My life lately

The craziest semester I have had so far is finally over. I am enjoying my relaxation time: sleeping in, spending time with my family and friends, Christmas shopping, etc.

Maker's Diet update: After a number of weeks on phase one, and about 15 pounds of weight-loss, I have finally decided to start phase two. The reason I wanted to stay a little longer on phase one is because I felt like I needed more detox time. And I always lose the most weight on phase one. Let me tell you, restricting oneself on an all natural diet is hard even with normal calorie intake, but trying to reach weight-loss goals while eating naturally is double trouble. I have to admit - I have cheated a few times. But, I am thankful that the Lord has kept me on track.

I had some bumps in the road with this whole thing. For instance, my pulminologist said that I need to get my asthma under control before I start exercising. I feel less effective just eating well, but c'est la vie. Another obstacle came in the form of prednisone, which I had to take to try to knock out my cough (it didn't). That medicine be crazy! Side affects include: everything that makes weight-loss difficult. Number one - mood. I broke down crying just listening to some caller on the radio talking about her life. I don't cry easily usually. And I was snappy as a piranha. Number two - appetite. Predisone is infamous for causing people to have ravenous appetites. Thankully, I had taken prenisone before and was prepared for this. I had no junk food on hand and ate things like carrots and oranges when I was unbearably hungry. But I slipped up a few times. Number three - puffiness. I have this annoying baby double chin right now. So even though I have lost weight, I look puffier. Oh well. It is starting to go back to normal now that I am off my prednisone.

Phase two includes more fruits and some legumes. I am really excited about this!

I am looking forward to moving into an apartment with my friend Meredith in January. Hopefully my health will improve with the combination of both my new living situation and the Maker's Diet. And heading to the doctor again for another ear infection. I should just move in there.

But I have learned a lot about myself through my health trial. My mom has always said that trials scratch you and what comes out is really telling about yourself. So, I have had to see how I react in difficult circumstances. I have a lot of growing to do. I have realized that it takes faith to praise God in times of trouble because it is hard to see the good outcome in the end. And sometimes that good outcome is "just" growth in character. I have surprised myself by how much my go-to response in difficult situations is to complain. That is something I have to work on. If I am this way now, I cannot expect to be the sweet old lady I want to later in life. Being old is probably a whole lot more difficult than this. I am learning that if you want something in the future, you have to work on it today.

This has been a boring, rather newsy blog post. My apologies. Have a wonderful, Christ-honoring Christmas!

An F minus in breathing...

Darth Vader is often misunderstood. He went to the dark side because having breathing trouble stinks. It's like, "Haha...you are bad at the only thing all humans should be able to do. Basically, you are bad a being a human." And when life taunts you like that, sometimes you just go to the dark side.

As I am writing this, I am hooked up to my nebulizer, which sounds like a lawn-mower on my bed. Fun. But my nebulizer is cool...it makes me feel powerful and villainous like Bane from "Dark Knight Rises." I actually do not know if that is a good thing. I think I am kind of just relating with antiheroes tonight.

I was diagnosed with asthma at sixteen, and have discovered new triggers every year. My least favorite trigger is laughing, because I laugh a lot, and then I have an asthma attack. My asthma has been worse than ever this year, probably because of my dorm. I don't like to think of myself as a sickly person, but I have definitely seen my asthma hold me back from many things in my life. So I have decided to change that. 

A few years ago, I decided to try "The Maker's Diet," a biblically based diet one of my friends told me cured his asthma. I stayed with it for a few months, and for the first time ever, had very few to absolutely no asthma symptoms in the worst time of year for me. But, it was hard to stay on it, especially with my schedule, etc. And I sometimes just want to eat something quickly. Well, guess what almost all quick food is...JUNK FOOD! And, so I relapsed.

Now, two or so years later, I have decided to begin to do something similar to get rid of my asthma or at least manage the symptoms. I am done with this being who I am. With God's help, I am going to start being all I can be. Because, the dark side never was that much fun anyway.

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts on the Maker's diet or any other advice for dealing with asthma.