Bring On Lemons

WOW! Where to begin... August 11th is my wedding anniversary. Last year, like every year, I put on my wedding dress. It still fit. I should have been pleased as I was 42 years old and have birthed and nourished 6 lovely children with my strong body. But...I looked in the mirror and felt I owed it to myself and my children to get healthy. I imagined myself at age 60 when our youngest will graduate highschool. I was nearly 300 pounds and wondered if my knees would need to be replaced. They didn't bother me, but several of my classmates had already undergone knee replacement surgeries and it only seemed logical that losing weight would help me avoid some serious health complications. I also knew my husband found me attractive, but I guess I wanted to have less of a "mom bod" and more of a "hot bod" like some of the younger parents of school age children. That was the first time I had really entertained getting healthy. I started wondering if maybe I could do ba...

Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live Mari L. McCarthy About the Book: Journaling Power teaches you how to put the ultimate self-healing tool right at your fingertips--journaling. Through Mari L. McCarthy's moving personal story, you'll discover how pen-to-paper journaling leads to self-growth and life-changing transformation. You'll also learn that numerous medical studies prove journaling literally unleashes a healing agent that empowers your life in ways you've never imagined. About the Author: Mari L. McCarthy is The Journaling Power Guide and founder of CreateWriteNow.com. Her blog (http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog) provides journaling for personal transformation and healthy living ideas, information and inspiration for keeping a daily pen-to-page Journaling for the Health of It™ Practice. You can also download the FREE e-book, How to use Your Journal to Cure Writer's Block Now (http://www.createwri...

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. Review: Maca Raw Energy Healthy Supplement Capsules by EliteGold Solutions My thoughts:  Well…not sure the Maca improved my reproductive health as we aren’t quite pregnant yet, and we didn’t really have a libido issue to begin with. Before you ask “why did you take it then” let me tell you a little bit about being the mother of a newborn, a dairy farmer, a writer, the mother of two older children (6 and 7) and the caretaker for a mother in law living in your home. As you guessed it…I’m so tired I can sleep standing up in line at the grocery store. I took the Maca to help me get up and go with my life (not that I’d complain about a little more get up and go in the bedroom too, but let’s spare my mother from having to read about that). The Maca Raw Energy Healthy Supplement Capsules by Elite GoldSolution s  gave me the extra pep I needed to make it through the day with enough energy to spare. Great product and I felt ...

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOPd699bd673d2d53869eefc979da260d2c " rel="nofollow"> http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png " />I have been taking probiotics for years and I firmly believe in their value to overall health and digestion. I believe in them so much my children also take them and are infrequently ill. I didn't notice that Advanced Probiotic was any more or less effective than others I have taken, but I DEFINITELY appreciate the price. Keep in mind you take 2 capsules each day (with a light meal), but the cost per bottle is still significantly less than other brands I have tried. Advanced Probiotic makes it possible to obtain digestive health without breaking the piggy bank! Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/number-one-probiotic-supplement-lactobacillus/dp/b00ggsdwh8 #Probiotics I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using http://www.tomoson.com/...

I was trying to come up with a catchy title for what's bopping around in my brain today. The words I'm hearing were spoken by my daddy when I was a little girl: "don't take yourself so seriously". Of course, I could have used that, but I wanted something catchier so I goggled synonyms of the word serious (this took a while as I spell synonym all sorts of ways: synonim, sinonim...anyway, you'd think I'd learn). Here's what I found: austere, bound, cold sober, contemplative, determined, earnest, funereal, genuine, grave, grim, honest, etc... The word 'grave' sort of caught my eye. I guess because I know that if we take ourselves too seriously, it leads to stress which in an unhealthy amount can lead to health problems which eventually lead us to our death or our grave as you will. That's the moral of today's story... take yourself too seriously or spend too much time being GRAVE and you'll wind up in the grave . Now, if you...

Today's journaling lesson included an explanation of the mind body connection. Mari McCarthy writes: "You'll notice yourself feeling more relaxed after you journal, because you have just released tension that you may not have even known was there." (here is a link to her site if you'd like to learn more:) http://www.createwritenow.com/peace-of-mind-and-body---27-days-of-journaling-to-health--happiness/ Today's exercise was less of a journal entry and more about writing down things that cause you stress and then reflect on them and when you notice yourself getting stressed out, make a promise to yourself that you will stop what you are doing, close your eyes, and take ten breaths. As I like to keep this particular blog as upbeat and positive as possible, I am going to share with you a story about how my amazing husband deals with stress...he handles himself with such grace and composure that even the gravest or most stressful situations don't bother h...

I am taking part in a 27 Day Journaling Challenge - so for the next 27 days, you will be able to peruse my thoughts. If you aren't familiar with journaling, I feel like I should explain before just tossing up my posts. Here goes: Journaling is good for self-discover, self-healing, and I've always likened it to going to the gym. Journaling is an exercise for your brain and your creativity (like working out is exercise for your body and muscles). It is also a nice way to get out of a slump of 'writer's block'. In this particular course, each day begins with a 'lesson' of sorts including music, quotes, poetry, an online discussion forum, and then a 'starter'. Day one's starter is "I Am Aware of...." And then the instructions are to write write write until you feel its right for you to stop. Now that you've got the explanation - the next 27 posts may make more sense. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy wri...