Now What?

I have another confession. I've not returned to Paleo perfect since this happened. I've been making better choices (like you know, not eating skittles every day or an entire box of peppermint patties-ugh!) for sure, but I could improve on those choices. And I need to.

As you know, my health is, um, wacky... we'll go with wacky. Sometimes I feel amazing, and sometimes a random symptom will reappear. Now I'll say this, even on my worst day since changing my diet, I feel better than my best day before this transition. That's a fact. But I don't want to just feel better than before, I want to feel my best. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting that, and I don't think wanting to feel my best and accepting that I may never be able to repair all the damage I've done are mutually exclusive.

There have been some new happenings. I'll go with newest first. I have some sort of weird rash. It's not a rash per se, but I can't come up with a better description for it. It's not psoriasis or DH, it's not eczema nor dry skin. I guess it's hives? I went to my doctor to get my back adjusted and asked him about it, but I would have had to take my pants off to show him what was going on (because it's on my legs people... I know what you were thinking!), and really, the adjustment room is not equipped to allow half naked ladies to retain any dignity. He thinks it's my detergent. I hope he's on to something. But not my detergent. The detergent my neighbors use in our very crappy washers is more likely. I really cannot wait to get out of this place, but that's another posting entirely.

There's also a terrible possibility that because my gut is still leaky - skittles aren't known for their gut healing properties you know - that I'm reacting to something I'm eating. Have I been taking in too much almond flour? I have been indulging a bit in paleofied baked goods recently. Or, heaven forbid, bacon? WHAT IF IT'S BACON?! Bacon is my main source of fat. Truth be told, I tend towards under eating, so eating something so high in fat every day is pretty important for me. But what if it's not bacon? What if it's my tea? I would rather it be bacon over tea. Yes, I love my Earl Grey more than bacon. That's saying a lot. What if it's not tea? What if it's the worst of all? What if it's chocolate?! I mean, I know there's a meaning to life outside chocolate, but I really don't know what that meaning is. Nor do I really care to be forced to find out. Or maybe it's garlic. I really don't know why a person would bother continuing to eat for the rest of their life if they can't have garlic.

Ok, so maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. But I do love all these things. I eat bacon and drink tea every day. Chocolate... not every day. Sometimes weeks will go by and I won't have it. But then there are times when you just don't get between a girl and her chocolate. Same with garlic.

Next problem. Men, you may skip over this paragraph ok? No really, don't read it. You'll be sad if you do. Ok ladies. I'm fluffy. You know what I mean. The bloat. I has it. I'm a small person. Any change in weight more than a pound or two shows. I just can't get away with it the way non-petite women can. I've been carrying around an extra 4-5 lbs for the last month or so. It sucks and messes with my body image (because you know, that's not a problem for women as it is), my clothes don't fit right and blah! That's how I feel about it. I'm wondering if the bloat and the hives(?) are related.

So here's my action plan. I'm currently doing a cleanse of sorts. Nothing major (I don't actually believe in "cleanses" for the most part - they're generally a bunch of expensive and potentially damaging hooey), but I want to work on my gut dysbiosis. So I've been taking a lot of probiotics, as well as an enzyme that is supposed to kill candida. By eating up it's cell walls. I almost feel bad for the little guys, but they've gotten out of control and I must bring order back. It's working. I've been doing this since the weekend, and have started experiencing a healing crisis. Those suck, but they're short lived and life goes on. First thing on the food chopping block is garlic. It's the thing I reintroduced most recently, so I think it's my most likely culprit. Then chocolate if that doesn't seem to work. Then I cry myself to sleep for a week and ponder the meaning of life because I'll have to give up either bacon or tea next. Oh first world problems, how you torment me so.

I'm also thinking about doing a fairly strict 30 day Paleo (almost) perfect plan. Sugar in my tea loves. It's my one real vice in terms of Paleo perfection, and I am still at a point where I can live with that. By thinking, I mean I've already decided I'm going to do that starting Monday.

Why not today? Well, this weekend is Christmas. My dad was sick on Christmas day, and my stepmother was out of town, so we decided last minute on Christmas day that Christmas would be this weekend. That means a movie, and a movie means popcorn. So Paleo almost perfect starts Monday and that's that.

And I guess next time I need to do laundry, I'll have to ask my dad and stepmother very very nicely would they mind me in their house for a couple hours while I run up their water and electricity bills...

Thankful

I want to start out by saying, I won't talk about this. You and I feel the same way about it, and words are just not good enough.

I just got off the phone with my dad. As I've mentioned before, my Grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (which she's all my life called Alltimers) a while back. She is progressing steadily down that road, and there's nothing we can do about it. The worst part about it is not that she's deteriorating (yes of course that's terrible in and of itself); it's the fact that she doesn't know it. In a way yes, that is a good thing. Who wants to know they're falling apart bit by bit? But when you don't know you're falling apart, you don't know you need help. Both my father and I have made mental notes to listen to our children should such a situation arise. If they say we need someone to come and check up on us then it must be true.

That situation has lead me back to how difficult it can be to accept that which you cannot change. No matter how much I know about health and nutrition (or how much I've relearned over these last several months!), at the end of the day, I cannot make my Grandma the person she was. This is hard to accept. No matter how much coconut oil I could try to shove down her throat, I cannot make her remember that she and my Grandfather have been divorced for decades now; his betrayal is not a new pain, but one she'd healed from long ago (she brings that situation up a lot). Or even make her use a cane, because she still insists she can get around just fine (she can't). She can't even hear me when we talk on the phone anymore, so now I don't call. However, she does not know the difference. I guess there are some small blessings mixed in. And for those small graces, I am thankful.

Which brings me back around to my health. Obviously, it is not perfect. Psoriasis. Psoriatic arthritis. Leaky gut. Migraines. Hair falling out. Gluten intolerance. A bad back/hip. IBS. Chronic anemia. Allergies. I have hives as I'm typing this because I reacted to something I ate last week. Have I missed anything? Probably. But I am thankful.

I am thankful.

I am thankful that after years of suffering from all of the above and more, I've found healing. I am thankful that because of my suffering, I learned more of what compassion is. (I need to work on being a more compassionate person, we all do.) I'm thankful that I don't suffer from migraines any longer. I'm thankful my fingers don't hurt when I type now. I'm thankful that my body is making enough hemoglobin, so now I don't get winded walking up the stairs. I'm thankful walking up those stairs doesn't involve feeling like my back and hip will break to pieces! I'm thankful that I don't have to carry around pink tabs and white pills or blue capsules, and that I don't have to worry I'll get sick after eating anymore. I'm thankful I can lift more than 10 pounds. A lot more!

I still have a long way to go, and I don't know that I'll ever be completely healed. That is something I'm learning to accept as well. And accepting that fact is not giving up on my healing (as has been suggested). I will never give up hope that I can put my autoimmunity into remission; I will never stop working towards that goal. But I am willing to accept that better is better than the same. That some damage cannot be undone. I look at where I've come from, and I look at where I am. It's night and day. So I am thankful.

I am thankful that I know what I now know. I'm thankful I've been able to introduce these things to my family. Maybe my father will never have to remember that mental note. Maybe my mom will not have to suffer through another cancer surgery. Maybe my mind, which is the thing I've always valued most about myself, will stick with me all the way until the end. Maybe we'll never live in fear about another heart attack. Maybe my last few months of life won't be spent in pain at the hospital (as was the case with my Mom's Mom). Maybe my (future) children won't feel uncomfortable in their own skin, the way I did for so much of my life.

This was supposed to be a Christmas post. So I guess my gift to myself is one of gratitude. That's a pretty awesome gift in my eyes!

Merry Christmas!

Gum? GUM?!?!

This is for really reals upsetting to me. Not like life changing, earth shattering kind of upset, but this poop is totally l-a-m-e LAME kind of upset.

I chewed gum last night. Know what I wake up to today? An extra 4 lbs of me thanks to inflammation and swollen calves (that's were it likes to go these days), that's what. And that's not all! No. Can't stop there with the must have been glutenated by the gum reaction. Itchy bumps people. I've counted 5 today. And they itch like a mosquito bite. Damn you tiny piece of gum (shaking my fist mentally)!

I guess that means gum is out. Which is fine, as I've not been a big gum person for a very long time (Chewing gum is really gross, chewing gum I hate the most), but it's yet another little thing I have to consciously avoid. And do I need to worry if I -gasp- kiss someone who's been chewing gum? Will I be glutenated? Sigh. First world problems I know.

I took action though. I drank a lot of water today, took an epsom salt bath, and ate "paleo" pancakes. No, there is nothing truly paleo about pancakes, but whatevers. I found a recipe at Paleo Table (and it has since wandered away, but if ye search the site, ye shall find) for these super yum almond flour pancakes. That's not the point though. The point is I tried to get fiber into my little self to bind up the badness. So yeah, now you're thinking, jeez, why not eat some veggies lady? You're totally right. Veggies are a much better source of fiber. Still can't eat very much of them without being sure the bathroom is near by. That really sucks you guys. I told C today that I think it's pretty messed up of my body to be fine with skittles (also most definitely not Paleo), but get piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissed off about spinach. Or romaine. Or kale. Or squash. Really anything from the ground it seems. But yeah, why don't I just chow down on some more skittles though. That's totally fine and healthy right? I've found I can also get away with these pancakes, and they've got a bit of fiber to them, so eat them up I do (and occasionally I channel Yoda).

See how I brought that all back around there? That's called skills. Don't be jealous; I'm sure you have your very own awesome skills too.

Next step, early bedtime. That is one upside to the sun going down early, I don't feel the least bit bad about going to bed at like 8:30.

P.S. Please go see "Silver Linings Playbook" You will thank me. No really, thank me after you see it ;)

Random Round-up

Goshness, it's been a while since I posted. Again. Sorry. Again. There's lots to tell you though! Don't know where to start really. Maybe the bad? Yeah, because then things get better right? Ok, we'll go with that, thanks for your input.

Ok so this is the super bad. Prop. 37 in my semi home state of California did not pass. What's the big deal about that?

Mostly I don't care what other states pass or do not pass into law, that's their business. I care when it involves health, and only health. So in addition to this whole Prop. 37 thing, I care about a woman's access to family planning; and yes, access to abortion (though that topic merits an entire posting of it's own, just know before you tell me what a terrible person I am, I have a stance. Here it is: I hate abortion. For real. I think it is psychologically damaging, and if it's not, the woman receiving the abortion has some very serious issues as it is. Here's the thing. I've never met a woman who's had an abortion that was thrilled about it. Not one. It's no sensible, healthy minded woman's idea of birth control. It is a last option. It is a burden they carry for the rest of their lives, and most of them understood that when they made their decision. Yet they still made it, and while they carry that choice for life; they will not go so far as to say they regret it. Why? Because they felt it was the most appropriate thing for their situation. Who the hell am I to tell them what they can and can not do? I've not been in their shoes, and I don't know their life the way they do. So don't bother trying to convert me to anti-choice).

Prop. 37 was about GMO labeling. What's a GMO and why should you care? Read this. Now, the saying is "as California goes, so goes the nation". It's not really true in most cases, but it would have been true in this one. There's a crapton of people living in California you guys. That means there's a crapton of people buying a metric cubed crapton of things. Notably food. When California says "you must label..." companies just go ahead and relabel EVERYTHING. Because in the long run, it's cheaper for them to use the same label on everything they ship, rather than to have a special label just for fancy California peoples and their fancy laws. That effectively means all GMO containing food would have been labeled as such for the entire nation. That would have been rad. Wouldn't you like to know what you're eating? Don't you think you have the right to know what you're eating? These guys don't think so. So I am voting with my wallet until they get their heads out of their asses.

On the upside, it did not pass by a fairly small margin (last stat I saw was 53% against to 47% for), so the message was getting through to a whole lot of people. Maybe next time. In the meantime, don't buy from those companies on that list. Which is pretty easy to do if you're eating Paleo ;)

On to much lighter hearted stuff ok?

The only other not good thing I can think of is this: I've developed hypoglycemic symptoms. That's kind of the middle of the story. Let's start at the start. I took the week of Halloween off and had myself a little staycation. The first Saturday morning, my IBS decided that since I was home for the week, it should come stay with me, and stay it did. All the way until the following Saturday. I have no idea what triggered it, but it made my time off a bit less enjoyable than it otherwise would have been. Now, when I get a long IBS attack, fiber is not my friend. So I was not eating much in the way of carbs, since most of the carbs I eat are of the veggie variety (ok, and chocolate. But chocolate is not a good plan during an IBS attack either. Trust me). She says low carb is bad for woman. I'm going to have to go ahead and agree with her after this bout. Even though my IBS subsided, my digestive system was just not up for veggies. I could eat some sauteed spinach at dinner time (oh by the way, the dinner experiment has been great! Now I eat dinner every night and it seems to help me sleep better... who knew?!), but that's about all I could eat and not regret later. That means my lunches have consisted of meat, fat, and meat. After about a week and a half of this, I got nauseous. It was the weirdest thing. And all I could think about was Skittles. Well, I ate them, and felt a bajillion times better. I've had to do this every day now. It is not healthy. Skittles are not food. Not even close. And you can bet your bippy they're chock full of GMO's! I have a plan. Baby carrots and some sort of fat based dip. I'm still not up for full-on fiber. I have to reintroduce it slowly, or I'll screw myself over (yes, the attack really was that bad). Costco here I come!

Ready for good stuff?

I've successfully reintroduced eggs. I'm not eating them every day though. It's nice to not HAVE to eat some sort of meat in the morning, now I can do it if I want to. Sometimes perspective is all that matters! Since reintroducing eggs, my spots have been healing even faster, and that's super awesome. What could be more super awesome than that? I'll tell ya. I've only developed one new spot in a good three weeks! You're probably thinking "uh ok, that means you're still actively attacking yourself dear. Why are you so happy about that?" Well Debbie Downer, it's because it's just one spot. And it's a small spot. And it's already healing. Usually they're larger, it's never just one, and they don't typically start healing right after they come into my life - though that has been happening more the longer I eat this way. So be happy for me ok?

About halfway through my no eggs/no hot sauce experiment I also cut out mustard and pepper. Thanks to this lady right here. She's a scientist(!) who also suffers from an autoimmune disorder, and has done a lot of research into the autoimmune side of the paleo world. Her site has been amazing for me. I'm so glad I found her! So anyway, it's been over 30 days since I cut those two things out, and I don't really miss them. I'll probably give them a go at some point, but I've found they're really a non issue in my life. I have yet to give hot sauce a try. See the IBS paragraph and you can probably figure out why.

I started no 'poo today. No, not that kind of poo! Shampoo. The inner hippie is seriously taking over my life right? I decided to try it because other woman with scalp psoriasis (incidentally that's the first place I developed it well over two decades ago!) RAVE about how much it's helped them. I've been thinking about it for months now, so I decided there's no time like the present. I took a before picture, but I'm not going to post it until I have a real opinion about all this. First impression though? Could be pretty amazing. I did take one picture I will share right now:

That's the hair that normally clogs my drain. I know it's hard to see. Why am I even showing you this grossness? Because usually there is easily double to triple that amount - every time I wash my hair (3 times a week. Don't knock it, I used to work at a salon and the stylists all convinced me it was much better for your hair to not wash it every day. They're right). I thought the rest would come out when I combed my hair - as more always does (usually about the same amount as comes out in the shower). And more did; but only about as much as you see there. This is exciting to me since due to my psoriasis I've lost a lot of hair. It's only in the last few months started growing back in in most places. So if no 'poo is preventing even more from coming out in my wash, I am all kinds of on board. I'm not going to talk about the formula I used or any of that until I am more comfortable with what I'm doing. But as of right now, I'm pretty excited.

Um, I think that's all I've got for you today :) Time to go watch True Blood and work out!

Bacon

...it's what's for dinner.

I thought I made that up. Then I googled it just to check. I didn't make it up at all. Now I want this shirt.

And tonight, it really is what's for dinner. No meat is thawed. Leafy greens don't work to fill me up, and that's all the veggies in the house. So yes, bacon is what's for dinner. You may commence being jealous now.

Lightbulb?

Today I developed two "itchy bumps". If you didn't know, that's my shorthand for dermatitis herpetiformis. This is a skin condition that technically only Celiac patients develop. So since I'm "non-celiac gluten intolerant" thanks to my blood test, I guess the itchy bumps don't exist and aren't what they are? Anyway. Whatevers. That part is not really relevant anyway.

Those darn things can turn into a nice little psoriasis spot for me. I try to avoid them, and to heal them as fast as possible when they crop up for this reason.

I got to thinking today when the second itchy bump made me aware of its presence. What has been different over the last few days? One thing, and one thing only. Onion.

I freakin love onions! Raw, cooked, sauteed, gimme! They add great depth of flavor to anything you toss them in. (And people like to have lengthy conversations with you if you've eaten a whole bunch of onion. Promise! Go try it! I'll wait here.) But I don't have them very often. I've had a couple rings of raw onion on my Larkburger (of which I've had 2 in the last month) but no reaction. But yesterday, I tossed a bunch of dried minced onion in with my ground beef. Voila! Itchy bumps.

I have no idea why dried then sauteed minced onion would cause a reaction when raw onion has not. Usually it's the opposite situation when it comes to food reactions. But I've often been accused of being unusual, so I guess it follows. I have to look in to this one. Maybe I just didn't have all that much raw onion in the first place so my reaction wasn't noticeable? I don't know.

In the grand scheme of things, I would feel slightly sad (but I won't cry) to give up the onion. But I'd be much more sad to have to give up eggs for always. Today is day, um, hang on. Day 22 of no eggs. I CAN'T WAIT to eat eggs for breakfast on my first reintroduction day. Seriously, I just really like bacon and eggs for breakfast, so I truly hope I don't have to give that up. Begin your finger crossing now ok?

So that was a random bundle of words up there. I'm going to finish my bone broth - and think of how much you're missing out on with that C ;) - and unload the dishwasher. I know, my life is crazy exciting. Bet you want to be me huh?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Me! It's me! I'm coming to dinner! Did you guess right?

As you may or may not know - I think I've said it on here before but I forget (we'll get to that); I don't really do the dinner thing all that often since becoming a full fledged grown up. I did have dinner more often before my n=1 Paleo experiment to be sure. But now that I'm a fat burner and not a sugar burner (and um, still being single is probably a contributor too), it's a rare occurrence. Why the change of heart? Glad you asked...please to continue!

So I mentioned a little while back that I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with some adrenal fatigue action. Since that post, like everywhere I look in Paleoland is all "adrenal fatigue!" Granted, some of that is due to me going to my trusted sites and look for their posts on the matter (semantics, whatever ;P), but other times it really is just popping up. Now I'm not saying that the Universe thinks I have adrenal fatigue and wants me to know about it or anything hippie dippy like that. Ok, so maybe I am. Don't judge me; I cannot help that deep deep deep within myself lives a dirty stinkin hippie that tells me crazy things.

I know it's actually much more likely that since I feel like this is an issue for me, I'm noticing it more in my little world. Like when you get a new car and all of a sudden EVERYONE in your whole town got the same car on the same day...It's just like that. Those cars were always already there, but you didn't notice because they weren't like yours.

Back to the matter at hand. I had an epiphany last night (or was it the night before? Memory ugh! We're still not there). In It Starts With Food, the beauty wonder duo Dallas and Melissa talk a bit about when you can't trust what your body is telling you. Now for me, I'm a big believer that your body wants you to be healthy and we should listen to what it tells us. But what if we've messed it up so much that it doesn't know which way is up any more than you do? How can you trust it to tell you the right things? Their -ahem firm - advice? Eat anyway. Eat three squares a day until you can trust what your body is telling you. I was pretty sure this part of the book (they also said it in their seminar so I guess they really do mean it) didn't really apply to me so I've never really thought about it until now.

I don't eat dinner because I'm not hungry for it. But I got to thinking (and now that I'm thinking about when I got to thinking, and it was the night before last. Good job memory!), I didn't eat breakfast for years either. Years people! Know why? Wasn't hungry. But what about now? You already know. I'm on day 18 no eggs, and eggs have been what's for breakfast since I started Paleo. I've been eating breakfast for years now. So I thought to myself, now you can't imagine life without breakfast, but you didn't have it for years and years. Maybe your body IS confused!

Then I started thinking about how out of sorts I've been (currently suffering from a severe case of CRS, also known as Can't Remember Shit, no matter how much I sleep it's never enough, no energy for my walks but that's ok because due to the CRS I've once again forgotten to bring my workout clothes, by the time I get off work I feel like I could lay down and sleep for hours... you get the idea) and how not eating enough is stressful to the body; which is why Dallas and Melissa say to eat anyway until you can trust the signals your body gives you. My not eating dinner could be contributing to this suspected adrenal fatigue. Oy. Breaking myself down and not even giving it a second thought! Good job lady.

I had dinner tonight (my current favorite meal: ground beef with a smidge of garlic powder, a hefty dose of salt, and a poop ton of cinnamon plus a bunch of baby spinach). I was going to have dinner last night but I came home to a power outage and it didn't kick back in until 4:30 a.m. For a normal person (read non-mega high strung) that probably wouldn't be a big deal, but it really messed with my sleep. When I did sleep, all I could dream about how I had over slept because the power never came back on and I was super late to work and where I'd have to get breakfast since there's nothing ready made in my home anymore. But mostly I was awake because I was worried I'd over sleep and be late for work because the power never came on and OMG where am I going to get breakfast?!?!?!

But I digress.

The weekend is coming up and this dinner thing is going to be a challenge. I am hard pressed to have two squares on a normal Saturday or Sunday, let alone 3. I forget to eat ALL THE TIME over the weekend.

And did you know I have a week long stay-cation starting in 8 days? I am already planning my meals (hint: see food above and lots and lots of bone broth to heal my tummy) so I will not be allowed to miss any meals for lack of planning.

Ok. I'm tired. And unfairly enough, hungry. I ate already! Stupid stomach...

Night night.

Egg Free-Day 5

I forgot to tell you! I'm doing a Paleo Autoimmune Protocol. I eat this way most of the time since going Paleo as it is, but the big thing was eggs. You may remember, I wasn't a fan of cutting them out the first time round. But that was in my first 30 days and I was trying to find my way through.

I've never been a big fan of nuts, so that's not been hard. Though I do still have almond milk in my morning tea. However, what people tend to react to in almonds is the outer skin, which is removed in the process of making almond milk. Plus, it's like a whole 1/4 cup of almond milk a day. Big friggin woop. It's not going anywhere yet is what I'm getting at.

I gave up tomatoes a while back. I have never liked raw tomatoes, so really my only source was in chili as tomato paste, or pizza sauce. Since I've not been eating pizza since going Paleo, and since I just don't eat chili all that much (I made the conscious decision to have Melissa's Chocolate Chili last week. Seriously so worth it. Buy the damn cookbook! You can thank me later.) it wasn't hard on me either.

Peppers...that was kinda hard and I only officially cut them out as well on Monday along with eggs. Not long after (maybe a week or two?) starting Paleo, I made fajitas with red and green bell peppers. My stomach protested. I was sad. So I gave those up - with the hope of reintroducing them after a long period of healing. But I have Chalula hot sauce on my scrambled eggs every morning. Didn't seem to be having a reaction, but that's the only time I eat any form of nightshade now, so it was automatically cut when eggs went out the window.

This week has been hard for breakfast. I've basically been having the same salad I have for lunch at breakfast. But it's a lot of food, and my tummy is not ready for that volume first thing in the morning. I eat as much as I can, but end up having a good portion of my breakfast at lunch too. Problem? I'm starting to get hungry again by 10:30. My egg and bacon breakfasts had been keeping me comfortably full until around 11:30 and lunch is noon, so that wasn't a problem. First world problems I know, but getting back to good health (though I question when I was ever actually truly healthy...) is my number one goal. I'm also not much of a snacker. Thankfully Dallas and Melissa think that's good :) Maybe I'll add another strip or two of bacon! :) For the fat you know... Keeps your stomach satisfied longer. I love bacon.

This is going to be a sad thing to admit. I'll start with the good. My psoriasis seems to be clearing more. I should be jumping for joy over that. And don't get me wrong, it does make me happy. But I love eggs! I obviously can't conclusively link the healing directly to cutting them out. I just finished paying up my girl club dues, and my psoriasis always seems a bit better after that for some reason (something else to research) so it could just be that. Or it could be that even though I didn't think I was reacting to the seriously miniscule amount of nightshades in Chalula, maybe I was. Doubtful, but a girl can dream can't she? I'd much rather give up peppers than eggs.

I'm doing this for at least 30 days before I do any reintroduction. Then I'll know. Cross your fingers I only have to give up hot sauce!

A Walk in the Park

Denver is famous - at least that's what I hear - for being healthy. We're one of (if not THE) the most healthy cities in the nation. Folks, I won't get into this, but that's kind of a sad statement as a full half of the population of Colorado is overweight or obese, but that's not the point of today's post. Just a side note.

One of the reasons we're known for being healthy is because we have a poop ton of parks. As you may know, I have a special affinity for Bible Park, which is semi near my home. I have a nifty new phone that takes much better pictures than my old phone so maybe someday I'll take pictures of my park and you can see why I like it. It's really pretty right now because the leaves are changing. Winter is coming. This is sad. But the leaves are pretty.

Except sometimes I don't like my park. Like for a little bit today.

We were let out of work early so we could avoid the hell that would be the commute home due to several miles of the freeway being shut down for security for the Presidential debate this evening (ummm, I could put money down on Obama for the win tonight...just sayin. P.S. I really hate that phrase, but it works ok?). So I decided it was nice out, I haven't walked for almost 2 weeks(!), it's time to get my booty out there. It was nice and sunny when I made this decision, so I threw on my shorts and my sports bra. Please understand, I am a pretty modest person (in spite of what my v-necks and fitted clothing may otherwise make you think. I'm a small person, so if my clothes aren't close fitting, I look like I've been playing dress up with my mother's stuff) so going out in public wearing so little makes me kind of uncomfortable. But the sun is my BFF and helps keep my psoriasis down and my spirits up, so I make the sacrifice. The sun however decided it didn't want me to overheat and hid behind some clouds for most of my walk. That was kind of it, but I made my sad face because if I'd known it was going to do that, I would have worn a tank and my capris. Then maybe what happened wouldn't have happened. Maybe. Read on.

The problem with wearing so little in public without hanging a sign over your neck that reads "I have an autoimmune condition and the sun helps! I'm not wearing this because I think I'm a hottie!" people think that you're wearing so little to gain their attention.

You get that attention all right.

So I'm walking along, listening to Shakira and minding my own business, when I hear a wolf whistle behind me. Then I hear a "damn! Oh damn! My my my!" as a guy passes me on his bike. I continue to hear "mercy me. Mmmm mmmm mmmm" as he goes on his way.

I don't like that. On so many levels.

One, I get it, you like my tush. I hear it a lot even when I'm not wearing shorts. Apparently it's pleasant to see. Thanks I guess. But I wasn't really worried about your opinion of my butt. Which leads me to...

Two. I'll say it again; I wasn't worried about your opinion of my butt. That's why I didn't ask for it. Thank you so much for sharing though. Your opinion has now been noted in my "that guy is a douche bag" file.

Three. These guys rarely turn around when they pass me to see the FRONT that goes with the back. I personally think the front of me is better. That's where my face is located. This is a bad selfie of said face. But face is not too bad no? I mean, I have a dimple! A dimple! Come on! ;)

Four. How many chicks have you landed with this tactic? Has a woman you've whistled/hollered/honked/whatevered at ever been like "Oh hey thanks! I want to give you my number! You seem like a great guy! When can I see you again?"? I'm thinking probably no. And if yes, how'd that work out for you? Do you still visit her at the mental institution? Or did you have to change your name and flee 5 states away because she turned out to be batshit crazy?

And finally... Five. Would you want a guy behaving that way towards your mother/sister/daughter/wife? Unless you're a total piece of beepeddybeepbeepbeep you should have answered something like "HELL'S TO THE NO! I BETTER NOT SAY WHAT I'D DO TO SOMEONE THAT DID THAT TO MY ________ BECAUSE PREMEDITATION ADDS MORE TIME!"

There's my rant about a full 30-45 seconds where my walk was not as nice as it otherwise could have been. Don't do it people. Don't ruin any part of the walk for someone else. Not nice.

Estes Park, or: Why I'll Never be a Race Car Driver

I just got back not too long ago from my 180+ mile round trip to Estes Park and back. That's more driving than I do in 2 months! And I was wrong, I've been there before. On some weekend trip my dad felt compelled to bring me along on (were either of us happy about this decision? Couldn't tell ya).

To start, I need to get something off my chest.

This little paragraph is dedicated to the dude attempting to drive the Honda MINI FREAKIN VAN into my trunk. Number one, you're driving a minivan. Do you understand?! Not a race car. Not even a sedan. A minivan. For real. You are no longer a tough guy in a fast car. You are an adult. Make peace with that, grow up, and calm yourself. You clearly have children (hence the minivan) and I would guess that they like having you around. Which is why you don't drive through the mountains like you drove. You just don't do it. I know most people treat speed limit signs as guidelines, but when they tell you to take a turn at 35 miles an hour in the mountains, it really really does mean you should take that turn at 35 miles an hour-or less! No, I didn't like the white Jeep in front of me either. I agree, she could have gone 55 in the straights just like the signs said she could. However, I really need to explain something to you. Riding my tush in no way causes the car in front of me to go faster. Physics doesn't work in that manner. The car in front of me couldn't give one poop that you are displeased with their driving. Add to that they're not even aware of your displeasure as once again, it was MY trunk you were trying to drive into.

Also, who the flip speeds up in the turns and slows down in straight aways?! Idiots, that's who. You sir are an idiot. Stop it.

Here's the thing. I really dislike mountain driving. It's total white knuckle for me. I'm afraid of heights. Have you looked over the guard rail? I have. That was a mistake. Sometimes it's an awfully long way down! I  have no interest in being on the wrong side of the guard rail thankyouverymuch. So driving in the mountains is super stressful for me. My neck and shoulders tense up and don't even bother trying to talk to me. Just let me sing! Singing keeps me calm when I'm driving (so I do a lot of it. Helps me avoid road rage and keeps me from letting tailgaters scare the crap out of themselves by allowing them to get a little too close to my bumper.). I do not like it. This is another thing boyfriends are good for. They like mountain driving.

Now onto fun stuff!

Today was great! I'm tired and will probably not post this until tomorrow when I've had a chance to digest the info. (and the food! OMG. The. Food.) But I wanted to get some first impressions down.

So after my two hour, white knuckled, average singing voiced "where the in the E freakin F am I?" drive, I park and hop out of the car. Guess what greeted me! Guess! Guess! Just try. You'll never guess! Want me to tell you? Ok, I will. Two juvenile elk. Not more than 10 feet away. And just like human juveniles they were all whatever about the fact that there was an adult stranger 10 feet from them. They just looked at me,  and then kept slowly walking off to wherever they'd been slowly walking off to before I saw them. One of them even looked at me like, "hey lady, aren't you going to take a picture or something? We're ELK!" And I thought back at him, "yeah I totally want to take a picture of you guys. Hang on a sec while I dig in my phone out of purse!" Wouldn't you know it? I forgot to plug my phone in last night. No battery! I could sense the Elk Eye Roll as they were walking away from me. Kids these days, I tell ya, no respect for their elders. So no one is going to believe me about the elk. I don't care. It happened.

Melissa was up first (and the only one I didn't get to talk to...boo!) and she is indeed rad. I knew it! There were a few people there that had just started their Paleo journey, and she did a great job breaking down the what's and why's. She was funny and knowledgeable and personable and just all around super awesome. Poor woman had to talk for hours! Really great tips on how to keep things interesting, even if you're actually just working with the same ingredients you normally have. Apparently spices make all the difference in the world. Sigh. I should know that! She also led us throughout the day through short little exercises so our tushes didn't get sore and so no one would drop dead of a heart attack at a Paleo conference. That would be bad press.

Lunch, directly after Melissa's talk, was a five minute walk away and was deeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious. All from her cookbook! I am so glad I got that thing, I can't even tell you. Can I just say that after I wrap up my 30 day Autoimmune Protocol the first thing I think I'm making is her chocolate chili? I guess I can say it since this is my blog and I just did. So there :P

Next up was Holly. I think this was my favorite talk of the day. That is in no way to say that Melissa and Michelle were anything to shake sticks at; they were all fabulous. But Holly came at it from a "hey this is my story" kind of way that I just really liked. The woman knows how to get a crowd going too. Very funny. Very honest. Very helpful. She talked about the "Paleo Pyramid" that she came up with. Silly me didn't really take many notes for some reason (probably b/c I was too busy laughing). Basically, learn the frame work. Do it. Adjust it. Learn from it. Find what works best for you.

And last, but of course not least, was Michelle. She also talked a bit about her own journey, but more she talked about how to make it work in a family with a busy life and how to get the kiddos on board. Now, I'm not there yet, but now I know how she does it! She also talked about the experience of Umami flavors and how just combining a couple can make your food freakin awesome without much work at all. (Side note: this knowledge will come in handy because I won fish sauce. I have no idea what to do with it, but apparently it has umami magic inside.) She did a little cooking demo of sorts for us too. We got more yummy food to fill our tumtums for the ride home. I must make her Kahlua pork! So tasty! And, sadly, I now know why I cannot have a Nom Nom Paleo app for my android. Each Android apparently has it's own platform, so they'd have to design it for each one. Talk about expensive! My heart broke a little, but I will survive. Especially since she said people with the iPad app can email recipes... Hint hint C or D ;)

I met some really nice people too. Goodness help me if you were to ask me their names, but I can tell you where they're from! A couple from north Wyoming(!) came all the way down. A woman from Prescott Arizona too. And a couple other women from Loveland. Someone in there is named Annie. I used to be really good at names but I found that most people aren't and frankly they get uncomfortable when the encounter someone who is, so I taught myself to not be good at them. Now I wish I hadn't done that. I will relearn! Or unlearn. Whatever. I will be good at names again is what I'm trying to say here.

P.S. I got to meet my favorite Paleo food blogger too! Juli from Paleomg.com was in front of me in the lunch line and I just went ahead and said "so this is an awkward place for this, but I really love your blog!" She was very gracious and sweet and told me about how she got into CrossFit (no, not for no reason, I asked silly!) and all that fun stuff.

I had a great day. See any of them if they're ever in your neck of the woods.

Now if you'll excuse me, the heating pad is calling for my shoulders.

So Excited!

Again! I'm excited again! Because I'm a nerd. You should know that by now. I get excited about things and everyone I know is like "yeah, that's great..." They just don't even know how happy life can be when you're easy to please. Joke's on them ;)

Anyway. Would you like to know what I'm so excited about? Sure you would! Look what I get to go to tomorrow! LOOK! Oh. My. Goshness. A whole day of Paleo nerd throw down with those three?! All over it.

Let's talk about these ladies for a moment ok? We'll start with Melissa (um, why are there so many Melissa's in Paleoland?). I'm pretty sure she's rad. The woman used to rock the roller derby for goodness sake. That automatically equals awesome. It's just a law of nature, don't try to fight it. Plus, dude, the food! I just got her cookbook. It's been on my Amazon wish list since shortly after I started on this little journey of mine. Put it off off off. Finally got it this week. And I've been kicking myself for waiting! The woman knows what she's doing; we'll just put it that way. Buy it! Buy it now!

Then we've got Miss Nom Nom herself. I do not know how she does it! Work, cook, CrossFit, cook, mommy, cook, friends, cook. And she's a wife on top of it all. She makes it look easy. Know what though? After this weekend, I'll know how she does it! P.S. She's got the best first name in the world :)

Last, but not least, is Holly. I'll be honest, I didn't know about Holly until Nom Nom and Melissa posted about this event. "Hmm" thought I. "Who's this Holly person? Cute website name! Let's go see." What did I see? A cute website to go with the cute name. And way more than "just" a foodie blog (I don't think there's any such thing as "just" when it comes to a blog. People are putting it out there so I'm in no way trying to knock anyone). She talks about life. Her struggles with weight loss (and what it should really be about). Her skin (yay!). Her man. Hell, even what she wants to wear. I'm down. I'm glad she's going to be there because, just as with the other two lovlies presenting tomorrow, I've really enjoyed going through her archives.

These women are so honest in their blogs. Their voices really come through, and I think that's actually what I appreciate the most. Life isn't all about food.

The only thing I'm not super excited about? It's in Estes Park. Now don't get me wrong, from what I understand it's beautiful up there. I've never been. Know why? Because it's like 2 hours from Denver. I like being close to home. That's all there is to that. So I'll be driving for 4 hours tomorrow!

Oy.

But that's ok. I think this will be worth it. I'll be getting out of my comfort zone (something I've decided I must do more of, and that's part of why I decided to go to this), I'll be meeting new people, I'll see a new place, and I'll learn how to make Paleo work even better for me.

When Your Face Falls Off... (maybe you'll forget to click publish)

 I wrote this last week...I was distracted. My face was/is falling off. Sorry.

As you know, I've got the P. As in psoriasis. And as you also know, I'm having a lovely flare on my face. I go back and forth about using my topical meds, but when it comes down to it; I'm vain so I end up breaking down and lathering up (really it's more like oiling or ointmenting up but whatevers).

There's a weird side effect to this though. Not like an actual side effect that should be noted in the literature along with the "real" side effects of rosacia, skin infections, sun sensitivity and so forth. No. This is just a random thing that happens when it starts to work. Your skin falls of. So in my case, my face falls off.

Rather, it sheets. Sheeting is just what it sounds like. You know when you were a kid and you put Elmer's glue on your hand and let it dry almost all the way and then peeled it off and tried to gross out your parents by going "AAAAAAAA!!!!! LOOK!!!!!!!! My skin is peeling OFF!!!!!!!" And then shoving your hand in their faces and they humored you and were all "oh yeah, that's pretty gross...go wash your hands please."? Yeah. It's just like that, but there's no glue involved.

I have no idea where I was going with this. I guess I just wanted to leave you with that visual. But you know what? Technically it's progress. My face is less scaly and just has to fall off now.

Apparently I'm a reptile. Who knew?

Addiction

I have a confession. I have a very serious addiction.

To candy corn.

For real. Today I finally realized it's candy corn season. Once I started thinking about it, I couldn't stop! I love those little orange yellow and white triangles of sugar and vanilla flavoring with all my heart. I can't remember the first time I had them, but I do remember the first time I realized how I like to eat them.

I was probably about eight and I was watching "Golden Girls" with my grandma. On a side note, I'm truly amazed when I watch that show now (you know you love it too and you know "Thank you for being a friend..." is running through your head right now. You're welcome.) that my grandmother, a fairly conservative woman, allowed me to watch that. There's some pretty risque things going on! My goodness. And can we all agree right now that Betty White is still one of the most awesome women on TV? Yes. Yes we can. So yeah, watching dirty old women on TV and I had my epiphany. White first. Then orange. Then yellow. This is the only proper way to savor candy corn.

Yes. Savor. It is that yum.


Candy corn is decidedly un-Paleo. If it weren't candy and was just corn, it's still not on the list of ok to eat. It is nothing but sugar, milk, sugar, sugar, vanilla flavoring, sugar, food coloring. I know because I looked up how to make it today and it's made with all kinds of different names for sugar. I'm sure the commercial brands have an emulsifier and wax in there for good measure. Who doesn't want to eat wax? Silly people, that's who.


Whatever. I don't care.

I'm getting a gluten free bag o' sugar and food coloring deliciousness. I'm getting it tomorrow after work. Gluten free because come on, I'm not that foolish... I'm gluten intolerant for goodness sake!

Vibram Five Fingers... Take Two!

I wrote up a basic first impressions review here... but I need to tell you how I feel now! Feelings! Let's talk about our feelings!

Oh my goodness you guys, these shoes are awesome!

Ok. Don't get me wrong. They're still ugly. That's never going to change. However, can we just talk about the difference they've made in my life? It's my blog, and that's what I want to do; so yes I think we can do just that.

You know I've got that back issue... I never thought a shoe, a freaking shoe, would make such a huge difference in the amount of slippyness I deal with when I'm on my walks. For real. My tailbone hardly ever slips when I'm out and about now (unless I've been ignoring all the signs and my body has to remind me who's really in charge). It's truly amazing to me. I don't really think I can put it into words and accurately describe the difference they've made, but it is like night and day. There, take that cliche and run with it ok?

I can walk longer/farther. I can even sprint! Don't need to put bones back where they go in the middle of the park. It's rad. It's like I'm normal or something. Almost.

And kids (small ones, not teenaged ones) think they're the coolest thing E.V.E.R.Case in point. I'm just walking around the park minding my own business and I see a mom, her 9ish daughter, and her 5ish son. Her son is on his bike (with training wheels. Not at all pertinent to the story, but it helps you visualize no?). They're walking towards me, or I'm walking towards them. However you want to look at it. Little boy is charging away on his bike. Sees me. Sees my feet. Slows down. We're getting closer to crossing paths. Slows down more. We're like 10 feet away now. Stops the bike. He exclaims "THOSE ARE FEET!!!!!!!!" in that excited way only a little kid really can. Points at my shoes and is waving at his mom to see the shoes that are feet.

His mind = blown.

I get lots of weird looks from grown-ups and those impossible to impress teenage types. I used to have a shaved head and fuchsia bangs. No worries, I can totally handle the WTF do you have on your feet face. I'm not sure they'll help me get a date with a cute guy but I suppose life goes on.

That's a post for another day.

Oh you crazy little adrenals you!

I'm not the lowest stress person you could meet. This may surprise some people (though perhaps not my friends that IM with me during the day!) as apparently I come across quite often as some semi-hippie vegetarian yogi tree hugger. As much as I hate to admit it, I am a semi-hippie tree hugger - please don't tell anyone. I'm not ashamed to admit I used to be a vegetarian. Plus, while yoga is great, I freakin hate it. Seriously, it is not my thing. I'm not sure how I give off those vibes to people. What with my skull tattoos and pencil skirts and all ;)

Anyway, I'm actually fairly high strung. Tightly wound. Type A. Whatever colloquialism you'd like to use. The bottom line; I stress easily.

I'm convinced this is part of why I live a semi-hermitic life. I'm an introvert that has the job of an extrovert. That's stressful. I have to see and talk and interact with lots of people ALL DAY LONG. Believe me, it's not that I don't like people (except the one's that I end up blogging about on how my I direct your call?). It's just that it can be a lot for a person like me. When I was working as an esthitician, that was pretty much heaven. Estheticians by and large are introverts. Surprised? Right, because introverts don't like people and blah blah blah. Not true! We just don't like A LOT of people all at once or for an extended period of time. Give me 4-6 clients a day in a one on one situation where I'm helping them heal and de-stress? I'm all over that. Hairstylists are extroverts. Fact.

So, even though my job is pretty great and I like it and am truly grateful in this economy to be able to pay my bills with a bit to spare and all that jazz, it's harder on me than it would be for an extrovert. When I get home, I don't want to talk to anyone. I just want to play a couple Zynga games (don't judge me), read a bit, catch up on some Netflix action (Dexter is my current obsession), hang out with my kitties, and go to bed.

Combine the higher than would be expected stress level of my job with a pain in the arse move and what do you get? Adrenal fatigue. I haven't had a salivary test, so I can only go with my gut. My gut is usually right about things though. My gut said gluten was evil. My gut said Paleo would be helpful. My gut is 99.9% of the time dead on about people. I have learned to trust it. So my gut says it thinks I have adrenal fatigue. We're going with it.

I've been teetering on the brink of this for a while now; I think moving just pushed me over the edge. Now I have more experiementation ahead of me. Beginning with: I'm not leaving my apartment except to take the trash out, go for a walk, or get the mail. I went to bed shortly before 9 last night. Got out of bed a bit after 10 this morning. Rest is the name of the game for the whole weekend. Jealous? Hells yeah you are! Don't feel bad about it, I would be too.

Rhodiola is on its way to me. Naps are all but required. Sun is out in force for my walks. Dexter is still not in my mailbox and this is not awesome, but I'll survive on Lord of the Rings (shush! I am a nerd and I'm proud!) and sleep.

Ready? Here I go!

Paleo is not for weight loss (at least not for me)

I commented to a couple people at work today that as of Saturday, I'm going to be very strict Paleo for another 30 days. I've been pretty good (though I've decided I don't like to tie values of good or bad to my food choices anymore thanks to those Hartwigs) since my last posting, but chocolate is still my serious boyfriend. I'd say I'm about to do a Whole30 but screw you if you think I'm giving up the teaspoon and a half of sugar in my tea in the morning. Seriously, that's my daily gift to myself and I love it so be quiet.

Anyway, their response was "You don't need to lose ANY more weight".

Ok, Huston, Hussy has a problem (or two).

#1-You're both men. Shush about what I need/need not do with my weight. I'm not normally one to get all "oh you men and your oppression of women with your man's world and blah blah blah" I take the Marilyn Monroe stance on that. "I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it." However, I don't think a couple - nice but - overweight men need to tell me about my weight. Just no. No no no no no no no.

#2- When have I ever said this was about weight loss? You can't tell me when, because it never happened.

This is about my health. Did I think weight loss would be a side effect? Check my first Paleo post. Uh yeah, I did. And no, I was not opposed to losing it. While I certainly wasn't obese or what most people even think of as having a little extra sumpthin' these days - I was the heaviest I'd been in my life. I know many women would be thrilled with my before being their after, and that's ok for them, but it was not a good place for my body. Which is why I started losing weight so fast. Eat how your body wants you to, in the amounts it needs, and don't feed it stuff that makes it defensive, you'll lose some junk from your trunk. But first and foremost, I was sick of being sick.

So. Chocolate and I are taking a break from each other after tomorrow. It's ok. Absence makes the heart grow fonder yes? Yes. Or something. Whatever. After my 99.9% clean paleo month, we're moving to full immune protocol (but again, you can stuff it about my tea).

Which means... no eggs! WTF?! No freakin eggs. I love eggs!!!! And exclamation points! Oh goodness, I'm worried. Thankfully, "Practical Paleo" is here to rescue me. 30 day autoimmune food plan? Why thanks very much Lady! I'll be making use of that.

Off. The. Rails.

Yep.

Totally off the rails for like the last 3ish weeks. Well not totally totally. Didn't feast on gluten bombs or anything extra stupid like that. But I did eat an entire box of mini York Peppermint Patties. Yes, you read that right. Box. A whole Costco sized box. I do believe the box read 175 delicious patty yum yums inside (though I could be paraphrasing. That really should be on the box though. You want to hire me now don't you York makers? Mmm hmm, I know. Sorry, I just can't, but I appreciate the love.)

Mind you, I didn't eat them all at once, I don't actually have a death wish. It's seriously taken 3 weeks to do it. Please do not try that at home. No one should ever do that. Your insides will hate you. Your tongue however will think you're awesome. Keep in mind though, the tongue is only a small part of the body. And the rest of you will think...well it just won't be too happy with you ok? No, I don't know why I did it. I know better.

That's not all I've done to myself.

You see, I moved. That's all fine and dandy, the move went as smooth as moves can go, but the eating that resulted from every day for the last 3 weeks having to do with moving? Um, not pretty. Had some Qdoba (still delish, but not as delish as I remembered a mere 5 months ago...) By some, I mean 3 days in a row. Only Qdoba obtained foods entered my tummy. Not cool. Would I like a Dr. Pepper with my 3 cheese chicken nachos too? ?Como se dice "Hell yeah I would!"? Because lets be honest here, water does not wash down the yum that is Qdoba queso like Dr. Pepper does. It just doesn't, that's actual and it's factual.

Oh, and you know, you sleep like crap when you're brain won't shut off at night thinking about all the things you need to take care of. So then at work, you make bad choices. Like you drink soda. Even if it doesn't have caffeine because you want any sort of energy you can get your hands on. I'm not going to lie here and try to play off like I gave up soda forever when I went Paleo. No. I still have it now and then. Except when I had at least a months worth of it in one week. Yeah, except for that disaster it's a now and then thing.

When you're moving, you don't have time to cook. At least not when the you here is me. Nope, sure don't. So you order a salad (delivered). Not a bad choice I know, of all the choices I could have made. But the lettuce? Not organic. Chicken? Hahahahahaha! You are funny. No, that's for sure not meat from a happy chicken who led a fulfilled little chicken life. Dressing chock full of inflammatory Omega 6 Canola oil? You betcha! As those beautiful Hartwig's say: less healthy. Less healthy than what I make for myself on a regular day. By far.

Supplements! Yeah, didn't take those for the last two weeks either. Sigh.

The last 3 weeks turned into an n=1 experiment. What will happen to The Hussy after eating pretty well and making really great progress over the last five to 6 months if she goes on a sugar laden stress eating canola oil chugging (ok, exageration there) 3 week crap food and stress binge?

Well, let me tell you. Psoriasis. Big surprise with that one I know, seeing as how I was still flaring on a pretty clean diet as it was. Crap sleep. It wasn't ALL due to my overactive brain. No, you eat like crap, you sleep like crap, that's how these things go. Anemia? Yeah. I don't have any blood tests to show it, but my nail beds were a lovely bluish white tinge and my fatigue was not just a reflection of poor sleep I know. As I've said before, there is a particular tiredness that only comes from a lack of red blood cell oxygen action.

I'm also more hair triggerie than usual (it's a word. Look it up. No, don't. We both know that will be a waste of time. But you still know what it means so it's a word! Logic -1, real words - 0). I'm anxious and extra cranky! That's just wonderful for everyone around me. I'm sure they've been so happy to share their days with me.

Oh and how bout this for the topper? My hair is falling out. Awesome huh? Love it. No really though, it is. Not in clumps. Just more. More when I comb my hair in the mornings. More when I take a shower. More when I brush. Just more you know? Heavy sigh. But after catching a glimpse of the flare I'm having on my scalp from this stupidity, I can't really say I'm surprised.

On a related note, kinda, minor acne. This is only notable because I do not break out. Can you imagine? An esthetician with breakouts? Ugh. And when I say minor, I seriously have 2 little itty bitty zits. On my chin. Hormones. Chin is hormone related, so my hormones are sad. Big surprise. Eat like crap, get sad hormones.

But!

I'm mostly settled in. By mostly I mean hardly at all but I can walk around without bumping into things and cook without having to remove boxes from the stove so we'll call that good for now. This means I'm back to cooking for my lunches. Getting back into my normal routine. Today was my first normal day since the move. Except I forgot my lunchtime supplements. Oh well. I had my morning dosages, and I'll remember them tomorrow.

And I'm super excited because I ordered "Practical Paleo" and it should be in tomorrow! The reviews of it are all around great, and she's apparently got a good autoimmune protocol and meal ideas to go with it (main reason for the purchase really), so Ima check that out!

Sorry for all the terrible grammar and non words, but I'm still "off". Thanks for not hating me :)

What is weird anyway?

Today a man I admire, respect and care for like a member of my family said something to me that took me by surprise. He came up to me and said "I'm mad at you." I of course inquired as to why. He informed me that he was concerned about me eating all "this weird stuff" and that I looked fine before but now I'm too skinny.

He had in his hands a bag of bagels from a chain bakery. I had in my hands a kale salad with chicken (and mind you, not just chicken, but super yummy chicken that tasted like the ginger and cinnamon I'd cooked it in. Though sadly, no cherry flavor from the cherries...more cherries next time!) covered with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Thankfully the first person to pipe up to defend my "weird" food was another coworker who happened to be at my desk. She has yet to jump on the Paleo bandwagon, and frankly I think is probably a bit skeptical and would rather have a bagel than a kale and chicken salad (can't say I would blame her, I totally miss everything bagels). But know what came out of her mouth? It went a little something like this: "Do you know how much bacon she eats? Don't worry, she's NOT starving herself. She's just trying to stay healthy!"

Amen.

I am trying to stay healthy.

I explained to him what a normal food day looks like for me, and that the weight loss was not actually a goal; the end to me feeling like a stomped on pile of poo was the only reason I changed anything. He was somewhat satisfied, but is still of the opinion I'm too skinny. Hell, they say you can't please everyone, and it appears that's true.

A couple hours later, I was in the deep thought room, AKA bathroom and my brain said "Hey now! What's more weird, the salad that you made yourself from a handful of healthy mostly organic ingredients, or the bag full of bagels made from genetically modified grains, fillers, binders, sugars, fake fats and goodness knows what else?" Sadly, I'd have to say that the bagels are what's normal and my salad is indeed weird. It's not normal these days to make your own food. We pay other people to do it. And don't get me wrong, that's all fine and dandy in its own way for the economy, but it's not fine and dandy for our health.

We hand our health over to everyone else. Other people cook for us, we tell someone in a white coat where it hurts and they give us a piece of paper that the pharmacist magically turns into a bottle of pills. We listen to the doctors on TV telling us we need to eat fish one day, then fish is bad because of mercury so eat flax instead. Whole grains are good, and animal fats are bad. We don't stop to look at our lives, our bodies, and think about the reason we need to see the white coats in the first place.

This is what is normal.

But that doesn't mean it's right, and it doesn't mean it's ok. We're sick and fat and tired and cranky. So are our children.

We sleep too little and complain too much about it the next day. We avoid the sun like it's a serial killer on a mission, and then stuff our stomachs full of Vitamin D so our bones don't snap when we stand up. We watch TV instead of talking to our families and friends or going for a walk. We toss back the caffeine like it's manna from Heaven just to get ourselves through another day.

That's all normal. Totally flippin normal.

So, screw normal. I'll continue to eat "weird things" and get healthier, thankyouverymuch.

Oh, and P.S., never tell a woman she's anything other than too beautiful. No matter what you mean by it, it will not turn out well for you. [Mumbles to self...Too skinny my ass! No really, I've got a booty that I still hear about when I'm walking and minding my own business. So there's no way I'm too skinny. But I would like to stop hearing about my booty. It's awesome, I already know that ;)]

Random Stuffs

It's been a minute since I posted. I know someone other than my mom is reading this (and that's cool with me), so sorry to Mom and the other person(s) reading this that it's been a bit. Lots of stuff to talk about! Really lame boring things, so let us get to it!

I can't remember if I posted about this last time, and I'm too lazy to go check. So sorry if this is repeating myself. FYI, I really hate repeating myself so know that I'd never do it on purpose. Only out of laziness and/or forgetfulness. I tell long stories even if they're not long, so I'm going to make this as short as I can. I was on my walk one day and there's this dude jumping around on a tractor tire and whatnot. He convinces me to come work out with him, as he's a personal trainer guy. Word. So I do. Ouchies ensue. For days. I do it again because my tailbone did not slip at all the following week. That is super awesome! I come back to do it again. No dude. Dude gone. Poof! There are many possible explanations for this, however, I favor the following: He had little faith in little me. It was hard. But I worked really hard, and I can almost say I enjoyed it. If I said I liked it, that would be a lie, but not a big fat one. Why would I want someone to not have faith in me. Ummm, so I can prove them wrong of course! Geez. Why else? So, WATCH ME. I've been busting ass at home. I didn't work this hard before because frankly I think my doctor and physical therapist would have heart attacks. I don't want to be responsible for that! They've always told me "take it easy and don't push yourself too far, you'll only make things worse." So that's what I've done. Until now; so thank you magically appearing/disappearing guy for showing me that I can push myself and my tailbone will not pop out of my side via my liver or anything of that sort. Now I just need heavier weights.

But that has to wait. Because I'm flippin moving. In like 2 weeks. I hate moving. I feel like I live in a disaster area right now because everything is in boxes. Everything I don't use every single day anyway. Sigh. So last thing I want to do is move heavier weights. And after I move, I get to move again. Oh, and before I move, I am moving my bestie back to a place I'd already moved her. Lovely! Did I mention I hate moving? E freakin F.

I was on my walk in the park this evening and had a thought. When the flip did you bicycle people stop saying "on your left!" and why? Seriously. Like that's for real common sense right there. I know I'm a woman, and therefore have special super powers, but we don't actually have eyes in the backs of our heads you guys. I honestly don't know you're coming until you're already going (unless you have a loud bike. I don't know why some bikes are loud and some aren't, but you should from now on assume your bike is not loud). Now, what if a chipmunk jumped out of the bushes and I jumped to the left so as to not injure or frighten the little guy? Then what huh? That's right, ouchies all around for the humans. And it would be your fault. All yours. And I would wish you a constant slow tire leak that you could never fix even if you got a new tire because that's what you deserve for thinking I'd hurt a chipmunk. Jerk.

Speaking of bikes, we've been talking about the Zombie Apocalypse at work a lot over the last few weeks (nice segue huh?). My first stop? Bike shop. For a tricycle. For real. They make them for grown-ups. I can't ride a bike. Both because I never actually learned (shut up!) and because of my injury. I tried to learn a few years ago and if ever I'm interested in feeling the kind of pain I felt when I thought I wasn't going to be able to walk anymore, I'll give that another go. But really, that would be stupid. I'm not stupid, so I'm going to loot a tricycle instead. You laugh now, but I bet you haven't even thought that far ahead now have you? You think your car is going to get you far after the gas runs out all over town? You think the gas stations that aren't on fire will be open? Hells to the no! You need a bike (or tricycle...) to get from A to B. You're welcome. Next stop, a place that I can find a machine gun to mount on my tricycle handlebars. It will serve a dual purpose. Kill lots of zombies and simultaneously propel me away from them and out of danger, as the kick from a machine gun would for sure send me and my trike in the opposite direction. What could go wrong? I see no flaw in this plan. I swear I'm just brilliant sometimes.

I seem to be retaining/absorbing more iron. This is rad. I now take iron 3 days a week. You have no idea how happy I am to see pink nailbeds. It's the little things no?


M&M's make my ears pluggy. That's probably not a word, but you know what I'm talking about. Pluggy and itchy. And if I eat a whole big bag (the kind you buy in the candy isle, not the checkout stand) then I get so ear pluggy that I spend an entire Saturday sounding like a female impersonator from the drainage (ha ha... that's gross and you read it anyway). No joke. Well yeah, it's funny, but I'm being serious. I sounded like a man trying to sound like little ol' me. No, it's not the dairy. I can do dairy all day every day for weeks and only get a little mocos (the google machine will explain if you tell it to talk gross to you in Spanish), so it's not that. No. It's all the other shite in M&M's thankyouverymuch. I don't know why I need to OD on junk food in order to prove to myself it is in fact junk; but there it is.


I have become fond of the semicolon. It makes run on sentences feel less runn-y on-y. Sorry to all my English teachers ever for that sentence.

And lastly for the fun stuff, there are no attractive men in this town. At least not men that I am attracted to. Colorado is very white bread, and I've never been terribly attracted to my own race. This really has not much at all to do with anything, but I'm sharing ok? I told you from the outset, lame and boring.


OK.

The following stuff has nothing to do with my health or fitness (or lack of dating prospects), except perhaps in a round about way. It's super heavy to me and I need to get it out.

I think I've mentioned before that I live in the Mile High City. One reason I haven't posted recently is because I've been sad (sad being not good for your health). Sad and angry over the horrible things people are capable of. I don't know what it is about this town or this state, maybe the low oxygen levels or something, but I think we have more than our fair share of nut jobs. Transplants (like our latest "alleged" mass murderer) and natives (Columbine) alike pull this shit. I don't understand it, and it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart even more when the stories come out about the women protecting their children, and the men that decided to die so that others could live. Because THAT is what we should be. Those people are who we should strive to emulate. The ones willing to die to give other people a chance to survive the misplaced anger of some deranged idiot who blames everyone but himself for his problems. Now our state seems to have exported a white supremacist so full of hate that he's willing to kill people in their place of worship, and he may have had a friend who was late to the party. I do not understand. A Mosque was burned to the ground the next day in Missouri.

Something is very wrong in our country.

Under our skin, we're all the same bones and muscles and organs. If the aliens came down today they wouldn't know the difference between a Jew, Muslim, Christian, or Atheist. They would not comprehend the difference between Buddhist and Taoist philosophies. We'd all look and sound the same to them. Because we are. I'm so sick of us "othering" people we don't even fucking know (sorry Mom but sometimes you've got to drop the f bomb). We are far more alike than we are different. We are all descended from the same ancestors. We all want the same things. Hate is not useful. This has been an overwhelming month in our community. All because of anger and hate. Senseless and tragic.

What's awesome about Paleo today?

I'll tell you what!

Getting a cold on Wednesday evening and being better by Saturday afternoon. Though this was not the sort of 3 day weekend I enjoy having, the rest was super important and the headaches would have made me a miserable person to be around anyway. So really I did everyone a favor, they maybe just don't know it. And knowing that the person that gave you the cold still doesn't feel well tells you your immune system flippin rocks.

Side note: I love run on sentences that should include a ; or a : but don't.

It's Father's Day. I'm off to see "Men In Black III" with my dad and stepmother. The movie choice was neither mine nor his but should be entertaining nonetheless. He is a good sport.

Safe Tanning...Part 1. (What is not safe?)

Oh my goodness, this is going to be a long post. And get this, I'm actually going to write about something semi serious. Is the way I eat and the way I take care of myself serious? Sure, for me anyway. Is what I think about why we do what we do when it comes to picking a mate, organizing our culture and so forth serious? Ummm, debatable. My opinion is not likely to influence yours in those areas at least.

But this is serious. Because it has to do with very basic health. I opened Yahoo! the other day to be confronted with a headline that read something to the effect of "Is sunless tanning safe?" I thought, hmmmm, interesting question. Safe as opposed to what? Spending time in the sun without "protection"? Sticking your arm in a vat of flesh eating bacteria? I would argue one of those things is in fact a really good idea (and that would not have anything to do with bacteria). So click away Hussy. Click away.

Click I do. Apparently ABC has gone undercover at a bunch of NYC spray tan salons. And they found the people that work there are maybe not PhD material. That's not to say most of them are not at least as smart as everyone else (though really that's not necessarily being kind either), but they've clearly fallen into the trap of believing what they've been told without question. Which frankly, most of us have at some point, and perhaps that's why there are so few PhD's in this world...Anyway.

We learn that the ingredient in sunless tanning lotions and sprays is called dihydroxyacetone. DHA for short. This will come into the story later, so just remember dihydroxyacetone is also known as DHA. We learn that DHA was approved for topical use waaaaaaaaay back in the 70's (in fact, before I was born). Since it's been used in spray tanning it has been an off label use. What does that mean?

Let's take the example of Botox for a moment. It was originally approved for use by the FDA for muscle spasms (basically). One of the approved uses was to treat twitchy eyes (frankly they'd have to be pretty damn twitchy for me to agree to allow someone to inject a poison so close to my eyes, but I do not judge-I'm betting the people who used it in such a manner were really really twitchy. Moving on.). Somewhere along the line someone thought, "Hey! This stuff seems to help smooth wrinkles when injected so close to the eye! I wonder..." and a multi-billion dollar off use was born.

Back to industrial chemical DHA. So back in the 70's the FDA approved it for topical use but sometime recently (can't find a definitve date, but it's been within the last 10-15 years, I don't think longer than that.) some smart person figured out how to make the stuff come out of a spray nozzle and an industry was born.

So we're back to the question: is this stuff safe?

Have you smelled that shit? Hells to the no, that stuff is not safe! It is stinky and makes you cough. Now, I'm not saying that everything stinky is bad for you. If it weren't for some brave soul that got past the stink of curdled milk, we wouldn't have yoghurt. Also, Durian fruit, AKA stink fruit is apparently quite good (though an acquired taste perhaps?), and has lots of lovely antioxidants. So no, stinky does not always mean bad-when it comes to nature. When someone made it in a lab? Probably not so good. But if you were to listen to the people in the tanning salons, it's as safe as safe is safe. It's probably even safer than sleeping! Ok, so they don't say that, but you do get various claims that it's a treatment for cancer(?!?!) and totally all kinds of safe for the preggers among us.

Now it's one thing to put that stuff on top of your skin, as you would in a lotion (though I have to say here, skin is SEMI-permeable. It does let some stuff in. That's why your fingers get wrinkly in the bath...your skin is allowing the water to soak in-just not enough to make you a watery blob.). It's quite another thing to inhale a bajillion aerosoled particles that were never approved for inhalation in the first place. They do go on to mention in the report that some studies may or may not show that this crap does penetrate beyond the stratum cornium (that's fancy people talk for the uppermost layer of skin. Which by the way is made up of dead cells so it shouldn't matter too too much what you put on it if it's not just going to burn straight through...goodness I love to talk about skin. I should stop now!), and may or may not in fact enact changes within the living cells below. May or may not? Possibly maybe????? Sounds like possibly maybe you should just say no to DHA in general.

The main focus of the story though is breathing-that-poop-in (on a side note, this is also why you should close the lid before you flush - aerosoled poop all up on your bathroom surfaces!). Your lungs seriously have, like, no protection peoples! It's your nose hairs and that's about it. Sure, there's some mucous membranes between your nose and the insides of your lungs, but they're just not equipped to deal with A BAJILLION AEROSOLED PARTICLES OF DUBIOUS INTENTIONS. They deal mostly with cold air and the random germ. It's bringing a knife to the gun fight guys. No bueno. This stuff is shown in the lab to maybe possibly damage and mutate cells. That's bad. That's super bad when those cells are in your lungs. I can't think of a better place for them to be inside the body at the moment, but I know my lungs are not going to be my first choice.

So they show all these studies to doctors and whatnot. None are too thrilled and are now going to recommend all their patients be white as a ghost and to just take Vitamin D because our bodies may have evolved under that most blessed life giving orb of warmness, but they're clearly too stupid to not develop cancer from the merest thought of the sun's rays.

Part 2 will be my opinion on all that mess. I have a feeling though you can guess what that opinion may be.

The undercover reporter decides to go back to some of the tanning salons with these studies in hand. Ok, so this is my favorite part. And when I say favorite it's like saying "I really enjoyed the train wreck you're about to see". They go to the dude that said it's safe for pregnant women and show him the studies and ask if they change his mind. Holy hell's bells you guys...he opens a bottle of the tanning spray and DRINKS IT. He drinks it! Oh. My. God. It's been days and I am seriously still not over this. But then again, he probably isn't either ;)

I wonder if he's already procreated, or has done us all a favor with that stunt by removing himself from the gene pool. Oh, he happens to be the head trainer for a string of tanning salons. That's just great.

You'll remember earlier that I made kinda a big deal about the abbreviation for this industrial chemical as being DHA. DHA may ring a bell for you. It is also the abbreviation of one of the oh so good for you long chain essential fatty acids found in fish. Fish oil, industrial chemical...totally the same thing right?!

Ok, so you think, well these people are maybe a bit dim and somehow are confusing one DHA for the other. I totally get their confusion. Not really. My initials are MLH, that does not mean anyone else with said initials is me. Nope. Only I am me. That's a little bit of truth right there.

You're saying now, "Hussy, some people are just dumb though right?". Well yeah, but critical thinking comes at a premium in this day and age. While you or I would not think that all things that can abbreviate to DHA are the same, most people just believe what they're told, and that seems to be the case here.

So who the flip told these people DHA is used in cancer treatment (may I also note here that chemotherapy and radiation are used in cancer treatment? Don't count on me signing up for a round of either any time soon), is approved as a food grade material, and is way super totally safe? Oh, that would be Norvell Skin Solutions. Apparently they're one of the largest manufacturers of the shit. What's that you say Roche/FDA? Accutane is way super safe too? Oh, good to know, I'll use that the next time I have a breakout then. For sure.


In an effort to make sure their customers are educated on their product, Norvell apparently runs what they call Norvell University. This is quite common, and I'm not bashing them for this. Though I am giving them poop for calling it University. Please! This is spray tanning people, not science. Anyway. I cannot tell you how many product knowledge seminars and whatnot I attended when I was a full time esthetician. They're good things. Unless they're telling you major stupid shit like the stuff in spry tans that turns your skin orange is the same thing in fish oil. Then that's not so much a good thing at all because there are not enough critical thinkers that want to work at a tanning salon. There just aren't. These kids just wanted a "cool" easy job and that's it.


Norvell "University" won't be telling people that now. Apparently they were confused by the whole "this DHA is not like the other" too. Why? I couldn't tell you, being that they must have at least one chemist on staff...don't think too hard on it Hussy, you'll get yourself in trouble! But no worries, because ABC news set them straight. Why a news organization had to do that...once again, I admonish myself to not think too hard on it. I don't make enough money for that kind of trouble.


Bottom line, if it was created in a chemical factory, maybe not so good to put all over your body and breathe in? Maybe?

Hypopigmentation achived...yay!

Why on earth would I be happy about white spots on my rapidly tanning body? Because it means a spot is healed. Not just ANY spot either. The test spot. Now there's just a white spot. I'll take it. It will brown up shortly. That is all. Probably not. But that is all for this post.

The Sugar Monster Strikes Again!

So I'm going to be honest with you guys right now. I've been stressed out since I got back from Vegas. I do not know really why, but it's fact. Maybe I'm a bit burnt out or whatever, I don't know. Well, yeah. I am kinda burnt out.

Don't get me wrong, I like my job. I like my boss. I like my company. But running the front desk/sales system/office managing thing? Yeah, not my passion. It's cool if it's yours. Just not mine. So I only like it and do not love it. But I've been here longer than any place else, so that should help you understand that it's really not bad in my book. Just not what I want. And know what? My boss knows that and is cool with it.

So yeah. I'm burned out a bit right now I guess. Sometimes I have to deal with people that are pooheads. Sometimes those pooheads work for us. Lately that's what I've been dealing with. Today in fact I had to deal with a poohead a bunch. Punching people in the face is frowned upon, so I didn't do that. Couldn't have anyway since he doesn't even reside in this state. But I wanted to. Damn you physics! The pooheads are the reason for burn out.

Anyway. That brings me to my sugar monster again. That little shit loves it when I'm stressed. It tells my brain, hey, want to make a super quick dose of serotonin? Eat a York Peppermint patty! (ef! I love those things). "Better yet," it says, "eat two!" Occasionally it also suggests a Dr. Pepper. Love that stuff to death too (literally?).

So here's the de-stress plan, and hopefully the weather will allow me to do this. I am going to sit at my pool  with a book all flippin weekend! I am going to make so much Vitamin D I won't know what to do with it all (I know that's not actually possible, I'm just trying to illustrate just how much sun will be had). I will not burn. I will walk around the park as much as I want. I will go to bed as early as I damn well please, and I will stay in bed as long as my cats will let me. And I'm not talking to ANYONE. NOT ONE PERSON. ALL WEEKEND. NO ONE.

I will not answer the phone, I will not say hi to my neighbors at the pool (though I will indeed smile back if they smile at me, but there will be ZERO conversation!), I will not talk to my parents, I will not talk to my BFF, I will not comment on the facebook. I probably won't talk to my blog either, unless I'm feeling so freakin awesome that I have to tell my blog all about it.

I just realized there will have to be an exception to not talking to anyone. I'm out of eggs. I was so focused on the fact that I was out of bacon (and had been for days...DAYS PEOPLE), that I forgot I only had one egg left. I will have to at least say thank you to the checkout person at Whole Foods. I will not allow this interaction with another human being to ruin my weekend. Because I love eggs and their procurement will not be tainted.

And on a serious note: Please enjoy your weekend and remember that the reason we have it is because our soldiers gave their lives for our freedom.

Thank you. That is all.

Whole 9 Review

Ok, it's a slow day at work. Friday before a long weekend always has me hearing crickets at my desk. So I figured it's a good time to tell you how super cool my Sunday with Dallas and Melissa Hartwig was.

So to start off with, a little background on how I found out about this seminar. As I've said before, I can be a little obsessive when I've found something great. Paleo is great! I've been reading like crazy for the last few months. Every now and then I'd see something about "I finished my Whole 30" or "Melissa/Dallas at Whole 9 said..." But for some reason I'd not looked into their site until one day I was at nom nom paleo and she'd posted about going to a Whole 9 nutrition seminar. Nutrition seminar thought I? For me that's almost like a day at Disneyland, so I took myself right on over to their site.

The third post down on their front page read "Colorado for a Cause". Since I live here, well, I just had to click on that. They presented the story of a lovely woman who's beloved mother had passed due to cancer. It was very moving, and at the end, they wrote that they were extending an invitation to anyone that was coming to their Denver seminar to bring a loved one at no charge. After I stopped crying all over myself at my desk, I called my step-mother to see if she'd be interested in attending. I have been trying to get her (and therefore my dad) on board, and they've been making some changes, but I thought maybe if she could come and hear a couple well respected, knowledgeable (and pretty) people talk about it, it would help keep them going on the good path. There have been several studies that suggest we think pretty people are smarter, so it's probably helpful that they travel the country with their attractive selves giving the scoop on all things Paleo nutritious to help convert the masses. I wish my mom lived here, I would have taken her too.

So number one, that's the kind of people these two are. Which is to say more plainly: they care. They want to help people.

Let me tell you something. They know their stuff! And they know how to explain it in simple terms that nearly everyone can understand. Basic, straightforward, honest. You don't have to have a degree in anything science related to understand what they're telling you. You don't already need to be on the Paleo bandwagon to get it either. They explain from the bottom up. "Sugar does this. Insulin does that. Blood sugar works this way. Put it all together and you can see why maybe consuming massive amounts of sugar (including "complex carbs") is maybe not so great." They also had come up with a really helpful visual that showed the vicious cycle of insulin resistance leading to health problems leading to more insulin resistance and on and on.

They talked about everything from insulin to cortisol. Who needs to fuel back up after a workout, who doesn't, and why you would/wouldn't (something that's been a bit confusing for me, but now I get it!). Why understanding the basic underlying mechanisms of the way your body processes food can help you to lose weight or gain muscle. Why eating grains does not lead to better health and why eating meat and veggies and fat does.

They took turns on different subjects, which was nice, because they each have their own presentation style. They're both also really well spoken. That's probably good since they have to talk for 7+ hours at these things. And they're funny!

And they didn't just talk AT us all day. Lots of "experts" are only experts because they like to hear their own voices. No, not these two. They talked TO us. You gots a question?! Ask away!

That brings me to my statement that they're honest. I know they're honest because I've been doing the reading myself. But if you haven't done so, a good rule of thumb is when someone is willing to say "I don't know", I'm pretty sure they can be trusted. No one knows EVERYTHING about anything. Especially when it comes to nature and the human body. It's just not possible. There were a couple questions (good questions) that came up and both Melissa and Dallas were given the opportunity to say they didn't know. They also said, "I will try to find out. Email me and I will get back to you on it." And I'm sure that they will. I did not have one of those good questions, so they won't be emailing me anything...

All in all, it was totally worth it. They're great people who are out there trying to help as many people as they can achieve optimum health. If they come to your neck of the woods, I'd highly recommend you try to make it. You'll be glad you did!

Oh, and I preordered their book...super excited for it!