Side Effects Poster Child

I wish I wrote down every time I did something completely stupid.
I would have quite the list and I'm sure there'd be hundreds tied for first place.

I did something stupid last week.
& I'm gonna tell you all about it.

I've been using essential oils pretty exclusively for 2.5 years but every now and again I get these stupid thoughts that sometimes even I need OTC medicine --

Now, I know some people are extreme in thinking you can ONLY have essential oils OR modern medicine (ie: pills).

I think at one point I kind of thought that way but there is an amazing balance and calmness when you know you have options.
I know for certain this year I can count on one hand the times I've taken "pills" and I honestly couldn't even tell you the times I did because it is that rare for me.
Actually, I had the shits so bad and had to be somewhere that I doubled up on anti-diarrheal & Digestive Blend, took a nap and woke up with a black tongue. I'm pretty sure it wasn't from the oil.
The FEW times I do take medicine, I always have something go wrong and I've concluded that

I AM THE POSTER CHILD FOR SIDE EFFECTS 

For as long as I can remember I carried Midol & Advil in my purse at all times.
I probably took them OUT of my purse about 2 years ago.
I don't think I even own either one & I can certainly tell you they are NOT in my purse!

So Anyway,
I'm on night 3 or 4 of coughing all facking night long & I'm getting pissed because I just want to sleep without waking myself up 6 times a night and having to dab the tears from my eyes because I'm literally halfway hacking up a lung. I actually thought of sleeping in the recliner just so I'd be a little bit upright and this shit wouldn't keep sliding down the back of my throat, forcing me to cough until I fought off the puke trying to make it's debut. I wasn't throwing up because I had something wrong with my stomach, I was throwing up because my throat was clogged and I couldn't breathe.

So I do my night time routine, some Respiratory Blend on the chest, neti pot with Frankincense, Rosemary & Eucalyptus. Got the humidifier cranked up for this dry, crackling cough-- I didn't take anything in a capsule.
I know... I'm stupid.
I didn't think I was "sick enough" to need a capsule.

WRONG.
WRONG.
WRONG.
STUPID.
STUPID.

We don't really have that much OTC meds in the house, but I managed to find a Mucinex night time.
So I took  it.
I knew within minutes I'd be in weird dream land.


I was coughing worse than I had the nights before, so around 2 am after about 3 hours of misery.. I just knew this mucinex was about to kick in and I'd be able to sleep.
NO.

So after trying to negotiate with myself about falling into a deep enough sleep so the coughing stops, I get out of bed. Pissed.

I walk into the hall and grabbed every oil I could think of that would help with a cough.
I put a little coconut oil on my chest.
Squinting one eye, unscrewing oil bottle after oil bottle I apply one after the other Rosemary, Invigorating Blend, Myrrh, Frankincense, Eucalyptus, Cedarwood, Cardamom, Arborvitae, Melaleuca, Protective Blend all to my chest.
I go grab a facking capsule which I knew I should have done 3 hours prior and pour in
2 drops of Frankincense, Oregano, Lemon, Melaleuca, Cardamom, Protective Blend. Swallow it.
Take all these oils back to my bedroom, start applying them one after the other on the bottoms of my feet begging for some relief & pissed that I doubted what I knew would help me.

Then I lie there thinking "Lindsey you did this to yourself."
Telling myself "I TOLD YOU SO"

I fall asleep.
Silence.


I woke up halfway refreshed, made a couple capsules to get me through the day, break out my travel bag, take my insane amount of "I need relief desperately" oils & go on with my day, with minimal hacking.


I am not sure why I doubted what I KNEW without a doubt would work.
I guess from time to time even I need reassurance that grabbing something with no side effects, something that is so small & powerful is the answer for me & mine.


There's a time & place for everything.

Screw you, Mucinex PM.

Lifestyle GAIN; not Weight LOSS

Motherhood brought countless highs, and unfortunately SO many lows when it came to my body. I made every excuse from being too tired, to not wanting to put my baby in the gym daycare.
Yes, I am a stay at home mom -- I call it a "stay in the van mom" because we are never actually home which makes it difficult to have a workout routine. I couldn't commit to something that was so sporadic. (TYPE A PERSONALITY HERE) It's easy to workout during "nap time" but sometimes nap time doesn't happen, sometimes that's my lunch break and so on and so forth so it was easier to just not.

I'm 5'7'' and at my heaviest I was 152. I'm not exactly a couch potato and I always get *those* looks when I talk about my excess weight because 152 looks so much thinner on someone that's 5'7" compared to someone that's 5". I don't like to use the term "being fat" because the struggle with weight is so much more than "being" anything. If I was "being" anything I was being an awesome mom and I let my body pay the price. And I was okay with that, for a while.
I continued to purchase larger clothes and pushed my pre-pregnancy ones further to the back of the closet. I held onto them hoping that one day they'd eventually fit again.
Eventually I stopped caring about all the accessorizing and appearance worries that accompany being a woman. I don't think I've ever really been high maintenance to begin with BUT I didn't care about much. I cared only about clothes that wouldn't hug my waist because of the excess muffin top.
Ricky and I have been married 7 years.
Over those 7 years I gained about 25 pounds. 2/3 of them coming from post Charley era.
About a year ago I was still sporadic with my workouts and I hit a plateau. No matter what I did or did not eat and how much I did or did not exercise my weight stayed around 147. This is the most discouraging part of weight loss and why I never saw results. Every time I restarted I kept telling myself just stop stopping but somehow a vacation would come around, a sickness, and sometimes just life and here I was starting over.... again.

For the last 2 years I have mostly purchased organic foods and ate what I believed to be more of a balanced diet than most. However, I felt like I needed carbs with every meal or else I didn't feel full. I wasn't ever super heavy on desserts. But Coca Cola. Oh how I LOVED Coke. I loved it so much that knowing how terrible it was for me I still consumed it, and I even enjoyed every sip.

So 5 weeks ago I started over again.
I was mad enough with myself that I just could not get this working out thing to work for me.
I'm a do-er. I'm a not a give-up-er. I am a commiter.
Prior to Charley I went to the gym quite a bit - especially when Ricky was deployed.
I danced and played various sports for most of my adolescent life so I knew some where deep down I had an "athlete" version of myself.
It just really needed some commitment. I did have a brief break up with the scale and I really had to have a clear, focused mind.

I started being conscious about what I ate and how I fueled my body.
I broke up with Coke.
I made it a habit to eat breakfast - a healthy one at that.
I controlled my portions.
I began to eat smaller, more frequent meals.

These are the habits I had to change for me. If you also struggle at the table and in the kitchen a rule of thumb to follow would be to stay on the outskirts of the grocery store. Anything that you eat from the center aisle at the store is usually processed and will give you higher calories and less nutrients.
For example: 1 cup of strawberries is only 49 calories & 12 carbs + a ton of vitamins and minerals. A cup of strawberries is a great snack and there's enough to give you that full feeling once you break up with heavy carb foods.
On the flip side 11 (ELEVEN) Dorito's chips give you 140 calories no vitamins/minerals and 16 carbs...and that's if you stop eating at 11 chips.


So the first couple days I was pretty bitchy because my mind kept telling me that I was hungry. I knew I wasn't because I had been eating good food, frequently.
I fought with my mind and sipped on my water. Angry.
Knowing I had to fight if I wanted complete control and annoyed that my mind was trying to make me fail.

2 weeks into my routine was the ultimate test.
I went on vacation for my 25th birthday.
I came home from vacation 2 pounds heavier and I made good food choices on vacation and continued on my workout routine. I wasn't upset about the 2 pounds because the memories on vacation were worth more than 2 pound gain.

My workout routine looks like this:
Monday: Legs/Cardio
Tuesday: Low Intensity
Wednesday: Arms & Abs
Thursday: Low Intensity
Friday: Full Body
Saturday: Low Intensity
Sunday: Low Intensity and/or stretching

My dogs are thoroughly happy with my low intensity workout.
Low intensity means they get at least a 30 minute walk... so everyone wins!

I also discovered a minor setback with my back.
I have to take things slow for a little while so that I can fully recover.
I was upset. I was frustrated & I was in annoying, aching pain.
I was experiencing tingling/numbness up my back more than 75% of the time no matter what position I was in.
I made an appointment with a chiropractor. He sent me for X-rays and I returned the following day.
I was expecting to see my spine in alignment with only small little thing that needed a single adjustment and then I'd be good.
I knew from my research with the body & my 8 days experience on a spinal cord injury (jury duty) that numbness/tingling meant I struck a nerve (literally).
So.

I have degenerative disk disease, a compressed disc right before my tailbone L-5 (thus the tingling), mild scoliosis and an anterior pelvic tilt. I don't really like the fact of claiming to have a "disease" so I'll just refer to it as a compressed disc.

I was in tears when this sunk in.
I was in tears because I had just found & was regaining my strength.
I had dusted off the athletic version of myself and quitting now meant restarting again & I promised myself no more quitting.
I have made modifications to my workouts, I have focused on heating my back, decompressing my back with a series of yoga poses (down dog, child's pose), low impact (bicycling over running), and of course: supplementation & essential oils.

I completed the full 12 weeks of my work out program - modified.
During the 12 weeks I took 2 vacations & did not go "full throttle" at the gym as I didn't want to aggravate my back.

I lost:
12.5 inches
8.2 pounds
1.1% BMI
2.8% Body Fat 

& finally it's not so much about what you look like it's more about what you feel like but it's always a good feeling when they sync up together.

SECRET: 

There isn't one. 

I changed my lifestyle.

I do take supplements. Ask me which ones

I do use essential oils in my workout routine.

I take pre-workout.

I drink protein shakes.

I didn't take any weight loss "pills"

I didn't "wrap"

I'm a hard work & dedication type of girl.

My favorite helpers:
I really love my POLAR FT4
My Slimming Waist Belt 
Various Essential Oils
Metabolic Blend appetite control bars
C4 Pre-workout
Muscle Pharm Combat Protein