The Intro

I had scheduled an Into to Essential Oils Class this morning, but the 1 person who replied couldn't make it.  That happens sometimes, lately often to me.   But I am not giving up.  I still have experienced amazing things from these Oils, and I feel Called to Share them.  I still held my class anyway.  Here is my Intro to Essential Oils class, it was a Good Opportunity for me to Practice without interruption.  I enjoy interacting with people the most about my job, it makes it easy to hear about someone's issues and be able to share stories to help.  Maybe there is something for you all to learn here too. 

If you would like to Order something or join my Team, feel free to contact me or go HERE. 

Foot Rollon for Fathers

I made this great rollon for my Dad for his Birthday.   He's been needing some support in his feet, and I found this great recipe online.  I liked it so much, I made one for myself. I keep it in my nightstand, so that when I wake and my feet need a little attention, I can roll this across the arches.  It's Great!

Day 5 - It is done

It is done.  This was my last Balance Complete shake.  My breakfast this morning was Balance Complete and almond milk, and I just had such a hard time getting it down.  It's just started to go so slowly, and I wished I was done.  It's almost like I didn't want to do it anymore.   The only snacks I had today were Tea at Starbucks.  Lunch was better because I took the liberties of spiking my shake with Ningxia, Almond Milk, spinach and a banana.  They made it taste better.  I mean, really, isn't everything better with a banana? 

This was the Last. 

This was my dinner smoothie.  I was happy to end it on a good night, Balance Complete with Ningxia Red, almond milk, spinach and a banana. I'm glad it's done.  I had a friend tell me, she did this Cleanse some time ago.  

I hadn't lost any weight this morning.  I wonder if my body got mad because I forgot to eat (drink) dinner last night.  I hope it's not Starvation mode.  Though Eric and I were talking about it over breakfast, he's lost 4 pounds. I lost 3, if you don't consider how bloated I was from the weekend weight, otherwise, I'll consider it 5.  Somewhere in there, I guess.  I hope the weight stays off.  

I'm worried if I'm going to bloat and blow up again when I start eating real food tomorrow.  

I feel more clearheaded.  I see my anklebones, which had been disappearing for years. 

According to the paperwork, this cleanse should be done 4 times a year.  I don't think I could do that.  But I could see doing it again sometime.  It'll be a while though, I currently can't do anymore Balance Complete.  If I do get a wild hair and try to drink a shake tomorrow, it will be Pure Protein Chocolate! I don't think I want to move into a new diet/lifestyle, like the Whole 30 or something.  

Frankly, I'd be happy if I could just stop craving deep fried meat, or sugar glutens with dairy.  My body is no longer craving cookies every two hours, which basically was my goal.  I feel better about that. Instead of craving sugar to the point I feel like I've got the shakes, I just want Everything.  I have been successful at watching others eat around me, and not join them.  I'm Still craving pickles, I'm telling you, pickles will be Lunch tomorrow!  I think I broke my coffee craving.  That's good, because I was drinking a lot of coffee flavored sugar milk.  Tomorrow, I might venture into adding honey to my tea.  It's been getting a little boring.  I want to go slowly, gently, so I can be wise.  I don't know. We're supposed to have a Birthday dinner with my Dad tomorrow, not sure how Wise I can be.  

We'll see.  

Day 4 - A Tale of All the Tea

I am Thankful I can drink Herbal Teas on this Cleanse.  Tonight, I forgot to drink my dinner, because I got carried away drinking Tea.  I hope that doesn't interfere with my weight loss, that my body doesn't think I'm in Starvation Mode or anything.  I don't think I've told you all about my weight adventures on this Cleanse yet.  I couldn't believe when I got on the scale this morning, I saw I'd lost another pound!  I haven't posted my start weight, because I had a weight balloon sort of weekend.  I was 245 on Friday, then ATE well all weekend, really well, and so my starting weight on Monday morning was 247.   By Tuesday, that bloat was Gone and I was back to 245, but felt awful most of the day.  I really enjoy that one of the side effects for me of this cleanse is that I don't bloat.  Is it the sugar, the gluten, or the dairy, that have been making me bloat?  I don't know.  I just know I have anklebones, even though I cleaned the kitchen and entertained today.  My ankles have been swelling spontaneously since I goofed up my ankle last year. It felt good to not have that happen. I usually just oil up, rest up, and move on. Meanwhile, Today, I was down to 242.  Can you believe it?!  I would have been happy with this whole week deal just to be past 245, it's one of those pounds that I just have trouble getting around.  I balloon back up there, and get stuck at it again.  Has that ever happened to you?  I guess it does often to me, because I'm a yo yo dieter.  I do well for a while, but I just love food, specifically sugar and bread too much.

Meanwhile, I was so stoked about today, I rewarded myself by putting out raw almonds in my new/old Town and Country divided dish Pyrex that Eric picked up for me, for when my friends came over for Bible Study today. I made them Costco quiche cups, and one friend brought a Cara Cara Orange that I sampled, since an Orange was on my List.  They are pretty yummy, have a bit of bite, like a grapefruit.  I could've eaten more of that, but chose not to.   I ate almonds.  I just kept snacking all morning on them.  They hit the spot.  Trader Joe's Raw Almonds Rock! 

I drank 3/4 of a pot of Cinnamon Orange Herbal Tea from a Twinings party that I attended this weekend during our Bible Study.  Good Stuff.  And with the almonds, Oy! it was great.  Next thing I knew it was noon.  I drank my smoothie, and didn't gag.  I kicked up my lunch smoothie today with almond milk, Ningxia Red, a handful of spinach and a banana.  Bananas weren't on the List.  But I caved.  They make the smoothies so much tastier. It tasted great, and provided me just enough variety. 

For an after nap snack, I had some celery and raw almond butter.  That was great.  I actually didn't find myself getting Hungry today. Probably because I kept snacking on the nuts all morning. I just have some small residual cravings. This evening, a few Oily friends and I got together to shoot the breeze at Starbucks. I got so distracted by being with my Oily friends I completely forgot to drink my smoothie.  I didn't realize until 10 that I hadn't really had dinner.  Doh!   I had a Peach Tranquility Herbal Tea.  It was warm and good, and the company even better.  "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." We may have to make these get-togethers a monthly thing!  I sat there in the Starbucks, smelling the coffee, and not drinking any.  I sat by a rack of chocolate treats, and made myself look away.  The biggest booboo I made was when I made the mistake of opening the freezer, and seeing the pizza, bagels, waffles, as well as the quiche cups I was making my friends.  That was tempting.

I love carbs. 

But I didn't cave. 
I am beginning to worry about once the Cleanse is done.  I wonder if I'm going to Binge, and it worries me, that all the good work that has been done, will be undone.  My bowels seem a bit more normal today, and I don't want to lose that either.  I love having lost some weight. I enjoy not having to eat cookies every two hours because the sugar addiction was so strong with me.  When Jake and I curled up to nap today, I briefly toyed with the idea of Not Napping (gasp!) because I didn't really Need the Nap, I just wanted to rest my spine and snuggle with a sweetboy.  I did do that.  So far so good.  I'm a little nervous about this weekend, because on one hand I want to eat All The Things.  On the other hand, I'm loving the Results of this thing, and kind of wondering how long I can work this?  I don't know.   So far, so good. 

Day 3 - A Clearer Mind

I was so Thankful this morning to wake up with the Monsterbitchin' headache gone.  Well, not entirely gone, but definitely much less than yesterday.   My weight dropped a couple pounds, and I feel less bloaty. There's the one pound that is hard to get past.  I've been hovering +/- 3 pounds about it for a while, but couldn't get past it.  Today, I passed it by!  Progress!

But I'm still hungry.  I want to eat all of the things.   I had to go to Trader Joe's. There are a few suggested snacks on the List, and I thought I'd pick some up.  I got celery, raw almonds, raw almond butter, and almond milk.  All this week, I've been drinking the Balance Complete with water.  Ugh.  By today, it's starting to grate on my nerves, and taste like swill.  I needed to mix it up.

And I didn't even wait until I got home before breaking into the almonds.  Sam took one, and I took a handful, and they were the Best Almonds I'd ever had in my life.  A little boring on the outside, but the inside was sweet.  Sam said they were almost like pistachios.  But with no salt.  Yeah, that's the idea.  Not much salt.  r

I snacked today.  I am feeling better.  My bowels are working, a little lose, but working. The monsterbitchin' headache was almost gone, but I'm Hungry.  I want to eat everything.  I didn't measure my water intake today, because we were on the road and busy.   But I did have to refill all my cups a couple times.   The hardest was dinner tonight.  Coming home to the boys having a great dinner, while I drink my shake was just... ugh. I'm tired of watching the kids eat good stuff, like the Spanish Flank Steak Eric grilled up for them tonight.  I'm having the leftovers Saturday, I call dibs.

I did show extreme willpower today.  I took Sam through the Arby's Drive Thru, on our way to see Miss Lisa, and he got roast beast, and my car smelled so good.  I got nothing.  I drank more water.  Go Me.

We went to Trader Joe's and I fumbled a bit.  They had the sample guy, and one of their samples was a miso soup. I remembered seeing that as a thing for Friday, miso soup, so I took a Sample. I thought Sam would help me.  Nope.  I took a sip.  It was the most amazing miso soup I'd ever had.  It was bliss.  Best Broth ever.  Well, maybe not ever.  That broth after my c-section was pretty awesome.   Still, this was really good.  I totally bought a box of it. 

When Eric got home, I broke out the celery and almond butter.  He didn't want to try, but the kids did.  They didn't like it as much as regular peanut butter, but I did.  I thought it worked fine for me.  I wonder what else I can do with raw almond butter.   I may have to play around with it.

Those were my only flubs.  Not too shabby.  Still craving pickles, but not going to have them.  I've made it this far, I can keep it up.  But I'm developing my weekend list.  I don't want to go whole hog on eating all the sugar, so pickles and flank steak top this weekend's wish list.

Oh, and I bought unsweetened vanilla almond milk at TJs.  I added it to the dregs of my lunch shake when we got home.  It wasn't bad.  In the shakes, with the Balance Complete, I can say it's better than adding water.  It's creamier, and gives some bulk to it.  The water was tasting like complete swill.

But I'm feeling better, not as bloaty.  I still have back pain.  So it doesn't solve all my problems.  But my mind is beginning to clear.  I think I'm breaking the sugar addiction.  Except that I just want to eat all the things.  That doesn't mean I will.  I mean, I passed up an Arby's Andes Mint Milkshake.  Eric passed on free muffins, and a free lunch of chicken alfredo.  We have Willpower!

We're also over halfway there now!  Woohoo!

Day 2 - The Monsterbitchin Headache

Yes, Monsterbitchin' is a word.  It may not be in the dictionary, but it is a word. I say so, because it quite adequately describes the headache that I had all day.  Use in the sentence:  I had a monsterbitchin' headache.

My Day 2 began in the middle of the night.  At 3:30 am, I woke up feeling very sloshy.  I mean reflux sloshy.  I had still taken my bedtime routine supplements of Life 9 and Immupro.  And usually that's enough for me.  But in the middle of the night it was clear that it wasn't.  So I went and loaded up on Digize, applied topically along my esophagus and stomach, with a dab for good luck in my belly button.  Then I dropped one drop of Lemon on my tongue.   My stomach swirled for a while, so I went back to bed, doubling up on pillows.  I don't sleep well sitting up, I'm more of a tummy sleeper. I didn't think I'd fall back to sleep, but evidently I did.  Because the next thing I know, Chris was coming in to kiss me goodbye.  Normally, I'm downstairs saying farewell to him.

Once I was more coherant, I realized, I had a headache.  I went to my Oils, and tried M-Grain.  It didn't touch it.  :(  I went down to breakfast feeling rather miserable.  How was I going to do 5 days of this?  But I drank my first shake.  We've only been adding water and Ningxia to the Balance Complete, and drinking that. I had some tea yesterday and today.  And an Apple snack.  I had to tell the kids not to eat anymore apples, to save the rest for Eric and I.  Though Eric's not snacking.  He's a Beast.   

While drinking, I started to think about Oils good for Detoxing.  I figured that this was the detox headache they had warned about.  I didn't get it on Day 1.  It came on fast and furious on Day 2.   So I tried Sacred Frankincense, yeah, breaking out the big guns.  That seemed to take the edge off.  So I used Frank a few times over the course of the day.  Steph suggested drinking water with Lemon, which was handy since I started with a Lemon tea.  Then followed up with Oil and Lemon.  It's Good Stuff.  Jacob had been so good, he didn't need a nap, but I was feeling so terribly, I was laying down on the couch.  He came up to me at 2:30 (our normal naptime) and asked if he could sleep with me.  OK.  He was too wiggly to sleep on the same side, but once he took the other side, and I let him borrow my Jedi snuggie, he fell asleep.  So did I.  When I woke, my headache was less.  I could still feel it, but it was not quite as bad.  I'm a Napper.  I'm sure, once fully detoxed, I won't NEED naps.  But I'll still want them.

I drank my entire jug's worth of water.  I wrote marks on it, so that I would drink half my body weight in ounces.  That's Math.   Let's just say it's almost a full gallon.  I rarely hit the mark.  But today I did!

I also peed like a racehorse.  

I kept opening the refrigerator to get food for Jacob or the boys, and seeing the giant jar of snacking dill pickles.  Now dill pickles are all I want in the world.

Or Chocolate.

Or Pie.   I mentioned at the dinner table that I wanted pie, and it got us all singing the Pie song from Backyardigans, "Do you wanna make pie?"  No, I wanna EAT pie....  Only Jacob didn't remember it, so we had to pile into the living room and watch the Samurai Pie episode of Backyardigans.  Oddly enough, it helped distract me from my pie craving.

But I didn't eat any pie, or chocolate, or pickles.  Victory is Mine!

Day 1 - No coffee and I didn't die.

Well, my day is ended and I didn't die. Frankly, I was amazed at my own willpower, I didn't drink any coffee, or any refined sugars.  I ate exactly what was on the menu.  And we had a good day.

Here's my Menu.

Breakfast -
Digest and Cleanse
2 scoops Balance Complete in water
2 oz Ningxia Red

Snack -
Peach Tranquility Herbal Tea from Starbucks
More Water

Lunch -
Digest and Cleanse
2 scoops Balance Complete with 2 oz. Ningxia Red in ice water (definitely better colder!)

More Water

Snack -
1 sweet glorious apple
Refill Herbal Tea  (same bag, pretty weak)

Dinner -
Digest and Cleanse
2 Scoops Balance Complete with 2 oz Ningxia Red in ice water

Snack
2 oz Ningxia Red

This rather impresses me, since I didn't eat much, and stayed on the diet. It was weird drinking breakfast, and not having a cup or two of coffee to drink while the boys ate.  It took extreme willpower to not eat the honey flakey biscuit egg sandwiches that I'd bought them for a treat for MLK breakfast.  But I did ok. I did just fine all day until waking from naps.  I actually was thinking I might not need a nap, since I was feeling good at lunchtime, but Jacob had started melting down, and the big boys needed Quiet Time.  So nap we did.   I didn't feel like anything was different until then.  Before that, it was just another day with the kids.  The big boys had the day off of school, so after Jacob went to school I packed them a lunch, we had the goal of going to the State Museum and the Eiteljorg. But it was snowing.  Snowing very hard.  The roads were nasty, so we made it to the Starbucks, and I decided to turn around.  Since we were defunct, I got them drinks before turning around.  I got myself an herbal tea.  I can still drink at Starbucks on this diet!  Woohoo!  And when I woke up, I was Hungry.  I needed Something.  When I got up from
naps, I grabbed an apple and refilled my tea.  It took the edge off, but I was definitely READY for dinner when it finally came around.  It didn't seem like enough, plus I'd forgotten to take my Allerzyme after dinner, so I did another shot of Ningxia. That seemed to do the trick.

I found this story in a FB Challenge group that I am participating in, describing the Antioxidant Power of Ningxia Red. Antioxidant power is measured through the ORAC system. In 2000 the Ningxia Wolfberry was tested at the Brunswick Laboratories in Massachusetts at the only lab in the world at that time using the Tufts-University-developed ORAC protocol.
"The results were astonishing.  According to the ORAC results, dried Ningxia wolfberries had 5X the antioxidant power of prunes, 10X the antioxidant power of oranges, 12X the antioxidant power of raisins, and 55X the antioxidant power of cauliflower.  In fact, according to the published ORAC data, the Ningxia wolfberry had the highest known ORAC score for any whole food." - Excerpt from Ningxia Wolfberry: The Ultimate Superfood by Gary Young, Ronald Lawrence, and Marc Schreuder

Are you wondering what's in Ningxia Red? 

If the Ningxia Wolfberry has that much Antioxidant power, so does Ningxia Red.  We don't juice those berries, those magical berries are pureed.  So you have to shake before drinking ;)  We then blend in with some other juices for this potent superbeverage.  Research antioxidants and what they do, because it's Awesome! 

Deciding to Start Anew - the Tale of a Nutritive Cleanse

I have decided this year to really amp up my personal wellness, not just with Oils, but in all areas.  My friend Stephanie posted a video on Facebook last week as she opened her ER order, that she had ordered the 5 Day Nutritive Cleanse from Young Living.  I had been thinking about it for a while.  It turns out we have most of the ingredients on hand.  I myself have been considering it for a while.

It uses Ningxia Red, Digest and Cleanse, and Balance Complete.  All are Amazing products from Young Living.  It just happened that I ordered a bottle of Digest and Cleanse last month, and now have all the appropriate products on hand.

I read the book Inner Transformations Using Essential Oils by Leanne Deardeuff a while back, and it mentioned this Cleanse.  It actually mentions a lot of Cleanses, targeted cleanses for specific systems or organs of the body.  It's very interesting.  If you think about it, it makes sense.  Our bodies cannot filter out waste (i.e. kidneys) or digest what we eat (intestine) if they are full of crap.  So periodically, we need to clean out the system so that our bodies can do what they are designed to do.  

The 5 day Nutritive Cleanse is not a targeted cleanse, it's not specifically aimed at the colon or kidneys.  It's supposed to give me targeted nutrients while enzymes and fibers clear things out naturally.  In the 5 days, I deprive myself of refined sugars, and thus give my body a chance to clear out.  

It sounds really strict, to only live on basically Balance Complete shakes, veggies, nuts occasional fruits,  and Ningxia Red.  

But it's only 5 days.  I can do this for 5 days. 

 I have been interested in doing this for a while, and I was thrilled to find a friend to do it with me.  I found an article by someone else who had done it, and it didn't sound too terrible. I wrote Steph, and she was just as on the fence as I, so we discussed the Perks.  

1.  Break the Sugar Addiction - Think about how much sugar you eat a day!  It's in my coffee, it's in my breakfast bagel, it's loaded in the Starbucks I stop for! That's just the morning.  And the holidays, oh so many cookies.  Last Friday I finally threw away the cookies that were left, I couldn't do it anymore.  I needed to get the Problem out of my face.  Here's the problem: You have some cookies.  Your blood sugar goes up, you have energy, pep, feel good, for like an hour or two... then your blood sugar drops, Radically, Quickly, because these refines sugars doing have the natural fibers, healthy oils to sustain a gentle rise or fall. That sugar drops quickly, so what do you do?   "I need a snack!"  More Cookies!  My body doesn't need more cookies.  It wants more sugar to sustain the fake happy feelings of having the sugar. My body is designed better than that.  My body is capable of more than that.  But I've been feeding it crap for so long, it wants to take the easy way.  Time to break it of that habit. 

2. It's a Gentle Cleanse.  Some of these Colon Cleanse, like the lemonade one with the cayenne pepper, sound super strict, and may leave me stuck at my house afraid to leave my toilet.  I dread that.  I can't be tied to a toilet.  I have 3 little kids, they need Mama able to come running.  Im entering that age, when the yahoos have stuff going on, I can't take weeks or a month off away from them to be tied to a toilet. From what I've read of this one, I can leave the house, I can keep my regular schedule, and I can survive on things outside my home.  I can still have an apple in my pack for a snack if I'm on the road, or (my favorite!) a nice Cup of Herbal Tea with friends.  I'll be able to do my job as Mom, and be OK. 

3.   Get my money's worth.  My Oils, my Supplements, and even the Exercise I do on my journey to Wellness will be More Effective because they won't get caught up in the sludge. 

4. What if I lost a few pounds?   This cleanse does not claim to reduce weight.  However, if I think of it logically, and I break my sugar addiction, for me, that spiral could lead to weight loss.  If I'm not eating cookies every two hours, I will lose weight.  If I'm not feeling bloaty and gross, I may feel like getting out to the Y and exercising.  Novel concept.  

Is it Worth It?  I have all the stuff on hand.  Why not give it a try?  

What's really Awesome is that I'm not doing this alone.  After chatting, Stephanie and I are doing it together.  And Eric has decided to give it a try too.  I'm pretty excited!  

More to come of my Tale tomorrow.