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Of course I am!   I am the chief mom of this clan! If I don’t make the Christmas magic, who will?  Tired is no excuse and neither is too busy! I may not be making many but there will be some, and I won’t be tasting so much as a single one.

My kids like Christmas cookies.  Our family heritage of Italian, Hungarian and German descent means we have recipes that are amazing.  Interestingly none of them are disgusting sweet concoctions, but more cookies you might enjoy with a cup of tea.  My kids look forward to them, and I won’t disappoint them.  So despite the craziest schedule ever this year, I am still making a few kinds for them to enjoy.  I used to make a lot more, but I just can’t do more than what happens today, and I am living a guilt free life now, lol!

I often wonder how my mom and grandma cranked out fifteen kinds of cookies each year. My sister does as well, even though she works.  She makes so many she has alternate lists that she does every other year.   I remember that my mom and grandma didn’t work outside of home, and here I am with two jobs.  Yeah, that kind of cramps your Christmas style a bit.

Read moreMaking Christmas cookies….

I used to have that all the time.  I would drag myself home from work, get in the house and crash before heading off to my evening job.  It was awful.  I was overly tired, my muscles ached and I craved sugar laden treats.  It’s not like I ate the worst although lots wasn’t good but looking back some things were really just sugar disguised as healthy.  I would eat a few pieces of fruit, a protein bar, some yogurt, or peanut  butter and crackers, a glass of milk.  Some days, I might have a few cookies and tea with honey. On really cold days, I might have hot chocolate.  It was all sugar.  Sugar, sugar everywhere.  I would go to Walmart and snack on my favorite thing, intense chocolate milk during my break.

I convinced myself that I always felt better after I had it, but then in about twenty minutes, exhaustion would hit and I had to force myself to stay awake and keep going.  So what did I do? Have a little more sugar to start the whole process going again, only then it might be a bowl of cereal, some oatmeal with dried fruits, maybe some popcorn.

Read moreThe three o’clock slump…

And that can be summed up in one phrase….

How important it is and just  how badly I needed it…..

I had never been to a chiropractor in my entire life  until about seven years ago.  I had gone to the doctor complaining of sciatic pain and I was referred to a chiropractor.  He was great and actually the one who told me that what was wrong with me was a whole lot bigger than sciatic nerve pain.  One visit and a call to my doctor led to a neurosurgeon a week later and I was having surgery for a benign spinal tumor. I didn’t return to the chiropractor after my surgery, mostly because no one had told me I needed to.  I had no idea that he could have helped me to heal faster… go figure….  I had no clue what holistic care was and just how much regular visits could change my life!

Read moreWhat I never knew about chiropractic care….

Dear Chris,

I don’t know how you do it, but I know I can’t change everything.  I can’t give up everything. I just can’t do it………

Sighhhhh….. I read a lot of email like that… I hate that word, “Can’t.”   But, that’s a topic for another day…

Okay!  So you can’t change everything today. Can you change one thing today?  Just one?

Can you give up pop today? Or tea? Or coffee? Can you drink more water today?   Can you lose the gluten products today?  Eat more veggies today?  What can you do today?

The thing is that all of us can change one thing today.  And if today goes well, then do it tomorrow.  Then add in a third day! And before you know it a week has gone by.  Then add in another week!  And then it’s a month.  

Read moreYou don’t have to change everything today….

It’s kind of funny,,,, it’s almost eleven p.m., and I usually don’t write blogs at this time of day.  I hadn’t planned on finishing any of my blogs that I started this week.  That’s mostly because it has been  a week and a half.   I have worked both my jobs all week long.  That means I am up at 5:30, exercise, shower, school, home for about an hour, correct some papers, off to Walmart, home at 10:30 or so, correct some more work, do up the dishes, brush my teeth, sleep, repeat.  I had a few appointments this week as well, including Dr. Jack and the chiropractor, and of course my Pilates class that I would never miss.  I also had all the things that mom people do, laundry, errands, groceries and just mom stuff.  Both Wednesday and Thursday I left the house and only returned to sleep.

And mind you, it’s not over yet.  Tomorrow, I am heading to the XStream games for the Diocese with my Robotics club from school.  I am supposed to also try to meet a friend for coffee after, plus get groceries, gas for my car, and then next week looks exactly like this one, with working both jobs and all day Saturday. People ask me how I do it, and I think I am not sure, lol….but what they don’t know is that I am doing it all now, plus more and still have energy left over!!  That’s the part that amazes me, the left over energy.

Today , I worked at Walmart all day, went to see my niece’s school play and then did a load of laundry. I was going to sit down and read but instead I sat there thinking how, it just occurred to me that the changes that are going on inside me are not done yet! A year later and things continue to improve.

If this had been two years ago, I could never have even gone through week.  I would have been in tears by Tuesday. It’s amazing to me that I can just keep going and going and going!  I never though that that I could ever regain my energy and even when I saw I was, I had no idea that I could attain this level, and it isn’t over yet!  This is …… unbelievable!!!

Who would have even dreamed this was possible??  Dr. Jack always tells me that things will just keep on getting better!!  And guess what? They really do!  I would write more, but I am thinking I have time to dry and fold that load before my head hits the pillow!

Sitting across from a friend who was having  much different lunch than me.  She feasted on leftover spaghetti, and meatballs, cheese,  and had a really sugary dessert, some kind of crust, chocolaty sugary confection.  And yogurt….

“Are you sure you don’t want some, Chris?  No one will know.”
“I will know, but thanks anyway. I gave up sugar and reactive foods the first day on this road, and I am not going back. I really do actually enjoy what I eat! ”

“You must miss it at times. I am sure a few bites would not cause all the much reaction.”

“Ummmm actually you would be amazed, so no thank you.”

I thought about that.  At times, I guess I wouldn’t have minded a bite or two.  But I know too much about what sugar does to me,  and I know way too much about how quickly I respond to food additives.  I have learned a lot about the times I seem to want it more. It’s is always at times when I am over stressed, over tired, when life seems too hard.   Do I miss it?   Sometimes, I guess…..

Read moreLet me tell you what I don’t miss…..

I was driving to work the other day and that Taylor Swift song came on.  And I kind of giggled to myself thinking how just that day, I had encountered a few people who fall into that category. Haters gonna hate…   That same day, I had received an email from someone who was interested in starting with Dr. Jack, whose husband told her that this program would never work for her and that she should think about weight loss surgery because then she could eat what she wanted just not as much.  Sigh…. heard all that before, too.  Not going to solve the problem but whatever…. I wrote her back to tell my story.  She told me about the naysayers in her life… yeah… everyone has them.  Drop fifty pounds and they hush up pretty quick.

We all have them.   They are “friends,” and sometimes they could be family, who just think that the road you have decided to take is wrong.  They don’t seem to have any trouble voicing their opinion, and worse yet they argue that your way is wrong.  “I can’t believe you eat that way all the time. You know, of you just added in more _____ you would lose more weight. Your problem is that you seriously need more exercise.   This program can’t possibly be healthy.  You really should try ___ program. You could eat more things, like they make prepared dinners. ”

Read moreHaters gonna hate, hate, hate…

I am really grateful this Thanksgiving for so many things.  I am blessed with a great family, and friends who are like family to us. I could go on for pages.   I have sooooo much to be grateful for.

And this year, especially, I am even more grateful for what Dr. Jack has done for me.  At this same time last year, I had been with him two months and I lost a bit of weight.  But more importantly, I was feeling so much better.  I had to work Thanksgiving day at Walmart.  I wasn’t too happy about that, haven’t been happy about it for the last nine years,  always hate missing my family on Thanksgiving.  My son was going to be spending the day with his fiancé and her family.  My daughter was cooking her first Thanksgiving turkey and having her husband’s family for dinner.

I got up early to help her chop,  cut, prepare foods, make stuffing, and clean the turkey.  We got  the whole meal going and her husband was so proud of the beautiful meal she prepared. She invited me to come back to at least eat before I had to go to my job.  I went home and got ready and returned.  I ate within my plan, turkey, some veggies and salad, and off I went.  It wasn’t easy, I won’t say it was, and like every year I cried in the car because I just want to be with my family.   I realized I wasn’t missing the holiday stuffing in me, I missed the real stuff that filled me. The people…. my people….

Read moreBeing thankful…

Silly topic right?? Giggle!!   Well, the story goes that last week I met a friend for lunch at Greens.  It is on Transit Rd in Amherst.  They have the most awesome Dr. Jack friendly food there, and when I see Kelly for my skin, I like to stop to eat there.  Walk by the pizza, no stopping,  lol… they make these chopped salads that are to die for.  Soooooooooo good. Filled with fresh, non preservative yummy things.

You choose all the things you want and they chop it all together and then top it with dressing. It is soooooooo good, did I mention that? And unlike other places, I never have so much as an itch after I eat there.  No weird food reactions. Trust me, order a small!

Well, I had the salad there and one of the things they have is fresh Parmesan cheese… you know the shaved kind…gosh, I love Parmesan, or Romano cheese. My mom was pure Italian! Our veins are filled with olive oil and pure Parmesan cheese.  When I was a child, my grandpa used to take us to the Italian store and always asked for a taste before he bought it and I can still remember him handing it to me and asking my thoughts.  If he saw pre grated? He would flip out!  Never!! We need to see the wheel it came from! 

Read moreParmesan cheese….

One of the absolute worst Hashimoto symptoms is being cold.   You are probably reading that and thinking, “What? Everyone gets cold.”   Yeah…. it’s not like that.   Hashimoto cold is awful. It is almost disabling.

Starting in late September, it begins and runs its course until about the end of May.   No lie.   It is a problem, that for me, got worse as years went on.   The winter before Dr. Jack was absolutely the most awful winter ever.  I remember not ever wanting to leave the house for any reason.

The first day of the year I got it, it starts in the evening.   I would catch a chill.   And I would start  to feel cold, so I would put on a sweater.  But that isn’t enough.   So now I would add in an extra pair of socks, I would crank up the heat and while everyone around me is sweating like it is summer, I was shivering.  And I mean like my teeth are chattering.   I would try drinking warm liquids, no relief and then my skin starts to tingle.  My goosebumps have goosebumps.

Read moreBeing cold…. Oh how I don’t miss that….