notjusthealthnuts

Today I am happily exhausted from a whirlwind week of maid of honor duty to a fantastic wedding celebration.  Today is my vacation from vacation to unpack, clean, restock, and laundry.  Two and half hours of laundry and putting away said laundry.  I truly question why we aren't nudist. As our blitz has ended, I wondered how we aren't in worse shape.  My answer came.  I was selfish.  A little bit.   There truly is an imbalance with the selfish concept.  People are egotistical assholes or martyrs burning before their time.  I don't want to be either.  Chances are neither do you.  This past week was dedicated to my sister and ultimately her fiancee, but mainly my sister.  The whole week I had my niece too.  Parts of the week I had an additional one to all four of my children plus my husband.  There was time spending with family plus bonding with new family.  Our schedules were out of whack. Tons of travel and car time.  My usual yoga and meditation time, exercise time w

I am a girl who loves to eat.  Protein shakes are great for on the fly and nutrition punch in the gut/ for the gut. However, I want real food.  For so long I either mindlessly ate and neglected the attention it deserved or hated food because we didn't understand each other and how to work together.  From leechy junk food who hangs around- in undesirable places- to that empty feeling calorie, I struggled.  After years of the love/hate tango we have finally come to healthy terms.   Our arrangements go like this:  I sit to eat and no longer eat on the run.  I was horrible about not taking my time and being thoughtless.   Now we have a time to be present in choices and time to be present at the meal.  This gives me the power to keep negative and unhealthy foods are under my control.   I have the right to be choosy in who shows up to dinner, lunch, breakfast, and in between. Especially salt and fats. I can say no and send them packing. Now herbs and spices provide the excitement

I knew this moment would come as her last day with public schools approached.  Bitterness is the root and working hard to not let cynicism become even more prevalent in my heart concerning this issue.  This kind of negativity will  misguide a better path and loose sight of the real fight. Ghost child did have a sweet send off and lots of sweet notes from her friends and teacher in her agenda. She got hugs and good byes.  My daughter is no longer anxious about the transition; instead, she is excited about her possibilities.  She has input in her education. Aside from core subjects that she will be responsible for and taught to regulate herself with accommodations long needed, ghost child is going to learn to cook and take art classes at a local art studio.  It's her decision and commitment to her interest and skills.  I am estatic for her. But the anger seethes.   Pulling her out of school and saying good bye was way too easy.  It was more of a battle to for testing and a loosin

Pranayama has never been more utilized in my life than the other night.  People are lovely but I enjoy my people time in small doses and numbers.  For a limited time.  For the sake of memories and time with family, my husband and I were in introvert hell for hours with an abundance of sugar for the kids. KIDSSSS, plural .  It was a wonderful event, truly, but way too many damn people, sugar, and noise.  Through the whole event, silently because I didn't want to seem crazier then I already am, I just kept reminding myself to breathe.  While waiting on the shuttle bus and the drive home with two sugar crazed kids, "just breathe."  As those same two children were ping ponging, supposedly getting ready for bed. "BREATHE"  These situations can easily take over our emotions, mind, and body.  It doesn't have too. Or in the case of a few nights ago, diminish the potential damage to the precious little sanity left.  Prana (sanskrit) means "life force." In

Before the marathon    With my littlest red in tow we set out for our biweekly marathon of food gathering in the urban jungle yesterday. For a family of six plus my niece at times,  it's all the marathon I ever care to participate in. It's not the worst chore I have to complete as my laundry piles on my dryer.  However, we do love to eat with the goal of our health. There is strategy involved to keep our wellness goal and less my pain in the after math. 1. List. List. List. I am a list freak.  Largely to help me regulate my thoughts and ADHD. But I do love them and labels.  I like being able to find things too. But that's beside the point. It does mean meal planning and less reliance on emotional eating when you use a list.  That's a good thing.  Pad in your health favs and a few not so healthy favs for those cheat days. 2. Develop a love affair with the stores in or near your neighborhood.  The close you are the less gas which saves and the more you shop ther

At times as we converse with our friends, neighbors, and those around us sounds flow through one ear and out the other.  It may not be intentional but we can miss important patterns when we aren't truly listening.  The blaring pattern I am reading, listening to, and observing is the battle with depression.  It's a neon sign that we whisper to each other but publicly tuck away for  many reasons although it still shows. It's peaking out there.  Depression is a very real battle and experience.  I am not whispering anymore and displaying neon sign, "I have/had depression in many forms."  A victim of abuse (PTSD), post par tum, and chemical imbalances/ ADHD with anxiety covers most of my battles.  There are more reasons to depression and yours is different than mine or that person next to you (that may be hiding it).  I hear you and I hope you hear this: it can be managed and even conquered.  Most days I feel the conqueror  and some days it's just managing it.  I a