Candida Cleanse

I think most people are aware of yeast issues.  But I also think a lot of people downplay how widespread of a problem it is.

I have a long, long history of antibiotic use, beginning at less than a week old.  Growing up I took antibiotics for chronic ear infections, chronic UTIs, chronic tonsillitis & several bad bouts of bronchitis.  Of course back in my childhood years they also gave antibiotics (erythromycin) anytime I was sick, even if it was viral.  And in 2008 I had a really severe spider bite that was MRSA+, for which I received tons & tons of heavy duty antibiotics (both oral & IV) & was even hospitalized for a short time during the treatment.  The tonsillitis subsided in my teen years.  The ear infections subsided in my early 20s.  The UTIs still occur occasionally, though I've now learned that they stem from Interstitial Cystitis & if I can keep that under control I can mostly avoid the UTIs.  That is my constant goal these days.  The bronchitis gets me still occasionally, but not nearly as often.  I now use propolis as my defense against coughs (I learned this from my mother in law) & it really does help me in most cases.  I had tried to use a pill form of propolis (simply because it's easier & not as messy) not too long ago but it didn't seem to be very effective I have to admit.  So I've returned to using the pasty form & it's working great once again.

Back in 2008 (right before I got pregnant & right after the spider bite incident) I was meeting with a naturopath doctor to address my chronic UTIs.  I desperately wanted to find the root cause & find a way to put a stop to them & my primary doc wasn't helpful at all in this regard.  As we reviewed my medical history (& she was taking notes) I finally came face to face with just how much antibiotics I had taken over the course of my lifetime.  I was actually quite shocked.

The naturopath doctor did some tests & found that I had a "leaky gut" & that I wasn't digesting fats properly.  My digestive system was not in good shape, which isn't too shocking given the amount of antibiotics I have ingested.  Right when we were about to begin treatment for this I found I was pregnant.  The doc chose to wait on treatment.  She said that some of the herbs she had planned for me were considered safe during pregnancy (& some were definitely not) but she still didn't like to give them, just to be extra safe.  I was supposed to meet with her once per trimester & then we would resume the treatment plan after the birth.  But of course none of this was covered under insurance & anyone with kids knows that budgets get tighter with the birth of a child, not to mention going down to being a one income family from being a dual income family.  And so it got put off & I still haven't gone back.

During the pregnancy I had a UTI & had to take antibiotics.  And during labor I had a fever & was given IV antibiotics.

I was concerned about Lil J's digestive health, that it might be adversely affected because of the state of my own digestive health at the time I got pregnant & also due to antibiotics during pregnancy & labor.  I've been giving him probiotics since shortly after birth in hopes that that would help him overcome any issues he might have.

I was struggling myself with skin fungal issues.  I started seeing another alternative med doc after my own primary doc not being any help at all.  (the alternative med doc was at the same office at the naturopath, but the naturopath was off work due to having a baby of her own at the time)  I tried lots of things with little success.  Finally, about 7 months after Lil J was born, I changed my diet.  I did a super strict anti-fungus diet for about 2 months & it REALLY helped.

Shortly after Lil J was born I somehow discovered a TV show called "Know The Cause" & I chose to follow his diet plan to accomplish this.  I purchased the eating plan book & the recipe book & followed it to a T for 2 months.  ALL my skin issues went away.  (I still hope to return to the naturopath doc at some point to see if I still need to do more to fully restore my digestive health)

I remember discussing Lil J's digestive health with the alternative med doc but we both agreed it was near impossible to do anything while he was an infant.  One of the big things that you have to remove from the diet is dairy & he was on a cow-based infant formula, so that wasn't really doable.  He's had a fungal foot issue (much like athlete's foot) since he was an infant.  I have tried tons of creams & am still using one that sort of keeps it from getting worse, but never gets rid of it.  I've had my suspicions that this is related to his digestive system & an overgrowth of yeast in his system.  Each morning after his bath I completely dry out the toe area with a hair dryer & then apply cream & then his socks.  At one point the fungus had spread from the toe area to the entire bottom of the feet.  But I have managed to get it confined back to just the toe area & keep it just there.  But I have NEVER been able to eradicate it COMPLETELY.

To make matters worse, once he was able to start eating he was only willing to eat wheat!  He wants toast, pretzels, crackers, things like that.  So I've known in the back of my mind that putting him on a candida cleanse would be a nightmare, because he would just refuse to eat.  But I've also known that at some point I was going to HAVE to do it.

For a while now (maybe a year or so), his breath (especially when he first wakes up after a nap or in the morning) is very yeasty.  And then last Friday when I was brushing his teeth at bedtime I saw it--YEAST growing on the back of his tongue.  He has thrush.  (I always brush lower teeth, upper teeth, tongue, & palate  in that order & I saw it while I was brushing his tongue)  I knew that I could no longer postpone treating this.  I prayed over him, explained the situation to my hubby, & asked him to pray & to be supportive during this tough time.

So starting Saturday morning we began.  Based on my own past experience I know that you can take all the supplements you want, but if you don't change the diet you won't get anywhere.  You have to starve the yeast.  Dairy has already been removed from Lil J's diet for a while now, but wheat & sugar & corn still needed to be removed.  I am not going to be quite as strict as I was when I did this myself, it's just too hard & drastic for a toddler who doesn't understand, especially as picky as he is.  My own diet was completely grain free.  I am allowing Lil J to still have brown rice (which still allows him his rice milk & rice cakes & puffy rice cereal).  And I'm allowing almonds, his favorite nut.  And I'm allowing a small amount of fruit still, since he really likes it.  I know all about sugars & starches feeding the yeast, but he's not even 3 yet, this is REALLY hard on him, my goal is to be successful but also understanding & working with him as well.

It's tough, don't get me wrong.  It's VERY tough.  Every time I serve him something to eat he throws a tantrum.  And later on, his hunger gets to him & he gives in & eats some of what I've served.  Some of it he's still refusing though.  He's eating nut based crackers, turkey slices, rice cakes, almond milk yogurt for the most part.  I am allowing a small amount of pureed fruit or fruit leathers each day.  I'm working hard on getting him to eat some fresh fruits & veggies during this time, but as of today he's still refusing.

I have to report that 24 hours into this his breath was normal again, not yeasty.  And as of this morning (48 hours in) his athlete's foot is already almost gone.  I am still praying & hoping we can get this squared away COMPLETELY & quickly.  And I am also hopeful that we can change his future eating habits for the better during all of this.

I also ordered "ThreeLac".  It's a supplement that my alternative doc had told me to take when I was struggling with my own fungal issues.  I was never able to find it at that time & had given up.  But as I was googling about the issue specific to toddlers I ran across ThreeLac & quickly remembered why it sounded familiar & ordered it.  I am hoping it will also be helpful & effective.

Prayers would be much appreciated as me & Lil J continue to work on healing our digestive systems.  :)

Treadmill & Cardio in general

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE working out.  I've now been working out for 20 years!

I have always hated cardio workouts & in the past I mostly just skipped it & avoided it.

In my younger days I could eat whatever I wanted & not have to worry about weight, or more specifically, body fat levels.  So skipping cardio wasn't a big deal to me because I wasn't worrying about fat.

But as I get older I do have to fight to keep the body fat off.  The older I get the harder it gets to maintain my weight & since having my son it's also made it harder to keep my abs flat & flab free.

I do have a heart murmur & I've always been very aware that my heart isn't as strong as other people's (even people who don't workout at all!) because of it.  Later on in pregnancy my heart was having a really hard time keeping up & by the time I went into labor I was going into heart failure.  It was clear to me that I needed to start doing cardio.  The heart is a muscle & by working it I can strengthen it.  Sure, not necessarily as strong as other people's, but still stronger than it has been.

Last August I was given a treadmill.  I have always wanted one, hoping that I would really enjoy that form of cardio.  I started working on running one mile.  I must admit I was REALLY hating it.  But I kept with it.  I was improving but still hating it.

However, I have to admit that I always found myself holding back, not pushing myself as hard as I probably could.  I was worried if I pushed myself TOO HARD then I wouldn't be able to continue RUNNING the whole mile & I would end up walking or quitting.  This bothered me, yet I couldn't think of a way to get around it.

I've always heard of circuit training or interval training (to my knowledge they are one & the same, but I might be mistaken about that) but I didn't really know exactly how to do it.  I had tried to look into it a few times, but it always seemed to complicated for me.  Then a few weeks ago I got an email from Dr. Mercola that was about this type of exercise.  It mentioned that you can burn more calories in less time & that it's better for strengthening your heart because you push yourself as hard as possible (no holding back) for the short interval intense bursts.  And it has a very simple structure to it, so I decided to give it a try & I am truly LOVING it.

I should add that this can be applied to ANY form of cardio.  You just need a timer or stopwatch or something like that.  I've been using it with the treadmill, but I do plan to use it with my spinner bike at some point.  The treadmill has a timer on it, but the bike doesn't.  Although I'm pretty sure my phone has a timer in it that I can use.

So here's the basic plan: you warm up for 3 minutes.  Then you go as fast as possible for 30 seconds.  Then you recover for 90 seconds.  Then you go as fast as possible for 30 seconds.  And 'round & 'round you go.  The goal is to build up to 8 of the 30 second bursts.

It's a very simple plan, yet it has structure to it, which I like.  I, personally, have split up the 90 second recovery.  So it goes like this: 30 seconds walking slow, 30 seconds walking fast, 30 seconds running slowly, then back to the 30 second as fast as I can go.  So it's basically just 4 phases of 30 seconds going around & around for me.  And I get so into each 30 second phase that I don't even realize how much time is passing by.  Before, when I was just running, I would stare at the timer & be wishing I was done at just a couple of minutes into the run.  I now find myself so into the workout that before I even notice it's already 10 or 15 minutes have gone by.

And by pushing myself as hard as possible, even for only 30 seconds, I do feel like my heart is getting stronger, my endurance level is increasing, which is what I want.  The idea is to push yourself to the point that you couldn't possibly continue past the 30 second mark & that's what I do & I feel like I'm seeing major results from this.

I am very pleased with working out like this & plan to continue (along with my strength training & pilates, etc).  It burns more calories & strengthens the heart better than traditional type cardio workouts.

Potty Training Continued, opinions wanted

So I had originally started potty training in mid-August of last year.  6 weeks later, at the end of September, I put Lil J in pull ups & put it on hold.  He remained potty trained with poo poo, but he did get lazy about peeing.  It seemed he wasn't ready to me.  I was going to just wait until he turned 3 to start trying once again.  But in mid-December the gals in the nursery at church asked why he was still in pull ups, stating that he wasn't having ANY accidents.  I really hadn't been paying attention, since I was just going to wait until April to resume potty training.  

That week I started in again & he was doing well.  The next couple of weeks he did well, and he had NO accidents at church & all was well.  A week ago at church he had one accident.  He had been especially thirsty that morning, & they had him outside on the buggy, so they probably didn't hear him if he said he needed to go potty, so I chalked it up to that & didn't worry about it.  They didn't seem bothered by it at all.  I have started noticing a trend in the evening, shortly before bedtime where he was having accidents, but aside from that he was doing well for me.  

Then this last weekend he had 2 accidents at church.  The gal in the  nursery starts going on & on, telling me it's not normal, I need to take him to the doctor.  She thinks he has diabetes or something else, but something has to be wrong with him.  She goes on & on (as hubby just walks out, he was going to lose his cool with her) & I finally just told her that I will just be sure to bring him there in pull ups from now on.  She was quite content with that response.  For some reason she is the only gal in the nursery who complains about him having accidents.  I have to wonder if she is the only one willing to say anything or if she is simply less tolerant than other gals in there?  Or is her approach with Lil J not working for J & making things worse?  (He is very sensitive & I have to keep all things potty related very positive & happy I've noticed).  She says she's raised 11 kids (between her own & foster kids), so she definitely has plenty of experience it would seem.  

I do also have to say that I'm a nurse & I do not believe my son has diabetes.  Yes, excessive urination is ONE symptom, but that doesn't mean he has diabetes.  At his age he would have to be overweight & eating a HORRIBLE diet in order to have type 2, which he isn't & doesn't.  And he certainly doesn't fit the profile of a type 1 diabetic.  

I'm sure the gal meant well, but if I wasn't a nurse that would really scare me, to be told that my son has diabetes & he's not normal.  

But, more importantly, he's not even 3 years old yet.  I know lots of kids that hadn't even started potty training yet at his age.  And if they had they certainly would've had some accidents.  

I still put him in a pull up at bedtime & some mornings he wakes up dry & some mornings he wakes up wet.  There are plenty of times when I am out running errands that he tells me he needs to go potty & I ask him to hold it (sometimes up to 15 or 20 minutes even) & he is able to hold it, he does have control like that.  But I also think it can't be abnormal for accidents at his age, right?  I would love to hear from others, please comment away.

Kindles, Etc.

Anyone who knows me at all should know that I am a major bookworm.  I have been my whole life.

There's a lot of "e-books" out there these days, but I still very much prefer a real actual book.

However, I have been swayed slightly.

First I must say that I have an app on my iPhone call "You Version".  It's a Bible app.  It's free.  I had downloaded it simply to have the Bible on my phone (for free) for anytime I needed/wanted to read my Bible when I might not have it with me.  When hubby got his iPhone I told him about the app & he downloaded it.  Of course he did more exploring than I had done.  I knew that they have TONS of translations of the Bible available, but I did not know that they had reading plans.  And, having never used a reading plan, I wouldn't have realized how valuable it can be even if I had noticed it myself.

Almost a year ago I started the one year Bible reading plan in the You Version app.  I will be finishing it up on February 5th.  I've been browsing the reading plans (there are literally TONS), knowing that I'll need a new one soon.  I have to say that I REALLY like following a reading plan.  It helps me stay on track, keeps me accountable, to read DAILY, which is what I ultimately want to be doing.  And it gives me structure, giving me a daily reading assignment.  I've tried reading & studying my Bible on my own & I always feel a bit lost I have to admit.  I really like the structure & accountability that a reading plan gives me.

Back when I first got my iPhone I was browsing free apps & I ended up downloading the Kindle app, which is free.  As I browsed for books I found there were actually some FREE books available.  They were mostly old books.  I got Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Phantom of the Opera, The Strange Case of Benjamin Button, Through the Looking Glass, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Velveteen Rabbit, & The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  I'm assuming there's no copyrights on these anymore, though I'm not sure if that's true or if that's why they're free.

I never really got around to reading ANY of them & later on my phone broke & when I replaced it I had to re-download all my apps & I didn't bother to download the Kindle app at all this time.

A few weeks ago someone posted on Facebook that there was a vegan cookbook about lentils for free (for one day only I believe) through Kindle.  I wanted that cookbook so I downloaded the Kindle app & to my surprise all those old books I had downloaded before were still there!

Someone asked the person who posted the free cookbook info how she had found out the book was free for the day.  She shared a link to an email list that emails you daily with the free books listed for each day.  I signed up for the list & enjoy browsing it each day & getting some more books.  They are a wide variety of topics.  I skip a lot of sections, but always take a look at "how to" type books, Christian books, cook books, & things of that sort.

Now I don't have as much time to read these days, since becoming a mommy.  But I sure do still love to read.    So far I've been reading an "actual hard copy book" during the day if I do have time to read.  (I'm currently working on "It Starts At Home" by Kurt Bruner & Steve Stroope & "The Warrior" by Francine Rivers.)  And then at night, before I go to bed, I'm reading a Kindle book.

And that leads me to one advantage that the Kindle DOES actually have.  (aside from the advantage of being able to get a FREE book, no one is handing out FREE hardcopy books unfortunately)  I LOVE to read before I fall asleep.  Since getting married I have not been able to do so however.  If I have a light on so that I can read I'm going to keep my hubby awake (& these days it will also keep the toddler awake).  But reading a book on my phone, with the Kindle app, doesn't require additional lighting, the phone lights up enough for me to be able to read, but not so much that it will disturb anyone else in the room.  This is a feature that I actually LOVE.

Now I don't have an actual Kindle, just a Kindle app through my iPhone (they also have an android app).  I'm sure there must be advantages to having an actual Kindle over doing it the way that I do, BUT I can say I'm quite sure I wouldn't want an actual Kindle.  It would just be one more device that I have to deal with, charging, keeping track of, etc.  Back when I first got a PDA, I had a PDA & a cell phone.  It was quite a hassle having to deal with two separate devices.  My next cell phone was a Palm Centro, with the PDA built right in.  And next was my iPhone (which I still have, I've had it for a while now) which isn't exactly the same as the Palm PDA, but it does the same stuff that I need/want.

Now, for anyone who knows my hubby, you know he struggles with reading.  I really believe it's because of his eyes (they don't work together, each eye is working separately--we found this out when I forced him to see an eye doctor after I had met him), but he does persevere with his Bible.  And he's become very accustomed to using the YouVersion app & reading plans that I mentioned previously.  But he recently wanted to get a book.  I looked it up on Amazon & showed it to him.  He didn't want to wait for it to ship though, he wanted to start reading as soon as possible.  I told him about the Kindle app.  He was hesitant.  He was concerned about losing the book if something were to happen to his phone (or his Samsung Galaxy tablet he also has).  I shared with him how when I recently downloaded the Kindle app once again all those books I had downloaded a long time ago were still in there.  It's pretty unlikely that he would lose the book.  I also shared with him that he could have it on BOTH his phone & his tablet--since they both have Kindle apps available.  At that point he was sold.  He got the Kindle app & then purchased the book.  He's been reading now, every single day, both his Bible & this other book.  He REALLY likes it in this format.  He always has it with him (unlike a regular book), he has it on both his tablet (which he prefers to read on, since it has a larger screen) as well as his phone, & he can still highlight, make notes, & easily look up words he doesn't know the meaning of.

I used to be VERY anti-Kindle (& all other e book formats) but I have to admit that I am coming around.  I still prefer an actual book, but there is a time & a place for a Kindle book in my opinion.  :)

Tagged

TAGGED.

I have been tagged by Mama Dee!

The Rules:

1. Post these rules.

2. You must post 11 random things yourself.

3. Answer the ques­tions the tag­ger set for you in their post.

4. Cre­ate 11 new ques­tions for the peo­ple you tag to answer.

5. Go to their blog and tell them that you've tagged them.

6. No stuff in the tag­ging sec­tion about ‘you are tagged if you are read­ing this.’ Blah blah blah, you legit­i­mately have to tag 11 peeps!

11 Random Things About Myself

1.) I am a major perfectionist, so very hard on myself, yet when I look at others I don't apply the same standards at all, I really should learn to just view myself the way I view others

2.) I never had any set dreams for my future when I was young, I just let God unfold my life as He wanted it to be.  I had a lot of friends when I was young who had these dreams of exactly how they wanted their life to be when they grew up, I wish I could track them all down & see how it all panned out.

3.) I NEVER imagined myself being a SAHM, in fact I never thought I would want to, but I never stopped to think about the child & what's best for the child, only what "I" wanted.  As a mom, I was surprised at how different things look when you stop to consider what's best for the child.  It's a tough job, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

4.) I want to be a great mom, in so many different aspects.  I pray for this daily.  I try hard to focus on what's most important & ignore the little nit picky stuff.

5.) I never had a strong urge to have a child.  I've known lots of women who make that their whole goal in life.  I never cared much either way & just left it up to God, BUT my life is definitely sooo much better now that I have my son

6.) As a kid we often travelled by motor home during the summer months & during other school breaks.  I've seen a lot of the western half of the USA this way & I am oh so grateful for having had that opportunity

7.) I am very OCD & have to have things neat & organized to be able to function. My house, my closet, etc.    

8.) I started working out when I was 19 & 20 years later am still going strong.  It's definitely a habit that I am glad I started.  I recommend it highly for EVERYONE.

9.) I try to eat healthy the majority of the time & allow myself to eat no so healthy some of the time without feeling guilty about it.  Although I must admit that my idea of eating not so healthy definitely don't line up with most people's idea of that, LOL

10.) My heart really aches for those affected by divorce: My parents divorced when I was a kid & my hubby's first wife divorced him.  I also look at the effects divorce has had on my stepkids.  I feel like I am surrounded by it all.  The effects of divorce are far reaching, it's a very selfish action in my opinion.  I would love to write a book or start a program or something that would attempt to stop couples on the brink of the divorce & restore their marriages.

11.) However, I must also say that I do not agree with the idea of "staying together for the kids" when the parents are not striving to repair their marriage, but simply living together unhappily for the "sake of the kids"--this is also REALLY bad for the kids

11 Questions Mama Dee made for me To Answer

1.) If you could choose one place to go to for an all expenses paid free vacation, where would that place be?

that's tough, there is so much travelling I dream of doing; I dream of going back to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park (a place we went to often when I was a kid), I dream of flying to either Florida or Maine & renting a motor home & travelling the whole eastern coast of the USA (I've never been east of Wisconsin or Arkansas), I dream of visiting Canada, Europe (Spain, Italy, England), & more of Mexico (though with the violence increasing that'll probably not be happening).

2.) Do you want children/want more children?

I have 2 stepkids & my son.  Personally I think 3 kids is a lot, BUT given how spread out their ages are (24, 17, & 2)  I would definitely consider having maybe one more, but I chose to not mostly because of my health.  I am not so young anymore & my heart is weak due to a heart murmur.  It was a really hard pregnancy with my son & very high risk & at the end I was going into heart failure.  I know someone who was younger than myself with the same heart murmur that almost died during a pregnancy (had to do emergency c-section early & the mom spent 2 months in the ICU fighting for her life)--I don't see desiring a child worth risking my life--unless of course God insists & causes another miracle pregnancy.

3.) What's the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery?

I'd have to discuss it with my hubby, but probably a house

4.) Political viewpoint?

I'm very conservative, none of the people running are ever conservative enough for me honestly

5.) Favourite food?

veggie pizza, nachos, tiramisu

6.) Favourite drink?

definitely water, yeah, I'm wild like that

7.) How did you meet your significant other?

at church--some day I will write down our love story (it's a long one, LOL) & will possibly post it as a blog

8.) What are your spiritual/religious beliefs?

Christian

9.) What do you want to be "when you grow up?"

Well, at the moment I'm a SAHM (which I never imagined in a million years), but I am also a nurse & I LOVE being a nurse; if I could afford it financially & time-wise I would love to be a doctor however

10.) What is your all time favourite movie?

Passion of the Christ; so many people tell me they have a hard time watching it, but I really believe everyone should want to watch it or be forced to watch it.  Those are not just events that happened, they happened for US, to pay for our sins, & I think it's really important to face that & be grateful for that

11.) iPhone or Blackberry?

most definitely iPhone, not only is it a great phone, but Apple's customer service is top-notch & that means a lot to me (& is becoming increasingly hard to find these days)

11 People I Tagged

1.) Sandi from Always a Work in Progress

2.) Jen from Baby-Brugger

3.) Rebecca from Dairy Daze

4.) Alyssa from Jon & Alyssa

5.) Christine from Random Thoughts & Musings from the Island

6.) Brandi from Silver Pencils

7.) Dave from Throwing the Ball to Naturally

8.) Lynn from Bringing Sexy Back

9.)  Country Girl from Country Roads Lead Me Home

10.) Kelly from The Accidental Homeschooler

11.) June from The Homeschool Corner

(It was TOUGH to come up with 11!)

My questions for the people I tagged:

1) what is your favorite memory of your life so far?

2) if you could travel anywhere (expenses non existant) where would you go?

3) do want children/more children?

4) what is your dream job?

5) what is your dream car/favorite car?

6) are you a morning person or night owl?

7) do you prefer indoors or outdoors?

8) are you an animal lover? what's your favorite animal/pet?

9) what religion are you?

10) anything in your past you wish you could change?

11) do you have a to-do list of things to do before you die?

Vegan Challenges

I personally have never really liked meat.  I especially dislike ground meat, but just meat in general is something I've never liked, from a very young age.

So, for me at least, going vegetarian was a very easy thing.  People always act like "how do you survive? what do you eat?"  I can tell that most people really do like meat & to go vegetarian is/would be a major challenge for them.

Somewhere in the past year to year & a half I've been gravitating towards a vegan diet, as I've surely mentioned previously in this blog.  Technically speaking I really should say "strict vegetarian" rather than "vegan" since vegan pertains to a whole lifestyle rather than just a diet, BUT since most people don't know what "strict vegetarian" means I continue to use the term "vegan". (I still refuse to give up honey, still believe it has major health benefits, even though it's not part of a vegan diet)  I should also add that I would really like to some day include more vegan aspects to my lifestyle, but at this time my closet is not vegan & I cannot afford to replace the non-vegan items that are in there.

It was actually quite easy for me to give up all but eggs & cheese.  And after a little adjustments in the baking end of things getting rid of eggs wasn't all that hard either.  But cheese has remained a challenge for me.  (It's funny to me that now that I don't eat eggs at all, when I do eat a baked item that has egg in it I can actually usually taste the egg--& it doesn't taste good to me at all)

I suppose everyone has at least one thing that would be/is tough for them to do without.  I remember reading in one of my vegan cookbooks.  The author was talking about her early days as a vegan & how tough it was & how, when she first tasted a tempeh burger, she "knew she was gonna be ok" as a vegan.  I read that & thought of myself, who couldn't care less about not eating burgers.  Heck, burgers are something I NEVER ate, even when I wasn't a vegetarian, since it's ground meat & I HATE ground meat.  But I can relate to what she was referring to when I consider cheese.

I have always loved cheese.  Now it's not something I eat a lot of or even on a daily basis.  But I sure do like it.  And it's been a tough one to give up completely.  I often think of my hubby, who has a dairy allergy, & just wish I could just be like him & never eat it.  I consider him lucky, but he doesn't see it that way, hehe.

Now I did consider just not pushing it, & being a strict vegetarian with the exception of honey & cheese.  BUT since the whole nuclear disaster in Japan the milk (at least here in California, not sure how far-spread it is) now contains radiation.  And cheese is being made out of that milk.  So that REALLY encouraged me to go 100% dairy free.  It also makes me want to get my toddler off of cheese, which is the only dairy he was still consuming.  At some point, when my stepkids have moved out, my home will be 100% dairy free.  :)  That's gonna be soooo awesome!!

I have tried several types of vegan cheeses in the grocery stores.  Most are downright nasty.  There is one brand, Daiya, that is actually somewhat decent.  But it's a bit pricey & ultimately it still is a very processed food.  It is made out of tapioca.  It comes shredded in bags & comes in cheddar, mozarella, & pepper jack varieties.  It's the best of all I tried in the grocery stores.  I started learning that there were options for making your own vegan cheeses at home.  Thus these are far less processed foods.  The question for me was "how do they taste?"

First I made a vegan "crock cheese spread".  You know, those spreadable pasteurized process cheese food products, it's a duplication of a cheddar version of one of those.  It was REALLY yummy.  The texture wasn't identical, nor was the color, but the flavors sure were.  One of my favorite things of all is simply cheese & crackers & this one really fits the bill for this for me.

A couple of weeks ago I made a nacho cheese sauce out of cashews, but I wasn't too crazy about it.

Yesterday I tried a different recipe for a nacho cheese sauce & it was amazing.  The color wasn't quite identical, but the flavor & even the texture were really good.  Another fave of mine is nachos.  That has always been my fave junk food, when I feel the need to pig out & eat "junk".  Now I can have a much healthier version of "junk" when I pig out.  So long as it tastes the same (which it does) it's all good to me.

I should also add that my super super picky toddler also loves both of these vegan cheeses I have made.  Yesterday we were both dipping tortilla chips into the cheese & eating it up.  And today he requested a quesadilla, which I used the nacho cheese for & he's now eaten two of them!!  That alone makes it worth it, even though it's not even hard to make them.

There are more recipes for vegan cheeses that I plan to try, but just based on these two alone I find myself saying to myself "I'm gonna be ok", just like the author in my cookbook did.

At home I probably follow a vegan diet more than 95% of the time.  But when we eat out I revert to a vegetarian diet, rather than vegan.  It just seems impossible to me to eat out as a vegan, unless you go to an actual vegan restaurant.  Luckily we very rarely eat out, so it's not a big deal to me really.

Detox

This is a topic I am becoming increasingly interested in: detox.

Now, I am not referring to the type of detoxing most people think of.  That of detoxing from narcotics, alcohol, or other recreational drug use.

I am referring to detoxing your body of toxins for health purposes.  For years I've heard of people doing various types of "cleanses" & it sounded like a good thing to do, but I honestly had no idea how to do such a thing.

My hubby is adamant that such things are not healthy for us.  He believes our bodies are designed to detox themselves.  And he says that when he has tried it in the past he didn't feel well, so also because of this he feels it's a bad idea.  HOWEVER, I have to disagree with my hubby on this topic.

Our bodies are designed for detoxing, to a certain extent. Yes, the liver & kidneys & lungs & spleen & lymph system do a lot of detoxing.  But things have changed.  Nothing is natural anymore.  And these unnatural elements are all around us, totally bombarding our bodies.  In the air we breathe, foods & drinks we ingest, lotions & soaps we put on our skin, etc.  And I know for a fact that mercury attaches itself to tissues in your body & will not be removed without some specific detox efforts.  I haven't researched enough to say for certain, but I would wager a pretty strong bet that mercury is not alone in that situation.

Nearly a year ago I was diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis (IC).  It's a bladder condition that is much like a stomach ulcer, but in the bladder.  As a nurse I already know that mainstream medicine has little to offer someone with IC.  And the little they do have to offer isn't very effective or helpful.  So I chose to research alternative medicine & natural treatments for IC.

It was while doing this research that I learned that a cause of IC (& fibromyalgia as well) is, generally speaking, an overly toxic body.  And once the body is detoxed symptoms will decrease & possibly disappear.

But there's a bit of a catch with IC.  Because when you detox the toxins you are removing from your body are going to be dumped into the bowel & bladder to be permanently removed from the body.  But the poor bladder can't handle a huge toxin dump when it has IC, so, at least with an IC diagnosis, you have to detox very slowly & gently.

And so I began a very slow & gentle detox.  I also learned what foods are too acidic for my bladder & have reduced &/or eliminated those.  For over a decade I was diagnosed with chronic (minimum every 6 months) urinary tract infections (UTIs, aka bladder infection).  What I now learned was that when the bladder would get irritated due to IC (known as a "flare") it was much more susceptible to bacterial overgrowth & that's what was causing all the UTIs.  I did a very slow & gentle detox.  Since detoxing I haven't had a single UTI & next month will mark one year UTI free.  I am quite pleased about that.

The book I read about IC being caused by a toxic body was written by a woman who lived through it herself.  And what she learned was that her IC (& fibromyalgia) was ultimately caused by her mercury dental fillings.  She had 13 or 14 of them.  Once she got them replaced with non-mercury fillings & detoxed she was healed.

I had 7 mercury fillings in my mouth.  In the last few months I had 4 of them replaced (they were old & cracked, not by my request).  I first had 3 of them done, on the left side of my mouth.  After that I did another detox, very slow & gentle.  I did see symptoms of detox appear & then go away & so I assumed I was done & stopped the detox.  About 6 weeks later I went back to have one replaced on the right side of my mouth.  I again did another detox afterwards, with the same symptoms appearing & then going away.  And so I thought I was pretty much done as far as detoxing goes.  Sure, I still have 3 small mercury fillings in there, but in the grand scheme I felt pretty good about it all.

The book I read recommended marshmallow root tea & colostrum tablets for a gentle detox that the bladder can handle.  The marshmallow root gave me REALLY bad acne, which I'm not sure if it's just a bad reaction or a symptom of detoxing toxins.  After each visit to the dentist I used colostrum tablets & chlorella tablets.  I also wanted to use a cilantro tincture, but wasn't able to obtain one.

Just recently I've been making some small adjustments to my diet.  It's such a hassle for me, I just don't feel good & don't have enough energy if I don't really focus on eating well.  In doing research on nutrition for a vegan athlete I came across info on how good chlorella is for us & that everyone should be consuming it daily.  It did mention that it helps detox the body.  The author of this info says he puts it in a daily smoothie along with other stuff.  I guess I should've heeded the advice of the author of my IC book & been wary of this, BUT I was tending to think these days that my bladder was fully healed & since I had done several small detoxes fairly recently I wasn't expecting anything to happen.

Initially upon taking chlorella daily I started getting really bad acne, mostly on my forehead area (I have to wonder why such a specific area for the skin to show detox??).  I thought about it, knowing it's a symptom of detox, but honestly didn't think much of it.  A few days into it & BAM I got hit HARD, REALLY HARD.  Both bowel & bladder had horrible symptoms of major detoxing.  I am trying to focus hard on healing my bladder, so have put all chlorella (& most other supplements) on hold for now.

I am sad to see that my bladder is not 100% healed.  I am surprised to see that there was obviously some sort of toxin lurking in my body.  I am relieved to know that I got it out, however.  I will definitely continue detoxing, at a slower & gentler pace, once my bladder is all healed up.

I sure do wish there was a test I could do that would reveal to me what exactly was eliminated from my body.  I'm sure there is a test, but I mean I wish it was accessible to me.

Of course my hubby was like "see, see how you're feeling & what you're going through?  It's not good for you" But I still disagree.  I still think it's one of those things that has to get worse before it gets better.  I still think that toxins sitting in your body for God only knows how many years will lead to health problems & possibly even cancer.  There's no way I will stop detoxing my body now that I'm getting the hang of it.

Would love to hear from others: opinions, thoughts, experiences, etc.

32 Month updates on Lil J

I wasn't thinking yesterday, obviously.  Had I realized the very next day Lil J was turning another month older I would've just included the potty training update as part of this blog.  Oh well, no harm having an extra blog written.

So his measurements haven't changed at all in this past month.  I do hope that's normal.  His height remains 36" (25-50%), his weight remains 32.8 lbs (50-75%), & his head circumference remains 21.5" (>95%).

He continues to be more & more verbal all the time.  And it's becoming more obvious that he isn't just repeating what he hears.  He clearly comprehends most of the words & uses them in the proper context.  This really amazes me.  He sings a lot these days as well.  And he LOVES to make silly faces. 

He remains very interested in his books, his cars, his trains & trucks.  He is REALLY interested in bikes.  I think that will be his next birthday present.  I am very excited about Christmas this year.  I know he doesn't fully understand Jesus' birthday, but I am going to make cupcakes & we will sing happy birthday to Jesus on Christmas morning, then we're going to church (I wish Christmas every year fell on a Sunday so we could start the day in church), then doing presents & I do think he'll be excited about his presents this year.

I'm hoping he continues to do well with potty training.  As I said earlier, I posted all about that yesterday.

This morning when hubby was leaving for work, Lil J kept saying over & over, "bye daddy!  I love you!" It was so precious.  Then when me & Lil J sat down to eat breakfast, before I could pray, Lil J bows his head & says "Thank you Jesus for food" & then he grabs my hand & continues "thank you Jesus......I love you"  It was really sweet.

I think that's all the updates I have for now.

Potty Training, revisited

So I started potty training, using the "3 day potty training method" back in mid-August.  6 weeks later, at the end of September, I was extremely stressed out, Lil J was stressed out, & my church daycare staff was requesting if he could please wear pull-ups, because he was peeing on the carpet.

Intially I didn't want to do pull-ups.  The 3 day method insists on not using them & I was concerned that he would go backwards & do even worse.  But I came to the realization that he just wasn't ready yet, & I didn't want to continue stressing him out & I didn't think I could take much more stress from it myself either.

And so I decided to just put him in pull-ups & let him go at his own pace. Throughout it all he remained very good with poo poo.  But with the pull-ups he did get lazy & start peeing without telling me.

The 3 day method insisted that you needed to do the potty training before the child turns 30 months old because at that age they get VERY stubborn & it becomes much harder.  When Lil J turned 30 months he did develop a stubborn streak & then started refusing to go to the potty.  I tried to not make a big deal out of it (so he wouldn't think he had found a way to be rebellious).  I started just taking him to the potty without asking him at that time. 

Last Sunday (a week ago yesterday) our church daycare asked why he was still in pull-ups, saying that for several weeks he hasn't had ANY accidents with them, even in his pull-ups.  I had sort of planned to just lay low until he turned 3, but I thought about this & considered giving it another try.

A week ago today (Monday) I put him back in undies rather than pull-ups.  The first couple of days we had quite a few pee accidents.  But as of Wednesday he's been doing really well.  A few times he wets his undies just slightly, not even enough to wet his pants, but that's the worst he's done.

I'm really proud of him & happy.  And I'm hoping it continues.  :)  This morning I packed up all the unused pull-ups & put them in the garage.  Of course I want to hold onto them for at least a little while, in case something happens & I find myself needing them (I did the same thing with the unused diapers back in August).

Hopefully this is it & he is at last officially potty trained.  :)

Blog award confusion

Ok, so in the comments of this blog post I received a blog award during NaBloPoMo.

I had every intention of responding appropriately, as outlined here.  BUT, I can't seem to manage to do so.  I have to give awards to 5 blogs that I follow that have less than 200 followers.

Ok, my first dilemma is that I'm not sure if I do follow 5 blogs that have less than 200 followers.  And to further complicate matters I cannot find the number of followers on most of the blogs that I do follow.

I am sorry, but I always struggle with computer stuff.  Back when I was in school & I was on computers with classmates I learned lots of little tips & things that always made me scratch my head & wonder how on earth they learned such a thing.  But I've been out of school for over 4 years now & am all alone in my computer use, so I don't learn things anymore.  I am so very limited in my computer savvyness (or lack thereof actually). 

To make matters worse I have a toddler.  A nonstop high energy little boy that no longer even naps.  So that leaves me ZERO time to even try to figure stuff out on the computer.  What little time I do manage to find always gets filled up with a long list of "to dos" that have been needing to get done for quite some time by the time I get to it.  Hence why it took me so long to get around to posting this.

So first let me say that I am extremely touched & honored to have recieved the award.  But secondly let me apologize for not being able to follow through on my end of it.