Taking Control of My Life: One Step at a Time

As I've begun to make little and not-so-little changes in my life, I began to realize what a shambles so many other things were in.

For instance: My home.  Ohmygosh!  Seriously.

Now, in my defense, I do have a special needs child who is extremely active and curious.  Therefore, he is constantly getting into things.  And when he acts out, it's by ramping up his destructive mode to "nuclear".  But there are still things I can do.  Hmm.  Sounds a little bit like my weight.

So, in an effort to not only transform my weight, but to transform my life, I decided to begin the arduous task of organizing.

Luckily, my husband started the ball rolling over mother's day weekend.  While I was out of town, he and the kids ripped out the flower bed in front of our house, which had become completely overgrown and replaced it with giant planters, decorative rock, and decorative grass.  It's really quite nice.

Then, the week after that, he (finally!!!) installed a dishwasher and new counter tops.  I nearly cried.

This started me off on a cleaning frenzy including organizing all the crap that's been cluttering our home.

One of my big pet-peeves were the brooms and mops.  I've never really had a "place" for them, so I would constantly be running around the house hollering, "Who moved the broom?" or "Has anyone seen the mop?"

So, when I had the opportunity to get a broom organizer arrived, I grabbed it!  The organizer I got was from Amazon (Click here to check out my broom organizer).  It's the five broom organizer that has hooks attached to it.  And I LOVE it!  It fits both my brooms, my mop and the dustpans, plus there is room for several of my favorite rags (yes, I have favorites - I don't like the kids touching the microfiber clothes and using them to scrub the carpet stains. I'm funny that way). Plus, the hooks are very sturdy.  They could handle much more than just some stinky ol' rags.  They're pretty hard core, actually.

It looks much nicer than the nasty old metal one that came with the house when we bought it then promptly broke.  It's sturdy, the six screws were relatively easy to install, and the extra hooks make the price of the organizer a steal (have you seen the price of hooks lately?!?).

All in all, I'm proud to say that my home is one step closer to being organized - just like my health. No longer will I be running around my house like a lost puppy looking for my cleaning supplies. They have a home now. And that home is rather easy on the eyes, if you ask me.  Yay!

Starting out With A Clean Slate

WARNING:  This blog may encroach the boundaries of TMI, but in an effort to stay true to the process, I'm going to spill the beans anyway!  Skip now, if you don't want to read further.

Part of my weight loss journey begins by starting with a clean slate.  That means I've enlisted the help of a colon cleanse.

During past weight loss programs, I've used some pretty great stuff - not specifically CALLED a colon cleanse, but supplements that were designed to do just that.  One of my favorites was alfalfa.

My problem, however, had always been the taste.  After a while, I could no longer stomach the taste and I created an aversion to the tasted, smell and texture of any alfalfa supplements.  Which was a shame, because they worked marvelously!

Be that as it may, if you can't swallow the stuff, it's worthless.  I tried the Vidazen version, which had alfalfa, but none of the taste.  It was awesome in that regard.  Plus, it wasn't anything overwhelming - as in, I-can't-leave-the-house-for-fear-that-a-catastrophe-may-happen, sort of overwhelming.

Needless to say, I was quite happy using this product as a stepping-off point, especially after this weekend, when my husband surprised me with a kitchen re-model, resulting in a whole-lot of fast food and not nearly enough healthy stuff.  This was the perfect way to offset a little bit of that naughtiness.

Adding Fish Oil To My Diet - Finally one I can stomach!

I've tried to take Fish oil off and on over the years for a variety of reasons. First off, I know that it's good for me. Secondly, I'm aware that I don't get enough of it in my diet because I'm the only one in my family who likes fish. And, since there are six of us, I'm out numbered.

 Fish oil has been connected to a variety of health benefits - anything from helping your periods, to obesity, to helping you gain weight, avoiding stroke, etc. For me, I was most interested in the prevention of stroke and heart disease because two of my children have congenital heart defects, my 19-year-old daughter had a TIA (mini-stroke) 6 months ago, and my father had a stroke when he was 55. Yeah, I'm not remotely interested in toying with any of that stuff. Anything I can do to keep my heart and blood healthy, I'm going to try. The problem I've had with fish oil in the past has been burping up the fish aftertaste. I could never last a day or two. But, when I had a chance to try a brand that promised no fish aftertastes, I was willing to give it a try.

It has totally lived up to its promises in my estimation.  I'm about a week into testing of this product and I'm very happy with it. For those who are interested, I found it on Amazon. The shipping was fast and the service good. I'm blogging about it because I'd recommend it. I hope you get the same out of it as I did!

 Suz