Did I ever mention Vitamin D?

Dr. Mercola is explaining it for us... it is really just this simple - I promise
To get the full story posted with this video go to:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/03/How-to-Prevent-the-Flu-Easy-as-1-2-3.aspx

Dr. Mercola also shares this:
According to the CBS News study, when you come down with chills, fever, cough, runny nose, malaise and all those other "flu-like" symptoms, the illness is likely caused by influenza at most, 17 percent of the time, and as little as 3 percent! The other 83 to 97 percent of the time it's caused by other viruses or bacteria.

My simple and short answer for what is causing a cold or flu has always been that it’s due to an impaired immune system. That’s still true. However, research has confirmed that “catching” colds and flu may be a symptom of an underlying vitamin D deficiency! Less than optimal vitamin D levels will significantly impair your immune response and make you far more susceptible to contracting colds, influenza, and other respiratory infections.Although there are many ways you might end up with a weakened immune system, the more common contributing factors are:

• Vitamin D deficiency, as previously mentioned
• Eating too much sugar and too many grains
• Not getting enough sleep
• Insufficient exercise
• Inadequately managing emotional stressors in your life
• Any combination of the above 

In order to prevent the flu, children and adults need 35 IU of vitamin D per pound of body weight. So, for example, a child weighing 57 pounds would need 2,000 IU a day of vitamin D.

Adults typically need an average of 5,000 IU per day—but some adults have to take 20,000 to 30,000 IU daily to get their vitamin D level up to optimal levels. Exactly how adults absorb and process vitamin D so differently is still somewhat of a mystery, so the only way to know if your vitamin D level is therapeutic and nontoxic is by having your blood tested.

Thank you Dr Mercola!!!

Another point of view:

The perfect woman can be described in bullet points... but does it make her real??
This is a gathering of how a man describes the perfect woman:

- Always trying to please
- Speaks 3 languages
- Loves me, just me
- Celebrate each Monet
- A woman is a great creation and nothing can be added or expected from her; she was best, she is best, and will be best forever
- The ideal, or perfect, cannot be described in certain-reasonable terms; the closest facsimile to perfection is not the idea, not the qualified or quantified, it is the actual in the sense that perfection is a living character. The notion of perfection is rooted in free form sense, natural function sense, expressions of living by life.
- Perfection may be an allowance for beauty, for if there is to be a beauty of any one, there is a beauty of all.
- The masterpiece, woman, the variety of each and all, is one of my favorite things about being a man.
- Loves chocolate
- Sex is basic but passion more resolved and satisfying
- Definitely curvy – not a stick like the sorority girls I keep seeing around
- When she tells me she loves me I ask myself why
- All class in public and a vixen in the bedroom
- Doesn’t let the bounds of society trap her into being something she is not
- She likes to wake me up in the morning with sex and scratch my back in the evening before bed
- If she has had a mental illness, she has been treated for it and it is not noticeable
- Prefer tea to coffee
- She embodies every aspect of the perfection I have long desired, wished for, discovered within myself, sometimes ignored before I later realized, and so far forth.
- Naked she is stunning
- The curve of her breasts fits fully into my hands
- The perfect woman can explain herself to a man and make them understand
- Her favorite animal is dolphins and she likes dogs
- A great organizer but able to be comfortable operating in total chaos
- Wants sex as much as I want sex
- Who loves me, just as I am, with all my weaknesses, my flaws, my quirks and allows me to love her, just as she is, with all her weaknesses, her flaws, her quirks.
- Who is strong where I am weak
- I would like for you to be the height of the wind and the weight of a dream
- Run with me naked under the rain while holding my hand

The Perfect Woman!

I have decided to start working on one of my dreams - I want to write a book! And I want to write a book about women; how crazy we are and how desperately we are trying to be a figure of our imagination. How complicated we make things and how much we love and hate ourselves... I am no different than the rest of you out there so I will have no problems at all with coming up with stories that would only confirm the fact that we are a little nuts - sweet but nuts ;)

But I need your help - I need some back up facts. Something to help me get ideas from... so I wonder if all of you women out there could help me by answering these three questions (I will NOT publish your comments).

1. What ability/quality/characteristic do you wish you had, and why? 
2. Which one of your habits do you like the least, and why?
3. What ability/quality/characteristic are you most proud of, and why?

I will be you forever thankful for helping me with this.

Breast Cancer

Boobies!
We all love them, don't we?!

For me they are a part of me and I could not imagine life without them. They have given me great moments and probably also gotten me in trouble... ;)

I think that we need to shed a light on the boobies all months of the year and not only during the breast cancer awareness month (October). So here is something I designed... and my question is would you or someone you know be offended by seeing a guy wearing a t-shirt with any of these prints?

I haven't suffered from breast cancer myself but know many who has and I don't feel that this should offend anyone but I am a very open minded person too so I don't know if my feelings could be taken as a norm or not when it comes to this. It all comes down to that we all love boobies and that we all need to support breast cancer research! Right?!?!

So what do you think??

Measure your body fat

Just found a good site on how to measure your body fat and all that.
I didn't like the numbers it gave me... but it is one more way of checking you are on the right track for anyone that is interested.

I have to make sure I measured my neck right before I post my numbers... don't have a measuring tape right here with me at the moment. 


http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

Thanksgiving update

Even though not much has changed since my last update I wanted to post this anyway. Like I wrote yesterday I have been allowing myself to eat some items that are not on my daily allowed list. But tomorrow it is back on track again. No more excuses about it being a holiday.

So the numbers you can find below are the numbers I measured/weighed today and a week ago... and the only thing that has really changed from the first update is my weight and the butt measurements.

It looks like I have to get going on chocking my body right now in order to get the numbers down. I will have to figure out what I will do on that part... I am not in an exercise mode at the moment but we will see. I have to do something as you can see for yourself.

But I am not too disappointed over my numbers - it has after all been thanksgiving weekend :D

Chest: 38.2” (97 cm) [-0.8” (-3 cm)]

Waist (smallest part): 29.53” (75 com) [-2.76” (-7 cm)]

Waist (belly button level): 35.4” (90 cm) [-1.6” (-4 cm)]

Butt: 41.73” (106 cm) [-1.18” (-3 cm)]

Weight: 163.14 lbs (74 kg) [-8.82 lbs (-4 kg)]

BMI: 24.4 [-1.4]

A lot in my mind

I have not gone missing... but have stayed busy over the past few weeks. I am still going strong with my diet even though the Thanksgiving feast has not helped that much. I did indulge with some wine, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and dessert... but happy to say that my last weight note (that I have not posted yet) stays strong :)

I am getting more and more frustrated over the whole influenza scam. People are actually being told by their doctors that they have the swine (H1N1) flu without a single test!!! How crazy is that?!?! And even more odd is when the very same person goes back to the doctors office a few weeks later to get the swine flu shot!!! WHAT?!?!

I just added a new blog to my blog list that I feel all people should read regarding the H1N1, and maybe it can help you decide if you and your family really need to take that shot this year.

Here is the link:
http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/

Have a continued great weekend all of you. I sure am.

First Diet Update

Two weeks has gone by since I started my diet and things have not been easy but looking back, not too hard either. I said I would measure myself and step up on a scale on Sunday the 15^th, which I did – and here is my first update:

Chest: 38.2” (97 cm) [-0.8” (-3 cm)]

Waist (smallest part): 29.9” (76 com) [-2.35” (-6 cm)]

Waist (belly button level): 35.4” (90 cm) [-1.6” (-4 cm)]

Butt: 42.1” (107 cm) [-0.9” (-2 cm)]

Weight: 165.3 lbs (75 kg) [-6.7 lbs (-3 kg)]

BMI: 24.8 [-1]

So I am definitely going in the right direction. I must say that the biggest change I have done is the food part. I have stopped eating bread, pasta, potatoes, and sweets (besides for the cookie I just ate 30 minutes ago). It has gone very well I must say. I found small wraps at the store that only contain 5 grams of net carbohydrates. (Net carbs are: total carbohydrates minus fiber content) I use this wrap for at least one meal a day and I put egg salad, tuna salad, or chicken salad with different veggies on it. Filling and good! I also try to eat one avocado a day which I absolutely love! My most important supplement for the weight loss has been Kelp; for iodine to keep my thyroid working properly again.

I am off course still taking everything else I need for the post Yasmin effect such as: Calcium, Magnesium, Fish oil, Arginine, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and some herbs like st. John’s Wart. One thing that I have seen besides for the weight loss is that my chronic sinus issue has drastically improved. I forgot my nose spray at work yesterday but manage to fall asleep just fine without it and didn’t wake up during the night because of breathing issues. I might have been really, really tired or I am actually getting better. I would love for that to happen because my nose is really hurting from all that spray; dried up and bloody at times.

Time will tell, as I always say.

As far as the exercise part of my diet it has been slow. I do my dance teaching 5 hours a week divided into 2 nights a week. They are not really giving me the exercise I need but at least I am not sitting on my butt and I do get to stretch a good amount which always feels better for my body. I have done a few morning walks and some elliptical machine work but I would not say that the exercise is counting much towards my weight lost – the food is.

Yesterday in the shower I remembered a time when people used to look at me and say “I want your body” It feels like that was ages ago – but I have such an urge to hear that again, or at least feel that they could say that to me. I want it SO BAD! And I will not stop until I am there, I can’t!

I am turning 30 a few days after new years and as probably many women feel – I want to look like a hot 30 year old woman. Oh, it feels so weird to think of me as a 30 year old… I don’t feel 30, not even a little bit. And I don’t feel that hot either to be honest. But one day, one day I will.

LCHF; a way to live

I am constant in the loop of hearing news regarding low carb and high fat diets. I read it and either love it or hate it – there is no in between. I hate it when people tell me it is BS and I love it when I hear people share their good stories from changing their diet to a LCHF diet.

I wanted to share with you all a letter that was sent to Dr. Dahlqvist (a true fighter in Sweden when it comes to LCHF and its benefits). The letter was written in Swedish so please forgive me if the translation is not perfect.

I am a woman, 59 years and have had Type 1 diabetes since 1992. I used insulin shots at the very beginning but my blood sugar level would shift from 2.5 – 25 throughout the day which made me feel very sick even though I was living my life according to all health restrictions provided to me. Eight years ago I received an insulin pump instead and it made my life a little easier caused it seemed to improve the worse insulin fluctuations. But with the years I seemed to be getting more and more issues related to my health.


Head aches, joint pain, back pain and hip pain that made it hard for me to stand up and even sit down. It was very hard to put on my socks and even harder to take care of my feet. I was not able to angle my legs so I could reach my feet. I was able to squat but was not able to pull myself up from that position. Sore muscles, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, rash, tinnitus, tired, tired, tired. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and they increased my insulin dosage and I received more and more medications. I was sent to different specialists without getting any answers to what was causing this. One thing I didn’t have was high cholesterol but my doctor thought I should take statins with the purpose of preventing it to go up, if that would ever be the case. Medications and being tired completely wiped out my desire and ability to have a sex life and I became more and more sad and confused over my body letting me down the way it did.


I worked but not full time and I was fighting to get a disability check so I could stay home because I barley managed to keep myself awake during the days and the work I did became less and less qualitative work. When I got home every night I was like an old used up rag and fell asleep right after dinner that my husband made sure I ate. I woke up every night too after a few hours and was never able to go back to sleep because my heart would beat hard and without a steady beat. I never got my disability but stayed home a week here and there anyway because I just couldn’t do it.


My joint pain came and went but every time it came I went to the doctor to get help. I was convinced that I had rheumatism even though I had been to several doctors and taken tests that all came out negative. This time when I went to the doctor my hands were very swollen. I off course had spoke to all my doctors about my diabetes and I feel that they all listened at my story but never attempted to do anything about it except a note to go see someone else, even a physiatrist.


That day at the doctors’ office I met a doctor that red through my full journal and looked at my hands and said: “My dear friend, I can’t help you with this; you have an inflammation in your joints and it is one of the side effects of having diabetes. I can give you some pain relief and anti inflammatory for some it but that would only be temporarily relief. You just have to learn to live with it”.


I went home that day and was very confused. I am a much disciplined person and have always tried to follow the guidelines of being healthy and stay healthy, so I didn’t understand what more I could do. I hit rock bottom that day and I was home sick for a few days. At the same time I needed to fill my prescription for my three different kind of blood pressure lowering medication, but I never had the energy to go and get them.


After a few days I went and I sat down by the computer and googled “diabetes, inflammation” and was able to find things to read about what I had on multiple pages. On one of those pages I almost felt like someone was writing about me. I finally found Dr. Dahlqvist’s blog and I started to read and became more and more shocked about what I red. I was thinking to myself that this will either break or help me, it was my last chance. I can’t get any worse than this. I ordered a book with LCHF recipes and Dr. Dahlqvist’s book about health and weight management [a good substitute for English readers is: Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes]. I started to read and went for it. This was February 2009. I stopped right away with taking my statins and the blood pressure lowering medicines I still hadn’t picked up so I stayed off them too.


Three weeks later one of my grand children came to visit, little dear Jacob, 2 years: I found myself sitting on the floor playing with him and I stood up without even thinking about it… but right after I just remembered “but I can’t do that”.


One week later my husband noticed that I was still awake when his TV show started. I was usually asleep long before then but I slowly started to stay awake longer and longer and my joint and body pain started to move away. I wasn’t that much over weight but probably 10-12 kg too much (22-26 lbs). My weight started to come off an in May the same year I had lost 10 kg (22 lbs) and felt really healthy. Everything I mentioned above was gone. I have some traces of the inflammation I had on my hands as they are now very bumpy but all that pain is gone. I am reacting much better to stress and have gotten much better skin and nails and my stomach works perfectly; just to mention a few of the good side effects I have seen from changing my diet to LCHF. I also went on my yearly diabetes check up in May and I was very curious on my blood tests, what would they be this time.


Everything was good. My HbA1c was 6.0 – something it has never been during my whole diabetic life. Everything was good and my doctor did not understand a thing. The only thing that was not good was my cholesterol and my doctor actually thought it was a disaster. He told me very demanding to start taking my statins again but these days I am a very bad patient. I have realized that LCHF was my rescue and gave me a chance to live a life with quality.


When I later started to feel a desire to have sex again my husband went on the same diet as I was on. He has now also lost a few pounds and is smoother in his joints and muscles along with feeling more energetic, even though he did not have any major issues before.


To me this is like a miracle even though it should be obvious that this is the method that is the right method.


My diabetes doctor does not believe any of this even though he has seen my drastic changes that cannot be mistaken.


I often get the chance to talk about the LCHF way of life when people I meet see a positive change in me and want to know more.


I work full time without any problems, I am fully devoted to my grand children, I have a creative spare time and have the energy to swim and go for walks on a regular basis. I have lowered my insulin with 1/3 and I never take any meal insulin when I eat foods that do not raise my blood sugar levels. The basic dose I get from the pump is enough even though I am only getting 2/3 of what I used to get. Everything has become a happy upwards spiral…

This story points out yet again that foods we eat can be killing us or help us – we just have to learn what food does what.
LCHF – what to eat
LCHF – how it works

A Mind Game

It’s been a week now since I decided to do something about my weight. I prepared a little note book (that I can’t seem to find now…) but on the front I wrote some valuable quotes that I would like to share with you all. (I don’t have the name of the authors, sorry about that).

There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something

Knowing is not enough; we must apply
Willing is not enough; we must do


We are still masters of our fate
We are still captains of our souls


Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out

I read this at least once every day to keep me on track. It is so easy to loose focus when it is easier to just eat what you want than to follow a plan. I need some reminders of why I am doing this. The quotes are one of those reminders. I also put a picture up on the bathroom mirror of one of those fabulous Victoria Secret models. I know I will never look like them (but they probably don’t look like them either to come think of it) but I have to reach for the stars to get to the moon, right?!

I write small notes when I feel I need to in my note book. When something is hard, when something is easy, when I feel happy, when I feel sad… just notes so I can go back and see my progress. This is a huge mind game I am playing. I have been on diets before… and none of them has been this hard, not even close to this hard. I can’t really pin point why this one is so much harder than the others… but it is probably many things combined. To try to squeeze in a diet to an already busy schedule is hard but so many people do it – I am no different than them, I can do it too.

I haven’t weight myself nor measured myself since I started. I will probably wait until Sunday before I do… mostly because I don’t think a lot has improved yet. I managed to do one 90 minutes yoga class last week. I never thought yoga could be so un-relaxing. It was painful and I was very dizzy most of the time. The instructor and I agreed that I should come and do yoga three times a week to try to get all my toxins out of the body (Yes, I told him about my Yasmin situation and he was very understanding). But I think it will be a while before I can pull off three in one week. Not to mention the classes starts at 6.00 in the morning and I am NOT a morning person. So it may not have been a completely chock that I was dizzy. Today before work I did a 40-minute walk. It was very nice and I love the fresh air I get for free while doing it. I woke up a little too late or I would have done 60 minutes. But 40 minutes is still better than nothing.

One thing that has happened since I started is; yesterday when I came home from work I found my husband on the elliptical machine – our very unused elliptical machine, if I may add. I guess he is giving it a try now too. :D The more the merrier!

So to round it up – things are going slowly, but at least forward. My hardest fights right now are with my mind and not my body… I sometimes wonder what others use as a mind booster as far as keeping on track… I don’t know. Maybe they don’t need a booster, maybe their minds are much stronger than mine?!

28 lbs / 13 kg lighter - this is where it starts

I wasn’t able to start the diet the way I planned this week… I am embarrassed to tell you all this, but I want to show the real picture – not the “before and after” we so often get to see. This is about the process – the black and white truth, delivered they way it comes:

- I have not managed to go to the gym one single day so far this week. No excuses I just haven’t done it. So many things are running in my head. First I was thinking I should go every day after work, but after work I just want to go home and spend time with my husband. And then I thought I should go before work – but getting up at 5:00 am is a stretch right now… But I am getting FAT so it is time I do something AND FAST – it can’t go on in this direction much longer.

I feel like I am having some symptoms of high glucose levels after I eat, so I might have to get straight to the food and exercise right away. Meaning no grains, starch, or sugar for me for a while…

I figured I would let the whole world know my measurements… This way there is no turning back! I should take a picture too… but I don’t know if I can… We will see. Maybe I will take it but not put it up until later.

Anyway, here are my horrifying measurements – they have never been this bad EVER (and I blame the birth control pill on this completely):

Chest (widest part) – 39” 2/4 (100 cm)

Waist (smallest part) – 32” ¼ (82 cm)

Waist (belly button level) – 37” (94 cm)

Butt (widest part) – 43” (109 cm)

Starting weight – 172 lbs (78 kg)

Starting BMI – 25.8 (Overweight on a traditional scale)

Test your BMI at: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm

I will keep you all updated on a weekly basis on how things are going.

Coca Cola in your doctor's office

Could you ever imagine your doctor recommending you to have a coke every day as a method to reach optimal health?


- I didn’t think so… sadly this might become the truth in the near future; and needs to be added to the list of medical fiascos.

So, who am I to make such a vulgar statement about our medical industry…

Well, on October 6, 2009 The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) announced the new corporate partnership program with The Coca-Cola Company!

LEAWOOD, Kan. — The American Academy of Family Physicians today announced the Consumer Alliance, a new corporate partnership program, with its first alliance partner, The Coca-Cola Company.

The Consumer Alliance is a program that allows corporate partners like The Coca-Cola Company to work with the AAFP to educate consumers about the role their products can play in a healthy, active lifestyle. As part of this partnership, The Coca-Cola Company is providing a grant to the AAFP to develop consumer education content on beverages and sweeteners for FamilyDoctor.org, an award-winning consumer health and wellness resource.

”The AAFP recognizes the significant influence that consumer companies have on consumer health,” said Lori Heim, M.D., president-elect of the AAFP. “We look forward to working with The Coca-Cola Company, and other companies in the future, on the development of educational materials to teach consumers how to make the right choices and incorporate the products they love into a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.”

“We are proud to be the first company to partner with the AAFP and feature content on FamilyDoctor.org,” said Dr. Rhona Applebaum, vice president and chief scientific and regulatory officer at The Coca-Cola Company. “Our partnership will help provide Americans with credible information on beverages and enable consumers to make informed decisions about what they drink based on individual need.”

FamilyDoctor.org was recently named one of “Five Great Health Sites” on a Newsweek.com blog, and one of the “‘Top Ten’ Most Useful Web Sites” by the Medical Library Association. The new beverage and sweetener content is expected to launch in January 2010. Visit familydoctor.org for more information.

While the AAFP does not endorse any specific brand, product or service, the AAFP Consumer Alliance will collaborate with companies that share the common goal of informing consumers, as well as medical professionals, about new advances in product science and best practices for good health.

Tragic! No matter how much money The coca cola company paid AAFP it is not worth it – their credibility will drop, or maybe even worse – their words about a healthy lifestyle might be embraced by the public just because we love to hear that the unhealthy foods and drinks we are eating has in fact become healthy all of a sudden. If you hear anyone saying that soda is a way to reach optimal health – you should probably just walk away…

To read the whole announcement by AAFP, go to:

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/media/releases/newsreleases-statements-2009/consumeralliance-cocacola.html