Paraben health alert

So, I just went through my bodycare products and chucked half of them.

I read an article (which turned into a quite a few articles, then studies) on parabens. Parabens are preservatives in many on the shelf body care products.

Chances are, you have parabens in your bathroom, whether in the lovely body lotion you smooth on after a shower or the conditioner you use in your hair. The problem with parabens is that they are xenoestrogens.

Xenoestrogens mimic estrogen in the body. Consuming/applying xenoestrogens can lead to toxicity. Some forms of cancer, especially women's cancers are fed by estrogens, so having something circulating in your body that mimics estrogen is not safe and can effect your health without you even knowing it.

Here is an interesting article on how to eliminate xenoestrogens in your home: www.ehow.com/how_4515846_avoid-exposure-xenoestrogens.html

There are a few brands of products that do not contain xenoestrogens. My favourite is Kiss my Face.

If you know of other paraben-free products, I would be interested in hearing about them!

Food, health, weight....blah, blah, blah.

So, it is now week 5 of my concerted effort to be healthier and to let go of the junk in my trunk.

So far I am down 13 lbs!

I am actually quite surprised as I am stuffing my face with summer fruit every chance I get. Apparently what they say about not eating too much fruit because of the sugar doesn't apply here... and thank goodness, because I LOVE CHERRIES! I LOVE WATERMELON! I LOVE STRAWBERRIES!...

Ok, honestly, I just love food.

So, the jist of what I am doing is to eat more, more often, with more joy.

I am keeping track (because I am a list-maker) and looking back, there have been days where I eat more 100 calorie snack bags than I care mention (er...was that a snack or a meal?) and then there was my birthday (weekend)...but most days are good.

A few things I've done that seem to be helping;

I cut out the artificial sweetners. We no longer use any of them in our home...no, not even splenda. What I am using is a natural sweetner called Stevia and it is amazing! No headaches or terrible fatigue when I am using this over artificially-sweeteed beverages.

I am also drinking more water. Well, water with lime juice, a few frozen strawberries popped in and some stevia. The best, most refreshing calorie-free beverage ever! Koolaid without the sugar, dye, artificial flovour and preservatives.

Greens+. My Acupunturist turned me on to this stuff and it's amazing! I mix it into a smoothie in the morning and I have energy all day. It is available all over the place and is worth it's weight in gold. Last month I did greens+ and all-greens, this month I am trying the greens+multi. Will let you know what I think.

I WAS wearing a pedometer to record how many steps I take per day. 10000 steps per day is roughly equivalent to 30 minutes of physical activity. I was ranging between 6 and 16 thousand steps per day, depending on the day (weekends were less because Alan is home to help). I pledge to start wearing it again tomorrow and writing down the results.

Other than that, laying in the hammock, wrecking my journal (pictures to come, Sara), watching "wipeout" because it makes me laugh like a crazy person and trying to keep the boys busy (there should be an exercise catagory for this).

Health, Wealth and Wisdom.

About a month ago I decided to take a chance and purchase the Nutrisystem Weightloss program I'd recently seen advertised at Costco. I was so excited to receive it in the mail and decided to give it an entire month before deciding whether to re-order or not.

After three days, the thought of eating any more of the mushy, tasteless food made me dream of Taco Bell. I took it back for a full refund from Costco.

On May 23rd I started my program. I eat a sensible breakfast... this morning was an apple, sliced, yogurt, a hard boiled egg and tea. I eat a fruit and protein snack about 11, whatever I really FEEL like for lunch with veggies and sometimes an added protein (like cottage cheese, cheese, an egg or yogurt), another protein and fruit (or veggie) snack, then dinner, with dessert and a snack before bed. I am aiming for 1700-1800 calories a day.

So far, in 16 days, I am down 7 lbs.

It is more food than I am used to, and some days I only hit the 1500 calorie mark before I am done.

I realise now that I have been dieting since I was 8 years old, always thinking that food was my enemy and starving myself until I ate, desperately.

I wonder how many overweight women there are out there who were raised with the same, unhealthy attitude about food? Do they realise what happens when you feed your body what it needs? Your body lets go because you feel satisfied, healthy, happy.

Hugs to anyone out there who, like me, has allowed this to control their life. Repeat after me - "Food is my friend and I deserve to eat regular, healthy, delicious meals.".

Be kind to yourself.

Summer

So...Have you had your vitamin D checked before?

I just did and apparently, I have none. This is a problem, but one that is relatively easy to fix.

I am currently taking 4000iu per day of D3...and i have not had chest pain since I started.

I am feeling so relieved. Vitamin D deficiency causes all kinds of things...hypertension, muscle pain (including chest pain), headaches, depression....the list goes on.

We have just come out of one of the longest, darkest winters in years (at least 10, maybe more) and I am so happy to feel the sun on my skin again.

We sat at Edworthy Park the other day and there were children playing and peole laughing and visiting and it was warm and the breezy...it was beautiful.

Oh Summer...how I've missed you.

Bloodwork and echoes and hearts...oh my!

So, I have been feeling kind of crappy for awhile.

I've been tired and my hair is falling out (this happened after the boys were born) and I have been having some strange indigestion and shortness of breath so off I went almost 2 weeks ago to my doctor.

I figured it was my thyroid...or that the type 2 diabetes everyone has been talking about had finally caught up to me...but after my initial bloodwork it turns out that all those things were fine.

What was off were my CBC (complete blood count) and Sed-rate. My doctor became quite tight-lipped and at first told me it just meant something was wonky...then he said it indicated an inflammatory process in my body...then, after some intense questioning on my part he admitted that it could likely be an auto-immune disease and wrote out a new blood work requisition and asked me to rebook for three weeks later.

He did not, however, listen to my heart and lungs or take my blood pressure.

My indigestion kept getting worse and worse and nothing I took helped at all...and, despite my better judgement, I looked up Auto-immune diseases and spoke to a friend who is a medical professional.

Everything seems to point to Lupus... and with lupus, there is often cardiac involvement...and then it dawned on my that the indigestion I was feeling was rather high up in my chest (sub-sternal).

The end result was that I spent the night at the Rockyview hospital (they admitted me because I was having chest pain, difficulty breathing and my normally low Blood Pressure was 146/110.

Apparently I have pericarditis. I am supposed to be having an echocardiogram in the next two days and possibly a pericardiocentesis (they stick a long needle into the sac surrounding your heart to take a sample fo the fluid there to see if it is caused by a virus, bacteria or other cause).

I just don't understand why my doc, whom our entire family has seen for over 5 years, didn't take a few minutes to listen to my heart and lungs, or to ask me any other questions?

So, my question is this; are you happy with your family doctor?