Where do I begin? I don’t share these things about my illness and recovery because who wants to hear about the hard times? Everyone likes happy endings, right? Who wants to know about the mess? Who wants to see the mess? I read this quote, a quote that called to me that my story is bigger than me, whatever pain it causes to write this someone else may need to hear that there is hope and healing and they will be ok” there’s beauty in everything even the struggle. You can’t see it when you are in it, but trust me, when you look back you won’t even recognize yourself. A friend of mine is battling cancer right now. She had to cut her hair because it started to fall out. When she made a post I wrote this long message to her “the perks of being a short haired girl” One of the many things I share with cancer patients is hair loss. I know she’s in it right now, I know those words won’t resonate until later in recovery, but for now they are there for her to hold and when she’s ready they may help, I hope they help. When I was sick, I remember waking up with a pile of hair on my pillow. I have a lot of hair so when I mentioned it to people they said “no big deal, you have so much of it” and then the in the shower when I would shampoo my hair, handfuls would fall out. Still, people would say “oh you have so much hair, you can’t even tell.” I really wanted to believe them, but I knew better, every single time I had a handful of hair in my hand I panicked. I would think what is wrong with me? Someone help. For months I was the doctors test subject going from one specialist to the next. My arm was in pain from all the blood test when the needle would go in I would feel the pop and extreme pain would shoot up my arm. The tech would apologize and say "it’s scar tissue, you’ve had too many blood draws, I hope they find something out this time, " she would say and try to comfort me with words of encouragement she would say this happened to someone before and they figured it out. She watched as I got sicker and sicker every day weaker and weaker, more blood tests. I stopped counting. The last time I was there I rolled in on a wheelchair. I wonder what it was like for her to see me slowly decline? Did I scare her? I never went back after that. As time passed my head was in pain and I couldn’t brush my hair or even touch my head without feeling pain. Eventually it got to the point where I was stuck in bed and the hair fell out and didn’t get brushed out and it became knotted. When you are sick, in pain and not feeling so well, you just don’t want to do anything to cause more pain. My hair ended up being a mixture of fallen out hair tangled into my hair. Showers became torture I wouldn’t dare touch my head and would lay in bed shaking for what seemed like hours trying to warm my body back up. It got to the point where my hair needed serious attention. Luckily a family friend is a hair dresser and she sat me down trying to comb my hair out with no luck. She said “it’s bad, I’m going to have to cut it, ” I said “shave it all off, I don’t care” she refused and cut it short. I never wore my hair short, I’ve always worn it very long. It was a huge change, I didn’t care at the time. I just wanted the pain to go away. Eventually, the doctors figured out what was going on and then it was a battle for my life. During that time it was scary, I had a diagnosis I couldn’t say, spell or understand. When I was strong enough, I focused on healing my body I had to learn to walk, talk and write my name again. I lost a huge part of my memory. It’s scary when you have to trust others to tell you your story. I have somewhat been able to piece together things from everyone’s memory. It’s a patchwork quilt of memories. My magical mother’s way of spinning a story, my sisters cynical matter of fact “facts” and Christopher’s straight shooting truth and together they make some really good memories. I remember lying there with Christopher and he said “do you remember me” and I was so tired of course I remembered him but I couldn’t speak. “Do you remember the butterflies when we met?” Then he sang me a song that was familiar. That made me smile. Anything I could do to let him know I was still there, but too weak to respond. I would look him in his eyes, trying to telepathically tell him “I’m here, see me, please see me, I’m ok, don’t worry, it will be ok” The moment I could actually cry tears was so magical, there were so many days I cried in pain, in sadness and no tears fell from my face, I was that sick. Now beautiful tears flow freely as I write this. Every morning I would wake up and not see myself, I would say “who is this? I look like a boy, I feel like a boy” It was hard. “Who is this monster?” I would say to the mirror “you are a monster, my life is ruined, my business is gone, I’ve lost everything, I am nothing” this is how I talked to myself. I knew it wasn’t right to think this way, but it’s how I felt. There is this fire inside all of us that no matter how dark life is its burning and no matter how small it is we can find it if we look. My light was sparking so bright I couldn’t ignore it. I put this picture up on my mirror in the bathroom that said “oh beauty your angel lives inside of you” I looked at it everyday while I was recovering, along with a Post-it note that said “you are not sick” and a bunch of other little notes to remind me of something good and positive to keep going. I wanted so bad to remind myself I am not my illness, right now my body needs healing. I kept reminding myself that I will get through this and I will thrive in this world. I grabbed books and started to learn about healing I devoured them. I learned about something called the spontaneous remission project and dreamed of being magically cured. I learned I would have to pay attention to “What I eat, what I drink and what I think” those negative thoughts weren’t helping me thrive but they were real, and they were really hard. They are still really hard. To this day I struggle with the mirror. I’ll look at it tired in the morning trying to see myself, “oh, hi there you are, my monster, I know you, I remember you, I love you monster, thank you”. My monster has become a part of me. Maybe it’s me interpreting my disease visually? I don’t know. No matter how painful it is to write this, someone else out there is suffering and needs to hear this, needs to know that beyond disease is a life of health, happiness and love, that even though you are sick now there is a tomorrow and tomorrow won’t be like yesterday or before you got sick. It will be different. You will have to hold these emotional scars, physical scars and relationship scars in your heart and give them all the love you can give them, because they make you a thriver a survivor, they make you who you are and they are beautiful. I love my disease for giving me the life I have now. I have chosen to coexist with this thing that will eventually kill me, it’s here and can leave whenever it wants, I won’t mind, but it seems to like its host, who just happens to be me. I used to say why me? My counselor, she said one day “why not you?” And yes why not me. So this is why I feel compelled to share a snapshot of my story because somewhere out there is a girl who lost her hair to a disease and that desperately needs to know, that someone else has gone through it too and there is a beautiful rainbow with pot of gold at the end of this storm. You got this beauty, you got this. I’m here for you, always. The perks of being a short haired girl Dearest beautiful warrior: You are beautiful and short hair looks great on you. Being a short hair girl has its perks: You now belong to a sisterhood of short hair girls, for some reason they all smile and nod at you like you become part of this exclusive club you never knew existed. Shampoo last forever, washing hair takes no time, and brushing hair takes no time. Styling it is another thing, but that’s when you can get creative with the tiny hair that you have left. I made pigtails and they ended up being spikes. If one day you just can’t seem to style those little hairs then hats and beautiful colored scarves have become your new best friend they are fun and cute! Enjoy. People can see your face now and will comment on how beautiful you are because you are, duh 🙄. Short hair looks wonderful on you! The mantra that helped me: “I am not my hair” you are so much more! I love you always, A
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This desk was given to my sister by my Tia Clara and like the old books that were once on it, has seen better days.
It used to house my Tia's typewriter a pale blue electric that wrote in cursive, it was a marvel of its time, a sought out elegant writing device. This is the desk she wrote letters to me, packed with little gems of my grandfather and grandmother that I never met. I wish I could talk to her now. I think her advice would be head up and keep going and she would tuck $500 in a book and pretend that the money wasn’t there. It was always enough. Mostly it was to pay for my books for school, she knew I worked but she wanted to help. A memory flooded into my mind of her petting my college boyfriends bleached blonde hair and saying it’s like wool & laughing at him. The time we cooked spaghetti with her and she really didn’t know how to cook, my sister and I placing the Styrofoam on the burner and permanently branding it with the rings on the electric stove. She taught me that if you don’t have Parmesan that mozzarella was a better choice anyways & that even on the hottest day in Las Vegas, it’s never too hot for a nice good bowl of chili. The best place to get chili Arizona Charlie’s. And her laugh it was like a force, ha she would say loudly and smile and giggle to herself. She had the heart of gold, I remember traveling up a dirt road in a mercury sable during a flash flood in the New Mexico hills just to give her blind brother a watch that spoke time. She was a religious woman and walked to mass every morning with her overweight dog Booger trotting along beside her. I start going through the contents thinking this is the last time I will see this desk, I’m donating it. I don’t have room for this anymore I’m moving, I need to downsize, this is goodbye. As I unpack the contents I find a beautiful sparkling bracelet from that one time I got married, a packet from an AIDS event I went to, NECCO wafers that I take to grandpa when I visit him at his retirement home, a beautiful ribbon, essential oils a bowl of change and more. What would Tia Clara think of these things? I unpack the contents of my bookshelf to get ready for the biggest move of my lifetime 13 years in this home. I grew up as an adult here and it shows. The bookshelf tells the story of me the first one I pick up is “excuse me your life is waiting” and it makes me laugh, I’m such a sucker for a good self-help book, sitting next to it is “Eat Pray, Love” and my favorite “Like water for chocolate”. I’ll save these books I’ll read these again the others like the readers digest books my grandma left me will be donated, not because I don’t appreciate them but because someone else will more. “The Birth Partner” will be returned to Belle that book makes me sigh with relief, we did it we helped a baby into this world. Then there are my books from school my favorites law, sociology, programming, microbiology, biotechnology, precalculus (who am I kidding?), and watercolors. At this moment I realized, this desk I cannot part with, I think I will keep this desk. This desk has stories I’ve never heard and it will continue to witness more and I hope one day I can pass it on to someone who will appreciate it as much as I do. Long live Tia Clara’s writing desk. 💕 PCRM reports:
Plant-based diets reduce chronic disease risk, require fewer resources, and do not hinder athletic performance, compared with omnivorous diets, according to a report published in Nutrients. The authors reviewed publications that compared nutrient density, athletic performance, disease risk, and environmental factors between those following vegetarian and omnivorous diets. Plant-based diets lower risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer while lowering cholesterol and oxidative stress levels. Vegetarian eating patterns require less land, water, and energy when compared to animal-based diets. Researchers observed no negative effects of plant-based diets on athletic performance and noted potential benefits such as increase antioxidant intake via fruits and vegetable consumption. References Lynch H, Johnston C, Wharton C. Plant-based diets: Considerations for environmental impact, protein quality, and exercise performance. Nutrients. 2018;10:1841-1857. by Kris Carr This soup hit's the spot it's warming and delicious and perfect for the fall months. I keep making this over and over again because I crave it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Ingredients
directions
* tip ROASTING GARLIC Preheat oven to 400 ° F. Slice off the top end of a bulb of garlic, cutting off tips of garlic cloves, but leave the bulb intact. Place garlic bulb on a piece of tin foil or parchment large enough to wrap the entire head, I use parchment paper bags, they seem to be easier but you can use foil. Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over the garlic and wrap in the foil or parchment. Place garlic on a baking sheet. Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until garlic is golden brown. Once roasted, let cool, then the cloves will easily pop out of their skins. updated for 2018Halloween is here yay! I just updated this blog from last year. The following is a list all of the non-dairy cruelty-free vegan and vegetarian candies. Healthy ALternativesSome parents to keep their kids healthy will take their candy bags away from their kids. Few alternatives to taking candy away from babies: TOY SWAP Why not try this ask to trade all their candy with another basket of toys? Make it available so when they come home you can trade, just make sure it's worth the price of their bag of candy. Here are a few toys from the 2018 Amazon best toys guide. OFFER HEALTHY FOODS This is my favorite what about offering delicious alternatives like banana ice cream? Or my Glowy Green Smoothie?Have your kids give you 10 pieces of candy in trade. Have a SPOOKY HalloweenFor more candy options visit : Veg News.com to date they have the largest Vegan Holiday Candy List that I could find.
Summertime is almost here and I am craving some cooling breakfast options. I miss cereal but not all the naughty stuff that is in traditional cereal (have you read the nutrition labels? Insanity!). So with that being said, I am welcoming this new yummy treat into my belly! This can double as a healthy dessert and a snack. It is super easy to make and totally healthier than cereal. On the go, no problem, throw it in your favorite mason jar and eat when you are ready. Enjoy this my loves. Ingredients
Directions
I adapted this from Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Kitchen, I made a few changes not many because it’s perfect the way it is, I just didn’t use as much onion powder & salt. Ingredients
instructionsRemove kale ribs (save for juicing or just eat whole as crunchy snacks -- if you have a dog they love these). Tear the leaves into large pieces, approximately the size of your palm. Wash thoroughly and dry.
Drain cashews. In a high-speed blender, blend with the remaining ingredients. The final product should be smooth and creamy and resemble a thick dressing. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly coat the kale pieces with the cream. On a dehydrator tray place coated kale, leaving enough room for air to circulate around them. Dehydrate overnight until kale pieces are crisp and light. Trust me these wont last longer than a week because you will want to eat them all they are so good. *This recipe took up my full 9-tray dehydrator if you cannot accommodate all the chips, split the recipe in 1/2 or do this in batches. I am getting tired of having false news reports popping up in my google alerts declaring Beyonce is going vegan for Coachella. Beyonce isn’t vegan. She is plant based. Which is a diet. Vegan is a moral imperative, if animals matter we don’t harm them in anyway, we protect them at all cost.
Someone claiming Veganism when they have no intention of protecting the animals at all, triggers vegans and frustrates the animals because they literally thought you weren't gonna eat them again. People on plant based diets do it for their health, and the animals they save are just a bonus. The environmental impact of being on a plant based diet is also a bonus. This is short lived most people that go on plant based diets for health end up doing it only for a short time. Those that learn about the animals and cannot turn back to eating them again become vegans. This is why my coaching always involves teaching my clients about the animals, the environment and health impacts of a vegan diet. Beyonce wears fur. Beyonce eats animals when she's not claiming she's “vegan”. I am angry at Beyonce for being so irresponsible with her words, for not taking into consideration the animals that are slaughtered every day, for not even using her celebrity to acknowledge veganism in the right way, instead she's selling out. Using the wrong word to describe her diet is complete ignorance and she owes the vegan community an apology. This is something simple and it is this she's not vegan, and this is why every VEGAN in the world is so angry and frustrated with claims that Beyonce is vegan. Beyonce is trying to sell veganism as a diet, a trend a fad, as a cheap assembly line product for her and to me that is insulting, sick and disgusting. (Insert cursing here). Stella McCartney daughter of Paul McCartney is working with PETA and investment firm Stray Dog Capital to launch a bio-design challenge for college students throughout the United States. The purpose of this challenge is to develop a vegan wool. 30 colleges will be participating in this challenge. DOES this mean VEGAN Uggs in the future? We will see.
You maybe wondering right now, why isn’t wool vegan? This is because shearers are paid by volume not by the hour the quick work can result in violence toward the animals. This industry is also not environmentally friendly polluting the earth with methane, contaminating waterways and eroding soil. I cant wait to see what this brings for the vegan fashion industry. As more and more innovations come out, it’s making it easier and easier to choose the more compassionate option. So this has become my go to for breakfast in the morning. When I got bored with smoothies this idea came to me. I love it because it’s like having dessert for breakfast. Healthy, quick, fun, filling and sometimes it looks like a very cool pink swamp, especially if you use dragon fruit!! Ive made this using various mixes but my favorite is using cherries. I add maca for an energy boost. One of the reasons I don’t need coffee in the morning. Ingredients
Directions
I love dreams. As a coach, it's my job to help you live the life of your dreams. I swoon when I write that. This is my high. Walking with you in your journey is an honor.
You are amazing! You are this beautiful creation that was created by the same thing that created glitter, unicorns, and sunshine. You are more than that you have this ability to see, perceive, think and feel. Humanity is this amazing gift you are all bundled into this package of dreams and hopes for the future. You are freaking BEAUTIFUL!! So my dear ones, when things start to get tough and they will, this life isn't all sparkly stars and glitter dreams. It's hard and people can be cruel, but this isn't any reflection on who you are as a person, it's mostly their shit and it's easy to take it like something is wrong with us. The secret is you are doing the best you can every single day, you are giving life what you can give it, you are squeezing blood out of rocks you are creating time for things that matter. Name another creature that does as much complex work as you do in a day? You cannot. This all being said when you start to shine like most of my clients do when they are crushing their goals and making their dreams come true. There is going to be push-back, there are going to be people that will want to bring you down, they are going to want you to gain that 10lbs back, stop wearing makeup and go back to the same old you. So when people put you down like this it's the universe testing you yelling at you "How bad do you want this, babe?" I want you to push back and yell "this is my right, I belong here, I deserve the right to shine, and how badly do I want it? It's immeasurable, you can't even fathom how bad I want it, this has been in my veins since birth, this life, and these dreams are my birthright." Keep on shining like a bright disco ball. You are loved, keep that vibration up. Don't let anyone small bring you down and be the light for others to see because this world needs more people like you. FLAX CHIPS MAKES 32 CHIPS These chips are light and crisp, like tortilla chips, and are fun to use for finger food such as nachos, and for dipping guacamole and fresh salsa. This recipe is very bland, you will want to add seasonings to it this make the flavor pop, this is just a base. Ingredients
Instructions
Since I joined doTERRA I always wondered why they didn´t have this and not they do how exicing. Check it out. Let me know if you would like to purchase it. If you want a wholesale account let me know I have some available. The doTERRA On Guard Sanitizing Mist is the perfect addition to the well-loved doTERRA On Guard collection. It is infused with the doTERRA On Guard Protective Blend you’ve grown to love. In addition, the active ingredient in doTERRA On Guard Sanitizing Mist kills 99.9 percent of germs and bacteria. The doTERRA On Guard Sanitizing Mist will help protect your family and home against environmental threats. Our Favorite UsesThe convenient spray-bottle top packaging of the doTERRA On Guard Sanitizing Mist is useful in a variety of situations:
Interesting Facts
A vegan diet reduces inflammation linked to heart disease, according to preliminary data presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) annual meeting and published in the AHA's journal Circulation. Researchers randomized 100 participants with heart disease to either a vegan diet or the AHA’s recommended eating patterns for 8 weeks and tracked inflammation. Participants received groceries and guidance from a registered dietitian for each diet. Those who followed the vegan diet significantly reduced their inflammation markers, while those who followed the AHA diet did not. Dietary adherence among the vegan group was also significantly higher at the midpoint and at the end of the study.
Driggin E, Ganguzza L, Velez de Villa B, et al. Factors associated with participation of patients with coronary artery disease in a randomized study of a vegan versus American Heart Association-recommended diet: interim analysis. Poster presented at: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2017; November 11-15, 2017; Anaheim, CA. In Mexican culture, death is viewed very much different then by Americans. This can sometimes freak people out and I hope you read the below legend and find it to be comforting. This blog isn’t about death it’s about humanity, the digital age, and friendships with mental illness.
How Mexican culture views death: In our tradition, people die three deaths. This legend is retold by Victor Landa of website Latino.com, from San Antonio, TX The first death, is when our bodies cease to function; when our hearts no longer beat of their own accord, when our gaze no longer has depth or weight, when space we occupy slowly loses its meaning. The second death, comes when the body is lowered into the ground, returned to mother earth, out of sight. The third death, the most definitive death, is when there is no one left alive to remember us. To me this is beautiful, it means as long as I keep the memory of those alive then they will still be here with me, and as we pass stories along they will live on in those stories. There's this word it’s called “ghosting” for those of you that don’t know what it is Insider.com gives an excellent definition. “This is the OG modern dating term that refers to someone you're dating, seeing, talking to, etc. disappears without a trace. They don't break up with you, they just stop responding one day, leading you to assume they've broken up with you. Although this is common among people online dating someone they don't know very well, it can happen to anyone. This apparently includes people you live with.” The reality: When this happens the ultimate realization that the relationship you had with this person was all about them and they are probably a selfish person and you are better off without them. Ummm… better off without them.. so easy to say right? But not so nice at the moment when your feels are wrapped around a person and deeply enmeshed especially if future plans were made. My take on this: I think it’s the ultimate betrayal of a friendship or relationship. The person hasn’t the guts to say you hurt them, they don’t like you or they are angry with you. This person doesn’t want to work things out, doesn’t want to make things better and doesn't have the emotional intelligence to say this isn't working and give a logical reason why. This person is emotionally underdeveloped. They are deciding you are dead, they are deciding they want nothing to do with you and are not taking your feelings into consideration, they are saying you don’t mean a thing to me and never did and I don’t have the time to tell you this. So you are thinking by now, what the hell are you talking about? Here is where it gets vulnerable. A very close friend of mine ghosted me and it hurt, on top of my family situation, my depression, anxiety, medical diagnosis, and a sleep study followed by a court case the next day, I found myself in my own self-made hell. I kept telling people I felt that I had this thin layer of happy covering up this inner sadness that is so easily cracked and once this cracks it’s all going to come out, but I was ok I had this under control. This feeling of wanting to stab myself with a knife in my arm to release the pain and get rid of it had been creeping in my head all week, if I could just release this pressure I would be ok. Maybe this act would kill me, and that would be ok too. Would it hurt? How bad? I cannot stop these thoughts its part of my depression, I know this now. I was slowly cracking and as quickly as a joke and a faked smile fixed it for just a moment, another crack showed up and then another, and then I found myself jumping out of a car after an argument leaving everything and just taking my cell phone that was tucked into my back pocket. I walked and walked and then I found myself at the edge of the river looking out at it, walking along the path I found a spot, a spot that someone like me could walk through, a path to the water that I could see with my mind it was calling to me “walk in the water everyone will be happy when you are gone” I am a burden, I am broken, I am a terrible person, I need to be out of this world so peoples lives can be easier, so I don’t hurt anymore people, if I am gone no one will notice they will just say ‘oh she was depressed’ there will be no letter any explanation there will be nothing because I am nothing even to one of my closest friends I am dead, I am not remembered, I am forgotten, I am not worthy of a memory I am already living my 3rd death I am dying backwards. I think of course I am because I am an idiot I can't do anything right not even die. The words my friend told me to echo in my mind “because you are really fucked up” I thought this was a joke I thought this was an exaggeration no it’s true it has to be, this is why I am here. This is why I was ghosted. Then this damn lawn mower starts making noise and I think how annoying suburban noise is and how bothersome lawnmowers are and why do we need lawns anyways, if someone famous like Kim Kardashian put beautiful rocks in her landscape then maybe she would save the world from the hells of grass and noise pollution. I think I don’t want to die with this loud noises around, but then I guess when I am dead, I can't hear it. What if someone wants to visit this spot where I last stood … then they have to do be burdened by lawn mowers too, again a reminder that I make bad choices. Oh who would visit me anyways. What if I don’t die what if I jump in and I don’t die then I am just wet and cold and feeling stupid. My mind is screaming someone please help me, I feel my phone in my back pocket and I am desperate I pull it out and send a text message I need help, and I walk a little further thinking this spot isn’t good anymore and maybe if I walk this feeling will stop. After a while I see a woman running by I turn my head so she cant see my tears or my face, I don’t want to be seen, I don’t want her to see my monster face. I feel so foolish and ashamed. I stand there staring at the water thinking some more and I am grasping for some sort of self-soothing thinking and I think when I was younger and I told my mom I wanted to die she said to me “what about all the things you would miss out on” and I think maybe this thought will pull me out of these bad feelings again and they don’t I just am reminded about how unwanted I have always been by my family of origin and what a burden I have been since birth a fact repeated to me over and over again my whole life and how much happier they are without me. I start to cry thinking I don’t know what to do. I am screaming in my head, what am I going to do? Someone help me. Get out of me bad thoughts, go away and I turn around to look back to see if the jogger is gone and there Timmy is walking towards me, my knees buckle my prayers were answered here he was walking towards me in pants that are far too big for him, and that's all I can focus on at the moment. He gives me a hug and then I tell him all the thoughts in my head and we talk it out I don’t remember much after that some crying and then me confessing my thoughts of suicide and then we left. Timmy found me because I had shared my location long ago with him when I went out of state, and we just never turned the function off. I didn’t get it all out that day and later that night I lay in bed and start to think about all the things I would miss if I tried to kill myself tears pour down my face as I think about all these beautiful things I would miss. The birth of my best friends baby, my nephews graduation and all the other nephews that follow, the birth of my new niece, the visit from my good friend and her husband from NY, traveling, making sure my cat GG get’s to the vet, then I hear a voice say “are you ok? I lie and say “I can’t sleep” I feel stupid and ashamed for having all these feelings and getting caught. Timmy laid down next to me and hugs me and says ‘it’s ok, let it out” and I cry. I think about my nephews future their weddings, kids, accomplishments I would not be there for them. I think of how my sister in law would have loved to live to see her son’s graduate high school and she isn't here to see that and how lucky I am to be alive and to see this and I fall asleep feeling ashamed of myself but also so very lucky to be alive. Today is another day, I am alive, I feel better and calmer and ok but this doesn't mean I will tomorrow, but I am taking everything one step at a time. Slow motion, moment by moment and I hope that one day this monster will be gone, I live to fight another day. I am not taking this lightly this is the closest I've come to taking my own life, that sounds so weird to say and it sounds so dramatic, I am ashamed, it’s embarrassing but I remind myself all the time that sick people made me feel to be ashamed and that it’s ok to feel sadness. I am writing this for others that may feel the same way that may be in the same position that I am in or similar position. I don’t want people to feel alone in this, it’s a terrible feeling. I always tell people how amazing and beautiful and precious they are and I fail to do the same to myself. This isn’t the easiest thing I've written, but it’s real, and everything that happened cannot possibly be captured in words and shared. I'm very blessed to have the friends that I have, my adopted family and the people in my life that I do. I am alive today because of them. And Timmy he saved my life this weekend. Fiber reduces the risk of dying from colorectal cancer, according to a new study published in JAMA Oncology. As part of Harvard’s Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, researchers looked at 1,575 participants with colorectal cancer and analyzed their diets and risk for mortality. For every 5 grams of fiber added to their diets, the risk of dying was reduced by 25 percent over an 8-year follow-up period; the greatest benefit was seen with grain consumption. Possible protective mechanisms include better insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, and healthier gut flora.
Song M, Wu K, Meyerhardt JA. Fiber intake and survival after colorectal cancer diagnosis. JAMA Oncol. Published online November 2, 2017. Plant-based diets lower risk for developing heart failure, according to data presented at this year's American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Anaheim, California. Researchers compared five different diets among 15,569 participants without previously diagnosed heart disease or heart failure from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study and tracked heart failure incidence rates. Those who followed a plant-based diet that included dark, leafy green vegetables, beans, and whole grains and excluded processed meats lowered their risk for heart failure by 42 percent. Other diets analyzed included red meat, saturated fats, eggs, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
Lara K, Levitan EB, Gutierrez OM, et al. Plant based diet associated with less heart failure risk. Poster presented at: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2017; November 11-15, 2017; Anaheim, CA. After reading Ronnie Lee’s book I feel the need to share this jewel that he has in the apendicies of his biography. I am sharing this for all of you who ask, what can I do to help the animals? Ronnie Lee has had over 40 years of experience working and campaigning for animal liberation in every capacity known and because of this he know’s what works and what dosen’t work. This is his greenprint this is his call to action this is his opinion on where the movement should go. It’s worth the read. A GREENPRINT FOR ANIMAL LIBERATION BY RONNIE LEEWhat follows is my personal opinion formed after over 40 years in the animal liberation movement.
It is intended for those who wish to see animal liberation, i.e., an end to all persecution, exploitation and killing of other animals by human beings or for us to reach a situation that is as near to that as possible. It is also focused on what we should be doing in England. In other countries the situation may be different, particularly with regard to the political aspect. What has concerned me for a long time is that we have no overall strategy or masterplan for the achievement of animal liberation and that the lack of this causes disunity among us and inefficiency in the use of our resources. In order to formulate such a masterplan or blueprint, or greenprint, as I prefer to call it, I think we first of all need to try to understand why it is that the human species persecutes, exploits and kills other animals in the first place. Although there are many things that exacerbate the mistreatment of other animals by humans, there is one fundamental cause of it, which is speciesism or human supremacism, i.e., the arrogant, selfish and irrational belief that human beings are somehow more important than other sentient animals. As a socialist I want to see an end to capitalism, but although the greed, wastefulness and desire for profit inherent in the capitalist system certainly increases the mistreatment and exploitation of other creatures, animal abuse would still exist in a socialist society if speciesism continued to hold sway. All abuse of other animals flows fundamentally from speciesism, so if we are to achieve animal liberation we need to challenge the speciesist mindset in human beings and strive to create a situation where humans behave towards other animals in a non-speciesist way. We tend to divide animal abuse into various areas—vivisection, the fur trade, zoos, hunting, farming etc.—but all these areas of animal abuse are really symptoms of an underlying disease, which is speciesism, and unless we treat and cure that underlying disease, we will be forever having to deal with its symptoms. If we are to persuade human beings to live in a non-speciesist way, the most important thing we need to do is to educate them to end their consumption of animal products, because eating flesh, eggs and dairy is the most fundamental speciesist thing that most people do and also because, when we consider all the areas of animal abuse normally campaigned against by our movement, 99.5 percent of the persecution of other animals by humans occurs in the food industry (several billion animals slaughtered annually for consumption by humans in England, with the next highest area being the approx. 4 million victims of the UK vivisection industry). Thus, the most important form of activism for other animals is vegan outreach and our main focus as a movement needs to be on educating members of the public to become vegan. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also campaign against other forms of animal abuse, but that we should always seek to promote veganism at the same time. So, on our stalls we should always have vegan information to give to the public and on any demos or protests we do, the leaflets we give out need to contain information that will lead people towards veganism, in addition to information about whatever form of animal abuse we are protesting against. If we are to educate ordinary people to become vegan, we need to consider what are the best ways of doing this. To educate the public, we need to be where the public are—and that means we have to do street stalls, stalls at community events, free food events to which the public are invited, etc., etc. We also have to be in what the public read and listen to, which means articles and letters in local newspapers and interviews on local radio/ TV. So what is going to be the vehicle for these local outreach events and this local media presence? It has to be local vegan outreach groups. Therefore, what we need to do is to try to set up a large network of such groups throughout the country, so that every town and city is covered, and to train and give confidence to the people within those groups to engage positively with the public and the local media. Of course, educating people to go vegan is not an easy task and we need to try to understand how people operate in order to do this effectively. People, in general, tend to be passive creatures of habit who don’t like change and want to be the same as everybody else and not stand out from the crowd. Animal liberationists are not at all like that, but we need to take people for what they are and not presume that everybody is fundamentally the same as us. Thus we need to make veganism seem as “normal” and easy as we possibly can and not get frustrated when there appears to be a slow uptake of the vegan message. That is bound to be the case at first, but as the number of vegans gradually increases, a level will be reached when veganism is no longer considered to be that unusual and that will then cause the amount of vegans to rapidly increase. It isn’t just a case though, of persuading ordinary members of the public to go vegan, but of persuading existing vegans to become involved in outreach. The Vegan Society has estimated there are at least 150,000 vegans in the UK. Opinion polls have put this figure as high as 600,000, but, for the sake of argument, I’ll stick to the lower estimate. I’ve done many vegan outreach events just on my own or with the help of only one other person, but if, once again for the sake of argument, we say it would take 10 vegans to do one event, this would mean that if each of the estimated 150,000 vegans in this country just took part in one outreach event per month, that would equal 15,000 events per month, 3,000 events per week and about 500 every day. And just think how many more vegans could be created, if that were to happen! The vast majority of vegans are vegan because they are opposed to the suffering and slaughter of animals and so they would, presumably, want that suffering and slaughter to end entirely (or, at least, as near as we can possibly get to that situation), but that won’t happen unless we persuade lots of other people to go vegan and that, in turn, won’t happen unless we get out there and interact with the public in order to do it. Surely the difficult bit is actually becoming vegan, with all the initial trials and tribulations that involves, especially on a social level. So, having become vegan, it would only take a comparatively tiny step more to do a bit of outreach. So many vegans seem unable to take it, however, and this is a problem we have to try to solve, if we really want animal liberation to be achieved. I’ve spoken above about the importance of vegan education in persuading people to change their attitudes and, hence, their behaviour towards other animals. It would be naive in the extreme, however, to suppose that we can succeed in educating everybody and we need to accept that some people will remain unaffected by our educational efforts and will wish to continue their support for or involvement in animal abuse. People change their behaviour for one of two reasons, either because they want to or because they fear the consequences of not doing so. Thus there are two ways of changing human behaviour, education and coercion, and with those who refuse to be educated, we are left with coercion. I’ve talked about local vegan outreach groups being the vehicle for education, but what is to be the vehicle for the coercion we need in order to change the behaviour of those we are unable to educate? Basically, there are two types of coercion that could be applied to enforce correct behaviour—coercion by the individual (or group of individuals) or coercion by the state. Non-state coercion would need to take the form of illegal direct action and the problem with this is that it is highly unlikely that enough people could be persuaded to do this in order for it to be effective. This leaves coercion by the state, in other words the passing and enforcement of laws to protect animals from abuse and in order to get such laws passed, we need an elected government that would be prepared to pass them. Governments are formed by political parties, which means that all of us who want animal liberation need to support the political party which gives the best hope for strong animal protection legislation. I think we can say immediately that isn’t going to be the Tories or the Lib-Dems, so is it going to be Labour? Sadly, there is nothing in the fundamental philosophy of the Labour Party or its record in relation to animal protection to indicate that this would be the case. We must never forget how Labour reneged on their promise of a Royal Commission to investigate vivisection, how the number of cruel experiments increased under their administration and how they brought in new laws to persecute anti-vivisection activists. Apart from a half-hearted “ban” on hunting with dogs and the abolition of fur farming (but not the fur trade) most forms of animal persecution continued to increase and prosper when Labour were last in power. In my view, the best hope of a government for animal protection lies with the Green Party. The Greens have policies that would end the badger cull, ban all animal experiments, abolish the fur trade, end the use of all animals in circuses, strengthen the law against hunting, abolish shooting and snaring, end live exports and factory farming and encourage veganism through the promotion of a diet free from animal products. ‘ The strong environmental protection policies of the Green Party are also of great benefit to non-human animals in terms of preserving their habitats and reducing the risk of them being harmed by pollution, climate change etc. A large number of Green Party politicians and activists are already involved at local, national or European level in fighting factory farming, live exports, animal experiments, the badger cull, bullfighting and many other forms of animal abuse. We need to get the Green Party into power if we are ever to truly protect animals in this country and if we don’t try our utmost to do so, we will be partly to blame for the continuing persecution of other creatures under Tory and Labour regimes. A Green Party government is not an impossible dream. The Greens are not only the best party for animal protection, but also the best for social justice and the environment—and if everyone who cares about all or any of these issues were to support the Green Party, they could easily sweep to power at an election. Let’s not forget that only about 20 percent of the population would need to vote Green in order for that to happen. As I mentioned above, it is a fundamental trait of humans in general to be passive and to not want to stand out from the crowd. However, in order for us to get a Green Party government, most people don’t need to be outspoken activists. They just need to put a cross on a piece of paper in the right place! Anarchists within the animal protection movement will object to my support for the Green Party, but it is my contention that those who support anarchism are harming the cause of animal liberation by advocating that members of the public should not vote at elections. Most human beings are fundamentally leader-followers, so the problem is that if there is no good guy (or gal!) for people to follow, most of them will inevitably follow the bad guy. Therefore anarchists are playing straight into the hands of the bad guys by advocating that animal protectionists do not vote, because all that achieves is to make sure that animal abuse supporters will continue to get elected. Likewise support for the Animal Welfare Party can also be harmful to the cause of animal liberation in that it takes the votes of animal protectionists away from the Green Party. Unlike the GP, the AWP has no chance of ever being able to form a government, because it can only ever appeal to that small minority of the population that is highly focused on animal protection above everything else. On the other hand, with its excellent policies on social justice and the environment, as well as on animal protection, the Green Party has the potential for mass appeal. There is also an argument that if we just persuade enough people to go vegan, politics will change accordingly and we’ll get animal protection legislation without supporting the Green Party. However, just having a large number of people wanting animal protection doesn’t mean that legislation will be passed to enforce their views. For decades a substantial majority of the public were opposed to hunting with dogs without it being abolished, for instance, and a large majority against the badger cull hasn’t prevented that from going ahead. Similar failure to reflect the views of the majority in legislation can also be seen with regard to the fur trade, live exports and animal experimentation. This means that hand in hand with educating people to go vegan, we have to build up the political force that will form a government for animal protection and reflect the views of vegans in its legislation. Thus my Greenprint for Animal Liberation is a combination of vegan outreach and support for the Green Party and I would urge every single person who yearns for animal liberation to do the following in order to help achieve it: (1) Join your local vegan outreach group (or, if there isn’t one, form one) and start educating members of the public to go vegan. (2) Join your local Green Party and help them with the process of getting people elected both at a local and a national level. None of this will be easy, but I see no other way. What I am talking about is basically the creation of a new type of animal protection movement that focuses less on shouty demos and hero-worship of direct action and more on vegan education and political involvement. We have to find a way of moving away from being brave losers, constantly trying to throw ourselves against an overwhelming force, and towards a situation where we ourselves become that overwhelming force that can make the world our own and carry all before us in the struggle for animal liberation. The above is just my opinion and I welcome constructive criticism. My plan may not be an easy one to put into operation or to see through to the end, but at least I have a plan, so please do not tell me mine is wrong without putting forward one of your own! Greenprint for Animal Liberation by Ronnie Lee (originally published January 5, 2014) When I first started classes at Rouxbe this was the very first thing that I made, it’s nostalgic and it brings me back & helps me realize how far I have come in just one year. What is really neat about this is it’s so quick to make and it can be a nice filling food for a breakfast meal. tempeh ingredients
Temphe instructionsTo prepare the tempeh, in a sauce pan, add the tempeh and vegetable stock to cover. Simmer for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the tempeh, let cool, dice and set aside. Hash Ingredients
Hash InstructionsTo prepare the hash, bring a fry pan to medium–high heat and add 1 1/2 tbsp of the oil. Add the potatoes and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing frequently until slightly browned. *Note: If your pan is not big enough, you may want to take the potatoes out and then just add them back at the end.
Next, add the onions and the diced tempeh, along with the remaining oil. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add the bell peppers, garlic, chili powder, tamari, sea salt and pepper and cook an additional 3 minutes. Note: The amount of chili powder, is based on a Chili Powder Recipe. If using chili powder, you may want to use more or less, depending on how spicy the chili powder is. Remove from heat, add in the chopped parsley and serve. Enjoy. Just how healthy is the Whole Foods plant based diet? Let’s pretend that all its effects could be achieved through a drug. Imagine a big pharmaceutical company holding a press conference to unveil a new pill called Eunutria. They unveil a list of scientifically proven effects of Eunutria that includes the following:
What about side effects, you ask? Of course there are side effects. They include:
Those are just the side effects for individuals taking the pill. There are also environmental effects:
How healthy is the whole foods plant based diet? It’s hard to imagine anything healthier—or anything more effective at addressing our biggest health issues. Not only is Whole food plant based diet the healthiest way of eating that has ever been studied, but it’s far more effective in promoting health and preventing disease than prescription drugs, surgery, vitamin and herbal supplementation, and genetic manipulation. If the whole food plant based diet were a pill, its inventor would be the wealthiest person on earth. Since it isn’t a pill, no market forces conspire to advocate for it. No mass media campaign promotes it. No insurance coverage pays for it. Since it isn’t a pill, and nobody has figured out how to get hugely wealthy by showing people how to eat it, the truth has been buried by half-truths, unverified claims, and downright lies. The concerted effort of many powerful interests to ignore, discredit, and hide the truth has worked so far. by T. Colin Campbell, Whole Rose oil has many benefits my favorite example of how beneficial Rose oil can be is seen in how it affects depression.
The journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice recently published a study that set out to prove these types of natural reactions to rose aromatherapy clinically. With a subject group of 28 postpartum women, the researchers separated them into two groups: one who would be treated with 15-minute sessions of a 2.5 percent solution of rose/lavender oil aromatherapy twice a week for four weeks, and a control group. Their results were quite remarkable. Not only was it discovered that the women experienced a significant decrease in postnatal depression scores, they also reported marked improvement in general anxiety disorder! How to use rose oil for depression: If you’re ever feeling anxious or down in the dumps, try putting five drops of rose and five drops of lavender in a diffuser by your nightstand before bed. Hopefully you will wake up renewed and at peace! By Candle Cafe We are in the cold and flu season. I believe in boosting up my immune system with immune boosting foods, opting out on the flu shot (I’ve never had one or the flu). This soup has been great for keeping up my immune system and fighting all those bad bugs we all encounter during the day. If you do start feeling down I recommend cooking this up it helps to fight off whatever it is that you may be coming down with. This soup is a gem I found it in the Candle Cafe Cookbook my very first vegan cookbook (awww.. memories). I made this soup when I was feeling down one day and it pepped me right up and ever since it has been my go to when I feel sick. Ginger, garlic, and cayenne are loaded with health benefits. They are said to increase circulation and stimulate metabolism as well as build up immune systems. Whether you're feeling a cold coming on or not, this is an excellent soup to eat for your health and well-being. Essential oils Ginger & Oregano added to this dish may add to the beneficial immune boosting power. Ingredients
instructions
Serve immediately & Enjoy, A few months ago I was searching for something fun to do with these beets I had gotten at the grocery store. Nothing seem appetizing until I found this recipe. It hit the spot and was so good and filling. This is a lot of spices so take a deep breath put on some amazing music and enjoy your time in the kitchen. Cutting things and preparing your spices for the recipe is a part of the fun. By: Minimalist Baker CHICKPEA Ingredients
Chickpea Instructions
By: Minimalist Baker Soup INgredients
Soup INSTRUCTIONS
xoxo,
I am giving away this yummy doTERRA toothpaste. This is the one product that sold me on doTERRA and I to this date keep extra's on had because I know someone will want to try it. It's an amazing formula that helps keep my teeth really clean.
Leave a comment at the bottom of this email message to be entered into win. The winner get's a full tube of doTERRA On Guard Toothpaste. The winner will be selected at random using www.random.org. Good Luck.
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I had the honor to come across a really lovely lady named Season (cool name, right?) that knows a lot about essential oil detox. She has quite a bit of knowledge and I want to share this with you guys. If you decide to do any of these please consult your doctor for advice. I am not a doctor. What you needDo you need all of these things? Nope not really but I am putting them here just in case. I would stress this full detox to anyone that has just got back from getting one of those dreaded vaccines, ouch! And I say this because I just got a list of vaccines with their ingredients and you really should know there are a lot of ingredients in them. When and If you do get a vaccine you can ask for a vaccine insert, this is so you can be educated on what is inside of the shot that they gave you and any side effects you may be getting will be listed on that as well. So here you go a few things that can help assist you with building your immune system and detoxing. I don't have time to list the research and study sources because I am putting this up for my sister-in-law (hi Julie) but I will this week. Also to make things easy I included links to the things I could & will update this sometime this week. Essential Oils:
Other Supplies: Detox Water
Put in your water if you are using a reusable bottle make sure it is glass or stainless steel. Detox Bath REcipe
Soak for at least 15 minutes bed time food rub
Rub on on feet every night. Why on feet? Because your feet have the biggest pores in your body so it absorbs quickly. Liver & Kidney Rub
Mix together and rub on on kidneys and liver. Morning and night. Caster OIl Liver PackPut a dob on your hand and put on the area of your liver put a rag or washcloth over the top and hot water bottle or heating pad on top of that. Lay with it on 20-30 min |
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I'm Aimee You have the ability to be the best version of you and it's my job to help you get there. Archives
August 2019
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