St. Patrick's Day 5K -- I DID IT!!!!

Eliza and Sammy happily waiting for me to arrive.  It was very cold outside.  Doesn't Sammy look like a homeless child?  That shouldn't be funny but it makes me laugh. Love those sweet faces.

Here I am towards the finish line. So happy to see familiar faces.  Like my mask?  I wasn't sure whether to bring it.  I'm so glad I did.  With the wind chill, it felt like -2 degrees outside.  Wow, that is cold. When the wind blew in our faces, I'd hear people groan in pain.  Thankfully, I wasn't groaning, just weezing... hehe.  Oh and I'm not as fat as I look, I'm wearing a sweatshirt under my St. Patrick's Day shirt. :)

37.21 minutes to do the 5K.  I was really happy with that.  I felt soooo slow when people were going past me.  But I stayed steady and didn't stop to walk until a little after 2 miles.  I still have some residual gunk in my chest and it was making it a bit difficult to breath. I think I may have walked a total of 5 minutes here and there.  Maybe not even that much.  I don't know.  I'm not going to complain.  It was cold, I'm barely over a cold and my phone died so I didn't have music to listen to, and many other things that came up that made me wake up this morning feeling unsure but I did it anyway and I'm proud and grateful I did.

My little fans were cheering me on when I ran passed them.  It really warmed my heart.  I asked Jared if he coached them to to cheer me on but nope, it came from their hearts.  They ran to me afterwards and were so proud of me.  It felt great.  Can you believe that crazy people in Fargo run in this weather!?!  Now, I'm one of them and proud of it, don'tcha know. ;)

 

Totally worth it.  Afterwards, I went to a local restaurant/bar and got my favorite chicken tortilla soup to take home.  It was heavenly to my cold body. Then I hopped in the shower and warmed my muscles then massaged oil into my muscles to help them recover.  I'm sure I'll be fine. 3.1 miles isn't that far but it is the first step in a very wonderful direction in my life.  On to do more 5K runs in the future and train for the 10K in May at the Fargo Marathon.  EEEK. :)

 

 

****** FYI, in my last post, I changed the candida questionnaire.  I wasn't happy with the link I had initially.  So, if you want to take a different questionnaire, check it out.


****** Day 6 - 21-Day Meditation.  Today was just what I needed.  Focused on relaxing all the different parts of my body and expressing gratitude for them.  The centering thought was: "I am perfect. I am healthy.  I am strong."  Just what I needed to keep my mind on today for the run.    

 

Candida Cleanse -- Long post

In January I was introduced to Candida cleansing from a friend.  I'm familiar with Candida but never thought about doing a cleanse before until it was presented to me.  Candida is a yeast-y bacteria that feeds off of sugar.  It is found in the colon and is good if kept at bay.  There are many ways that candida can form an overgrowth (antibiotics, poor diet, etc...) and it will spread throughout the body.  A few of the symptoms are: fatigue, yeast infections, sugar cravings, fuzzy brain, weight problems,  you get the idea.  You can take a questionnaire online and see if your physical ailments are caused from candida overgrowth.

How to do a Candida Cleanse?  Well, while researching I discovered that there are many ways to rid your body of candida.  One way that has worked for many people is using coconut oil.  I'll have to dedicate a post to just talk about coconut oil, it is AMAZING.  In connection with candida, you would take a therapeutic amount of coconut oil daily (slowly work up to 3 tablespoons a day) and do so until your symptoms go away. 



Coconut oil is antimicrobial and when you get a therapeutic amount of it, it will kill the candida.  I did this for a while and I definitely felt improvement in my digestion, energy level but I still craved sugar and carbs. 

So, I decided to start using essential oils (are you surprised?) to treat my candida.  There are several suggested blends of oils to take internally to kill the candida.  While reading up on everything, I made my own blend. 

Before I proceed, I want to say that I was prayerful in what to take.  The Essential Oils handbook recommended diluting the oils in a carrier oil (like olive oil or grapeseed oil) because the strength of the essential oils are intense.  When I took the questionnaire for candida, I was ranked very high on it.  This is a big problem for me.  So I decided to do it neat (without carrier oils).  If you decide to do this, please further your research or pray about it to know what is best for you.  It isn't going to hurt you, but you may start detoxing so intensely that it is extremely uncomfortable. Feel free to contact me too and I am happy to help you figure out what approach may be best for you. :)

So this is what I did:



I purchased a lot of capsules to put the EO in. 

 

 

6 drops of Oregano. In connection with candida, it is antibacterial, antifungal, anti-parasitic, anti-inflammatory.  THIS KILLS BAD THINGS!!!!  On a side note, oregano helps with allergies.  Years ago, I would put it under my tongue and it burns like no other but my allergies improved.  After doing this cleanse, I went to a friend's how today with cats and a dog (I'm very allergic to cats and dog fur and I didn't have a single symptom.  That is unheard of for me)

 



2-3 drops of Grapefruit.  In connection with candida (and because I want to shed fat from my body), it is a metabolic stimulant, antiseptic, detoxifying, diuretic, fat dissolving, cleansing for kidney, lymphatic and vascular system, antidepressant. I LOVE GRAPEFRUIT EO.  I put it in my water to drink as well.  Wonderful stuff.

 



 

2-3 drops of Lemon.  This is more for digestion and losing weight as well.  My candida really shows in my weight so I wanted to combat my weight on many angles.  Lemon is antiseptic, immune stimulant (increases white blood cells), helps with obesity, parasites, digestive problems. (FYI... when a person struggles with candida, parasites often are present as well.  Gross, I know.  I have no idea if I have that problem)

 



2 Drops of Clove. Clove is anti-aging, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, stomach-protectant (ulcers).  Used for intestinal parasites.

 

 

2 Drops of Thieves.  Blend of Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark (antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal), Eucalyptus (antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory), Rosemary (antiseptic and antimicrobial)

 

 

So, I basically took a very powerful all natural "potion" to kill off all that Candida.  AND IT WORKED!!! Like the routine I mentioned in my post about Chest Colds.  I'd have my probiotics in the morning with my kefir (and I took some probiotic supplements as well to really boost that good bacteria in my body).  But to allow the probiotics to really be a blessing to my body, I wouldn't take the EO blend until the evening before I went to bed.  Then I let those good guys go fight my fight.

 

The first thing I noticed was I immediately had no desire for sugar.  NONE.  It was more social pressure that I had to work with.  My appetite decreased.  TRULY.  It was incredible to me.  The result was so drastic.  I would still put coconut oil in my green smoothies as well because it is soooooo good for our body.  But it was the essential oil that really made the difference.  

 

I've been eating extremely healthy which starves the candida as well but it hasn't been a challenge.  My body doesn't desire sugar. 

 

As far as how long to do this.  I just listened to my body.  I started out filling 2 capsules full of EO and taking it orally every night.  With 3 days, I experienced the "die off" which isn't pleasant.  It's when you body starts to detox when all the candida is dying.  If you detox too quickly, it can be rough.  I also noticed that my kidneys were achy a little bit.  I didn't feel like I was damaging anything but I also wanted to respect my body and so I went to 1 capsule and took some supplements to help my body eliminate the toxins more quickly.  Bentonite clay was one thing I used to help my body have a more graceful die-off. 

 

After a few more days I went back to 2 and did that for a week or more.  Then I went back to one capsule a day.  Just a couple days ago, I went to make it and I just felt done.  I can't explain it.  My body felt done.  Its nice to trust that my body will tell me what it needs. 

I did this for 3 weeks and my body shed off 9 lbs off my body.  It is being soooo good to me.  I'm very happy with how I'm feeling.  I'm grateful to have a knowledge of essential oils.  They are a gift from God.

***** Day 4 and 5 of the 21-Day Meditation was great!  I hope you'll check it out. 
******** Tomorrow is my 5K run.  We just had a huge storm today in Fargo.  We'll see how tomorrow looks.  I bought some warm gear to run in but we'll see.  I'll let you know.  If I run it, then I think I pass the test of being true North Dakotan. :)  Maybe I should say a true Califordakotan.  I dunno. :)

Day after taking Bentonite Clay

I said I would follow up on how it went.  Well, I'm still in the process but I wanted to mention that one of the first things I noticed was I was extremely thirsty.  So I drank a quart more of water than usual.  As I slept last night, I would occasionally wake up and notice that my lungs were slowly clearing up.  This morning, Jared noticed a drastic difference in the sound of my voice and countenance. I felt much better. Not 100% but recovering more quickly than if I let it be. 

I decided to do another dose of it tonight and took 4 capsules filled with the clay.  That is the way to do it in my opinion.  Last month, I tried putting a tbsp. of clay in water and mixed it.  It just clumped up and I couldn't gag it down.  Capsules are better.  Just drink lots of water with it. 



Here's a great description of how it works from the book "Living Clay":

"Adsorption describes the process by which the charged particles of other substances combine with the charged particles on the outer surface of the clay molecule. Bentonite clay molecules carry a negative electrical charge while toxins, bacteria, viruses, parasites and other impurities carry a positive charge. When the clay is taken into the human body, the positively charged toxins are attracted to the negatively charged surfaces of the clay molecule. The clay molecules act like a magnet, attracting and holding the toxins and impurities to its surface, and removing them when the clay is removed or expelled. That is why it is important to drink plenty of water after ingesting living clay, to help expel the now toxic clay.

Absorption is a slower and more complex process. Acting like a sponge, the Bentonite clay molecule draws other substances into its internal structure. Absorbent clays have a charge on their inner layers. This means that charged ions sit between the layers of the clay molecule surrounded by water molecules. The clay expands as foreign substances are absorbed and fill the spaces between the clay molecule's stacked layers. Absorbent clay will absorb positively charged toxins and impurities and ignore negatively charged nutrients. Calcium Bentonite clay is by far the most effective clay, with the strongest drawing power."

I need to buy this book now.  I'm just starting to learn about this clay myself but I have known people use it to wash their hair, brush teeth (sounds nasty in my opinion but maybe I'll try it one day, we'll see), do masks, or put it on their stomach over their intestines to draw out diseases.  It is amazing what it can do.


*** Day 3 of 21-Day Meditation -- went well.  I woke up this morning before everyone else and was able to do the meditation in peace and quiet (until I felt a presence and opened my eyes to see Sammy.  I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest, man!).  The most powerful part of my meditation this morning was that while I was putting my focus on the mantra to open my 3rd eye chakra, I suddenly had an image of myself vibrant, healthy and strong.  It was very clear and real to me and gave me a sweet hope for my future as I continue this path of learning to thriving by living a healthier/more balanced life style. You can jump on in anytime with the 21-Day Meditation.  It's free and only lasts for 16 minutes. 

Chest Cold and how I'm fighting it...

My sweet husband shared his chest cold with me.  It hit me full force yesterday and I'm continuing to fight it today.  Here is what I'm doing to fight it off:  

1) First thing I have in the morning (after drinking a whole lot of water) is have a cup of Kefir. This is already a habit of mine but I know it's going to fill my gut with good probiotics to help my digestion and improve my immune system. (I'm going to get some kefir grains and start making my own. More economical and from what I see, it is super easy)


2) I make a quart of green smoothie and drink it all.  Well, Eliza and Sam usually want a sip but I drink the majority of it.  Mine aren't usually green because I put in frozen berries.  I put in Kale for my greens usually because it is richly dense with vitamins and minerals. :) This is also a daily habit I've had for almost a year.
3) For lunch, I've been eating a HUGE salad.  I mean, I chop up an entire head of romaine (sometimes mix it with other spring greens and basil).  Then I chop up a tomato, green onion, sprinkle kelp granules, avocado (if I have any on hand. The salad is so creamy), some nuts and/or beans and feta cheese (because I want to).  Then I splash some lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and flaxseed oil.  This meal completely satisfies me for the rest of the day. 

4) Since I've been sick, I've been drinking heated up broth in place of supper.  I'm not really hungry but the broth feels wonderful.

5) I also make myself lemon honey tea and drink lots of it.  Lots of water!!!!

6) I have been taking a tsp of apple cider vinegar straight.  Wowsers, that is strong but it really helps the body ward of illness and restores a healthy pH balance in the body and improves metabolic rate. It can do way more than that. Wonderful stuff.

7. Specifically for my cold, I've been rolling on my sinus and chest, Breath Again Essential oil blend.  I've been sniffing and putting on my chest and feet Eucalyptus EO (this helps break up mucus) and Peppermint (helps magnify other oils and with respiratory problems).  I've also been using the RC blend which stands for "respiratory condition".  It helps with breathing.    



8. Giving myself permission to rest and let my children play around me.  They have been very creative today building forts and enjoying the time together using their imaginations.  They also enjoy snuggling with me.  They've been sick too but it hasn't wiped them out like me. 

9. Because I'm so anxious to get this cold out of my system, I just started today and put some Bentonite clay in capsules and took it internally.  The negative charges of the clay attracts the charges of toxins in the body.  They bind together and exit your body because our body isn't able to absorb clay.  It's an ancient practice that is starting to get more attention again.



I'll let you know how it helps me.  I have my 5K run this Saturday and want to feel "tip top" for it. :)
I was a little surprised that I even got sick.  I've been eating extremely well and taking very good care of my body.  The only thing I can think of is that I had a minor medical procedure done last week and they gave me antibiotics through an IV.  Antibiotics weakens the immune system.  Luckily with all the kefir and good food I've been taking, I feel like my strength will return quickly. 





 ***** I did Day 2 of the 21-day Meditation Challenge.  My children were feeling a need to be near me so it was more difficult to focus today.  I think I may do it again tonight as I go to sleep. If you haven't looked into it yet, it's worth a try.  It is free.  The whole thing lasts 16 minutes which is a nice jumpstart.