Rebecca's journal-may be time to restart this

[Farmfresh]

rebecca you need to check two things ... First have your thyroid levels checked. Other symptoms of a thyroid condition are very dry skin and fingernails that tend to separate and split.

Next try taking an iron supplement.

I used to walk around in the fog you speak of feeling like I was drunk half the time. I do have a thyroid problem, but even with that treated I still felt foggy. Then I found out I was anemic. The doctor explained that the iron in your blood carries the oxygen to your brain and elsewhere. If there is not enough iron there is not enough oxygen leaving elevated Carbon Dioxide levels in your brain. The doctor said it almost exactly mimics the way alcohol reduces the oxygen to the brain. So if you are low iron you not only feel drunk you really ARE drunk.

Give those things a try. I feel 100% better myself.

 

[rebecca100]

You know I hadn't thought about iron. I used to be very anemic, then we moved to our old place where we had a well. The next time I was tested for anemia was right after the baby was born and they said my iron levels were great esp. for having just had a baby and I felt great. Six months later is when we had the tornado and moved. I have been drinking city water again so it would make since that my iron would be low.

 

[Farmfresh]

Well then ...see it could be an easy fix!

 

[justusnak]

Tired...bad memory... = low iron? Hmmm, and here I thought it was just the winter blahs! Guess I need to start takeing more iron as well. I have been feeling the same way!

 

[Dace]

You know what? I was just posting about this...I call it Mental Fog.

I used to be constantly dragging, always exhausted and mental fuzzy. Even when I used to hit the gym, I woudl feel better for a few hours and then it would all creep back in.

In July I decided that our diet was just not good for us, so it has been going thru a complete overhaul, one step at a time. Getting rid of processed foods and eating nutrient dense whole foods.

In November I got really serious about my own diet and cut out all sugar (except 2 tsp in my morning coffee) and all processed/refined carbs. (bread, crackers, granola bars, chips, sweetened yogurt, fast food, soda) etc.....I did this in small increments and tracked it all in my journal (you can go find it).

I can not even begin to tell you how much better I feel! I never realized how BAD I actually felt nor that it was all self inflicted. I also shed (without any effort!) 14 pounds.

Now the girl who hates to exercise is swimming 5-7 miles, riding a bike 13+ miles and *trying* to learn to jog 3 times a weeks...and i am signing up for a triathlon.

Diet change was pivotal to all of this lifestyle change!

I agree with getting you thyroid and iron levels checked, Vit D too. Supplement where needed and start with 3 small steps:

Increase your veggie intake (work up to 10 servings)
Increase your water intake (2 quarts or your weight in half...150 lbs =75 oz water)
Cut down on the sugar and refined carbs

Also check out Freemotions Food Journal....there is a ton of very valuable information on there!

Hugs!

 

[rebecca100]

I really want to change our diets. That is part of this SS thing. I am hoping that our garden will be a major step in that direction. First though I definately need to get some iron sup. because before I get too much going I need to have the energy to do stuff. I have to force myself to do things now. I get up in the morning and am still tired. I want to crawl back into bed and stay there. I will read those journals Dace! I am afraid that I will meet major resistance though to the cutting out of sugar and sodas. Like WWIII resistance!

 

[Dace]

Yes, read my journal....we had lots of, um....battles. At several points I thought my 4 kids were staging a coup.

BUT we got thru it. My kids are eating much better, asking for MUCH less crap, they understand the labels are king and my 7 yr old knows that corn is NOT a vegetable.....she has daily discussions (disagreements)with a friend whose (overweight) mother follows traditional 'healthy' food guidelines which include '100 calorie pack' snacks, margarine and fat free yogurt as good food choices. I am all abut whole foods...the less processed, fewer ingredients the better.

It is not all sunshine and roses, I still hear the occasional "there's nothing to eat!" which really means there is no crap to munch mindlessly on. We still do treats, but they are homemade so I know healthy ingredients are in them and we don't bake goodies more than once a week...it seems to be enough to keep the quiet....I mean happy

My personal health has improved tremendously as I said. Start with yourself, and then really think about what your kids are eating and start making small changes.

My favorite little saying about change.....if you put a frog into a boiling pot of water his will immediately hop right out. If you put him into a cool pot of water on a high flame....well, by the time he realizes he is being cooked, it is too late to do anything about it.

 

[rebecca100]

Well, today dh and I put a roof over the porch where we plan on spending the summer when it gets hot. this summer we don't plan on using any ac and the porch with a fan will be a nice retreat. Either that or we will all be in the camper which has ac and is a lot cheaper to run! A couple of days ago we put the porch itself on. Before that we cut, cleared and planted and cleaned. We have gotten so much done since he was layed off. It is just amazing. People slow down and wave when passing our house. Someone even pulled in our driveway and told us how nice we had the old place looking, he also asked about my dad and was sad to hear that he passed away last year. We have very little money even for groceries and only a few dollars saved for gas. We butchered the little pig ourselves and kept the big one for breeding later. I made sausage for the first time ever!!!! We still have veggies in the freezer and a couple of chickens on foot to go in. I have been picking up eggs daily for that day's use. And it has been beautiful outside. We are really enjoying it, but I can't wait for him to get his first unemployment check! It will barely cover feed and utilities though, with just a little left over. Hopefully though he will have a real job before all this fun SSin' quits being fun. Either way though the weather has been beautiful upper '70's and I have really enjoyed the last two weeks and I wish it would last . What would make it better though is if the garden were already producing and the strawberries and blackberries and such were ripe.
I was outside earlier and saw our old pet turkey hen wobbling from between the fence and the shed. Uh huh. I went and checked. Found 7 huge turkey eggs in a nest. I collected them since we don't have a male turkey and she is WAY too obese to try to set even if we did. Kids were so excited! They think of her as a pet too and were thrilled at the thought of her laying eggs.

 

[rebecca100]

Well we made some money selling my dad's old car for scrap and we have one more to take. Paid pretty well for an hours worth of work and the place that buys is only about 20 miles from us! Then we met the fish man yesterday and got 110 5-8" some were closer to 10" catfish. That came to $49 plus fuel charge which made it $52 even. Our garden is growing good and now we will have fish poo to fertilize with. The strawberries, blueberries and tomatos are blooming! I ran out of detergent for the washer and used plain old water and couldn't believe how clean the clothes smelled with no detergent! I did notice on my towels though that even with no detergent that they suds like I had added a cupful. I must have been using too much even though I usually use it at half the recommeded amount. Dh put up a clothesline and the clothes smell great escpecially since the cherry tree beside them is in full bloom. All I need to get now are some worms for the compost and to feed the fish. I am afraid that I will just have to wait until next year for them. Unless we can get a good bit of wild ones caught. I got some muscadine, cherry, plum and mulberry cuttings in the mail and I have them in soilless mix trying to take root. I have never done that before but it is something the kids and I are trying. I think a couple of peach cutting I started a couple of weeks ago are already trying to grow roots.

 

[rebecca100]

Dh and ds are going camping with cubscouts this weekend. Dh is going to bring some turkey and EE eggs to cook. Mostly just to freak all the kids out who have never seen a huge spotted egg or a green egg in their life. The other day they (cubscouts) all went to a "farm" to see how they work. When ds got home he saed "mom, I don't know why i had to go. All they had were cows and chickens. They didn't even have any ducks. We have a better farm!" Dh said we should have just let them come here if they would mind long enough. Then just a few days later parent teacher conferences came up. Dh went and I stayed home with a feverish young'un. Anyway, he went to see both ds and dd's teachers and ds's teacher remarked on how well mannered he was and made good grades and how he could tell a story to the class and have everyone's attention. She said he would make a great writer someday. But then she added, " I almost expect more out of him though, since he lives on a farm and helps out taking care of animals. He gets to do and have things that most kids only dream about." Apparently he had been going to school and telling stories about his adventures at home catching pigs, raising rabbits and catfish, hatching chicks and such. Kinda made me feel like maybe we might actually be doing something right for once. Ds has an ability to turn the wildest animal into a calm pet and dd has just the opposite ability. She can make the sweetest animal bite, and not do anything different than ds.