Storms of Life

Today storm sandy is heavy on my heart.  I believe I have the gift of mercy.  I am thinking how life is changed in a moment.  A storm can change your day completely to where your priority could be:  how will you get clean water when prior to the storm maybe you only had a taste for Pepsi.  What if you did not own a car and you relied on the subway to get to work or what if you had no electricity and you were cold and felt unsafe in your home because it was dark?  I feel today as if I take so many things for granted.  I almost feel guilty  that it is a sunny warm day where I live and that for the first time in a month I have slept without pain.  And yet..gratitude fills my heart.  I know in a moments notice an earthquake or an illness could rock my world.  I do not live in fear...but I am watchful and preparing the best I know how.  How do you prepare for the unknown?  First of all you live each day as if it is a miracle and grateful for the gift it is.  And then you become a student of life and you learn all you can.  I have heard it said, history repeats itself.
It seems shallow to talk about Halloween or healthy eating in light of what is happening in the world today.  I think I shall focus on gratitude and the true riches in life which our our relationships.  If I had been in storm Sandy's path, what would I be thankful for today?....that I am alive, that the sun is shining,   that those I love are with me, that I have my faith.....just thoughts.

Needed rest

My knee is tired and the rest of my body is exhausted and so today I will rest!  Sometimes you just have to!  Crazy how in my lack of sleep and pain I reach for those carbs...why is that? Glad each day provides a do over in life.
 Ice is on the knee and it is elevated..two steps forward and one step back...sometimes the healing process seems so slow.  Thank God for friends...coworkers who love me  right where I am at in today and who encourage and come alongside me to share in the work. A smile, a hug, a jumping up to help before I can move....
Even in the trials, each day remains a gift, full of joy waiting to be uncovered.  Sometimes I forget rest is key to health.  I want to leave you with that simple thought for today.
'Be still and know that I am God"...He says...and so I shall.

Going for a walk

Lately I have come to appreciate going for a walk.  For many years I have thought walking was a waste of time and unproductive.  Running has always in the past seemed more efficient.  Since June running has not been an option and so I am learning to appreciate slowing down and enjoying time sharing what is on my heart, side by side with another.  Honestly, walking has actually been a challenge recently for me.  I am pushing the limit these weeks post knee surgery.   I am doing it all the same.  I love the outdoors and sunshine.  It restores my soul.
In Genesis chapter 5, it talks about Enoch walking steadily with God.  This got me thinking yesterday about my walk with God.  What does it mean to walk with God?  I think it means, that we stay together, at the same pace, on the same path that God chooses.  Moreover, I think walking with God means we ride out the storm together and that I make a commitment to walk with Him everyday.  For me this means reading my Bible so I know who He is and what He requires of me and spending time in prayer listening and responding in obedience.
 Walking nonstop is hard and it is exausting.    I am so thankful I do not have to do it alone.  As my knee heals- after a walk, I have to ice, rest it and take it easy. No matter what though,  I will keep walking and I will get stronger and maybe someday, God willing, I will even run again.  I am so glad God built rest into the plan.  Because I am a nurse, Sundays can't always be my rest day, so I make Wednesdays--worship day and I really take that day as my Sabbath.   I rest and restore to jump back in for the rest of the week again. 
In terms of my weight and nutrition, I have come to realize exercise alone will not allow me to get to the weight I desire.  Exercise is a part of it but  a huge key to weight management is sleep and managing stress.  That is where it is different for each person.  My faith helps me manage my stress and make sense of what I have trouble understanding in the ICU environment.   I also find doing yoga a couple times a week helps me manage my stress.  As for sleep,  when I am working 12 hour shifts, it is challenging for this night shift nurse.  I have come to realize I must prioritize it, which means saying no to other things at times in order to get sleep in.  I have heard ideally if you can go to bed at the same time each night and have the temperature of the room be less than 75 degees it is most optimal.
Anyhow....these are my words of wisdom for today.

Giving In and Giving, are heavy on my heart and possibly my hips today

I am not sure once I get back into working at night how often I will have time to blog like this....but I am liking writing.  Most likely, I am the only one reading this or the world is getting a healthy dose of who I am and what I believe.  I am guessing that is what blogs are for.
I will start out by saying today turned out to be a not a great eating day for me.  Something about when I am served 'free' food I have no guard against eating bread and sugar and I might add it tastes even more heavenly to me when it is 'free'.  Silly I know.  But true!  That is the beauty of Advocare. It is not so much a diet, as a way of eating for a lifetime.  There are guidelines and then there are products that make it easier to stay within the guidelines. I like that the goal is to stay on the guidelines 80% of the time which means approximately 7 meals a week I can eat whatever I want.... and so I did today...

I attended a medical conference. Before I left home I had my vitamins followed by a banana and some turkey and a Spark drink  (odd combo..you may think but meets the guidelines of 10 grams of protein and less than 30 gms of carb for a meal), my snack 3 hours later at the conference was a bran muffin and some raw nuts ( which I keep handy in my backpack) and lots of water.  Lunch was veggies and a chicken breast (here comes the bad part...2 warm whole grain rolls and dessert was   a warm delectible chocolate creaation with pudding in it and beries on the side).  I'm telling you..the free part...gets me everytime!  I was so full in the afternoon from eating those off limits things, I ignored eating 3 hours later and went straight to the gym to do the only exercise I can do with a healing knee, stationary bike for 30 minutes.  I rode that bike fast and really got my heart rate up with low resistance and then came home and walked the dog with Ryan.  You can guess after that, I was famished and the celery and  natural peanut butter I planned on having  to make up for the bad stuff earlier was gone ( thank you Ryan) and Tom's leftover pizza was staring at me.  You can guess what happenned.  The moral of the story is...eat every 3 hours and this wont happen to you and don't keep stuff you know is off limits in your house!
Again...it is ok.  I used up 2 of my 7 free meals for the week and will get back on track 1st thing in the morning.  A guideline for Advocare is do not eat 2 and a half hours before bed so now I am drinking water, journaling and then to bed. 
Lastly, I want to journal about my quiet time this morning.  I can't wait to learn how to add daily pictures to this blog.  I would show you some of the speakers from today's conference who were organ recepients...they touched my heart by the gifts they were given.  A mom who got a new heart and a young teacher who received 2 different livers within a week...saved their lives, changed their fate.  This all ties into my  morning quiet time on giving. 
In 1 Timothy 6 I read this today:
'"A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God.  Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on our table and shoes on our feet that's enough."
This chapter in Timothy goes on to say,"  Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow.  Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage---to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous.  If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.'
From these verses I am inspired to live simply so that I can give extravagantly generous.  I am reminded my life is richer when I help others.  Lastly, I am challenged to ask myself is having food on my table and shoes on my feet enough?
Oh and by the way...I do have that little pink sticker that identifies me as a potential organ donor on my drivers liscense , do you? 

My story is about breaking free

I was reminded last night when I talked to my Advocare advisor Monica  that my story is every bit as important as Tom's will be. Mine has everything to do with eating healthier and having more energy.
 Today I begin another chapter of taking care of myself and eating healthy.  After just finishing the 24 day challenge I am in control as to if I have a cup of coffee or not and no headaches...I love it!  And I crave water now.  It tastes so good to me that I have 2 water bottles I carry with me everywhere.  My goal is to get in 90 ounces or a gallon a day of water.  The drawback is I do have to pee alot but it is amazing how good I feel and I think my skin actually looks better.  I just drink simple tap water, either filtered from my fridge or through a Brita pitcher.
I started out my day with my Advocare MNS 3 vitamins at 6am.  Thirty minutes later I had an Advocare mocha shake for breakfast with only water added to it.  So glad that 3 weeks post knee surgery, I can finally do some exercise again!  T. came over and we hiked for 45 minutes!  Felt so good!  Yea, my knee remains slightly sore and stiff  but I cannot tell you how amazing I felt just to be outdoors and active!  Anyways, snack at 9am was 2 hard boiled eggs and an apple, lunch 3 hours later was a chef salad wit no cheese and turkey.  I am finding it so easy to make better choices while taking these supplements and I am eating 5 -6 meals a day.  I am not hungry but it does require some planning and making sure I have fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and meat in the house.  This afternoon my snack will be celery and natural peanut buttr and then we will have stir fry with chicken and brown rice for dinner.
It feels so good to be putting clean energy in my body.  I am excited to begin this next phase.  I still have about 20 pounds I would like to lose over time.  I am not in any hurry for the number on the scale to change.  My main goal is to feel healthy, able to excercise and work and be energized for a 12 hour shift.  I know that the inches and pounds will decrease if I stay on these products.
At first I thought the Advocare products were kind of pricey but soon I realized what I am spending on them is what we would spend on a nice dinner out once a month.  No longer going to Starbucks puts extra money in our pockets.  I can't wait to see where this journey leads Tom and I.
He is not ready to have his measurements and weight posted on this site yet but he did say after being on these MNS C vitamins daily and Spark drinks twice a day, for a week,  he is down 4 pounds and has added energy and has almost eliminated diet coke.  The best thing I heard Tom say this weekend is that he feels good!


Click on the link  below for more information on the 24 day challenge.  Look specifically at the documents on the right and call or text or email me if I can answer any questions you may have.



.www.advoarmy.com/page24DayChallenge

New Beginnings

Enter the 24 day challenge and change your life. Click here




I just finished my 24 day challenge.  I am energized and lost 6 inches overall and dropped eleven pounds in less than a month.  The best part is I have lost cravings for caffiene and sugar,  I am beginning to see this as a way of life.  I have become a huge believer in these products.  They are the key to me maintaining my energy and maintaining my weight as a nightshift nurse in a pediatric critical care environment.
My husband is about to embark on this journey too and I hope to blog and record his progress in hopes that maybe he will not choose to have the gastric surgery he has planned for December.  Tom loves the Spark drinks I offered him to take to work last week. So far  he has replaced his Big Gulp diet cokes with 2 Spark drinks a day and he has energy for 6 hours after one spark mixed in 8 ounces of water.  For Tom, that is huge. Now he is getting in the water and some vitamins and his indigestion is gone! 
He is not ready to eat the six small meals a day and cut out his dairy and bread but he will try the MNS C vitamins this week and I hope that gives him the energy and appetite control he needs to eat smaller meals and make better choices.  It's a start.  I am excited for him.  I believe small changes can lead to great gain. Hopefully tomorrow he will allow me to take some measurements and get him to step on the scale.  It will be encouraging for him down the line to see how far he has come.

Sure, I would like to see him do the 10 day cleanse 1st and then start the vitamins. What I have learned so far, is that everyone's journey is their own and we all get to our destinations in our own timing.  Alot too, has to do with budget and what you can afford product-wise.  Tom is no longer spending money on coffee which is freeing up some cash for the Spark drinks and vitamins.

 I would love to come alongside anyone who wants to improve their health by eating real food and using these supplements to help them make better choices.  Can't wait to see where this leads and to blog Tom's progression to better health.
If you are interested in trying Advocare products I would love to come alongside you too.  Please check out the above website to order product and let me know how I can advise you.