Health Movie Review: Super Size Me

Wow. I'm watching "Super Size Me" and I'm blown away. I'm so glad that I have started to eat healthier than I was. This movie should be mandatory viewing before you graduate from high school.

Synopsis: Morgan, a healthy, active man experiments by eating nothing but food from McDonalds for 30 days and walking less than 5000 steps a day.

Crazy thing? His girlfriend is a vegan chef! It must have killed her to watch him go through this experiment.

Why do I think that you need to watch this movie? It's really eye-opening to see what living on McDonald's food does to you--physically, mentally. Not only does it destroy your health and increase your weight, it also addicts you to it. When you see what happens to Morgan, you realize what is happening to you every time you eat this food. You also see what goes on in schools and learn about the way that the restaurant and food industry is keeping us down. Did you know how much advertising we see for unhealthy food options every day? Made me glad that we don't watch "traditional" television with commercials so my kids don't see them. But then I remembered when my daughter came up to tell me all about a commercial she heard on her radio. She was so insistent that the information she was giving me was important, and of course it wasn't. What are we teaching our kids?

My ultimate goal in eating better is to show my daughters how to be a healthy weight. I don't want them to struggle with obesity like I have. I think my next step will be cutting out the Diet Coke. I don't drink coffee, so I've convinced myself that this is the way I get my caffeine. I almost stopped drinking cola entirely a couple of years ago, then my work changed and I was struggling to stay awake, so I started drinking Coke. I eventually changed to Diet Coke because I didn't want all the sugar in my system. So, now I have Aspertame in my system instead. Yeah, I think it's time for the Diet Coke to go. I have kept myself at 1 can most days and lots of water. Think I'll up the water and pitch the cola now.

Getting Healthier and a Little More Organized

It feels like a rare thing, but things are coming together for me. Getting to the chiropractor has put me on the road to health. Looking back over how I had been feeling, I can now clearly see that a lot of what I was feeling was related to my spine. The part of my neck that is out of whack is where all the nerves for things like mood, depression, anxiety, etc are. The fact that the nerves were being choked explains a lot of how I depressed I had been feeling. I'd gone from rarely having panic attacks to having them fairly regularly.

Now that I've had a few adjustments, I can feel a difference. My mood is still out of whack, but it's getting better. I can usually feel when a panic attack is coming on and try to warn my husband so that he knows that I'm not myself. There is nothing quite like seeing yourself being a bitch to the people you love and not being able to stop it. It feels like you're watching yourself be this way. I'm hoping that as my chiropractic visits continue that the moods will even out as my body starts healing itself. Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and the possibility of feeling better is such a huge relief. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I cried in my husband's arms in despair, afraid that I would never get better. It's amazing what a difference a few weeks can make.


As for getting organized, my husband and I spent Father's Day clearing more stuff out of our basement. He had to take a load of stuff to the dump today and we've dropped a lot of stuff off at the thrift shop. Some stuff we were holding on to for silly reasons. My rocking chair was broken and had been broken for years, but it was something he was going to fix. We let it go, realizing it was never going to get fixed and it was just sitting down there making us feel guilty. It feels good to get rid of stuff like that. I'm pretty sure we had two non-functioning VCRs, some blankets we were saving for the local animal shelter and a few other things. It felt so good to get the stuff out of here.

We were able to fold up the futon that has been a dumping ground for years and we finally got the sheet off it so we could wash it. Today he set up my desk for my "office" space. I'm getting psyched to work at home! As much as I like seeing my friends at work, I think going home is going to be a good option for me. I can hardly wait for the approval to happen so I can start working here. No more juggling the single car we have with the kids and who needs to be where. Can hardly wait!

Getting Healthier and a Little More Organized

It feels like a rare thing, but things are coming together for me. Getting to the chiropractor has put me on the road to health. Looking back over how I had been feeling, I can now clearly see that a lot of what I was feeling was related to my spine. The part of my neck that is out of whack is where all the nerves for things like mood, depression, anxiety, etc are. The fact that the nerves were being choked explains a lot of how I depressed I had been feeling. I'd gone from rarely having panic attacks to having them fairly regularly.

Now that I've had a few adjustments, I can feel a difference. My mood is still out of whack, but it's getting better. I can usually feel when a panic attack is coming on and try to warn my husband so that he knows that I'm not myself. There is nothing quite like seeing yourself being a bitch to the people you love and not being able to stop it. It feels like you're watching yourself be this way. I'm hoping that as my chiropractic visits continue that the moods will even out as my body starts healing itself. Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and the possibility of feeling better is such a huge relief. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I cried in my husband's arms in despair, afraid that I would never get better. It's amazing what a difference a few weeks can make.


As for getting organized, my husband and I spent Father's Day clearing more stuff out of our basement. He had to take a load of stuff to the dump today and we've dropped a lot of stuff off at the thrift shop. Some stuff we were holding on to for silly reasons. My rocking chair was broken and had been broken for years, but it was something he was going to fix. We let it go, realizing it was never going to get fixed and it was just sitting down there making us feel guilty. It feels good to get rid of stuff like that. I'm pretty sure we had two non-functioning VCRs, some blankets we were saving for the local animal shelter and a few other things. It felt so good to get the stuff out of here.

We were able to fold up the futon that has been a dumping ground for years and we finally got the sheet off it so we could wash it. Today he set up my desk for my "office" space. I'm getting psyched to work at home! As much as I like seeing my friends at work, I think going home is going to be a good option for me. I can hardly wait for the approval to happen so I can start working here. No more juggling the single car we have with the kids and who needs to be where. Can hardly wait!

Decluttering and it Feels so Good!

Yes, I sang that title in my head as I typed it. What can I say? I've been baby stepping the past few months, getting some clutter out of our house in drips and drabs. Today was my day off and I stepped up the game a bit. I think the reason that I was able to get so much done has a lot to do with having a chiropractic adjustment yesterday. Now that I feel better, it's a lot easier to do stuff. I am looking forward to feeling increased health as we continue going there.

I worked on the basement today. I found out that there was an opportunity to start working from home for my job, and I was on the waiting list, so I decided I'd better get it cleared out so that I can have an office. It was a good thing that I got started in earnest today because I found out that I'm no longer on the waiting list. I'm going to get to work from home! Yay!

I had such a productive decluttering day today. Our empty aquarium and stand have been freecycled as has a box of crafting supplies that I had to admit that I was never going to get to. We took 3 boxes of stuff to be donated and set aside some of the old baby stuff for my niece. It feels so good to let this clutter go. A huge weight off my shoulders. :)

Feeling Healthier! First Chiropractor Adjustment!

Wow! I knew that I was feeling crummy, but I had no idea how bad I felt until we went for our assessment last week. I thought I was just tired and run down. It's amazing how a small adjustment can make a big difference.

I really like our chiropractor. The staff at the office have you read literature on why it's important to have your spine aligned and then they ask you questions to make sure you understand it (they will explain further if need be). He really takes the time to talk to us directly and makes sure that we are understanding things.

We're going to a new patients' class on Thursday (yes, a class!) that will help us to understand more about chiropractics and then we'll have a personal session to go over our results. I was afraid that we made the trip in today just to be given another appointment, but he said he knew we were in pain and didn't want us to wait until Thursday, so he gave us both an adjustment tonight.

It was really painless. When I felt the pop in my neck on one side, I just felt relief. Then he popped the other side too. I feel so much lighter now. Before, it was like a depression was settling on me and I had a black cloud hanging over my head. I know I'm not cured, but I feel like becoming healthy is attainable now. I can't quite do that sort of dance move like the picture, but that's how I feel inside :)

I think that feeling that way just crept up on us. It just seemed like that was how things were and as the aches and pains got worse, we just accepted it as normal. Who knows, with treatment, we may actually get to "normal".

Getting Healthy: Seeing a Chiropractor

I haven't been writing much lately. If you had asked me why, I would have told you it was because I just hadn't been feeling well lately. I've been tired and headachy and recently had a bout of strep throat. I didn't have any energy left for writing.

My husband has been in rough shape too, so the two of us finally decided to do something about it. We have started seeing a chiropractor. We've just had an assessment and x-rays done. Tomorrow we go back to talk to him about treatment.

The assessment itself was eye-opening. It's amazing to me that he could touch my spine and know that I have a rib out of alignment (I didn't even know that!). He also confirmed my suspicions that the bones in my neck are out of line and this is a big part of why I've been getting so many headaches. Who knew?

I feel much better knowing that we're going to get treatment and that we can expect to find some relief from the constant pain we've been having. The hard part is waiting to get started and knowing that it's a process and won't get better all at once. I guess it's like house cleaning--my back didn't get this way in a day, and it can't get fixed in a day. Baby steps are the way to go. Gradual improvement is the name of the game as we head toward greater health. I can hardly wait to start.

Baby Steps to Organization

Busy few weeks here. We spent time getting the front garden looking nice. Hopefully it stays that way! The back garden is next on the list because I'd like to grow some veggies this summer.

In the meantime, I've been decluttering in the house. I can't believe how much paper clutter that is around here. I thought I had a handle on it, but it seems that it multiplies when I'm not looking. Generally, I recycle any flyers or advertisements as soon as they enter the house. The kids bring a lot of paper home, so I try to intercept it and copy everything important down on our calendar and recycle it as well. Bills get taken out of their envelopes and sorted for payments. This is what happens ideally, when I get the mail. If hubby gets the mail, it's a different story.

We've also been going through the girls' clothes, trying to weed out anything that doesn't fit them and donate them. Angel loves wearing Big Kid's hand-me-downs, so that's a good thing!

It's a sense of accomplishment to be able to take a bag or box of clothing or other items out of the house to donate. It also feels great to take bags of recycling out. Any time something is decluttered, other things seem to hone in on the spot and spread, but I'm hoping that eventually we'll be at a stage where everything has a place and can be put away properly. We're a long way from that point, but we're getting there. Each baby step gets us closer to organization.