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Dec
14

AdoreTea

If there is anything I can say about what Australia has taught me, I can say that I have learned so much more about natural remedies. When I was growing up, even chiropractics was considered a bunch of hogwash (and I could have used it!). So herbs, vitamins and teas? Yeah, no. But now I’m here and I am embracing natural ways to help my system become healthier.

Which is how I came to find Adoretea.

After spending a lot of time researching and talking to women who a) have PCOS, b) want to conceive or c) both, I decided to try out some raspberry leaf tea. I figure that if it can do half the stuff some women claim it can do, then I’ll be doing well. So I looked around online and found this lovely website that sells raspberry leaf tea in all kinds of different sizes.

I bought the 50g packet of raspberry leaf tea for $5.50 AUD. I don’t know if I even like the stuff, but my thinking is that I will have to drink it for a while to feel the full effects. Given you use one teaspoon to brew a cup, this size is more than enough to test it out.

I was just going to leave it at that, but I decided to nose around the other teas as well. There are so many! And so many that sound so delicious…

I ended up getting about a half a dozen of their ’2 Cup Sampler’ packs. What an excellent idea! At $0.95 AUD a pack, I can try all sorts of different kinds without it being too expensive (especially if I end up hating any of the kinds I chose).

As I make more and more changes geared not just for my overall health but for creating a healthy environment for my future bubs to grow in, I feel more like I am headed on the right path – for mind, body and spirit.

I’ve even added a new category called ‘Natural Health’ for when I talk about the influence of the vitamins, teas, etc I add to my regime. Hopefully I’ll find some great things come of it.

Category: Checking In, Food, General, Natural Health  4 Comments
Dec
13

Kinda Like Starting Over

I am always excited about starting something new, but when it comes to my body and the difficulties of the past fortnight, I am being careful not to think of getting back on the horse as starting over.

Exercise is difficult right now, as the pain, doctors and such have pushed me past my stress limit. Get me past that limit and my body shuts down to the point of making things like just doing the laundry and walking down to the shops very tiring. The good news is that, as much as I get tired out by little things, I’m recovering from that tired faster and faster every day.

Once again I am grateful for my Wii Fit, as I can use it as the energy strikes (which would be difficult with a gym or even with walking given Melbourne’s ever-changing weather moods).

I’ve gotten my next set of three months of birth control, and I am using that as a goal to really make a dent in the weight loss and fitness levels. I want to get off birth control (I hate the idea of artificial hormones) and I’m hoping that the end of this prescription can mean the end forever.

I’m now taking milk thistle and have ordered some raspberry leaf tea to try out in an effort to help my lady parts sort themselves out naturally. The very fact that I have an ovarian cyst means my system is waking up (my system pretty much just did nothing for a long time), and I want to take this opportunity to do what I can to treat it right.

So I’m not starting over so much as adjusting while my body adjusts to things.

And the adjustments are focusing not only toward a healthier me but towards a healthier environment for future bubs…

Category: Body, Checking In, Exercise, Food  Comments off
Dec
02

The One Hour Golden Zone

I’m here! I’m here!

There have been so many times I have sat down with the intention of posting here and at my other blogs, and I have just been way too exhausted. How things are so, so busy even though I’m off work this week, I don’t know…

I’m still getting up about an hour and a half earlier than I usually do every morning to exercise. I am so darned proud of myself! A solid hour of exercise every morning has been hard, but the pride and confidence that I get from doing with it and sticking with it (even if it hasn’t been quite two weeks yet) has made me feel amazing.

While my chiropractor was able to do amazing things with my ankle to alleviate pain, it’s still just not strong enough for a walk every morning (unless I want to limp home on the second day, which is no fun at all I can tell you from experience), so I’m alternating my walking days right now. On the opposite days, I’m doing a solid hour of…

Yep, my old friend. Wii Fit!

The first morning I opted for an hour of Wii Fit, I felt bad. I was sure I was cheating somehow, even though I was determined to do the same amount of time a walk would take, and even though I knew that I had to give my ankle some rest lest I damage it severely. So I did the hour and wow!

As it turns out, the Wii Fit is a more intense workout than the walking by heaps. I know that’s because there is only so much I can push walking because of my ankle, but still. Wow. I was really impressed and finally got shot with the clue gun that Wii Fit is like anything else – you get out of it what you put into it. And I have been putting some hardcore workout time into it.

While some people might not ever pair ‘hardcore’ with ‘Wii Fit’, I do because by the time I am done, I am exhausted, drenched with sweat and puffing. Woohoo!

I am so happy about this because it means that I don’t have to walk on rainy mornings if I don’t want to, and I can strengthen my ankle up slowly while still getting the amount of exercise I want. While my weight is still bobbing around, the past couple of days have showed definite losses. Happy, happy!

So I have the exercise, now I just have to get the eating and the mentality up to par.

Category: Body, Checking In, Exercise, Food, Walking  5 Comments
Oct
28

Little White Lies

I’m thinking about how much you should/do tell your partner. Do you tell little white lies, hold to ‘honesty is the best policy’ no matter what, or do something else? That got me thinking of, well, something unpleasant. It’s something I’m willing to confess here, though, because I know at least some of you will understand.

A couple years ago, I had a binge afternoon. It was pretty ugly. Sushi (I’m not supposed to have sushi that involves rice), chocolate cookies (more than one box)… I was not proud of myself at all. I’m also sad to say that I didn’t speak a word of it to my husband.

What I did do was take all the wrappings and stuff them in one of my purses. I figured my purse is the last thing my husband would ever look in, and for months, he didn’t. I then took the purse and put it in my sight so whenever I walked in the room, I would see it and be reminded.

Then one night I was looking for a hat I hadn’t been able to find for weeks. He decides to help me look for it, and guess where the first place he looks is?

As it turns out, he wasn’t disappointed at all. He was sad that I went through it, but for the most part, he was just amused that he found it when I thought it’d be the last place he would look. I had a good cry and he told me it was okay, and I finally felt like a huge burden (that I didn’t realize was there) was lifted off my shoulders.

I’m happy to say that now, I don’t do that anymore. I don’t hide. The time I gave in and had a stress chocolate, it was hard to tell my husband. Ultimately, though? I felt so much better for it. There is nothing like it out there for me that fixes up my behavior better than knowing my husband will know.

Do you have anyone you tell everything to? Do you have a partner to help you through the bad times? Or do you not need one?

Category: Food, General, Mental Health  Comments off
Oct
13

Pissed Off About Peanut Butter

I went to the shops yesterday because I wanted some ingredients for a new recipe I was trying out. (Which was pretty darn good for my first attempt, if I do say so…) As I was wandering the shelves just to see if there was anything else interesting enough to pick up, I spotted the peanut butter section.

Now, I realise that peanut butter isn’t the best thing for you. However, paired up with some Vita Wheats (healthy crackers) and sliced banana for an occasional afternoon snack? Just peachy! I’ve been having cravings for peanut butter lately anyway, so I figured I might as well work it into a healthy snack.

Did I buy any peanut butter? Heck no!

If there is one awesome thing my husband has taught me, it is to read labels.

I couldn’t remember which brand of peanut butter didn’t have any additives in it (peanut butter should have three ingredients: peanut butter, vegetable oil and salt (sometimes no salt)), so I started reading labels. Lo and behold, out of all the brands on the shelf, I could not find a single jar of peanut butter that didn’t have sugar added.

GRR!

Before anyone tries to tell me sugar in peanut butter is standard, stop. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but in all my time in Australia, I have never eaten peanut butter with sugar added. Never.

I suppose it’s just the way of the world, but I’m really disappointed. Sugar has made its way into all peanut butter now, too? Blah. I don’t want to spend twice as much money on the so-called ‘health’ peanut butter either, so I guess I’ll just have to do without.

Grrr.

Category: Food  Comments off
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