Category: Health

Routines

7/10/2021

Friends and Family ask us, "So what's your normal routine look like now that you're retired?"

We laugh and say, "It looks pretty much the same everyday. Slow & Boring! We get up whenever we wake up. We sit and drink coffee, chat, listen to worship, listen to Bible teaching...whatever moves us and we do this usually for 2 hours!"

Laughter erupts...usually from us.

Then I (Diane) make the bed, wash up any dishes laying around, throw in some laundry: sheets on Saturday, towels on Tuesday and clothes when the hamper is full or work jeans are piled in the garage. Then I go out in my studio and meet with God some more. I usually put on a teaching or some soaking music and sit quietly, in silence.

(It's a disciple I've learned...being quiet. It's only in the quiet can I hear from God. He speaks to me in pictures and usually I see something and then I hear Him. Most recently I've been transferred...yes, I was in heaven and He downloaded a song to me....I was the most surprised of all. That's for another day. Paul talks about it. John talks about it. I'm not going to worry whether you believe me or not. I'm not your judge. Since moving and actually spending much quality time with my Lord, His Spirit has taken over, His gifts have grown in me and He has been revealing truth to me at great speeds and depths. I believe Ephesians 1:17-18 "...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you...He STILL speaks to man or woman! )

I digress!

In early Spring I get a good hour or more of sun. Every 20 minutes is approximately 20iu of Vit D. It's been a huge asset to my health. Depending on the time of year it's usually the hours after noon or the hours before noon. I want the sun at a slight angle to get the most of the UBV rays not the UVA. I'll even do this in February as the sun is getting closer to us in Texas.

Around noon, I usually fix our "dinner". We eat our big meal at noonday and usually fast for 18-24 hours. It's part of my healing routine. It's known as IF Intermittent fasting. We usually sit and chat some more for a couple hours....by 2pm we are pretty much caught up on the day. I clean up and do whatever chores need finishing, like laundry or vacuuming. Then I shower and put my jammies on!

We wind down with a movie because we don't have "TV". It's how we remain sane in this insane world today. We ditched TV when we moved here 5 years ago. If we want "news" we go hunting for it from OUR reliable sources or independent journalist. And around 7P we wrap up our day, doing last minute things for the dogs and cat, brushing our teeth...you know the regular night time rituals. We spend time again together reading the Word and praying before we kiss, and turn out the light around 8P. Hubs rubs my back till he falls asleep...I'm SO spoiled and I read for an hour and am asleep by 9P. I usually never wake up during the night which I credit to my healing regimen of 6mg Melatonin and a few other supps that are specific to me and my "dirty genes". I usually wake up around 6A, sometimes 5A, sometimes 7A....but usually 6A. Hubs is up and down all night. Ooy. He resists taking Melatonin but I count on it. So....I call him, my night crawler! Just so long as he crawls quietly through the house!!! :) He does!

My diet for the past 1.5 years has been Carnivore/Ketovorish. :) It works! My brain is fueled by healthy fats. I eat 0 or a few carbs in the form or my protein bread or cheese, etc. But no refined or unrefined grains, sugars, etc. I don't consume a lot of veg anymore. They just don't like me.

Above is my faux "Chick-fil-A" sandwich. SO good. Actually just about everything I put in the form of sammie is SO good. I don't know why, but I love eating with my hands! Makes everything taste better.

I know I'm trying to catch up with so much since I've been negligent in my blog since moving to Texas. I thought writing about routines might help me squeeze it in first thing when I come out to the studio....but that's only if I've already spent time studying the Word of God.

I'll tell you about this painting in the next few days or so. I don't know if I'll post daily....as you can see we really do lead a very boring....yawn....yawn some more....life in retirement. It's JUST the way we like it!!! Life can get way too interesting.

You can look forward to my food! My healing from MS! My inspired art! My Bible studies. My journey in life here in the Piney Woods of Texas.

Author,

Diane

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Bread Making...YUM!

11/30/2019

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I've been a real food foodie for a very long time. I first began my healing journey in 1993 after a terrible car accident that left me with torn cartilage in both wrist, 8 surgeries on my arms/hands in 6 years, severe stomach pains from the NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) which ate holes in my gut, severe PTSD anxiety about getting in a car again, allergic reactions to all opioid Rx and a jury trial to sue State Farm.

I'm pretty sure after my last surgery, Good Friday, 1999 and a 2 day trial in Baltimore City with 12 of my peers (all black males) against MY insurance Co since the driver at fault was uninsured (which by the way I won!)....that's when EBV and Lyme & Co. came out of remission. Hey, why wouldn't they....they are both very opportunistic!

I remember starting out slowly with simple things like making our bread from fresh ground wheat, keeping sourdough starter, buying bulk beans, grains, rice. I worked my way up to juicing and cooking everything from scratch. I haven't started grinding wheat again...but I probably will since it's cost effective. But for now, buying bulk bags from Bread Topia works in Nowhere Texas!

In the late 90's I started taking cooking classes from a country "neighbor", Gloria McAdams who taught bead making and plant based cooking. She told me that juicing cabbage would heal my gut. When I saw incredible healing....that's when my interest was peaked to eat plants. She was/is a Seventh Day Adventist so is a plant based eater. It was my earliest exposure to eating just plants. I had a lot of opposition from my family, but here we are making a full circle with WFPB eating!

It's kinda funny, Gloria is now my country "neighbor" in Texas too!

Who knew...God was the creator of Tie-Dye!!! Juicing is so beautiful!

I use a clay oven to get a nice crusty bread.

I use the no knead recipe on Bread Topia. Einkorn Whole Wheat Flour is the only NON Hybridized wheat! It's thought to be an ancient original wheat!!! It is absolutely our favorite and makes a very light and almost white type of bread!

We love sweet potato flat bread called Roti! It's so simple to mix a cup of sweet potato and flour. Roll them out and then cook them until they puff!

You can start making simple changes in your diet to begin seeing big changes!

Blessings for Health!
Diane

Hubs finally fixed my S L O W internet connection in The Shepherd's Studio...SO, I should be able to be more active here!

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My Ongoing Health Crisis

11/27/2019

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If you've known me for any number of years, you know that I've battled for my health...practically my entire life. I believe the enemy knew God would choose me and he tried to take me out early and often.

I was only 18 months when I swallowed a bottle of furniture polish my sister opened for me. :/ Of course I don't blame her anymore than I do for my broken left foot when I was 8. Those are my earliest memories as a child....being rushed to the ER and having my stomach pumped out. Before age 2 I fell into barbed wire and split my chinny chin chin open and had stitches. Age 2 I fell off the back of the sofa onto a floor with a concrete foundation playing cowboys and Indians with my sister and broke my arm (do you see the pattern...keep reading), then proceeded to fall down the steps in that same house with that same cast on my arm...all the way down! (no she didn't push me!) I was around 2 when Mom left my sister (her again!) in the car and ran into the house for something....Mary put the car in neutral and jumped out (she was only 3!) and I was in the back seat as the car rolled into the street! Thank the Lord we had a whole lot less people living on this earth back then! In third grade my sister and I were playing cowboys and Indians again....you'd of thought I would have learned my lesson when I was 2!....but I didn't and she chased me around a tree and I broke my left foot and multiple toes.

When I was 13 I found a lump under my right arm, the size of an egg. I showed my mom and of course we all know what she thought. Cancer. I was very sick. We spent 4-6 months going from doctor to doctor. I'm sure it was then that my dislike (that's putting it mildly) for doctors began. I heard repeatedly....it's all in her head. Right. I missed a good quarter of school. The kids in school voted on who was sicker, me or Mary Ellen Ruffing. They voted me. In 11th grade Mary Ellen Ruffing died of Leukemia. :( If that doesn't put life's gravity into perspective I don't know what does.

Thankfully Mom wasn't a quitter and she finally took me to an old doctor in town. He knew immediately what was wrong. I had the Epstein-Barr Virus....mono...herpes virus....just like chicken pox/shingles. I remember him telling Mom that I could of picked it up off a glass in the cafeteria....it's a very contagious virus. In fact nearly 90-95% of the population has the virus. It never leaves the body. For some it stays dormant and for others it is very opportunistic and comes out of dormancy to attack...yet again. And again!

Of course in all this I also was infected with tick borne disease; Lyme, Babesia, Ehrlichiosis and Bartonella. Healing from that seems like it was a piece of cake compared to other things I've battled. But of course we know it wasn't....it took years, but by God's grace I did heal.

This summer, I began searching for health reasons why I'd often feel EVERY nerve in my body vibrate. I'd ask Hubs if he could feel the bed vibrating....he said no, he didn't put the quarter in! ;) The worst was when it was just my brain vibrating. Disturbing. It would wake me at night. Vibrating. I thought maybe I was developing MS. Something had to be wrong....you don't just feel all your nerves vibrate. I searched and found that EBV affects the nervous system among many others...it's also the reason for the horrible rash on my chest this past year.

The lightbulb went on! CLICK!!!! EBV!!!! I had it when I was 13 and was tested positive again in college when it was reactivated and I had to drop out of a semester.

EBV had reared its ugly head during my very stressful year in 2016 (Hubs had 3 surgeries in 4 months, we had our daughter's wedding, and I packed and purged and said good bye to all I ever knew in Maryland as we drove to Texas and Hubs retired) and it has pretty much stayed active since. Especially last year when I went off the WFPB diet (whole food plant based). I gave it an opportunity to attack and it did!

I've gone to 5 primary care providers here in Texas trying to find someone I can work with. FIVE! I FINALLY found one!!! I saw on the internet that she wrote an article on EBV! FINALLY someone to address the root of my problems! She listened to me and knew immediately that I had EBV and it was active. After 2 weeks on an anti-viral I was back to my old self!

My head is clear, no more brain fog, no vibrating, no rashes, no aches and pains, lots of energy! I'm so grateful that I found Zana! She is very much my tribe! A little weird but passionate about helping people.

I'm working HARD to keep my immune system up. I take a slew of supplements everyday. It gets a bit cumbersome but necessary.

The plan now is that every time I travel and am under a lot of stress, and am exposed to sickness, start the anti-viral ASAP and it should lessen the severity of the illness....and hopefully no more pneumonia and upper respiratory infections! And hopefully I can bounce back much quicker!

I believe eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet will give my body all the antioxidants and phyto-nutrients to assist in keeping me in prime condition. I do believe the year of experimenting with meat, dairy, etc set me back and made me vulnerable.

Knowledge is power!!!

"Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine thy food." Hypocrites.

Gratefully,
Diane

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Fall Gardening In Texas & Cancer

9/28/2019

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Our temps have finally cooled off a little here. Our high is about 93 instead of 99-110! The sun is much lower in the sky and although we've been in a drought for 3 months, it's not feeling like scorched earth.

I'm still harvesting eggplant and peppers from my container garden on the driveway pad. I think my summer squash actually do better in a late summer planting. My harvest of Butternut Squash came from volunteer plants that came out of my compost. :)

My first attempt at fall greens only burned up in the heat of August. I finally reseeded Arugula the last week of August before my trip to Maryland and it came on strong while I was gone! I love the peppery bite from Arugula...The Hired Hand not so much. I used it in his carrot juice this morning and he said, "Somethings a little different today." I said, "Arugula!" He sorta frowned but drank it anyway. We're upping his antioxidants and anti androgen foods after we found a large Basel Cell Carcinoma on his face. He's treating it with Rife therapy and food. It's been quite a shake up for him because of the location being so close to his ear, eye and brain. It was hiding under his sideburn, so we failed to see it growing. It started out a good inch in diameter. After Rifing for a month it's reduced in size dramatically.

He opted out of surgery for the time being. Gave up sugar because if anything loves sugar more than my man, it's cancer! For the most part he's eating a Whole Food Plant Based/Oil & Sugar Free Diet with me but since he is also slightly anemic, he's eating some meat 2-3X week. Personally, I wouldn't but he's his own man and I'll help him whatever ways I can. We're hoping this is the only cancer he has or ever will have. We have an appointment in a few weeks to check on a few other areas of concern. We covet your prayers.

I have a big incentive to grow lots of greens for this fall....he needs them and I love them! He'll get a big punch of nutrients in an 8oz glass than I couldn't force feed into him on any given day.

I'm making use of everything, even sweet potato leaves! I chopped them up in the mix I made for Spring Rolls. The Hired Hand ate them but didn't request a repeat!!!

I'm hoping there's a big pot of gold under all these sweet potato vines! Actually 2 big tubs of vines! These are my first ever sweet potatoes and I started a fall pot....we'll see if they have enough time before our first big freeze in December.

My gardening in Texas has been nothing short of a miracle! We live in a forest, we only have sun in a few choice areas...one being on the driveway pad. SO, since we only have 1 car and use 1 bay, the other side houses my container garden. I think I had a good dozen pepper plants, 6-8 eggplants, and 6 summer squash. I've got a couple pineapple plants, gogi berry, hibiscus, fig, artichoke, a tub of turmeric....and multiple citrus; lemon, grapefruit, satsuma, sweet orange and my favorite, kumquats! It's been fun trying new plants in our zone 8b-9a. Watering is a daily essential though...but I have a routine now and everybody gets a good drink every morning.

I attempted to add perennial plants to my mostly sun/part shade side yard. We have nothing but sugar sand here for "soil". I'd hardly call it soil....it's just sand! But we found a source of mushroom compost and it does miracles for growing after I huff it and haul it 1 load at a time in the wheelbarrow!

My garden garden is really a collection of "islands" where I've built up the compost. I leave wide open spaces for walking so I can spot snakes...thank goodness...none so far to scream about!!! I use the livestock tubs for carrots, greens and extra space since I'm chasing the sun here too.

For the most part my 2nd growing season in Texas was a big success!!! I'm trying to embrace the change of pace and rejoice in the different variety.

God is the giver of all things. By His hands we are fed.

By His Grace Alone,
Diane

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What is Adrenal Fatigue? Part 2

4/4/2016

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Psalm 119:103-1-5

How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I gain understanding from your precepts;
    therefore I hate every wrong path.
Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light on my path.

The video below was the most helpful video I've watched in the last few weeks. It totally explained SO many reasons why I feel the way I do and what the heck is wrong with my body.

The first alarming fact is....STRESS is cumulative!!! Holy Cow! Then why aren't we all smashed out on the floor...dead from it!!! It actually shows me how amazing a body God created; that it can handle a lot of stuff before it just cries....UNCLE!

One of the most troubling facts was the weakness in my legs...more specifically my thighs....although I must say that knowing, is half the battle. They feel like I'm 90 years old when I get up. Even though I've been doing squats for several months and I've seen NO improvement....this would explain why. They are atrophied.

I've also had very high plasma Ferritin for the past 2 years. My doc believed it was due to inflammation caused by the MCAD (Mast Cell Disorder) but I now believe it is caused by Adrenal Fatigue that's been plaguing me for a good 2 years at least that has caused the inflammation. I do remember when I started to get so very tired....after my last battle with anaphylactic shock and having to use the Epi-Pen....filled with epinephrine. Then the Paramedics usually pump me full of Beny and in the ER they pump me some more!. It's ugly!!! Really ugly!!! Then we lambed and that nearly killed me....really. Having the farm just became more of a heartache then it was fun. The work was more then 1 girl can handle on her own....especially when she is nearly 60!!! So last Fall, I sold my sheep (mostly gave them away) and let it all go....it was really a very sad time, but now that I look back, I knew I had to. I knew I was SO tired. The kind of tired sleep doesn't fix. We call it burned out....and literally it is...your adrenals are burned out.

Really. It's a no wonder.

For now, until I see the Bio-Identical Doctor in a few weeks....this is what I'm doing to keep my head above water as I tenderly love my adrenals back to life.....yes, I do believe that the adrenals can be recovered....I know many don't....but I am not of that mind set.

STRESS in our lives is only going to get worse before it gets better. Did you know, retirement and moving are right up there at the top of the STRESS chart with death and divorce! Yeah, soooooo I've got a ways to go before I can sit back on my porch in Texas and drink (unsweet) tea! Although, I'm tempted to find a quiet spot at the beach and soak up the sun after The Farmher's Daughter's wedding in less then 3 weeks! Ahhh!

My Routine To Heal Adrenal Fatigue

*NO Caffeine
*NO Sugar
*Eating a well balanced diet with healing fats, proteins and carbs and that means consuming enough calories to get my metabolism off the ground floor and working again....I think that will come with the adrenals...but what do I know...it's all over my pay grade!!!
*Sleeping 7-8 hours every night
*Using Supplements for Sleep; 5 HTP, Melatonin and Melatonin Blend with Gaba (others I can't think of cause...cognitive ability is impaired!)
*Using Supplements for healing MY body which includes Adrenal Glandulars
*Drinking an organic tea blend infusion (steeped at least 20 minutes) of Ashwagandha, Rhemania, Holy Basil and Licorise to heal the adrenals
*Drinking Golden Milk using Synchro Gold Elixir, coconut milk and honey to help with inflammation
*Using Essential Oils: Positive Energy™ & Sleep Tight™ by Anada Apothecary, my own blends during the day for calming, well being
*Watch very little News....if I can't get it off the computer in 5 minutes then it's not worth the energy
*Tapping
*Prayer & Meditating on Scriptures
*RESTING
*Love Myself

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Runnin on Empty Part 1

4/2/2016

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We all live in this fallen and broken world and consequently we all carry around these broken and bruised bodies. That is, until we are redeemed on the day of Glory when we shall be given new bodies that will never break and then reside with Jesus in the new heavens and new earth for all of eternity.

My body has been through a lot in almost 58 years. Most recently Lyme Disease & 3 co-infections plus, I've battled MCAD (Mast Cell Activation Disorder) which sent me into anaphylactic shock twice in the past 5 years. That in itself is enough to kill ya!! And if it doesn't kill ya, it will beat you down to a pulp!

Also in the past 5 years within a 2 year span we lost 3 of our 4 parents. That too is enough to break any heart.

Although the MCAD has been much improved, there have been other things ailing me. Things I can't shake. Things that for a while had no name.

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The Shepherd's Studio

A Life Well Lived For Yehoshua!

Routines

Author,

Bread Making...YUM!

Blessings for Health!
Diane

My Ongoing Health Crisis

Gratefully,
Diane

Fall Gardening In Texas & Cancer

By His Grace Alone,
Diane

What is Adrenal Fatigue? Part 2

Psalm 119:103-1-5

Runnin on Empty Part 1

Archives

Categories

The Shepherd's Studio A Life Well Lived For Yehoshua!

Routines

Author,

Bread Making...YUM!

Blessings for Health!​Diane

My Ongoing Health Crisis

Gratefully,​Diane

Fall Gardening In Texas & Cancer

By His Grace Alone,​Diane

What is Adrenal Fatigue? Part 2

​Psalm 119:103-1-5

Runnin on Empty Part 1

Archives

Categories

The Shepherd's Studio

A Life Well Lived For Yehoshua!

Blessings for Health!
Diane

Gratefully,
Diane

By His Grace Alone,
Diane

Psalm 119:103-1-5