DAY 6 OF NEW BLOG

There were a few more physical symptoms I forgot to mention in my last post that I will briefly add to the list now:
My tongue is not normal. It is kind of discolored I think. It has a reddish stripe down the middle of it all the way to the tip. It also burns sometimes depending on toothpaste or mouthwash or foods I eat. 
My eyesight seems to be getting worse. Far and near the details are blurry. Tiny print is impossible without reading glasses and night driving seems very reflective with on coming headlights. 
Also, I would like to include my achy, crunchy, popping joints. 
OK I think that about does it for my laundry list of complaints. Now onto the next matter.
I have been eating a few too many of these certain potato chips today. They are delicious AND addicting. So I thought I would take a closer look at exactly what is in them. Maybe by dissecting the ingredients I would easily leave them at the store next time I see them on sale and get a craving. 
The chips are Utz brand Honey BBQ potato chips. 
The ingredients are as follows:
Potatoes-these are most likely grown conventionally with all the chemical fertilizers and pesticides needed to yield a huge crop and possibly a GMO potato too. YUCK!
Cottonseed Oil-cottonseed oil may contain natural toxins and probably has unacceptably high levels of pesticide residues (cotton is not classified as a food crop, and farmers use many agrichemicals when growing it). Be on the lookout for cottonseed oil in packaged foods and avoid products that contain it. Manufacturers like it because it's cheap, and products that say "may contain one or more of these oils" and list cottonseed, will almost certainly contain it.
Sugar- Well we know sugar is just about the worst stuff for you. Next. 
Salt- Ditto. But you do need small amounts of it. 
Dextrose-Sugar, again. This time from corn-probably GMO corn. YUCK. 
Torula Yeast-Torula, in its inactive form (usually labeled as torula yeast), is widely used as a flavouring in processed foods and pet foods. It is produced from wood sugars, as a byproduct of paper production. It is pasteurized and spray-dried to produce a fine, light grayish-brown powder with a slightly yeasty odor and gentle, slightly meaty taste.
Dehydrated Onion-Easy enough to understand that one.
Spices-Who knows???
Tomato Powder-Dried tomatoes??
Molasses Powder- which is made of Molasses and Maltodextrin ( Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide that is used as a food additive. It is produced from starch by partial hydrolysis and is usually found as a creamy-white hygroscopic spraydried powder. Maltodextrin is easily digestible, being absorbed as rapidly as glucose, and might be either moderately sweet or almost flavorless. It is commonly used for the production of natural sodas and candy.)
Brown Sugar-More Sugar!!!
Honey Powder-More Sugar!!!
Extractives of Paprika-huh? 
Fructose-More Sugar!!!
Garlic Powder-ok
Citric Acid- ok I guess.
Natural Flavors-That's a catch all bunch of B.S. could actually contain MSG. 
This is the last bag of these chips that I will ever own, buy, eat or have to detox from my body. Goodbye UTZ Honey BBQ

:-)

DAY 5 OF NEW BLOG

Today is Sunday and it is still morning. My favorite time of my favorite day of the week. It is bitterly cold outside today (single digits) but sunny. I want to take today to take stock in some of the nagging physical and mental symptoms that have been creeping up on me the past few years. Since my Dad died basically. He died in late 2007. Since he died I lost my Grandmother and my mother. 3 people in about 3 years. That will put some stress on the body. So I am not totally surprised that my aging process sped up a bit since 2007. Here's what's bugging me.

Number 1-Headaches. Migraines specifically. I get them at least once a month (menstrual) and they last a good 3 days. Most months see a couple of headaches and sometimes they last only one day. When I get the menstrual ones I am really down. Instant depression, intolerance to light, smells, noise and confusion. I self medicate with 3 ibuprofens about every 4 hours. That is too much ibuprofen, I know. This regiment only takes the edge off the pain with short periods throughout the day of real relief. I almost always get the headache on the left side, but sometimes the right instead. I want to be rid of these damn headaches for once and for all. They really will interfere with work and many days I barely made it through the day because I felt so sick from my migraines. So-I want those gone. I have suffered for about 10 years with them. Enough already!

Number 2- is my lack of wind power. I seem to get easily winded like never before. I suspect my heart may be really out of shape not too mention I have been experiencing a bluish tint to the base of my fingernails when my hands get cold. This could be a serious issue with my heart  and I am going to try and fix it ASAP with diet, exercise and weight loss. My body is warning me and I need to listen.

Number 3- is the arthritis (osteo) that is invading my finger joints. It started in my right pinkie finger, then my right index and now I can see it changing the shape of my middle finger on left hand. I believe this is caused by too much sugar in my diet and it has got to stop.

Number 4- on the list is my weight. I am too fat and I want to get back to my old athletic build and athletic lifestyle. I have been carrying around at least an extra 75 lbs for way too long (years) on top of that I have been really sedentary for the past 6 months. Not good. I want to have the nice ass in a pair of jeans for a change. I want to pretty clothes. I want to be taken seriously, I want to show off my personal style. I want to bend, jump, run and stretch freely. I want to look like an athlete, move like one and live like one.

Number 5- is my digestion. My stomach sometimes feels bloated and often times I can here strange gurgling sounds coming from different areas of my abdomen as my body digests its food. I never had this problem before and I want it to stop. I want excellent, clean and efficient digestive health from my mouth all the way down.

Number 6- is my brain and mood. I want a healthy, clear thinking, information retaining, good decision making brain. I have allowed my brain to get lazy. I am done with that starting today.

Number 7-is my skin, hair and nails. They could all stand improvement in health and appearance. I need to eat better and exercise to see the changes there.

Number 8- Is last but not least by any stretch. In fact number 8 is probably the most important issue.  I need to pray more and develop my relationship with God so that he is a big part of my life and not a little part. Really keep an attitude of gratitude every single day. Not waste any time on negativity, nastiness or mean spirited intentions.

DAY 4 OF NEW BLOG

OK here we are on day 4. I want to record a few observations about how I feel today. When I got up I had coffee-Maxwell House-and felt good. I then (about an hour later) had an orange and still felt good. Not too long after that I had a tangerine. At noontime or so I got into the Lays Lightly salted and had a few handfuls of those. Still I felt good. I didn't eat again until 4 and when I did I had a salad from Wendy's, one of those ones with the apples, spring mix, blue cheese, chicken, craisins, candied pecans, and pomegranate vinaigrette dressing. It was delicious as it usually is. I also had a small Macdonald's fry. A few sips of Pepsi to wash it down. Not too long after I polished all that off I started feeling nauseated with a migraine starting on my right side of my head. I felt a little shaky too. So I don't know why I feel kind of sick but it could be a host of things. I waited too long to eat a substantial meal or perhaps my hormones are kicking in as I am due for my period in a few days. Every once in a while I get a "sick headache" just a dull migraine type headache with a general feeling of nausea to go with it. I never actually know why but with all the crap in our food and environment it could be any number of things. Before anyone complains that this blog sounds like that of a hypochondriac I must point out that what I am doing here is chronicling first how I feel lousy and then hopefully how I stopped feeling lousy and started feeling better.
I also should add, even though I did feel crappy and still do, after eating the salad and fries I went on to eat (about 1 hour later) a crispy chicken sandwich that was bought for me and I didn't want it to go to waste. So now that I see it all in print it disgusts me big time. I am now going to dump out the remainder of my Pepsi and start drinking filtered water to help get some salt out of my system.

DAY 3 OF NEW BLOG

Ok here I am on my third entry on my new blog. Today is Friday and it has snowed most of the day. I feel pretty good today considering yesterday and the day before I succumbed to some kind of cold. At least I thought it was a cold. I felt so lousy I didn't feel like writing about it. I am now wondering if perhaps I was having a mysterious allergic reaction to something. Because when I get a cold it usually lasts for a week or more. So anyway I feel back to normal now and quite energetic to boot. My sister may be coming from out of state for a visit this weekend which gives me really good incentive to get this house in order and get it really clean. She is quite put off by any doggie odor and since I have 2 dogs I am always worried that she may smell dogs when she comes in the house. I also let the dogs up on the furniture so that can create a doggie odor if one is not careful. Today I stayed in most of the day because of the weather but may take a short walk later. When I say short I mean a total of about 1 hour. We'll see how icy the streets get as the temps are dropping hard and fast tonite.

DAY 2 OF NEW BLOG

Ok I am determined to get the hang of this whole blogging thing. I tried to sign up for a blog on Wordpress but gave it up-I guess I will stick with this blog for now. I am writing this blog as an online diary to help me track my progress or failures on my journey to feel better. Here's the deal: I feel old. Older than I should at a mere 46 years of age. I weigh too much. I way about 220 lbs. That is an estimate because I haven't got on the scale in a few months. So perhaps I way as much as 225. I am about just about 5 feet 6 inches tall. I am definitely big boned but 225 is too much. I say I am big boned because I wear a woman's size 11 shoe. I wear a size 8 ring and can rarely find a watch that fits my wrist. I have been overweight for the last 20 years or so. Each year would see another few pounds added to the total. I am not a yo-yo dieter so this has been a steady increase in weight since I was at my lightest weight of about 150 or so. I am what they call an apple shape. Most of my fat has been disgustingly deposited on my torso. I have big boobs and a fat stomach. I used to be a beautiful hourglass but now I am shaped more like a ball. My legs are not fat compared to the rest of me, I guess you could say I have become rather top heavy. My legs are muscular-probably a little too muscular for a woman-but nonetheless I like my legs quite a bit.
I have been developing nagging health symptoms that are telling me all is not well inside of me. I don't trust the medical establishment very much so I stay as far away from doctor's as I possibly can. I would like to enlist my own body's ability to heal and rejuvenate-but I haven't been making the lifestyle changes I most certainly should be making right now! Time is of the essence. I need to go back to work -assuming I can find a job-real soon and need the physical health to put in an 8 plus hour day. I have got to get my ass in gear or else. Stay tuned.

I want to feel better or die trying. My New Blog.

Ok folks, here it is. My new blog. I am writing this for myself mostly but if it helps anyone else in the process that will be great. Today is the first day of my blog and what I will start out saying is that it is time for me to do whatever it takes to improve my health. What follows on this blog will be my journey. Stay tuned.