REHIREMENT

Are you working when you want to retire and are you hoping against all hope no one will hire you?  Yet, you need money.  Have obligations to family. 

You are tired.  Others depend on you and see your visits to gym, beach stays, and best dining-well, extravagant.   Really, it does not matter how long you have worked.  All that matters is the new 60 is 40 and the government decides retirement age. Yet, you know it’s hard to get a job in your 60s, especially one that utilizes all your skills and expertise.  Sure, you could be a politician and be President at the height of your decline, but not many get an Administration of bright young people to make them look good! 

Tell me your experience…

To your health,

Claudia

Progress

Dear Fellow Travelers,

I broke 200 pages on my novel!  I still have about 40 pages to correct; I wrote 179 in first person present tense and realized I could not give vital viewpoints unless I wrote in third person.  Now I have a clear road map, thanks to Susan Malone, my editor.

Health matters have taken a surprising turn.  My thyroid and liver are giving me grief.

Kimbery Snyder released an article yesterday that spoke profoundly: “The thyroid is part of the fifth vishuddha chakra in the throat region, which is related to communication and self-expression. It is believed in yogic philosophy that keeping this energy area healthy is related to how openly and honestly a person expresses herself or himself. Repressed anger and other emotions or involvement in falsehoods (ie telling half-truths, or feeling deep down one is “living a lie”) can have negative energetic consequences that can manifest as physical ailments in this region of the body, including in the thyroid. The best way to correct this on an energetic level is to fully live your inner truth. Speak up, express yourself, and if something in your life isn’t right, take action to change it.”

Writing this novel based on my life story has stirred emotions!  Constriction in my throat has always plagued me and now dis-ease is manifesting.  Hopefully it is not too late to reverse negative communication.

One fellow traveler is re-parenting herself with this mantra: “You are a beautiful wondrous and brilliant gift to the world. You are my precious soul mate and I am so lucky to be a part of your journey. Be strong. Be a leader and go and become whatever you wish to be. I will be there right by you in this lifetime and every minute thereafter. I love you and that love is always there no matter what.”  I sent it to my daughter and plan on putting it on my computer and read daily.

Regarding the liver. I recently switched to a plant based diet and it is a natural detox, removing fats, sludge, toxins, medications, and who knows what else from my body.  In the process, I have developed border line fatty liver.  This is nothing to play around with.  I was advised to take probiotics and drink warm lemon juice to  support my liver during the process; that should have been a clue there could be repercussions!  Like the thyroid, the digestive system is impacted by emotions as well as what we eat, therefore, I believe my body is casting out its demons.

I find this purging interesting and I am confident I can handle it.  It is important that people know emotional and nutritional purging have stages and sometimes it can get ugly.

Let us know your experiences along these lines and know we can re-create ourselves.

To Your Health,

Claudia

Homes of famous writers – Yahoo! Homes

Homes of famous writers – Yahoo! Homes.

Something to look forward to!

8 Cruelest Foods You Eat | Yahoo! Health

8 Cruelest Foods You Eat | Yahoo! Health.

 

Whole Foods had farm raised salmon on sale, and curious that WF sold anything but wild caught, I asked the butcher, “Why does WF sell farm raised seafood?”

I was assured the method was the most sustainable; raised in a net instead of enclosed tanks, salmon thrive in a healthy, fresh environment; they just cannot swim long distances and they are bound for human consumption.

“Well, how do they die?  How are they killed?”

The butchers gather around and discuss the process.  “The net is lifted out of the ocean.”

“So they can’t breathe.   Do you think they struggle or just gladly sacrifice their lives so we can eat their flesh?”

They look helplessly at each other and the crazy woman trying to grasp what hormones and other secretions might be the salmons’ last payback to its human consumer.  I lean in and say, “We are what we eat, you know.”

To your health,

Claudia

 

 

Writing and Juicing

Never thought about collation between writing and juicing, but increased focus and well-being makes writing easier.  Not long ago I said I had ADD, I could not write more than fifteen minutes without wanting to get up.  I never worked on weekends and often let days drift between efforts. Now I write for hours, into the evenings and on weekends.  Fourteen new pages this week and about sixty edited pages, that is progress.

Perhaps optimistic, but there is a chance I will be ready for a full edit by the end of the year.

What is food doing for you?

To your health,

Claudia

My one bad habit

I grind my teeth.  There is a medical term for that!

TMJD defined by Wikipedia: Temporomandibular joint disorder, TMJD (in the medical literature TMD), or TMJ syndrome, is an umbrella term covering acute or chronic pain, especially in the muscles of mastication and/or inflammation of the temporomandibular joint, which connects themandible to the skull.

The cause?  Stress.  Crazy, huh?  I think I am un-stressing and like detoxing, the bad stuff comes out.  I am better, but my teeth are sore, which makes it hard to chew.

When I started this blog I promised to keep it honest and let readers know my struggles.  Otherwise, how can one be authentic?  I also want to note any side effects one might relate to a plant based diet.  Obviously, my diet did not cause TMDJ and juicing is actually helpful in getting nutrition without chewing.

Hope real time is appreciated,

Claudia

Food

How can I speak to you about love, life, or happiness if I do not speak of food?  We are what we eat.  Or drink.  No matter what we eat, if we consume alcohol or other drugs in excess, we will not thrive in any areas of life.  Otherwise, if we are sober and eat well and live well, we will know joy.

Watch TED website and watch the gamer speak of post trauma achievements and one’s  near death regrets.

As to food… I am convinced vegetarian and raw vegetables and fruits are humankind’s only acceptable diet.  We are the only species that cooks food… why?  Because we are the only species eating food not suitable to our digestive systems for raw consumption.  We are the only species that cook vegetables and fruits.  WHY?  Gastronomical orgasms.  Butter, spice, grease, breading, boiling, broiling, braising, frying, and many other methods and dousing assure once living whole foods taste good although dead.

I am fortunate to have great appliances; VITAMIX, EXCALIBUR, and GREEN STAR-juicer.   If I did not have these appliances, I think I would eat apples, bananas, broccoli, spinach, beets, strawberries in natural form.  Otherwise, I blend, juice, and dehydrate.

I do cook sweet potatoes.  I understand sweet potatoes are otherwise harder to digest.  I cook grains and legumes.

So, what benefits do I see?

Since February 2012 my hubby lost 40 pounds.  I lost 30 pounds.  He is a medical miracle.  I am struggling.  Weight is one thing.   Health is another.

I cannot stop one bad habit…

Dr. Joel Fuhrman Improves Health – Lose Weight Naturally | Reverse Diabetes | Prevent Heart Disease and Cancer | Lower Cholesterol

Dr. Joel Fuhrman Improves Health – Lose Weight Naturally | Reverse Diabetes | Prevent Heart Disease and Cancer | Lower Cholesterol.

 

False promises, misinformation, fads, opinions—there is no shortage when it comes to health, fitness, and diet.  Linked with convincing  negative thoughts the perfect excuse to do nothing takes root and gives disease fertile ground.

I am discouraged and frustrated that friends and family, unhealthy, in pain, overweight, and dying will not listen and act on information about food’s impact on their lives.  An uncle with MS, a sick overweight aunt, a sister with multiple health issues—WILL NOT LISTEN!

It is not easy to learn about nutrition or to learn how to prepare foods properly.  I get it.  I even volunteered to live-in for a week, to be a diet buddy, I created this blog and load great plant based recipes on Pinterest.  My family will not read my blogs.

However, I carry a torch for Dr. Fuhrman whose link is in this post. Kimberly Snyder’s Beauty Detox Solution is my health foundation and I want to at least try to tell people about what I know works.

Do you want a solution or are you making excuses?

 

To your health,

Claudia

Finding Time

What a difference fourteen days make!  While hubby traveled and since I was forced into an early retirement, I had fourteen days without schedules.  Wasted the first five, excuses are my best friends and I use them often to put off concentrating on edits or a particularly difficult scene.  After those first five days, I got into my groove.   I focused on writing several hours a day, sometimes into the wee morning hours.

Working a stressful full time job was not conducive to writing a novel, but obligations and distractions are equally handicapping.  Working spouses have expectations of non-working spouses, after all most people do not think writing is work.  Maybe that changes once a novel becomes a best seller, until then writers who do not contribute financially, may seem unproductive.

Am I the only one struggling to find time to write?

Claudia

Novel in Process

Fifteen years old and delivering my first public reading assignment to a class of health students in Waco, Texas  was nerve-wracking and exhilarating.  Knees buckled as I held on to the teacher’s podium and tried to calm my quavering voice.  “Hello, my name is Claudia.”  I paused for effect. Then, “Hello?”  Pause. “I said, ‘hello’.”  Finally, a room full of disinterested, unfocused teens came to life realizing they were asked to participate, to acknowledge the girl from the orphanage standing in front of them.  Like a band director, I waived my arms and in unison, for just this one time, they spoke to me with a resounding, “Hello.”

I finished my speech, “I hate snobs.”

Reading no further, I handed my one page paper to the teacher and sat down.  No, I was not going to tell them more about me, about why I was in an orphanage, what it was like to live behind a gilded cage, or what demons possessed my black heart.  Screw them.

Until now.  If they want to know me they can buy my novel, In the Absence of God.   I pour my dark soul between pages of fiction and reality, for them to figure out which is which.  Now I tell all and my knees are not buckling.

Novel coming soon,

Claudia