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I am the eighth grade teacher and every year, I take my class on an end of the year trip.   I have done all kinds of excursions from Montreal, to Boston, to Cleveland, to Washington for days on end, to amusement parks.   At my current school, no overnights are allowed but it is still, in trying to have the kids get the most out of the day that they can, a long day.   Yesterday was no exception, as we planned a day that began at 6:30 a.m. and ended after 11:00 p.m.

After a lot of research, the class decided on Kahlahari water park in Ohio.  It has both indoor and outdoor water rides, zip lining and if you have never been, it was an awesome place to take teens!  I posted some live videos to our parent Facebook page so those at home could see the excitement.

I did not come prepared to swim, nor even think on it.  I wore appropriate teacher attire, a pair of capris, and a nice Tshirt.   Yes it was very hot and humid in that, but I need to be dressed appropriately.  Given it was a water park I asked my students to wear modest suits and thankfully all did.  I was especially proud of my girls for their nice suits.   They were girlish, many two piece but appropriately covered.

I am the teacher and with twenty students on board and all their parents at home, a few with nut allergies, and health concerns, my purse containing epi pens, I needed to be available on my phone at all times.   We arrived and decided on a great meeting place and they were off with times to check in with me.   I walked around the perimeter and checked to see where everything was, places where I thought they might congregate.  I scoped out what were the supposed healthy eating options were, so I would know my options,  and actually found two spots where fresh  salad was available.

Read moreMy class trip…..

Are you kidding?   Never giving them up!!

When I started with Dr. Jack, and he told me that I would need to take supplements, I admit, that I rolled  my eyes and inwardly groaned.   Ughhhhhhhh….

I could barely remember to take my necessary medication which included blood pressure, thyroid, cholesterol, metformin, and a host of supplements, calcium, vitamin d, multivitamins…. double ughhhhhhhhhhhh….

What’s funny now, fast forwarding?  Yeah, I never ever forget a day of them.  I lost all those pills and traded them for whole food supplements, supplements I would never forget to take!   I found out just what a huge difference they make!  It’s beyond measure.   I did not need a single sick day this winter, have not had a cold, not the flu, no stomach issues, zip, nada…. why??   Because I am soooooo much healthier than I ever was in my entire life!  Heal from the inside out!  Love that plan!

Every few months, I ask Dr. Jack what supplements he is currently taking.  Like clockwork.  I am sure the poor man thinks I have a memory problem because I just asked him a few weeks prior!  But the truth is, I want to know what he is taking seasonally…. does it change?  What does he consider essential for his own body.  I want to know how he, with his beyond crazy lifestyle, keeps going.  What does he eat on a daily basis, what does he take, what does he do?   How much exercise does he get? How much sleep?

I take a bunch of supplements, ones that he has told me are the essential ones.  I no longer have stomach  or sleep issues.   I no longer live on coffee and have afternoon slump times. I don’t get sick, I don’t feel awful and nauseous.  I don’t have weird food cravings and I am not symptomatic.  They are Whole Foods, things you recognize as food ingredients.  They aren’t filled with chemicals, and ingredients you can’t pronounce.  I function better today than in my twenties!   Yeah, I take a few supplements, and I think I will stick with this plan.

Dr. Jack has a YouTube channel where he talks about the supplements he uses in his practice.  It is interesting how so many help with things I don’t even think about!

Here is a link for one on probiotics!  https://youtu.be/_FCctXkizWk

No, I didn’t forget you all.  Huggggssssss.   It’s May, or Mayhem as I like to call it, and I am a teacher.   An eighth grade teacher, approaching graduation season.   That’s it…  lol

Yesterday, while working job two, I had a customer tell me all about how she totally forgot her order number and that she had even ordered some clothes. I said it was not a problem and asked for her name.  She hesitated a split second and I knew.   She looked at me as a smiled……  “Brain fog?”  “Thyroid disease?”

“How did you know?” She asked. Oh…  I know… believe me, I know.  Brain fog and I, we go way backkkkk…..    I told her about Dr. Jack and she told me that she really isn’t interested in weight loss.  I laughed and explained that is biggest misconception people have about Dr. Jack.  He is about soooooo much more than weight.  I would say weight is just a tiny portion of his practice.  Dr. Jack is about health!  Period.   Weight is a part of that, but he is all about healthy! Living your best!

When I first told Dr. Jack I was clearing, he was very happy for me but not as ecstatic as me. Ha ha! How could he be?  If you never have lived under the big cloud, it is hard to know the extreme joy of seeing the sun!!   I can still remember the conversation, “No! You don’t understand!   The fog has lifted!!!”  “I know, I am so happy for you.”  “No!  Dr. Jack, you don’t understand!    You really don’t understand, this is like….. HUGEEEE!!!!” Ha ha….

Read moreLiving without the fog

Today is my sixtieth birthday! A friend asked me the other day how old I was going to be, and I said I would be sixty, with a whole lot of pride!    “I would never admit that to people.”    Why the heck not??   I am rocking this sixty thing!!  I should have a badge to wear!  I made it and this is still my natural hair color, no lie!!   Okay maybe a few specks of glitter in there but who cares??  A few wrinkles? So what?   I am sixty today, and seriously,  I feel better today than I ever did at thirty!!

Thirty was awful!!    I was scared at thirty for where my health was headed.  Today??  Are you kidding me? I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet!  That’s still coming!   All thanks to a doctor that believes that there are natural ways to fix things that plagued me for a lifetime.

When I was in my early thirties, my thyroid disease began.  I was exhausted, physically and mentally.  I was fighting hard to hang on despite ever worsening symptoms.  I woke up exhausted every single day.  I fought hard to put on a good face, and for the most part minus my family, no one realized how bad it was. I searched high and low to find an endocrinologist who wouldn’t brush me off, but actually listen to me.  It was a chore getting through every day.  I finally did find one, and waited six months for an appointment. She did listen.    The only problem was that the cure was simply more medication that felt better for about two weeks and then it didn’t anymore.   My weight packed on and I couldn’t even smell a sandwich without gaining weight, an my symptoms grew exponentially.

Read moreRocking 60!!!! Sixty isn’t the new forty, for me, it’s the new 30!!!

Well, I do now!  I didn’t always.   About five years before I met Dr. Jack, there was a spring where I seemed to have the worst cold I ever had.  My eyes were goopy all the time and I was sneezing, wheezing, and coughing constantly.  My eyes hurt so much, I couldn’t get my contacts in.  I went to the doctor and was told it wasn’t a cold, I had allergies.

Allergies?? That isn’t possible!  I was well into my fifties and had never had allergies in my entire life.   But apparently, you can develop them at any time.  Yahoo…….insert sarcasm.

I was given a presecritption for Flonase, and told about over the counter medication.  I am sure I rolled my eyes, because I have always had weirdo reactions to over the counter meds.   Sure enough, Claritin gave me massive nose bleeds, and the only thing that worked was a store brand allergy relief that actually provided no relief at all.  Ughhhhhh……..

Every evening , after work, before bed, I showered and changed my pillow cases because I was told that pollen could be in your hair making it worse.  I tried all kinds of natural solutions, and when they didn’t work I used over the counter medications.  When I think of the poison I have shoved into my body, I cringe.

Read moreI love allergy season!

Read moreDr. Jack’s miracle for this family? Call me, “Grandma…”

https://www.facebook.com/events/328376904244234/?ti=icl

Occasionally, I mention Rob Ciminelli in my posts. People write to me to ask who he is, and what he does.     Those that know me in real life are often surprised to hear that I work with him, a life coach.   They tell me that I give off the persona of having it all pulled together,   lolllllllllll…. oh gosh my sides hurt from laughing.    It has taken a village to fix me!  And Rob is one of the villagers. And trust me  the job is far from over, we have a long road ahead.   But the road is fun!  Filled with Dr. Jack and Rob!  Fun, fun, fun!

I met Rob through Dr. Jack on a day I was beyond frustrated.  I work too hard, my life felt stagnant and Dr. Jack asked if I wanted to fix all that. It was a really bad day.   I remember the exact day that happened.  I was cleaning out my dresser drawers, throwing stuff, aggravated,  and emailing Dr. Jack and I sat down at the edge of my bed to read the message he sent back.  “Do you want to change all that?  I want you to contact this person.”

Read moreWho is Rob Ciminelli??

Some of my best conversations with Dr. Jack have had a common theme. I ask a question, and then, I just am quiet and listen.  Those are our best conversations.  When he starts talking and suddenly, I find myself mesmerized with what he is saying.  I start taking notes fast and furious.  When he is done, I think about the things he said for days.   He is soooooo super at education, and even better at being totally honest with you about areas of your health that you don’t even consider. I count on that honesty and have come to value it so much.     And one of those recent conversations, was centered around what is my total inability to say, “No,” to anyone….for anything.  Affecting my health?  Absolutely!!

I bet you wonder how I got his far in life without him? Yeah, I often wonder about that, too.  I hate saying, “No,” to anyone.  I try to be a kind person, and if I can help anyone, I try to do that.  But, as Dr. Jack rightly pointed out to me, that comes with a price tag.   And truthfully, I am far too often the kind of person so many others take advantage of.   That’s another blog…..

So, during this educational conversation, he told me that he has a sign on his desk….

When you say, “Yes,” to someone or something, it means you are saying, “No,” to something or someone else.

Yeah… I need to embroider that on a pillow or wall hanging and put it in my line of view every single day.   I am skilled at saying, “Yes,” soooooo skilled.   And who is the person I always take away from to do that? Me.  I don’t need sleep, or time for things I enjoy!  I can’t remember the last movie I saw, not at home or out.  I never read a book during the school year.  I rarely do anything, “fun.” There are no fun afternoons, no fun weekends, zip.  And lately I have made no time for exercise, swimming, painting, or anything that would be relaxing to me.   Too busy with things I have to do.  What am I doing?? Is this helping me be healthy? Hardly!  In fact, total opposite.   I don’t even make ten minutes to just sit and be!

Read moreLearning to say “no”….

Yesterday…. glad it’s over…..

I was zipping around getting ready for work yesterday, and my phone beeped.  It was my future daughter in law, and she would never call me that early.  Immediate panic.   I could hardly understand what she was saying except I got the important stuff….can’t get ahold of Joe or my mom….. car accident.  Like lightning, I was in my car and on my way.  As I was approaching the spot, I heard a fire truck and ambulance. My heart jumped to my throat with silent prayers for all, that no one was injured.  I got there, veering past police and fire trucks.   I jumped out of my car rushing for the police car she was sitting in while paramedics talked with her.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her uninjured.

Short version, she and the other driver are fine.  The cars? Not so much.  The rest is just stuff and that’s all that matters.   It is a rough traffic spot and the other car swiped her.   As I looked at the car, I got a huge lump in my throat.  One split second more and she would have been nailed in the door.  And I do mean split second.  I sat there with her and we got through all the business even though her anxiety was a tough factor.  I remained calm, I am one of those people great in an emergency, who panics later on.   I got her home, called her insurance company, got everything rolling. She was shaken but okay.  Sitting there, I just kept thinking I needed some toast.   How weird…..

Once I was sure she was okay, I headed to work.

Read moreI want some toast….

I have been off of school this week. I brought home tons of school work. Didn’t complete even half of what I thought I could do. That’s a terrible habit of mine, expecting limitless time and energy from myself, almost superhuman. I don’t expect it from anyone else.

It’s a hard time of year for me, as a teacher and it is winding up to real Mayhem (my little joke of how I call the month of May, Mayhem).

It has been an interesting week of changes though, changes not visible to other people but definitely changes inside. It started on Tuesday when I had my weekly phone check in with Dr. Jack. It started out as usual, with me asking a few questions. But suddenly Dr. Jack was talking and I was sitting there with my pencil writing furiously. He was saying thing after thing and I don’t know how else to describe it except it was a life changing moment. And one that continued through the week.

Read moreWhat a difference a moment makes….