Allergies

Hey Ya'll!

Alrighty, I'm sure you've heard of allergies. People are allergic to all sorts of things- foods, plants, pollutants, fabrics, etc. What is an allergy? An allergy is an immune reaction wherein your body essentially rejects something it finds harmful. The symptoms range from itchy eyes to stomach pains, headaches, severe illness, closing of the throat, etc. There's also different types of antibody reactions, which then create different allergic reactions.

Why are allergies important? Besides the physical discomfort exposure to allergens can create, there are more serious physiological and psychological affects.

When your body is in immune response it shuts down or limits many of its metabolic functions. It almost goes into a "preserve" mode wherein it limits functions in order to protect the body and use energy in for the immune defense. This is taxing on the body and limits effective digestion, metabolism, and other bodily functions. It is extremely difficult to lose weight in the presence of allergic exposure because 1) the body is in the immune defense mode and 2) the body retains fluid to help protect itself from the allergen.

This immune response leads into many psychological problems and has been linked with learning disabilities, depression, and even schizophrenia. The link between emotional problems and allergen exposure should not be over looked. Many studies show an intrinsic link and you should take heed. This can especially be useful for a child suffering from learning disabilities. Instead of putting the child on mind-altering (and chemistry - hormone altering which has devastating affects long term) their allergies must be tested.


I personally had my allergies tested through Austin Wellness Clinic here in Austin, Texas. I worked with Dr. Vince Bellonzi. Here is an exerpt from his website: "There are two types of reactions: Immunoglobulin E (IgE) reaction, and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) reaction. IgE reactions are more immediate and generally occur minutes or hours after a food is ingested. These are also more obvious reactions often resulting in swelling, rash, and in severe cases, asphyxiation. On the other hand, IgG reactions are more difficult to detect, with the effects occurring subtly, sometimes for days after the food is ingested. These allergies can only be determined by the difficult process of eliminating suspected foods, or by advanced testing." www.Austinwellnessclinic.com (It should be noted that I am not accepting any endorsement, matter fact, Dr. Bellonzi doesn't know I'm writing this).

The long and short of it is that more and more studies are revealing the link between impaired mental and physical health to allergies. Find yourself a health professional who can test for both types (or go to two different professionals) if you or someone you know is having physical and/or mental problems and be amazed at what you find- it's life changing.

Best in Health,
Jades

I'm a Vlogger!

Hey Ya'll!

Drum roll please, guess what- I'm on Utube! Yeah, how exciting is this? You can find me at lifewithjades.

My channel is going to reflect my life, interest, career endeavors, and Optimal Health journey.

I am not just losing weight, I've done that before, I can do that. Now I'm changing my life and achieving Optimal Health. I'm releasing pounds, increasing muscle, handling my sugar sensitivity and food allergies, and creating a lifestyle wherein I excel.

My gluten and casein free diet is going well. I've had a few slips and definitely feel the difference. The terrible feeling I have afterwards is definitely motivating to stay on track. Not to mention the weight gain eating something I'm allergic to causes- it creates major water retention and makes for frustration.

Optimal Health- to me that means I will have confidence in how I look and not use my weight to stop me. I will be able to pursue anything I desire (acting/ modeling/ being an athlete/ physical rigorous adventure type activities/ wearing a bikini/ living in a way I' m proud of) and not have an excuse to be "afraid of my light". Optimal Health, to me, means Radiance.

ML,
Jades

What Motivates You?

Hi Ya'll!

I've been thinking a lot lately about motivation, and knowing thyself. In case you haven't caught on, seems like I'm on a real roll with this entire learning about myself- learning who I am- understanding myself. Personal integrity, being true to myself, honoring who I am and acting on it- these are current themes for me.

It's interesting because there a lot of things I've "known" about myself but never really taken time to inspect and really see these things for myself. It's like things I've known, but almost taken for granted. Truly being in the present and caring enough to get to honestly know me has been a really worthwhile journey, I'm happier and happier.

Last night I sat down and made a flashcard of the things that motivate me, and what type of motivation works for me. I'm a "pleasure seeking" person. In other words, you can be motivated by pain or happiness. Pain can be categorized as such things as a bootcamp type yelling or enforcing training methodology, or gaining so much weight that you feel awful (pain) and are spurred into doing something about it, or see a picture taken of yourself and feel so bad about how you look (again pain) you decided to change your diet and get in shape. For the last few years, I have been completely "pain motivated". Handling things only when they were too much to bear and allowing someone close to me to dictate over me in a painful fashion.

Recently I realized that this is entirely wrong for me. I'm not wired (although I'm not saying it doesn't work, or may be the RIGHT motivation for some) that way. I thrive off of positive motivation, which for me means: praise, admiration, encouragement, support, competition, inspiration, knowing it's been done before, and the pursuit of feeling good and being happy.

Actively recognizing this has changed how I approach my goals and get to where I want to be. It's an awesome discovery and I hope that you too will be kind to yourself, and take some time out to reflect and discover how you're motivated; and then be a good enough friend of your own to operate off your discovery.

ML,
Jades

Health: Weigh-in #3

Hello Hello!

Drum roll please, it's my official weigh-in for October 24th 2009! I can almost hear the drums if I listen close enough :-)

Today I weighed in at 178.6 lb. This is a 2# from last week's weight in. Yeah :-)

There's a moral in this story: I persevered throughout a minor set-back and did not use it as a justification to blow my plan. I gained weight the week before last, and instead of using that to dig myself into a hole and throw a pity party I was honest about what had occurred and then disciplined myself to get honest and straight.

I have changed my operating basis. I used to use set-backs as a justification to fail; I no longer do that. Now, I confront the situation and perceive what occurred and march onward. Big step.

I wish the same for you all!
XOX,Jades

Health: Weigh-In #2

Hi Guys!

Well, well, well here we are at week 2 as far as my new Optimal Healthy Lifestyle goes. As my Weight Watcher's leader says, I'm living as a fit and healthy person these days :-).

It has been a stressful week for me a bit...the loss of my cat has been rough for me. It's okay though, losses are suppose to cause some grief. I'm just working on feeling it- and not eating because of it!

I've also started working at my Dad's girlfriend's store here in Texas part-time for the holiday. This is a great gig for me as I now have time to bring in some income, but also pursue finding the passion/ purpose of my life.

If you haven't caught on, or I didn't tell you, I've been on an avid search to find my purpose for being here. I was in a very acceptable, but not personally fulfilling job. I have always been fascinated with learning what I can do, that I truly love, while helping others, and making good money. I'm well on my search and will keep you up-dated.

Did I even mention my weigh-in? Ooops! I was up, 3.2 pounds. I was over my calories about about 1,045- so this is to be expected. No mystery here. It's good to see what I ate, this way I can't rationalize my gain or pretend I just don't know what happened. Honesty works.

Alright, onto another week as a fit and healthy person!

XOX,

Jades

P.S. I really want to learn how to cook some more stuff to change things up!