Please…Stop Ignoring Your Inner Voice!

Posted on 06/16/2013 by Christy

Yes, you! I’m talking to you! You…the one who has been pretending not to know that you are “supposed” to be taking a certain action – quitting your job, leaving a relationship, moving to a new town, expressing your true emotions to a loved one, checking in with your doctor…or whatever it may be!

Please, stop ignoring that inner nudging! It’s your built-in guidance system, and it’s trying to steer you toward the best version of you!

Although it can be scary to think about making the “leap” and trusting your gut (especially in a society so dedicated to weighing the “pros and cons” of things all of the time), it’s been my experience that “leaps of faith” (when rooted in truly listening to one’s own heart), will not disappoint! Sure it’s scary! Definitely uncomfortable…and filled with all sorts of “what ifs.” Yes, I know. But just stick with me here, and open your mind to taking even one small leap that you haven’t had the courage to take before. Start with something small. And when it works out (and the “worst thing that could happen”….doesn’t happen), you’ll build your confidence in the process and work your way up to bigger leaps of faith.

It’s so easy to imagine all the things that could go wrong if we decide to start making the changes we desire in our lives. But if you sit down and really concentrate, I’m sure you could generate a list just as long of all of the things that could go wrong even if you don’t make those same changes! Yes, that’s right…tons of awful things could happen to you right now…as you sit there in your comfort zone with a white-knuckle grip on all of your perceived sources of security. Not to be harsh, but the fact of the matter is that nothing is guaranteed. And if you never take a leap, at least one of those “things that could go wrong while you’re sitting there” is definitely going to happen – you won’t be living the life you dream about! Sigh…(not good)!

I’ve learned from experience during the past couple of years that it feels so wonderful to follow your inner voice, and it really does not lead you astray! My most recent experience with my “inner voice” was the shaving of my head. (NOTE: If you’re not too interested in the soul-bearing example I’m about to share regarding my farewell to my hair, please bear with me as I really feel that you’ll find value in this example regardless of the type of leap you are considering.)

Oh, and check out the videos at the end of this post for even more examples from my life where I’ve followed my heart – I hope you’ll find encouragement in my examples!

MY “LEAP” – To shave…or not to shave!

So…my husband wasn’t really too “comfortable” with the idea of me shaving my head, but I knew I just had to do it. Even after a month without my hair, I still don’t feel that the reasons why I needed to shave it so badly have been 100% revealed to me….but I do know that I do feel so much more me (if that makes sense to you), and I feel incredibly free without my hair!!! I definitely don’t miss my “bed head,” and I really don’t miss feeling differently about myself from day-to-day based on how I felt my hair looked!

So here’s how it all went down….

I’d been feeling the urge to shave my head quite strongly for several months, but I kept delaying the leap for…ya know, solid “logical” reasons (wink, wink). Actually, looking back on things, I can recall wanting to shave my head for many years, really, but I never really entertained it as an actual possibility until about 6 months ago.

As time went by, the inner nudging became more and more relentless. Finally, one day about a month or so ago….I found myself pushing my hair down with my hands every time I’d catch my reflection in a mirror…and I realized that I just did not feel like my true self anymore with my hair – although I wasn’t really sure why I felt this way. It didn’t really make sense to me, but the urging was so strong that I knew a head shaving was inevitable.

That night as my hubby and I were going to sleep, I found myself overcome with emotion – I was actually sobbing to him in bed about wanting to shave my head. Emotions sure do have a way of showing you the direction you are supposed to be heading in life! I wasn’t actually feeling sad. I was feeling tormented by the idea of resisting this hair cut any longer. And the emotion was stroooong – like, impossible to ignore. All-consuming, really. Another clear sign that a “leap” was in order! I kept trying to explain to him why I needed to shave my head….not that I had any kind of explanation that would make sense to another human being. LOL! Finally, I realized that there really weren’t “reasons”….it was a feeling. When he realized that my desire to shave my head was coming from a place so deep inside me that I had no control over it, he assured me that he’d support me in whatever I decided to do.

The next morning, I awoke before him as usual. Again, I was feeling like a different person than what was staring back at me in the mirror. I grabbed a bandana and covered my hair in an attempt to approximate what I’d look like with a shaved head. I’m not sure where the idea came from, but I grabbed a hand mirror and stood facing a wall mirror while holding the hand mirror at a particular angle so that the bandana wasn’t too visible in my reflection (as you can see in this photo to the left – feel free to click the photo to enlarge if you’d like).

I took a picture of this pose with the intention of showing it to my hubby so he could get an idea of what I would look like with no hair… but something much more unexpected came from that photograph! When I saw the picture of my face compared to the smaller reflection of my face in the hand mirror in this photograph…it was like looking into my soul….the reflection in the hand mirror seemed like me…and the other shot of my face did not. I can’t really explain it, but that’s how it felt. To me, that person in the hand mirror seemed so incredibly happy, content, and “whole.” The strange thing was that I had always considered myself to be perfectly content, happy and whole. So that feeling really caught me off guard! (I also found it symbolic that the reflection of my face is actually over my heart in this photo, which was in no way intentional.)

So….in that moment, I knew I’d be shaving my head very soon! 🙂 Oh, and if you’re wondering….I did still use the photo to “explain” things to my hubby. And, far from what I was expecting….it still made no sense to him. LOL! So funny…because I thought it all seemed so objectively clear at this point! Seriously…from the way I felt, I assumed he’d take one look at that picture and know exactly what I was talking about and relate to how I was feeling. Well…not so much!

So that’s when I realized….this was between me and my soul. And there was no need to convince anyone else…even my beloved husband! 🙂

Even though he didn’t understand (and now I realize his understanding really wasn’t necessary), he did help me shave my head. And, after a few days of getting over the “shock” every time he saw me with no hair (a problem I had, as well. LOL!), he was pleasantly surprised that my lack of hair didn’t bother him at all like he had assumed it would. Aesthetically, I’m sure we both prefer me with a hair-do of some sort; but we have both seen how much more I’ve “come into my own” by taking this leap…and “looks” were never a factor in the decision at all (in case anyone is wondering).

So…How about YOU ?!

If there’s something you have been wanting to do but you’ve been resisting it, I urge you to sit down and think about what’s really (I mean….really!) stopping you!!!

Most things in life aren’t “permanent.” And you may end up kicking yourself if you never give it a try.

You may just find that sitting there wondering what you must be missing out on actually turns out to be much worse than whatever outcome you fear if you go ahead and DO it! So GO…FOR… IT !

You only get one chance at this life, so make sure you’re living the life you want to live!!! Believe me…I know it’s scary to step outside your comfort zone. After the last couple years I’ve had (full of leaping), I’m starting to have trouble recalling what my comfort zone even looks like! LOL! But the feeling of FREEDOM is soooooooooo worth all of the “fear conquering” involved along the way!

I blog about a lot of things, but if there was just one message I could spread to the world, it would be to listen to your inner voice! Do you agree? If so, please share this post with anyone you’d like to encourage to do so!

Oh, and be sure to “follow” my blog in case I decide to purge my soul on the Internet again sometime soon. LOL!

Alright, enough about me! Your turn! I’d love to hear from you in the comments below! What leaps are you resisting….or what experiences have you had with listening to and following your inner voice?

My Journey from Fibromyalgia to Food

Posted on 06/05/2013 by Christy

If you know anyone who suffers from any chronic symptoms for which no one has found a solution, please share my return-to-health story with them! I’ve included the video version below or you can access the written version by clicking here, instead.

Reducing the amount of food additives in my diet back in 2007 relieved my Fibromyalgia symptoms beyond my wildest dreams – I truly “got my LIFE back”!

Did you know, for example, that the flavor enhancer MSG overstimulates the nervous system, causing and exacerbating a variety of conditions…and that it can be legally HIDDEN in foods under DOZENS of innocent-sounding names like “NATURAL FLAVOR” and “YEAST EXTRACT”? (Click here to check out my “Eating Additive-Free” Natural Cookbook & Grocery Shopping Guide that I created to help you start reducing the amount of food additives in your diet!)

Please take some time to listen to the recording below to learn how such additives may be affecting you, and feel free to share this post with ANYONE it may help. (Oh, and be sure to subscribe to my blog over in the left margin of this page, so you don’t miss any of my natural living info in the future!)

Asperger’s, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, OCD and Diabetes are no match for this determined mother!

Posted on 04/27/2013 by Christy

Please give a warm welcome to Em, an amazing mom in Omaha, NE who will stop at nothing to give her boys the healthiest life she can. I had the pleasure of meeting Em recently, and I’m thrilled that she was willing to share her story with all of you here! I’m sure many of you will relate to her journey…from realizing that her boys’ health was suffering…to struggling for answers…and then putting in the hard work (and finances) it takes to implement the natural solutions she believes in so strongly…

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ember Em writes…

“My life changed after the birth of my oldest son in November of 04′. Born with many issues, one of our struggles became something called MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance). Which, after all was said and done from surgeries to NG feeds (Nasal Gastric feeding tube) left a lot of stress and confusion in our home, where new parents had to maneuver through a new food world. All that being said, when he hit 2 years old, we were told he’d out grow his MSPI and to feed him regularly – Even though he failed a conventional milk challenge with pasteurized store bought milk, we were told to feed him normally and see. By the time he was 4 years old, he had been diagnosed as “Failure to Thrive” for his entire life, had a diagnosis of Functional Abdominal Pain and was just a few days away from being in the hospital. He had no energy, was lethargic really, dark circles under his eyes and only wanted to eat macaroni and cheese and ice cream!

It was during this time that my youngest was born and also diagnosed with MSPI! I breastfed the entire time with him. Though he was so sensitive I literally was allowed to eat less than 10 types of food the entire year. None of these foods came from a box or can – this should’ve been my first clue!

dathen Beside myself with worry over my oldest son, I was talking with a friend who jogged my memory of an article I’d read when he was first diagnosed. The article explained that we begin to crave the things we’re allergic to. So, I took to the internet to find what I could and recipes that I could use if I removed the milk from his diet again. This is around the time I stumbled upon the holistic online community at Completely Nourished. I found a few recipes and promptly removed the milk proteins from his diet. Within two days, he was asking for second helpings of food. I added liquid vitamins that were easily digestible for his tummy (all gluten-, casein-, preservative-free, etc.). Within one week, the dark circles under his eyes were gone, he’d put on 2 pounds and most of his personality changed!

Diagnosed with Asperger’s, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, OCD, etc. I pretty much couldn’t think about his future – I knew what all of these diagnoses together meant. Well, just removing the gross processed milk proteins changed a majority of his issues! His tics were so bad that it would take him 5 minutes sometimes to finish a sentence because he’d tic, stop talking and have to start the sentence over. He was beating himself and had just expressed the desire to have coprolalia (This is what people think of when they think of TS). It was really bad. We removed just the milk and in 3 years, I have not seen his tics come anywhere near that degree anymore. Truth be told, now, when his tics are on a downswing, you wouldn’t even notice he has TS! To top that off, he went from 8 medications down to just 5!!

Jax So, I went back and read Christy’s story again. I followed a few of her recipes and started to slowly cut out all those additives in his food and his brother’s food. We’re still not 100% additive-free, but we’re probably 99% additive-free now. We also made sure that their food was organic whenever possible as well.

Flash forward 3 years and my son was again being tested for Celiac. So, standing there holding him down for yet another blood draw, I realized that rather than keep doing this, it made more sense to just go gluten-free for him. So, we went gluten-free, too. Within 4 days he had what one neurologist termed “withdrawal” symptoms! It was awful really but, by the next day, just like when he was removed from milk, he was almost the little boy I knew at 2 years old!

Which prompted me back to Christy’s story here, where I poured over anyting that I could get my hands on. Then I went went back and got my geek on. I researched for hours sometimes on the internet about foods, GMOs, preservatives, etc., After a little over 2 weeks now casein/gluten free, my oldest is being titrated down on the dosage of 2 of his medications with the hopes that he can get completely off of them! My youngest, who was diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) in November of 2012, was originally put on ADHD meds during the day and awful Clonidine at night to help him sleep. Today, after just this short time off of gluten too, he’s now medication free! Unlike my oldest, who you wouldn’t even know had Asperger’s, you will notice my little guys eye contact problem and sometimes his communication issues, but, overall, his whole personality is different. He’s still a little wilder than the neighborhood kiddos, but nothing like he used to be.

On a side note, before I took them gluten-free and as preservative-free and additive-free as I could, I weighed almost 300lbs on the dot. I got whooping cough last year and couldn’t shake it. Went in a second time to the ER and had pneumonia. They sent me home with some antibiotics and strict instructions. Two days later, I got a call from my GP’s nurse. She told me that I was hands down diabetic, but that they needed to perform another test to be thorough. She read off my entire CBC to me and explained what all these numbers meant. While she did say that my illness would give some of these higher readings, it wouldn’t account for how high all of them were or why they were all out of control.

I found out that I had metabolic disorder, my adrenals were running on empty, etc. I sat there and realized that with two parents who had congestive heart failure, one of which had died at 61 years old from it…and my mother at 64 has already had numerous heart attacks, a stroke and 2 stents put in her heart…I had a choice to make!

As I sat there listening to my numbers being read off and listening to my children digging through their Legos in the other room. I realized that I could keep going the way I’d been going or I could die younger than my parents. So, I headed back to the Completely Nourished online community to find recipes and as much information as I could to get myself healthy enough to take care of my boys. To date, I’ve lost a tad over 40 pounds in 2 months! I have way more energy than I have had in years, and I’m emotionally happier and more together than I have been. My whole life has changed!

Had I not found Christy’s site or story here, I have no idea where we would be now. THANK YOU Christy! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you! And, for anyone out there reading this…KNOW that diet DOES matter!”

Chewy Grain-Free Cookies

Posted on 04/23/2013 by Christy

CHECK OUT OUR RECIPES PAGE FOR MORE GREAT RECIPES!!!

These cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free…and egg-free! And they are chewy and delicious!

(Psst….If you enjoy this recipe, be sure to get yourself a copy of our additive-free cookbook & grocery shopping guide, “Eating Additive-Free“! It’s stuffed with 150+ more tasty recipes!! Your satisfaction is guaranteed…or your money back!)

Makes about 12 cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 TBSP pure vanilla extract
1 – 1 1/4 cups almond meal* (See note below!)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

*Check out our Grocery Shopping Guide for our tips on selecting the most additive-free versions of every ingredient used in our recipes.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F, and line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2.Melt oil and honey together in a small sauce pan.

3. Meanwhile, combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

4. Remove oil and honey from the heat and stir in vanilla extract.

5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Dough will be more the consistency of brownie or cake batter than cookie dough, but that’s just fine. 🙂

6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto parchment paper. I literally use a TBSP measuring spoon for this step. Especially if making the thin variety, don’t place more than 6 cookies per sheet because they spread out a LOT!

7. Bake one sheet at a time on middle rack for about 8 minutes, until edges just begin to brown. Watch carefully in the final couple minutes, as ovens vary and these turn quickly from “done” to “burnt”!

8. Slide cookies (w/ parchment) onto a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or allow to cool completely for about 20 minutes, and enjoy!

*Almond meal note:
For thicker cookies (shown in the photo above on the left), use 1 1/4 cups. For thinner cookies (shown in the photo above on the right), use just 1 cup almond meal. Both varieties are equally chewy and delicious, but Chad and I prefer the thinner ones!! Also, I’ve only tried these with Trader Joe’s brand almond meal, not almond flour, so I’m not sure how these would work otherwise. I did also try with my own homemade almond meal, but I needed to use 1 1/4 cup of that to get the thinner version (instead of the just 1 cup needed with the store-bought variety), and I didn’t try to make the thicker variety with my own almond meal. I assume the difference is that the store-bought variety is drier??

CHECK OUT OUR RECIPES PAGE FOR MORE GREAT RECIPES!!!

(If you enjoy this recipe, be sure to get yourself a copy of our additive-free cookbook & grocery shopping guide, “Eating Additive-Free“! It’s stuffed with 150+ more tasty recipes!! Your satisfaction is guaranteed…or your money back!)