I have the worst self-image so this is a huge thing for me. When I weighed my lightest a few years ago – coming in at 129 lbs – I still looked in the mirror and saw fat. I liked my face at the time and the leanness around my neck/collarbone, but I carry my fat in my stomach (it’s the last to go) and so I couldn’t help but still see how fat I was in the mirror. Having bad self-image is a plague, it really is. But becoming vegan has helped me realize I need to focus on my health first and then everything else will fall into place. And this journey has only helped solidify that way of thinking. So today, I celebrated… with apple juice.

Yes. Today is day 2 of 3 that I am having only pure apple juice.By doing this, I am being easy on my body as it adjusts to having an energy source available again. My body doesn’t have to work on figuring out how to digest many different kinds of sources, it only has to figure out the one making it a much easier process. There’s no confusion, my stomach acids can settle in one place to digest the one ingredient. It’s the absolute easiest way you can come back from fasting.

My dentist appointment went well. I hate getting cleanings done. I really do. Every single time they always ask me if I floss, but it honestly is a part of my nightly hygiene routine to floss. I know that teeth can also have hereditary issues, so perhaps I’ve inherited my father’s awful teeth. But either way, aside from getting more regular cleanings, I’m not sure what to do. If you have any tips, definitely leave them below.

Aside from the regular cleaning, they reviewed a tooth that was supposed to be on watch from two years ago. I had completely forgotten about this. Underneath a filling from 10+ years ago, I had a spot forming that they couldn’t confirm two years ago as it would have required them to take out the filling to inspect. It was very small. Today, according to my x-rays, the spot has gotten a little bigger. Not hugely, but it is bigger. It now can be confirmed as a cavity. Again, since it’s under my filling, it’s going to require taking out my old filling, fixing it, then refilling again. Now, I’ve been looking into healing cavities naturally, and I believe it can be done. But when the dentist told me that if it grows more that it will get to my root (and showed me on the x-ray) that it will require a root canal and not just a filling. I have to admit, a root canal scares me. So against my better wishes, I have an appointment again for next week to have the cavity fixed. I had really bad teeth when I was younger (no doubt related to the way we were allowed to eat) and had many cavities all the time, so having one cavity in two years that honestly already existed before isn’t so bad. It’s progress. I’ve only been vegan for 1 year and even so did not eat healthy all the time. So now I know better what to do and I honestly can’t be eating any healthier than I have been this past week and it’s going to continue for quite some time.

I didn’t do a whole lot after the dentist appointment. I did go grocery shopping with my housemate/friend. The possibility of buying so much food was there, but yet again, I made it through with no mishaps. I was also invited to another free corn boil to which – this time – I declined. Not because I didn’t want to be tempted, but because I knew it was going to get cold again at night and I just didn’t want to be outside for a few hours in the cold. Really it was just personal choice. Plus, the main purpose to be there is to eat and if I’m not going to be eating, then there is less of a reason to go. This really was an event for the students of our school (the older ones that I don’t teach) so it wasn’t like I was denying a true social event with friends.

What did I drink today? As I mentioned above, apple juice again; the same kind I drank yesterday. However, I only consumed about 3-3.25 L compared to the ~3.75L I drank the previous day. I do have a sneaking suspicion that the quality of this Simply Apple juice is not quite the same as the organic ones I bought and may actually be the reason for some extra not-good feelings in my stomach. Time will tell.

Review of Symptoms:
Stomach still acted up throughout the day, always getting worse in the evening. Acne seemed to have a little less “tiny bumps” than yesterday. Otherwise, it seemed to be around the same. Stomach was looking a little less bloated. Tongue was covered in white “gunk” again that needed to be scraped.

Weight at the end of the day = 179.8 lbs (down a total of 9 lbs in 6 days)

Total Calories = 1326 (99% carbs, 0% fat, 1% protein)

Farmers Do Not Love Their Cows

I apologize that the title of this blog sounds hateful. I can assure you I don’t have farmers. For 2 years of my life, my family had our own farm. My best friend in university’s family had a beef farm, and for two years, my hairdresser and her husband had a beef farm. I don’t hate farmers in the least. But here is an argument I was part of this week.

Now, normally, I’m not such a vocal person. I’m not the kind of person who just looks for a fight or who believes everyone should think the same way I do. In fact, because of my Christian beliefs, I believe that God has given everyone the gift of free choice, and so I am not someone to take that away. Of course this gets bordered when it inflicts pain on others, but that’s a whole other topic. The fact is, in Exodus, God gave permission to eat certain animals, one of them being cows. So if you want to eat beef, I may not agree with it, but you have total right to do that. So that’s not where this argument is coming from.

What I saw this week was a picture of an almost frozen calf in a farmer’s truck. This is a typical appearance. In my two years of farming, we were up in the middle of the night to help our animals sometimes. I get the work it takes. I see the dedication farmers have. But the caption of the farmer is how much they cared/loved their cows. That’s where I had a problem.

Now, this world has problems enough with understanding what love really is. All too often we see people throwing around the “love” word without really meaning it. People date people and still keep their own needs above their partners. People get married, and stop caring for each other. This is an awful view of love. There are so many terrible views of love. One of the pure views of love that are left in the world is when I look at mothers who truly love their children. They will do anything to protect them and give them the best lives possible. That’s what love should be. Fighting for the one you love, willing to die for that person, that’s love.

Now, I know we are talking about animals and not humans, and many people do not consider them on the same level, so that’s fine. Let’s go with that. But love, in no sense of any manner, means killing the thing you love. Think of a child’s favourite toy, or an adult’s favourite car. You love that toy/car. If that object were to “die”, you would be incredibly upset and angry. These objects aren’t even alive. Yet the cows are. (This also goes for pigs/sheep/chickens, etc…)

So these ALIVE things that farmers are claiming they “love” are raised to be killed. Does that still seem like love to you? Is it caring to kill them?

I had someone tell me that ranchers and farmers are different. That’s cool. I can see they are different. That’s not a big deal to me. The ranchers say they are animal rights activists and they do what they can to give the cows the best lives they can. Well, although it does seem like a very nice gesture to give an animal the best life possible for their short lives, do you think they would call it a “good life” to live for a couple years then be killed? Would you call it a “good life” if you were raised to the age of 2 or 18 (2 year old cow = 18 years as a human) to know you would be placed with a bullet between your eyes and then cut apart for others to eat? Would you call that loving? Is that caring? Knowing you were only born to be food? I don’t think so.

I think there is such a disconnect in this world! It’s crazy! If you are willing to put all that care into an animal, taking a cow into your home to warm them up, saying that you “love” them, well, I will agree you are acting that way. But why do you stop loving them? Why does it change from this seemingly “love” feeling to a feeling of “get on my plate! Die!” Is that how you feel about your dog? Is that how you feel about your cat? Is that how you feel about your children? They’re only worth loving for so long before you get rid of them and don’t care what happens to them?

Some of you may be wondering why I have such a big deal over a simple word. But here’s the reason, people are not owning what actually happens. Sure, the cow may have a “good life” before its death date. But here’s what happens to this “beloved animal” on it’s death date. It gets taken on a usually overloaded cow trailer where they are not given water or anything of substance on the way to slaughter. Once they get to the slaughterhouse, they become terribly frightened. They hear other cows expressing their fright and just as a dog has amazing senses in the personality of humans, cows are no different. They can sense fear and know something is wrong. The “beloved” creatures are as scared as a child in the dark except darkness is easy to fix, death is not. So not only are they unloaded to this terrible place, many people abuse these animals while they are still alive, fighting with creatures who are only scared and reacting as such. Do you go in and punish your child for having a nightmare? These cows are LIVING their nightmare and being punished for it.

When the time comes to be killed, a bullet is put between their eyes. Now, according to government regulations, it’s ok if they’re not killed by that bullet as long as they are stunned and unable to move. Now, I don’t know about you, but it’s almost like a totally functioning person in a coma. These people, when out of the coma, are able to tell you things that people said because they were totally there, just not in control of their body. That’s how these cows are except they can’t tell you what people are saying, but they can tell you about the hooks that were painfully shoved through their legs. Would you like to be alive with hooks piercing your body? I’m going to guess not. Of course, the hook is not enough to kill the cow. So the next step is being sliced open down the middle of their bodies and through their neck. Mmm. What an awesome feeling while you’re still alive. So humane. Such a “loved” and “cared about” animal, right?

So here’s the thing. If you can accept what you do, and you have no problem saying cows are just money to you, that you don’t actually love them and don’t care about the violence you put them through, then by all means that’s at least not hypocritical. Again, I don’t agree with it and think it speaks volumes about the kind of person you are, but I at least appreciate the honesty. But if you advertise to the world that you are such a caring and loving person to these animals, you are so hypocritical and maybe even lying to yourself! I’m asking farmers and ranchers to take responsibility for their actions. You’re not really an animal rights activist when you’re still sending them to a bitter death. So that’s the part I have a problem with. Accept the realities of your job. Don’t just pretend that you’re doing something good for them because for all the good you did before, I guarantee the cows would choose a little less cozy life in exchange for keeping their lives. Nobody wants to die, not even animals. They are alive, they have thoughts, they are just unable to communicate to us the way we need to understand. So start thinking and accept what the truth is. That’s it. If you choose to continue to eat meat, like I said, that’s your choice. But know where that meat is coming from and what that animal is going through to get to your stomach when the world over knows a vegetarian/vegan diet is a way to thrive. You don’t need meat, you don’t need dairy products. But make your choice while being educated and not hiding the truth.

Know the truth, own your choice.

Day 3

I am paying for what I did last night. I never want to eat that much deep-fried food again.

I woke up in the middle of the night as dry as the desert. My mouth was so dry and I craved water. I did not get in near enough water yesterday, possibly not even half as much as my goal is. I feel awful.

I chugged down some water and realized as I was laying in bed trying to fall back asleep that I had pains from my neck to my lower abdomen. Greasy food… I strongly dislike you. My body is paying for my stupidity.

After I got up and made lunch for my husband, I took a 4L jug of water, and started drinking. My goal is to have the 4L finished today. My usual goal is only 3L, but I think I owe it to my body, especially after all that unhealthiness last night to give it some extra water to flush the nastiness out. Ugh… hopefully you’re sensing how awful I feel.

After drinking about 1L of water to start off my day, and waiting about a half hour, I ate my breakfast. Today, my bananas from the Organic Box were ripe and ready to be eaten. Remember, when you eat bananas, they shouldn’t just be yellow. They should have lots of dark spots on them. That is when they are the best ripeness. I attempted to eat 6 (I know it would even be awesome to eat 10) but because I’m still getting used to eating so much, I could only get in 5. So a 5 banana breakfast it is!

I had to run to meet a lady at a different mall today. It was good. Got there on time. Found her. Everything went smoothly. But I decided to take a quick run to the health food store there to get some hairspray that I needed. Of course, I walked by the food court, really wanted some Korean potatoes, but since I’m trying to do raw foods until 4 p.m. each day, I continued to walk by. Instead, I picked up some Solar Raw kale chips with my organic, cruelty-free hairspray. Oh they are delicious! You could never guess it’s not cheese on them. Almost completely organic, and the Solar Raw brand is a farm that grows all their own organic products using solar power! Love it! Look up the brand and see for yourself! The only thing was, they are so rich that I could only eat a small handful. I will be snacking on these later (or tomorrow).

As a late lunch, I put together a massive salad. I used some 50/50 Organic Green Mix, 1 organic raspberry (unfortunately one had moulded and spoiled a whole bunch of other ones), organic blueberries, three sliced organic strawberries, some organic cucumber, a yellow rainbow carrot, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and soya nuts. For a dressing, I mashed 2 small avocados with a teaspoon of vegan cream cheese (not my favourite, so masking it with other things) and salsa. Oh so delicious, and very full!

After my husband came home, he suggested going out for frozen yogurt. It’s a hot day, our first “hot” summer day, so I said, “Let’s go!”

They had two vegan flavours today: blueberry sorbet and peach sorbet. I totally forgot how flavourful sorbet was! So sweet and fruity. Yum! Of course I put some fresh fruit toppings on it, as well as a couple candy embellishments as a treat. This is a late snack/supper. I’m still very full.

We went to the gym, and I had a good workout. I focused on different variations of squats, push-ups, and some planks. I did a variety of stretching, my chiropractor’s exercises, and 25 minutes of quick-paced walking. It all went very well.

For supper, I finished off the little bit of kale chips my husband left, ate 3 mangos, and then sat around with my husband trying not to fall asleep (sometimes I’m a night owl, sometimes I’m not). However, my husband mentioned that he wanted pizza, so we ordered pizza, non-cheese breadsticks (for me), Coke Zero, and Cinnamon Sticks. I was so proud of myself that I did not even look at the pizza (cheese, chicken and beef), and I didn’t even take one gulp of that Coke Zero! Not that Coke is not vegan, but of all the chemicals that are inside that thing. I did eat my cheese-less breadsticks with marinara sauce (normally would be so unhappy that there was no cheese on them… talk about cheese-addicted!), and I ate a couple of the cinnamon sticks (could have definitely gone without these). But overall, not bad with all the temptation around me!

Just before I went to bed, I finished my 4L of water. Definitely the most I’ve ever drank in a day, and I was so happy!

Natural Remedies

I am one of those people who HATE going to the doctor when I’m sick. When I was younger, my sister and I spent many days of our lives at the hospital or the doctor’s office. My sister was born sick and had an extensive list of allergies. There were not many times I don’t remember having medicine of some sort. Thus, now I try to use natural remedies whenever possible.

Now, I’m not one of those crazy people that would rather die than go to a doctor. I have my limits. But if I can defeat something naturally, you better believe I’m going to do it!

As I mentioned earlier, my Valentine’s and Family Day weekend did not turn out the way I thought it would. It was supposed to be a fun, relaxing weekend. I did have some fun on Valentine’s with my husband (we needed to have some fun together), but my throat was messed up and I felt an overwhelming sense I was getting a fever the whole time. And, as of course it would have to happen, I progressively got worse and worse. So I pulled out some natural remedies.

These are the ones I’ve tried this current time:
-Nasal Rinse (netty pot but in a bottle)
-Hot baths (epsom salts, bamboo oil, rosemary/mint mix)
-Aromatherapy (water diffuser with Immune essential oil from Saje)
-Kombucha tea
-Smoothies (to keep up some nutrition)
-Vitamins (a multitude)
-Raw Garlic (oh man… this is strong stuff!)

Unfortunately, this did all not work as good as I thought (or maybe not as quick as I wanted), so I added in a couple more things:
–Helixia (This stuff is actually pretty natural and I do think it works!)
-VICKS Kleenex (The absolute BEST Kleenex! There is no denying the VICKS in it helps!)
-Allergy Meds (I must have sneezed more than 50 times yesterday. I was desperate!)
-Benylin Cough & Cold (I just wanted to sleep and prayed that it would help.)

Unlike usual, somehow I only woke up with one really bad coughing spell last night. I’m guessing the massive amount of mixed natural remedies and some over-the-counter meds helped a lot. But this morning, I still feel sickly and my nose feels dried out like a desert. My husband is going to pick up a humidifier on the way home. The air here is way too dry (not that the mountain of Kleenex I used yesterday helped…).

I’d love to hear if you have any more natural remedies that you have found worked for you? My grandmother used to wrap a wool sock around her neck, we bought ingredients for garlic soup but haven’t made it yet, my mom suggested putting half an onion at the bottom of both of my feet, and I know you can make a nice hot glass with honey, lemon and cayenne pepper. But I’d love to hear some tried and true remedies!

Click on the number sitting in parentheses above and leave a comment!

Acupuncture: My First Time!

So, yesterday I went to the chiropractor for my weekly visit. I didn’t mention anything to her about how my week had gone as far as my bones and problems. She was so excited telling me about the school her son had managed to get into with an amazing teacher and a sport’s program that allows her son the extra movement he needs. 

Then she got to my neck, shoulders, and ribs, and her face dropped. She asked me how my week had been. And I had to tell her that my rib had been popping significantly more than usual, possibly more than ever, and that I had been waking up at 4 in the morning without fail, even though I would go to feel without feeling stressed or thinking of anything. Let’s just say, I’ve never seen someone look at me with such concern (aside from my mom of course). 

Sorry for the blurs on this picture, but there was honestly no better picture that described my chiropractor’s look yesterday.

The chiropractor uses a tool she calls the “Thumper”. It basically gives a little kick to areas where smaller bones exist and it helps to put the little bones in place. I have NEVER had her use it on my ribs before, but it was bad enough that she did. In fact, she continued to comment how even my neck looked tighter and how everything was (and really get this) WORSE than the FIRST time I ever walked in her clinic! Woah.

So she asked me about acupuncture. To be honest, I never thought I would ever do acupuncture. The thought of having tonnes of needles in me just is not a vision I wanted to live. But my chiropractor recommended acupuncture and upon consideration, I agreed if it would help. So instead of booking a later appointment, she went next door and arranged for an appointment right then. Talk about being serious!

The acupuncturist went through everything in great detail, expressing that it is NOT PAINFUL, but would feel–if anything–like a mosquito bite initially and then should feel like nothing. She also explained some precautionary things, but it made total sense to me. Key point? Don’t move when the needles are in you! Makes total sense, eh?

So we got to the process. She put needles in my neck, my shoulders, my back, and my ankles. To be quite honest, I hardly felt most of them. The ones I felt the most were in my ankles, but I have incredibly non-fat feet. They are very thin and boney. And even so, only the one in my ankle seemed to bother me a little, the other ones were no big deal.

These needles are the same width as a piece of hair!! So tiny!

And my acupuncturist? Amazing. She continued to ask if I was ok, if everything felt ok, if I ever felt sick, etc… She was there every step of the way and made me feel like I was in amazing good hands. 

I basically laid there, face down, breathing and relaxing. She even encouraged sleeping! But my face was fairly squished in the bed. I’m assuming the massage bed was fairly new because the material around where your face goes was pretty stiff. So no sleeping, but I was able to relax with a heat lamp making sure I was warm.  She even took great deal afterwards to massage the right places after she removed the needles (painless) and makes sure you get up slowly and carefully to make sure your body is handling the process properly. 

Basically the position I was in for the 20-30 minutes. I think I may line it with something more “cushy” next time.

Boy did I feel tired afterward! And I slept like a baby last night! 

It’s something I’ve been so scared of for so long, and yet it was not painful at all and helped me so much. If you have any problems (I was treated for stress and lack of sleep), you should definitely try it. It’s so worth it. Just watch that the clinic you go to is sanitary, they use new needles each time, and the person knows what they’re doing and can answer any questions that you have.

Have you ever tried acupuncture before? What were your thoughts? 

Catching Up With Life

Hello everyone,

Since summer break has begun, I’ve done little but try and catch up on life! For me, that means house cleaning, and appointments, with no shortage of either.

I’m not going to bore you with house cleaning. I’m pretty sure everyone knows the drudgeries and all of house cleaning. What I’m going to focus on is the appointments I’ve been going to.

I wish I could train my dogs to do the housecleaning… just like kids doing chores?

It started on a Friday when I went to the Eye Doctor for an eye exam. I haven’t had an eye exam in YEARS. I figured it was time for a check-up, and also had a concern with my eyes going part-time blurry. It really is a curious thing where sometimes, generally when I’m tired, one eye will go blurry; never both at the same time. From being someone who has always had excellent vision, this highly concerned me. And so I went.

What I found out is that my eyesight is fine, but I have some “irregular cells” on the fronts of my eyes. What the doctor is assuming is that when my eyes are tired, they are not capable of adjusting the cells. Stress could also play a factor in this. But in leaving, he gave me a “minor optional prescription” for use only when my eyes get tired. Not necessary, but there if I need it. Oh boy. This was a little unsettling, but if the doctor himself has no real concerns, then I’ll consider myself fortunate once again and maybe look into the purchase of glasses when school starts because of course, that’s when my sleeplessness and stress come in.

Seriously though, they have some serious eye equipment!

The following week, on Monday, Tuesday and Friday I had my first ever chiropractor appointments. I honestly didn’t really have any concerns for this, but since I work out with heavy weights 6 days per week, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get checked out. What I ended up learning (already have gone Tuesday this week and going back tomorrow) is that I have a spot where my ribs are tight to my spine thus causing this rib popping thing I experience every so often. I also learned that the reason my feet cramp is NOT what the physio told me (vitamin D and Calcium deficiency), but rather that my arches are falling. I was so happy to hear she knew EXACTLY what I was talking about before I even finished. She is the first doctor out of 3 to understand.

Ok so this is not me, but look at the way the chiropractor is handling her neck. It may look scary, but this is honestly my FAVOURITE part. I look forward to getting my neck adjusted every time!

The good news about the chiropractor is that she’s simply amazing and explains everything to you. She is so skilled and understanding, and gave me the great news that I’m really not as bad as she would have thought I would been having never been to a chiropractor before and working out like I do. This was great news! The unfortunate part is I can no longer wear sandals in the summer unless I can find pairs with high arches, and I’m looking to getting custom orthotics to do what is best for my feet. Another new thing to get used to.

This was basically sad news for me. I look forward to wearing mine all year and it’s causing some problems for my feet. 😦

On Wednesday of last week, I finally went and got my hair done. It had been a year and my hair was REALLY needing an upgrade. So I got more blonde, got a big trim and side bangs back. A nice treat during the week.

On Thursday of last week, I had my first ever massage! Now this experience was two-fold. Yes, there were parts like you’ve seen where the people seem relaxed, but let me tell you, there are parts where she finds even the smallest of knots in your body and then it gets painful and she works them out. I felt amazing afterwards and I know it’s probably essential for your body, especially for someone who needs their mobility for working out, but I can guarantee my massage therapist will find anything and everything that’s wrong. The other good part of this is that she’s working on my flexibility with me as well. Love my new massage therapist!

Working out the tightness I had in my legs hurt at first but felt good afterwards.

This past Sunday, I finally got over myself and went to the dentist. It has been 3 years since my last dental visit, and I knew I had to go. I hate cleanings. I always have. My family genetically do not have the greatest teeth to begin with. My mother has to take pills 2 days before and up to her dental appointments, and my dad’s family is notorious for breaking teeth, so I spent quite a bit of time at the dentist office as a child. Aside from the pain of parts of the cleaning, it wasn’t horrible. But I did find out that I had 2 small cavities, will be recommended for Invisalign (only for my bottom teeth) and also for whitening (which I’ve wanted for awhile). I ended up going back today (Thursday) for my cavities and will be going back in a couple weeks for my Invisalign consultation. But the dentist I had work on me today was simply AMAZING. Loved her to death! In fact, probably either the best or tied for the best dentist I’ve ever had.

Haha. Nah, my dentist was much nicer than this.

Monday was finally a break. No appointments, got to stay home and sleep, clean, and stay with my pups.

Tuesday was back to the chiropractor, and I will be going again tomorrow. I also had a meeting with a woman about Organo Gold coffee which lead me to look through the mall I had met her at, and ended up getting my toenails and fingernails done at the nail salon. 🙂

Wednesday was an odd day for me. Our car needed new tires DESPERATELY and I had a customer waiting on their Organo Gold order, and this was the only day I could deliver, which meant the tires had to go on THAT DAY. So we quickly made arrangements for new tires (I had forgotten how much they cost!!!), and wouldn’t you know the tires were late transferring from the warehouse to the garage, which meant I ended up leaving town late, had horrible traffic, and thought I would be late to pick up my husband, but instead he ended up working extremely late so even though it was a rush of a day, it all ended up just fine.

Today I returned to the dentist and the freezing kind of took me out of the rest of my day. Lots of rest and recovery.

Tomorrow morning, I will be going to my first non-accident related physiotherapy session to work hard on my flexibility issues. I’m hoping one day I’m actually be able to touch my toes with my legs straight, and sit properly at a 90 degree angle; something that is so simple for many people, but something I’ve never been able to do. I really hate being this inflexible, and it seems that no matter how much stretching I do, it doesn’t help. So I’m hoping we can figure out what’s going on and she’ll be able to tell me what to do to fix it.

Now, even though I’ve had appointments everyday for the past 2+ weeks, I have to take a 2-week break as I fly on Sunday to visit my family for a couple weeks.

When I return, I will be back into the swing of things. I already have booked a massage, a doctor’s appointment (family doctor), my Invisalign consultation probably with a quick follow-up appointment for installation, and of course customer deliveries with OG products. Before I leave, I will also have book chiropractor appointments, physio appointments, looking to order my glasses, and probably look at Facial Laser Surgery (to get rid of some of this scarring from acne throughout my teen years).

What an EXPENSIVE summer! I am SO THANKFUL for health benefits as they have already covered huge amounts of my dental bills and will be refunding quite a bit of the others. I don’t think I would have even been able to do this without that help. I am so thankful to my job for that aspect for sure.

If I have any advice to give you, it’s this. If you have something wrong, don’t wait. Don’t let things go because you’ll learn a lot about yourself, a lot about how to help yourself be your best.