Karine Polwart

I discovered Scottish musician Karine Polwart last year thanks to Pandora and immediately downloaded her album. Now she is out with some new stuff. Her lyrics are decadent and it is so easy to escape into the stories she tells so eloquently, and perfectly paired with flawless guitar picking to boot.

She's up there on my virtual shelf alongside Kate Rusby. Great company!
If you are a Celtic/Folk fan (like me) go check her out. You won't be disappointed.

Health Wednesdays: Macro Greens

Still learning to blog regularly here. I am thinking if I can come up with a general plan for certain days I will be more likely to post something useful.  Also, as a chronic mental drifter - a little order is quite helpful.

So, my new theme for Wednesdays is health.
I will share with you what's going on with my own health journey, what has been helpful, my thoughts on nutrition. My story in a few sentences (some day I'll dive into it a bit more). I have suffered over the years from a variety of inflammatory related issues, which has caused pain in my legs and hips, my reproductive organs, and caused me to have migraines as well. I have found that food and stress are major contributors to this and have had several years of trying to figure out the body I've been given. I've read book after book and I feel like they all add up to the same things! I usually sum it up to people who are just beginning their journey into health through nutrition by telling them to read Michael Pollan's Food Rules. Here is the basic list, but to learn more I would advise picking up his book (here). It's cheap and east to read.*

I'll also be giving a product review of what I've been trying lately, since I get a bit of a special glance into upcoming natural food products.

I have been working through some issues in my body.  I am so fortunate that my body is so communicative with me. That's a nice way of saying that my symptoms often send me into a fury of self-diagnosis, which generally leads me down the same path of healing through food, or fasting.

Nutritionally, we are eating vegetarian around here. With the issues I have been working on with my body, I am mostly vegan.  I have been doing some fasting though, which seems to be absolutely miraculous. More on that another time.
I am about to begin some experimentation with beets and beet juice after completing the water fast I am working through. I'll update you on how that goes.

The product that I want to rave about this week is Macro Greens from Macro Life Naturals I have been using it for over a year now.

I went out seeking this product after reading the book The Ph Miracle. Also a good read that I recommend.*
This product is everything it says it is. It is full of goodness and it all comes from a good source. The flavor is a world away from other powdered green products. I scoop it into my smoothies in the morning, or sometimes into apple cider, when the cider is in plentiful (and cheaper) in the stores.
Also, other green powders my kids WILL notice in their smoothies. Not so for Macro Greens, unless of course I put a whole bunch.
You aren't just getting greens, though, and that is why I chose this product in the first place. The great flavor was just an added bonus. You have your spirulina and chlorella of course, but you are also getting non-dairy probiotic cultures, five different types. It is also packed with antioxidants, including milk thistle and ginkgo. Add to that eleven adaptogenic and metabolic herbs, including eleuthero and astragulus.
Macro greens goes above and beyond, though, when they throw in the natural plant enzymes protease, cellulase, amylase and lipase. These enzymes help assist our body in digestion. Enzymes are lacking in much of our food, as they are killed through cooking and processing, and yet they are vital to our absorption process.
Added sugar? No.  Why muck it up? Its a great supplement from whole foods in a base of certified organic barley grass, the least allergenic of all grasses.

To sum it up, this product provides the max nutrition with minimal upset to our system. In other words, its made to speak softly and carry a big stick.
They are carrying more products now which I have not yet tried. I hope to try them out soon.

Until next week, take care of yourself.

* No one book is ever going to give you all the answers. In my experience, each great book offers you a handful of tools. Some of the tools are all the same, some slightly different, but not all of us need the same tools. Read a few good books and you'll see recurring themes. Eat well. Take care of yourself. Be calm. The approach may be slightly different, but there are strings drawing them together and the goal is always the same. Better health.<3
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I do not generally squeal.

Unless:
It is 7am, I am naked in the shower desperately trying to kill a giant (flying) American Cockroach with my shoe.

Forget the chupacabra. One of these so-called 'water bugs' can send me into a frenzy, and I like bugs, as a rule. I will rescue them and set them outside. But not these.

They are fast. And did I mention they can fly??
All the more offensive when you are naked and vulnerable.

And they are huge.  And they don't die when you squish them.
And when you do squish them they make a terribly crunching sound and are messy.

Apparently they can climb up through pipes and in spaces around toilets.  I am making it a mission to find the entry points for these suckers and eliminate them as much as possible. My mornings just can't start this way.

Now that you need a shower, be careful to glance around before you step in there naked.

Spring Break

This spring break I have taken the break part seriously.
I am focusing on reducing stress in my life.  I do a lot of things without forethought, just spontaneously, which wreck my schedule and causes my day to spin out of control. Before you know it I've accomplished less than a quarter of what needs doing, then I'm pinning it onto the next day which is always burdened.
I also put a lot of planning into events at times, thus setting myself up with a lot of expectations that go unmet, or else the event planning causes me to slowly coil up into a curly-cue with my stress and I am left with a migraine and just wanting to go home and chill.

 On a conscious level I am breaking off from habits or behaviors that ultimately do not contribute to my quality of life.  There are things that eat away at my intentions, that swallow up my time and leave me far too stressed.
Facebook is one.  Of course I like Facebook and appreciate the ability it gives me to keep up with people. However, it eats away at my time. I really do not have an extra half hour in the day to devote to a scad of status updates. Then, scanning through, you aren't just getting the things you really want to read. You're getting what interests other people. Some you may agree with. Some you may not. Some you wish you didn't read.  Some leave you frustrated.
Either way, Facebook is a time thief. I figure those who want to keep up with me will do just that, and Facebook isn't required.

I am also looking at the things I have let slip out of my life temporarily.  Things that contributed to my wholeness.  Cooking. Gardening. Reading. These are all things that I would have more time for if I weren't so busy otherwise.

I am cutting our activities down to just a couple of times a week and focusing more on our home, which has, with all this stress and business, been somewhat neglected.

So I am centering myself.  Doing spring cleaning within myself and within my life.
Thus far, it has been quite relieving and productive.  Invoking the peace in my life has been healing in so many ways.

Here's to spring break! Hope you are enjoying yours.