Sugar is Toxic Poison

Here are my top links that have educated me on the perils of sugar. Pilgrim, we don't have to live this way or feel this bad or have the health problems we have. I've had the biggest epiphany of my life and have radically changed what I eat. It was change or deteriorate….losing life as I know it.

One of the things that helped me understand why I've had a weight problem, so much neuropathy pain and other health issues over the years is this: I've worn out my pancreas and it is tired. My body is blocking the profuse amounts of insulin being pumped out and soon won't be able to produce any more insulin.

I did not know that sugar is hidden in savory things. More and more. Things that shouldn't have sugar like bouillion, salsa, soup, my beloved Siracha, ketchup, mayo, and horror of horrors - almost every deli rotisserie chicken - which I've used on the fly for unexpected company or a quick dinner - is basted with a sugar base. Along with most everything else processed or in a package. That's why it is caramelized and why it tastes so good. And why we're addicted and still feel hungry. And want more and more and more.

It's worse than cocaine or heroin, they say. It's real. Robert Lustig made me cry when he said, "You're not a sloth or a glutton, you've been tricked." I didn't know. Now I do. What am I going to do about it? I'm quitting. Sugar. Forever. Even fruit is something that should be eaten once in a while for a treat. With my compromised, overworked pancreas making me insulin resistant - I'll eat it rarely, and never with a fat or protein. The FDA and the food pyramid and the Diabetic Association have sold us out. Really, really.

And it's not just fat people who are part of this epidemic, thin people are getting diabetes, cancer, dementia, MS, and heart failure too. Sugar is the culprit.

I've been relearning habits and learning to cook in a different way. Planning, shopping and prepping for the week has helped me immensely, making it sustainable. I'm not eating sugar in ANY FORM right now. I'm reading labels like never before. I need to keep a magnifying glass in my purse because some of the print is nearly impossible to read. It's there, but not really.

I'm mainly buying real food, which I've done off and on for years. My blood sugar is back to a normal range both after eating and morning fasting. I'm going back in for an A1C test in January to confirm the turn around. I'm sad my doctor didn't tell me about options. Metformin is what he recommended with insulin looming in my future.

Robert Lustig gives the 56 names of sugar hidden in processed food. Sometimes there are 4-5 in one package all with different name. I had no idea.

Here's my list of curated links from YouTube and a few from Amazon. If you've been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes or if you are feeling like your health is deteriorating - please consider looking up these links and watching them. You don't have to take a pill or go on insulin in order to keep your organs, your eyesight, your limbs and your health.

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/m/episodes/2013-2014/the-secrets-of-sugar

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nxyxcTZccsEhttp://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=1&referer=

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cR0H_jhv2gY

https://youtu.be/P3WkXJokBAU 

https://youtu.be/UEA6ow1icDc 

https://youtu.be/CO7g9J27dyw

https://youtu.be/p_3em-EBVTQ

https://youtu.be/xBp_dMIMryM    

https://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM

https://youtu.be/kOCPyheVesM 

https://youtu.be/ceFyF9px20Y

https://youtu.be/r8ezchj4wO8

https://youtu.be/RNtjV3j3Tp4 

This is done poorly, but the info in it is good. Poor woman is almost dying on stage. She must be so sick/old? If you stay with it, there is some good stuff...

https://youtu.be/8XsvkjJjz48

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI7_8FDzuJE

BOOKS: 

http://www.amazon.com/Suicide-Sugar-Startling-National-Addiction/dp/0757003060/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447869614&sr=1-1&keywords=nancy+appleton

http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Chance-Beating-Against-Processed/dp/0142180432/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447869678&sr=1-1&keywords=robert+lustig

This guy was ridiculed by his peers so shamefully that he retreated from society. But he was right. Thirty years later......

http://www.amazon.com/Pure-White-Deadly-Sugar-Killing/dp/0143125184/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51C9kOrfD6L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR105%2C160_&refRID=106AVG7GHBA8GCR3CZC8

http://www.sarahwilson.com   

https://www.youtube.com/user/ZoeHarcombe   She’s my favorite! I love her. 

Bundled

No visions of sugar plums danced in his tiny head resting on remnants of hay stubble left over from night feeding. No 
candles welcomed in the windows ~ for stables don't have any. His mother most likely wrapped him with her head covering, leaving her all exposed. Sweat drenched. Unprepared, what did she use for after birth bleeding? Diapers for him? Did he latch on quickly and have a swollen milk blister on his upper lip afterwards? Where did Joseph find nourishment for her? Did he borrow the animal's drinking water to clean up the mess? Did she tear?  Without women to care for her, Joseph had to take the culturally unfamiliar role of midwife and doula for a wife with whom he hadn't been physically intimate with yet. His rough carpenter hands baby catching? The crown of thorns was waiting in the wings instead of a Nutcracker.  Maybe the tree was growing even then to be hewn into a cross as he cooed. The blacksmith who hammered the spikes into shape might have been a baby at the same time. A weaver's young apprentice  honed his skill making robes without seams. One this baby would someday wear ~ making men cast lots to own it ~ when they assumed he wouldn't need it anymore. He was laid in a stone manger swaddled with cloth at birth. He was laid on a borrowed limestone burial shelf after his death, wrapped in cloth once again, ministered to by women winding their love around him. Women who watched their love left in a heap, for he didn't stay a baby, nor did he stay dead. Instead he stayed God, wrapping us up ~ folding us into ~ a bundle of love, forever and ever. Amen. 

(Please don't judge this sketch harshly. I've been picking up a pencil for the first time in thirty five years. I never had lessons and wish I could express what I see in my head better. Until then, I will practice the uncomfortable, rough way. I have such a heart for Joseph. He is probably the most overlooked hero scripture mentions. I imagine his hands, so rough and tender. To me, his faith was the greatest of any. I imagined the pageantry of our present day Christmas and the lack thereof on that morning.)

This is for a prompt from L.L. Barkat: "This holiday season, we invite you to take the big things of Christmas - family, grief, Christ, celebration, laughter - and share them with us through something small." Join us by sharing your link here. 

What Divine Romance Looks Like

Craig's New Knee

Craig is the proud owner of a new knee today.  Yesterday's surgery went well, although it took longer for the surgeon to clean up old scar tissue and burrs.  It was 3 or more long hours after I knew he came through surgery ok before the message came that he was recovering and being taken to his room.

One of the funniest things was the pre-op nurse as she tried to get his circulation stockings over his bear paw feet and huge muscled calves.  She grunted and groaned, heaved and sweated and almost broke a nail along with punching a hole in the things.

Someone in surgery drew a smiley face on the pad of his big toe.  It was the first thing greeting us and  made us all smile.  The drugs made him talk non-stop.  We giggled into our sleeves at how animated he was towards evening.  Sleeping on his back makes his snoring really loud, so I'm sure he's famous.

Today was wonderful.  He walked around the floor several times, sat up most the day and faithfully did his excercises all day long.  His extension is amazing and he is bending easily to 90 degrees. The self-medicating narcotics which had a joy button he could punch every 6 minutes if he wanted to, was never used.

It seemed like Dr. Bill Huong has all the bases covered for premium recovery.  He likes his patients to use an 'aircast' ice water cooled pack that lasts 6 hours from right after surgery for 2 weeks.  It isn't ice, so is able to stay strapped on continuously.  He also gave a nausea patch behind the ear so there weren't any side effects from the anesthesia. The pain cocktail he gives his patients right before surgery helps the pain cycle not get started after surgery.  When he checked in on Craig, it seemed like he was the poster child for a successful procedure.  He looked proud of himself and Craig.  :)

Most of all he has been a ray of sunshine to anyone who has the privilege of caring for him.  His smile, his gratitude and attitude is contagious. Tess, Brita, Mike, Mary, Shelly, Pat and our beloved friend and neighbor Jon came to visit.  That was the sweetest thing.  Craig has spent many hours visiting people in hospitals and nursing homes and it came back around to bless him big time.

I crawled in bed with him tonight before I left, for a warm snuggle inside his strong arms. His broad chest felt like the safest place in the world. It is Christmas Eve after all.  The nurse peeked in, grinned and said, "I don't see this" as she left us.

All is right in our world.  "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, you're only a day away."

Gold Star

I'm attracted 
to the plain and
simple. 


Rusty iron. 
Well oiled
iron.  






Tools old and new to use or decorate with. 

Except during the Holidays.

Bright, shiny sparkles add dimension. The more the merrier. 

Star with a Tail

This is a crystal star, a gift from my grandmother, prompted by mom.

I always think of that carol, Do you see what I see, a star, a star, shining in the night......with a tail as big as a kite.

The 'tail' is artistic liberty. It's my star and I'll give it a tail if I want.

Thanks grandma, you would approve. I miss you.

Evergreen Tangled Bangles

Dangling 
bangles
make our

home 
sparkle,
reflecting

light and  

prisms of
love.

Movie and Songs

Winter Snow and In The Bleak Midwinter are the musical offerings today, with a repeat suggestion of Winter Song.  My new favorite Christmas movie is How About You. Enjoy.

Snowman

Handmade

gifts from

friends are

the best.

Even when

the stick arms get broke and need


replaced. They are reminders of

the long history of loving each other.

Paper Stars

Stars make me wonder. They make

me fall in love over and over again

with the Star Breather who had one

shining brightly, marking the spot

where he was born. That star made

many people wonder then,

and still does today. Wonder and

belief make good companions.

Paper Chain

Paper chains are symbolic for me.

Making them is fun. Cheap, colorful fun.

The continuous connection, along with the ability to easily add or take away from the original is what appeals.

One person or many people can work on it. All it takes

is one link to bring the separate sections together.

I like to name that one link, love. One link has the ability to make us one. So simple. So profound.

Book of Comfort

This leatherbound book with

gold leafed pages and a brass

clasp was purchased at a thrift

store for less than a dollar.

It was unwanted and unappreciated.

I found it, bought it and consider

it a priceless treasure.

It has a date of 1857 inside, published in Belfast. It is called "Garden of the Soul" a book for Catholics, which I'm not.

It doesn't matter. It is beautiful, and gardening is my soulish passion?

Being one of many who have held it, is a privilege.

It might have experienced first hand 'The Troubles' in Ireland, immigration, the stress of navigating Ellis Island or possibly the perils of a hard and lonely pioneer life.

I imagine it brought comfort to the hearts and hands of those who held it close.

Pinecone Halleluah

Gathering

free things

from nature,

then creating

something

beautiful to

enjoy,

is my way

of shouting hallelujah

Candlelight

Even when we've been broke,

we have spent money on candles and books.

They both illuminate.

"When the darkness overcomes you my child, light a candle"

(From a book on Haiti, which I've never been able to trace, to give credit to the insightful author)

Snowflake

Snowflakes are interesting to me no matter if they are made from glass, paper or real ice crystals.

Each one is unique.

Snowflake Bentley spent his life

capturing them. It was his life's work and passion.

I would be persuaded to believe in a loving creative Creator if only for the curious and intricate artistry of snowflakes. They entrance me, taking me to a place of instant devotion and worship. They also leave me overcome with the essence of pure love.

Home

Our home is called Cala Sona. It is Gaelic for Haven of Happiness.

I copied it from the name of my favorite B&B in the Scottish Highlands. Arthur, our 80 year old host, gave me permission to use it.

It is NOT happy every minute of every day of the week, month and year. Our family is too real for that fantasy. Our many shadows lurk on the outside for all to see.

But it is it's name, so we come back to remembering what we hope it will be and what it needs to be and what we all want it to be ~ A haven where it's safe to be. A shelter. A harbor. A hideaway. A loving place. A happy place. A forgiving place. A graceful place. Home.

The handmade wrought iron knocker on the door was Craig's first blacksmithing project. It reminds me to knock, seek, ask and find the goodness inside.

Grandma Pearl

These mittens were copied from Grandma Pearl's felt needle case. I have this treasure in my sewing box.

Her donuts were legendary. They were plain and homely, deep fried without being greasy; none of her offspring can replicate them even with the recipe. Dunking them in hot coffee was bliss.

Craig made thin, tender lefse last Saturday which she would have been proud of, but her donuts have no equal. I miss her.

Unlikely Ballerina

This is my favorite Christmas ornament. She makes me smile.

She dances anyways.

She dances in spite of herself.

She dances because she must.

She dances because she was born to dance.

She dances for an audience of one.

She dances to the music inside.

She dances to stay alive.

She dances in the dark.

She dances with tears.

She dances with angel's laughing.

She dances when it hurts.

She dances for joy.

She dances no matter what.

She dances to become real.

She dances alone.

She dances without applause.

She dances above ground.

She dances to feel.