Essy's Journey to Health

ESSYDIAS's SparkPage - Essy's Journey to Health

Just joined Spark People to keep track of my progress with my health plans for the New Year!

love the 'you' you hide

Praying in the Moment

4. Will you love the 'you' you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

5. Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In Your company I'll go where Your love and footsteps show. Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me."

I got this this morning and it just clicked for me.

Stand Up...

ABC News: Overweight? Standing May Be Solution

I found this article interesting in light of message that I was receiving this morning during my prayer time. Hmmmm.

Prayer of St Francis

Prayer of St Francis of Assisi:

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

I've been a little bit of a slump the past few days...maybe some kind of post Thanksgiving/ pre Christmas thing...I don't know. But I was feeling very un-loved...hmmm...definitely lots of inner-healing stuff that obviously still needs to happen there...but anyway... I prayed over it and the Lord pretty much reminded me of the above prayer. God's way is different then our way...the spiritual world is topsy turvey...we get by giving, we become first by being last and on and on. So the point being...we get love by GIVING love! I've been very neglectful of my friends and extended family. I've been so self focused (in a negative way)for the past few years (ok...maybe most of my life). This was such an AHA moment, especially as I prepare for Christmas.

The thing is that I'm still very lacking in this area...I honestly and trully don't even know how to reach out to others. My prayer will be that the Lord show me step by step what He would have me do.

Insulin and insulin resistance

Insulin and insulin resistance

Symptoms of insulin resistance
Here is a list of some of the most common symptoms of people with Insulin Resistance. Many symptoms manifest themselves immediately following a meal of carbohydrates, and others are more or less always present. Keep in mind that these symptoms may also be related to other problems.

1. Fatigue. The most common feature of Insulin Resistance is that it wears people out. Some are tired just in the morning or afternoon, others are exhausted all day.

2. Brain fogginess. Sometimes the fatigue of Insulin Resistance is physical, but often it's mental. The inability to focus is the most evident symptom. Poor memory, loss of creativity, poor grades in school often accompany Insulin Resistance, as do various forms of "learning disabilities."

3. Low blood sugar. Mild, brief periods of low blood sugar are normal during the day, especially if meals are not eaten on a regular schedule. But prolonged periods of this "hypoglycemia," accompanied by many of the symptoms listed here, especially physical and mental fatigue, are not normal.

Feeling agitated, jittery and moody is common in Insulin Resistance, with almost immediate relief once food is eaten.

4. Intestinal bloating. Most intestinal gas is produced from carbohydrates in the diet. Insulin Resistance sufferers who eat carbohydrates suffer from gas, lots of it.

5. Sleepiness. Many people with Insulin Resistance get sleepy immediately after eating a meal containing more than 20% or 30% carbohydrates. This means typically a pasta meal, or even a meat meal which includes potatoes or bread and a sweet dessert.

6. Increased weight and fat storage. For most people, too much weight is too much fat. In males, a large abdomen is the more obvious and earliest sign of Insulin Resistance. In females, it's prominent buttocks.

7. Increased triglycerides. High triglycerides in the blood are often found in overweight persons. But even those who are not overweight may have stores of fat in their arteries as a result of Insulin Resistance.

These triglycerides are the direct result of carbohydrates in the diet being converted by insulin.

8. Increased blood pressure. It is a fact that most people with hypertension have too much insulin and are Insulin Resistant. It is often possible to show a direct relationship between the level of insulin and blood pressure: as insulin levels elevate, so does blood pressure.

9. Depression. Because carbohydrates are a natural "downer," depressing the brain, it is not uncommon to see many depressed persons who also have Insulin Resistance.

Hmmmm...and another 'symptom' that I've been reading about is PCOS...a condition that causes lack of ovulation (infertility).

Why don't doctors tell people with a high risk for type II Diabetes that there is something that they can do to prevent it?

Ok...back to 'self nurturing'. I've been on the Carb Addict's eating plan for over a month now and I can't begin to tell you all what a difference it has made. I don't need a doctor to tell me that this is part of my problem and what has caused all my other issues.

What Season Woman Are You?

You Are Fall!

Thoughtful Expressive Creative Poetic Smart

What Season Woman Are You?

As a September baby, I guess this makes sense...lol.

Jesus the Nutritionist

Jesus the Nutritionist : A Catholic Reflection
JESUS THE NUTRITIONIST
"After ten days they looked healthier and better fed than any of the young men who ate from the royal table." –Daniel 1:15
Some people say: "You are what you eat." Does that mean you're junk if you eat junk-food? Are you sweet if you eat candy, or nuts if you eat peanuts? If you eat bananas, are you bananas? Obviously, we are not exactly what we eat. Nevertheless, obedience to God in what we eat has a profound effect on our lives.

We should let God plan our menus and decide on our portions. The Lord has definite ideas about caffeine, alcohol, salt, and sugar. Just as an athlete has a "playing weight," so God has a "praying weight" for you. The Lord is so concerned about your calories and chemicals, and your weight and shape because He loves you. He wants to be Lord of all aspects of your lives, even in the details of your eating habits. He cares about you that much.

Like Daniel and the three young men, if you let Jesus be Lord of your eating, you will be blessed with health, beauty, and wisdom (Dn 1:20). You will truly be all you can be, even sharers in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). We follow neither the eating habits nor the nutritional advice of the world. Jesus is our Lord and Nutritionist.

PRAYER: Jesus, Bread of life, feed me, be my Food. May I never eat without following Your directions.

I've heard this advice about not 'following the nutritional advice of the world' before and yet I don't think that I fully got it until recently. It doesn't mean to not follow any man made diet...obviously that would be close to impossible to come up with a new one at this point...lol. (even though this is what the Christian non-diet programs are promoting, I no longer buy into it. What it does mean is to pray, pray, pray and have the Lord deliver you Himself to the plan that is best for YOU!

I have been seeing some amazing, drastic results with the Carb Addict's eating plan. It is not a 'low carb' plan...because all foods ARE allowed...they just have to be consumed at the proper time.

I really see the hand of God slowly bringing me here. I first learned about the symptoms of MVPS and what could be done to treat it. No sugar, drink more water, exercise, take the right meds. So I started to make some changes and started to see results. Then as I was reading more about the sugar connection, He showed me about carbs. Then finally through the Carb Addict's He showed me about the insulin connection to all of this. I really feel that the insulin that is put out after a high carb meal was what was causing most of my 'dysautonomia and MVPS' symptoms.

And NOPE...I WILL NOT go to a doctor to confirm it...got burned really badly last time! I have enough family history behind me to be confident that this is what is doing it...lots of diabetes running around in the family (and that is a final stage of all of this).

Pray About It

Not By Bread Alone: August 2006:

"Pray about it... Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world:

'The key is the word 'balance,' which means not to go overboard. If we pray, God will let us know which foods, herbs, spices, vitamins, and drinks best fit our unique bodies -- and will guide doctors who may be needed to assist us. He will also let us know what to eat if we pray not only when we are ready to eat but before we decide what to buy at the store!' This is THE message that we should be putting out about the journey to health...pray! I often get hooked into one particular 'method' or other and in my excitement want to just tell everyone...which is ok I guess...as long as I don't fail to mention how that 'method' came about. However, one problem that I've seen arise from telling someone to 'pray' over it is that it sounds trite. We perhaps hear it so often that it loses its full impact...so it goes in one ear and out the other. Or we think that 'pray over it' means to request a miraculous healing...which ofcourse is within God's power. However the most important thing that can come out of prayer is 'relationship'...walking hand in hand with Jesus. Today...let me be aware of His presence in my life and especially on how it applies to my health and well being."

Another oldie but goodie.

canopy of Grace

Not By Bread Alone: August 2006:
"Thin Within Day 4

A Path of My Choosing: 'On this path God's canopy of grace shelters us during the storms of life and shades us during those days when we experience fiery trials. If we attempt to move out from under God's protective covering, we quickly discover that life consists of frustration and striving and goes nowhere. As we choose to surrender to God and His wonderful care for us, we experience His peace and His sufficiency. We learn that He truly is satisfying, more than the richest of foods. The perfecting power of the Holy Spirit works from the inside out---from within. He gives us a new mind and a new heart, not a new formula.'"

I came across this over at the old blog and still really like it.

Be satisfied with your self

Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world:

"The key disturbances arise when we seek to be someone we are not. This creates tremendous tensions. We see such tensions especially when families meet during the holiday seasons.

We can harm others when we are not satisfied with who we are (and what we are doing) and when we want what another has.

There is no reason for this. We are all equally gifted. Differently, yes; but equally. Don't fume about your lot!

When we forget that we not only send a harmful spiritual wave at the other person, but are also on the receiving end later because every time such is sent out it returns like a boomerang.

Are you blocked? Are you frustrated?

Close all the doors through which smoke may come -- sin, bad habits, envy. No one has it better than you do, if you are living your life to the full extent of God's gifts.

Be comfortable with who you are and what you are supposed to do and do it to your full ability and you will be sealed from the enemy and too happy with your own life for preoccupation with the life (and things) of another."

I just love that last sentence! I find this key to self nurturing. Often we are our own worst enemies.

Free HUGS!

Here are the lyrics to this video.
I'm not sure why but this made both laugh and cry at the same time. Maybe I can identify with 'wearing your heart on your sleeve' like that. I might as well be carrying a sign...or maybe I don't need one since I have a blog (LOL).

Anyway...'Free HUGS' sounds really good to me. Perfect 'self nurturing'...human touch. Healthy touch! All the perverts out there have really ruined things for the rest of us.

New Beginnings

New blog...new approach.

I probably should have started this when I had more time to lay it all out. But for now suffice it to say that 'self nurturing' is back on the agenda.