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Introduction Text That's not just a SAYING!! Been living it. NEVER give up and never let complacency or laziness creep in and take over. They're both sorry companions in this life. Keep getting up! + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Excerpted from "TEN YEARS (A Tale of Progress)" blog post. Ten years ago... - I lived through a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung) - this is very often fatal. Indeed, when the clot first ripped through my lung, my diaphragm seized then convulsed and I couldn't breathe. Still not sure how I got it to slow down and draw a breath. My extremely anemic state probably saved my life as the clot was only about the size of a nickel. - I was SO very anemic - my hemoglobin was just over 7 and my ferritin was ZERO. During my stay at the hospital for the PE, a doc walked up to me, put his face so close to mine, his nose nearly touched mine and said "Did you know you're anemic? I have to ask - How are you walking around upright? I really want to know - people with these numbers are usually not walking around talking." I then confessed my picas - cocoa powder straight out of the box (no sugar) and very, very hot sauce on everything else I ate. He wrote that down in his notebook and I didn't see that guy again. - I was so heavy and puffy, I ran out of breath walking to the mail box (and the mail box is not far from the front door!). - My skin was fish-belly white with a bluish tint, very thin and delicate; had such thin fingernails that they hurt if they got bumped. - I was losing my hair (seriously - my husband kept asking me if any of my relatives had gone bald!) - my scalp was very visible through my hair. - My Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (an autoimmune state that attacks the thyroid) had just been diagnosed. When I inquired 'what can we do about this', the response was 'nothing'. Hmmmm... I didn't believe that. - Hypothyroid Diagnosis. The first doc checked my labs every six weeks and adjusted my dose nearly every time he checked my TSH. Every time the dose changed, I would have migraine headaches, one after another - the last time, it was 5 in a row and I was so very sick - he'd given me migraine meds, but none of those touched the migraines I'd have with these dosage changes. Found a new doc as soon as I recovered from that 5x migraine. - Every time I tried to work out, I'd get sick for two full weeks (adrenals/anemia). TWO FULL WEEKS! - I had many deficiencies, iron deficiency being the worst at the time, but my body was deficient in many minerals and vitamins. - My hands and arms were constantly 'falling asleep' and tingling, sometimes going numb. My research indicated Raynauds, but I never mentioned these to my doc - I didn't want a diagnosis of MS or Raynauds. I knew in my heart that being diagnosed with yet another autoimmune (because once you have one, you're prone to others) and then getting a prescription to 'try' and treat the symptoms wasn't the direction I wanted to go. I wanted to find out what was causing these and then I wanted to heal it, not just treat it. - I wouldn't eat much because I was already overweight and didn't want to get heavier. Two things happened - deficiencies were exacerbated and it caused metabolic syndrome. - Acid reflux so bad that I would wake up from a deep sleep with a mouth full of acid. Betaine really did help that. I was in BAD shape. In fact, if I hadn't made the changes I've made over the last 10 years, if I'd stayed on that course, there is no doubt I wouldn't have lived to see my oldest child turn 16 and go to college. She did them at the same time last year. But I did change.... (read the blog post for the middle) Today: - My body is no longer making any antibodies, my thyroid is working. - My hair is thick and curly and long again. Fingernails aren't thin, they grow like weeds. - No more deficiencies - I work out very hard and don't get anything but sore, then muscle grows. - My skin is skin color! LOL Its a sandy brown in the winter and darker in the summer (no, I don't use sunscreen - I'm more concerned about vitamin D deficiency - vitamin D is EXTREMELY important and the skin is made to make it!) - hands and arms are no longer tingling and falling asleep - in fact, that was one of the first symptoms to disappear. - have lost weight. While I'm not at my ultimate goal, I'm within 10 or so pounds and that will go as I get more muscle. For ten years, now, I have been rebuilding my physical self. One prayer, one thought, one herb, one vitamin, one exercise, one food, one action at a time. I'm grateful - grateful for my failings because I learned so much more when I fell; grateful for my successes because each one was a step toward true healing and optimal health; grateful for my tenacity because to be sure, lesser souls would have given up long ago, but I believed in myself and knew deep in my heart that I could conquer this. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don't like to do. They don't like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose." E.M. Gray + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + He who gains a victory over other men is strong, but he who gains a victory over himself is all powerful. -- Lao Tzu + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. -- Jim Rohn + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "When you get right down to the root of the meaning of the word "succeed," you find that it simply means to follow through." F. W. Nichol + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. - Abraham Lincoln + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right -- Henry Ford + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try. -- Beverly Sills + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Some people are carbon copies. Others make their own impression. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + When you can't solve the problem, manage it. -- Dr. Robert H. Schuller + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

I am getting muscled up! I want to be able to bench press my body weight again before I turn 50. 4/4/2014 - 85 5/17/2014 - 105

Strength Training (part CrossFit, part traditional) Running, Riding stationery bike, chasing my man around the yard... :)

6 ft tall. Native Arizonan, Native American. Married Mother of 2, primal/paleo eater, stay at home home-schooling mom, herbal medicine student, creative professional, biker chick, weight lifter. Julee



Add a Link We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. -- Jim Rohn Do whatever you do intensely. -- Robert Henri Training is the opposite of hoping -- nikewomen.com <link>www.ancestralherbals.com</link>
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