To Life!
I'm sure you knew it wouldn't be long before I started talking about food and health again.
I just had to get my computer in a comfortable spot to write.
I just had to get my computer in a comfortable spot to write.
If you've followed my blog for any amount of time....whether you started with my original Peaceful Acres Farm which I started in 2008 and chronicalized my healing journey with Chronic Lyme Disease and 3 co-infections, or if you followed the new Peaceful Acres Farm blog which doesn't exist anymore....thanks to all the hacking on Wordpress.....so now we're in this lovely little place made possible by Weebly...Wow that was a run on sentence....
Like I said, if you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you know health is a top priority in my life.
Like I said, if you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you know health is a top priority in my life.
When I left off here over a year and a half ago, I was in a bad place.
- Stage 3 burned out adrenals
- pre-diabetic
- high(er) cholesterol
- Mast Cell Disorder with 2 episodes of anaphylactic shock
- dead metabolism
- over weight
- tired
- pain everywhere
- deathly allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts
If you read All Alone in The Piney Woods, you know that after we made the 1400 mile move to Texas from Maryland, I was left all alone in these Piney Woods of ours. We were in the throws of a very vicious and nasty election, I was scared of being alone for the first time in 35 years, I was in a new place and knew no one, I went to church alone, I needed to get my health under control while living in nowhere Texas and couldn't risk anaphylactic shock since I'd most likely die before help arrived.
Before we pulled the U-haul away from 14576 MacClintock Drive Glenwood Maryland, I decided once I got to East Texas and was all alone, I'd go on a Daniel Fast. There are probably many variations of the Daniel Fast, but I basically gave up meat, sweets, snacks, etc for 21 days.
I knew that I needed that time to focus on my relationship with God while resting in this forest of ours.
It wasn't hard...oh yes, I was tempted. The first night of my fast I went to the Wednesday night church potluck! Oh yes, you can only imagine. I've never known a Christian who didn't like a big fat potluck! Everything smothered in cheese, everything fried, everything full of butter and lots of fatty meat! Oh YUM!
I was kicking myself in the head laughing about moving to the state where beef is king and where BBQ is a sport! Each trip to town I was tempted by the smoky aroma of meat cooking. BTW, everything here is smoked....I would bring down the wrath of Texas shame if they could see the mini grill I bought....it's barely big enough for 2 chicken breasts! LOL!
I thought....
I bet I'm the only person in the history of this great state of Texas who has moved here to go meatless. I was actually scared to even mention it because I didn't want anyone to think I was some whacky Yankee who was one of those weirdos! Hahaha! Yeah...I know....I am! :)
Each week I got thinner. Each week I became stronger. Each week at potluck got easier. I'd just politely explained that I was on a Daniel Fast or that I was deathly allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts and couldn't take chances.
Before we pulled the U-haul away from 14576 MacClintock Drive Glenwood Maryland, I decided once I got to East Texas and was all alone, I'd go on a Daniel Fast. There are probably many variations of the Daniel Fast, but I basically gave up meat, sweets, snacks, etc for 21 days.
I knew that I needed that time to focus on my relationship with God while resting in this forest of ours.
It wasn't hard...oh yes, I was tempted. The first night of my fast I went to the Wednesday night church potluck! Oh yes, you can only imagine. I've never known a Christian who didn't like a big fat potluck! Everything smothered in cheese, everything fried, everything full of butter and lots of fatty meat! Oh YUM!
I was kicking myself in the head laughing about moving to the state where beef is king and where BBQ is a sport! Each trip to town I was tempted by the smoky aroma of meat cooking. BTW, everything here is smoked....I would bring down the wrath of Texas shame if they could see the mini grill I bought....it's barely big enough for 2 chicken breasts! LOL!
I thought....
I bet I'm the only person in the history of this great state of Texas who has moved here to go meatless. I was actually scared to even mention it because I didn't want anyone to think I was some whacky Yankee who was one of those weirdos! Hahaha! Yeah...I know....I am! :)
Each week I got thinner. Each week I became stronger. Each week at potluck got easier. I'd just politely explained that I was on a Daniel Fast or that I was deathly allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts and couldn't take chances.
Why? Why? Why?
I spent a lot of money to find out what was wrong with me.
- Why couldn't I lose weight?
- Why was I so tired?
- Why was I having panic attacks?
- Why did I gain weight looking at food?
- Why MCAD? (mast cell activation disorder or mastocystosis)
- Why? Why? Why?
After thousands of dollars, all I found out was that yes, my adrenals were almost burned out from stress and imbalanced hormones. They were the reason for the 24 hour panic attacks; gasping for air and chest pains, the sleepless nights for over a year, the low energy and the low metabolism. One wise doc I had in Maryland once told me that women from Asia, who never experience menopausal symptoms, have the strongest adrenals on the planet.
The adrenals are these tiny little walnut size gland on top of our kidneys. They are part of the endocrine system. As is the thyroid, hormones....etc. I think of them as the security guards of our health system.
The simple answer to why, was stress. Let's face it, my life in Maryland was filled with stress and the year prior to pulling away from 14576 MacClintock Drive. Ridiculously stressful.
The adrenals are these tiny little walnut size gland on top of our kidneys. They are part of the endocrine system. As is the thyroid, hormones....etc. I think of them as the security guards of our health system.
The simple answer to why, was stress. Let's face it, my life in Maryland was filled with stress and the year prior to pulling away from 14576 MacClintock Drive. Ridiculously stressful.
- packing and purging a home of 30 years
- our daughter's wedding
- husband had 3 surgeries
After Bob's 3rd surgery in 4 months, I remember saying out loud...."I want off this stress train...NOW"!
How'd It Go?
Living on the Daniel Fast was easy. I had almost 0 stress...except for the unfortunate fellow below!
Believe me, it wasn't hard coming off the Daniel Fast.
Believe me, it wasn't hard coming off the Daniel Fast.
I was here for 20 days, when one day the dogs wanted out. I opened the front door and they lept over the front door mat....only to have this guy leap into the house! A house filled with boxes lining the walls. A house where he could get lost easily. A house where I was ALL alone! A house that was scared to death of snakes and thought all of them were copperheads! Especially here in our East Texas woods.
I had no alternatives....the broom was on the porch, and I couldn't leave this guy alone while I went to fetch it. So I took what was the closest to my grasp...my resin sheep..."his heal will crush your head". I dropped it from 3-4 feet up and thanked God when it landed flat on this snake. I peeked around to see if it was under there...nothing was sticking out....then I took my foot and stomped on that sheep until I not only killed my sheep but I killed that snake. (Let me just say, this was a harmless Dkays Brown Snake, but do you see that head? I've educated myself on snakes in the past year...all harmless snakes with flatten their heads to look big bad and mean...well, he did. Oh BTW he was only about 8-10 inches as an adult!) I bought a flat headed shovel that still sits by the front door!
I was shaking like a leaf, adrenaline was up so high....and I was scared to death! Since this snake, we've (I've) encountered many other not so harmless venomous snakes and I've stood on my front walk and yelled out loud to Satan...."Get behind me! You aren't going to chase me out of here! I know God brought us here, and He will make a way. A safe way!"
The only thing I wanted was to eat MEAT!!!
It was at that point of course after I ate 5 chicken legs, that I realized I was addicted to meat. Seriously? I bet most people would of dug out the ice cream (didn't have any), the cake (didn't have any)....but I did have chicken legs in the freezer.
Oh my how that calmed me down.
It wasn't until I added meat back in my diet on a limited basis....mainly because I was living alone...so I figured it wasn't worth cooking a pack of meat for 1 person, that I realized I wasn't addicted to meat I was addicted to FAT!
Oh yeah baby...who wants to eat potatoes without butter or sour cream? Who wants to eat chicken without crispy skin? Who wants to eat a roll without butter?
I had no alternatives....the broom was on the porch, and I couldn't leave this guy alone while I went to fetch it. So I took what was the closest to my grasp...my resin sheep..."his heal will crush your head". I dropped it from 3-4 feet up and thanked God when it landed flat on this snake. I peeked around to see if it was under there...nothing was sticking out....then I took my foot and stomped on that sheep until I not only killed my sheep but I killed that snake. (Let me just say, this was a harmless Dkays Brown Snake, but do you see that head? I've educated myself on snakes in the past year...all harmless snakes with flatten their heads to look big bad and mean...well, he did. Oh BTW he was only about 8-10 inches as an adult!) I bought a flat headed shovel that still sits by the front door!
I was shaking like a leaf, adrenaline was up so high....and I was scared to death! Since this snake, we've (I've) encountered many other not so harmless venomous snakes and I've stood on my front walk and yelled out loud to Satan...."Get behind me! You aren't going to chase me out of here! I know God brought us here, and He will make a way. A safe way!"
The only thing I wanted was to eat MEAT!!!
It was at that point of course after I ate 5 chicken legs, that I realized I was addicted to meat. Seriously? I bet most people would of dug out the ice cream (didn't have any), the cake (didn't have any)....but I did have chicken legs in the freezer.
Oh my how that calmed me down.
It wasn't until I added meat back in my diet on a limited basis....mainly because I was living alone...so I figured it wasn't worth cooking a pack of meat for 1 person, that I realized I wasn't addicted to meat I was addicted to FAT!
Oh yeah baby...who wants to eat potatoes without butter or sour cream? Who wants to eat chicken without crispy skin? Who wants to eat a roll without butter?
The Results
The funniest thing about this Texas house is that the contractor must of been a true Texan! EVERYTHING is tall or high!
There wasn't 1 mirror in this house that I could see below my boobs! I'd left the scale in Maryland with strict orders for it's destruction! The full length mirror was still in Maryland waiting for truck #2. If I wanted to see myself, I walked outside and looked at my reflection in the window!
I think now that not having a mirror to look in was to my benefit. Now that I have a full length mirror, I find myself critiquing my image on a daily basis. (That's another blog post entirely) The scale wasn't my friend. Coming from my teen years with eating disorders, it becomes obsessive...so it's not a friend. I don't own one. I wait until I see my doc annually and that's good enough for me. I can gauge my weight by how my clothes fit. If I get lazy my pants get tight!
There wasn't 1 mirror in this house that I could see below my boobs! I'd left the scale in Maryland with strict orders for it's destruction! The full length mirror was still in Maryland waiting for truck #2. If I wanted to see myself, I walked outside and looked at my reflection in the window!
I think now that not having a mirror to look in was to my benefit. Now that I have a full length mirror, I find myself critiquing my image on a daily basis. (That's another blog post entirely) The scale wasn't my friend. Coming from my teen years with eating disorders, it becomes obsessive...so it's not a friend. I don't own one. I wait until I see my doc annually and that's good enough for me. I can gauge my weight by how my clothes fit. If I get lazy my pants get tight!
So, the results that I could see in my tall mirrors were that my bra fit differently...no back fat. That was a pleasant surprise!
In just 3 weeks, I realized that I'd dropped around 25lbs.
That was exciting for me, since my metabolism was shot. Dead.
I began to research about this new way of eating....lots of veggies, carbs, fruit and meat only 1x week or less. At first it felt like the Mediterranean Diet.
Now, being here with only half of what we owned....I didn't have a TV...and that was OK with me. Life here was quiet and peaceful. Why would I want to change that by TV? Now we own a Smart TV and cast movies or YouTube, but we don't watch the news...we read it and that's pretty quick.
So, being here with no TV, I watched YouTubes on my Mac. Somehow I ended up watching a girl talk about The Starch Solution. I remember sitting there saying out loud (I do that a lot especially living alone!!!)..."Trade meat for carbs? HECK YEAH!!!" Eat pasta, bread, potatoes, cake, pie....Oh I was getting excited!
I've not looked back! My diet consists mostly STARCH! Very low to no fat added. No meat...well, on occasion...maybe 1-2X year....but not 3x day!!!! OMGOSH I can't believe I did that...can't believe how it was killing me and I was on the same path as my dad. Heart disease and diabetes....a slow and painful death!
I now know so much more about what happens to the epithelial lining of the arteries when fats (meat) are consumed...within minutes...seconds, the rate of blood flow gets slower. The research is in. The facts are painful for those who want to hold on to their fat.
I'm down from 165 to 133. Size 12-14 to size 8.
My adrenals are good but I still can't drink coffee. The caffeine gives me a jolt and with it comes back the racing heart, gasping for air, chest pains. So, I don't drink it...I can't.
I sleep 7-8 uninterrupted hours of sleep!
My total cholesterol is down from 180 to 148!!! (some don't think Total Cholesterol matters....OH IT MATTERS!!!)
HDL 54 to 55. LDL 99 to 67!!!
No signs of diabetes.
In just 3 weeks, I realized that I'd dropped around 25lbs.
That was exciting for me, since my metabolism was shot. Dead.
I began to research about this new way of eating....lots of veggies, carbs, fruit and meat only 1x week or less. At first it felt like the Mediterranean Diet.
Now, being here with only half of what we owned....I didn't have a TV...and that was OK with me. Life here was quiet and peaceful. Why would I want to change that by TV? Now we own a Smart TV and cast movies or YouTube, but we don't watch the news...we read it and that's pretty quick.
So, being here with no TV, I watched YouTubes on my Mac. Somehow I ended up watching a girl talk about The Starch Solution. I remember sitting there saying out loud (I do that a lot especially living alone!!!)..."Trade meat for carbs? HECK YEAH!!!" Eat pasta, bread, potatoes, cake, pie....Oh I was getting excited!
I've not looked back! My diet consists mostly STARCH! Very low to no fat added. No meat...well, on occasion...maybe 1-2X year....but not 3x day!!!! OMGOSH I can't believe I did that...can't believe how it was killing me and I was on the same path as my dad. Heart disease and diabetes....a slow and painful death!
I now know so much more about what happens to the epithelial lining of the arteries when fats (meat) are consumed...within minutes...seconds, the rate of blood flow gets slower. The research is in. The facts are painful for those who want to hold on to their fat.
I'm down from 165 to 133. Size 12-14 to size 8.
My adrenals are good but I still can't drink coffee. The caffeine gives me a jolt and with it comes back the racing heart, gasping for air, chest pains. So, I don't drink it...I can't.
I sleep 7-8 uninterrupted hours of sleep!
My total cholesterol is down from 180 to 148!!! (some don't think Total Cholesterol matters....OH IT MATTERS!!!)
HDL 54 to 55. LDL 99 to 67!!!
No signs of diabetes.
April 2016
July 2016
November 2017
November 2017....with my adorable grandson!
Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the results.
BUT What Did Bob Say???
Part 2 coming soon....I know, you're probably thinking....Oh no she's gone off the deep end and is some whacky VEGAN!
Relax...No...it's actually worse than that....I'm a Whole Food Plant Based Whacky girl!
Relax...No...it's actually worse than that....I'm a Whole Food Plant Based Whacky girl!