One very important aspect of our DP meetings is “No Condemnation”.  We are not in the judging business and not a single one of us can do that.  We are a bunch of imperfect people serving a perfect God!

We are a “secretive” group.  What happens in DP, stays in DP.  It is very important for us to trust each other.  If someone needs a shoulder (or three or four), they are there.  We trust each other enough that we expect what we share to never leave the room.

We are a “loving” group.  Not only have we bonded with each other, but we love with a deep, Christlike love.  “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”   1 Peter 4:8

We are a “learning” group.  Our goal continues to be to further our knowledge, every day, in healthy living and even more so, in Godly living.  A part of Godly living is learning to be good stewards of our bodies, minds and souls.  We want to glorify Him in all we do.

Just maybe, these goals shouldn’t be contained in a group.  Maybe, they should be a part of our daily life and with everyone we deal with in every capacity.  No judgement, trust, love and glorifying God.  Four steps towards changing the world.

What a wonderful God we serve!

Pray Unceasingly!!

In His light,

Lois

 No Condemnation

The Daniel Plan

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. —Romans 8:1

All change starts with acceptance. Until you feel accepted by God, you’re going to continue to be caught in a cycle of defeat, failure, guilt and recrimination.  So, in the greatest chapter on change in Scripture, it starts by saying, if you belong to Christ, God does not condemn you. Are you everything you need to be? No. Are you in the best shape you could be? No. But God says, “There is no condemnation.” He welcomes you to a path not of perfection, but of ongoing change.

Instead of being motivated for these changes out of guilt, pressure, or fear of not measuring up, let God’s acceptance encourage you. Your worthiness comes from your relationship to Christ because you’re forgiven. You’re cleansed. The Holy Spirit has freed you from the vicious cycle of sin and death. You’re living by grace, not by condemnation.

Food for Thought: If you struggle today, remind yourself that there is no condemnation for you, but rather God’s full acceptance and welcome.

Happy Monday!

After a morning of refrigerator repairs, on a four year old fridge that has been nothing but trouble, I am ready for a subject change!  That being said, I am blessed that it is the fridge breaking down and not us!

The article below is close to my heart.  Not only do I have some food sensitivities, but people I love do also.  Chances are, you probably do too.  Maybe not the “grab the epi pen” kind, but some that are much more subtle.  So much so that you never associate the symptoms with what you eat.

Sensitivities can show up as headaches, various pains, skin issues, asthma, allergies, leaky gut syndrome,  irritable bowel syndrome, crohn’s disease and on and on…  They can be difficult to pinpoint.  As mentioned below, there are some that are more common than others.  Some common ones are gluten, dairy, peanuts, shellfish and sugar.

Even though I eat pretty clean, my inflammation factor remains very high.  There is still something I must be missing.  I will keep looking.

I have been known to say to a server in a restaurant that I am allergic to something.  If I say that, there is a reason.  Most of the time, it will cause me pain or itching.  Sometimes it makes me break out in fat.  And that’s just the way the ball rolls.

Stand up for your health.  NO ONE knows your body like you do.

Pray Unceasingly!!

In His light,

Lois

How Hidden Food Sensitivities Make You Fat

Mark Hyman, MD

Think food allergy and you might conjure the worst-case scenario, like a child going into anaphylactic shock after exposure to peanuts. No doubt, a severe food allergy is scary. But it’s also relatively rare. A much more common scenario is an adult with a low-grade food allergy to, say, gluten who never pinpoints the cause of his misery.

His symptoms are vague (bloating, constipation, weight gain) and his exposure is frequent (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), so the connection is murky. And, over years, the hidden allergy takes a toll on the immune system. The result of an overworked immune system is everything from weight gain to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to arthritis.

That’s what happened to a patient of mine. John weighed 350 pounds and was facing diabetes. But his blood sugar problem was only the tip of the iceberg. He also had joint pain, asthma, crippling fatigue and a sleep disorder. To combat his lethargy, he craved diet soda and fast food for its high number of starchy carbs, a false source of fast energy.

What he didn’t know was that he had celiac disease, a serious autoimmune disease fed by his daily indulgence in bagels and donuts. Celiac disease causes the immune system to turn on itself, attacking the healthy lining of the digestive tract. And the major trigger is gluten, a sticky protein found in many grains, including John’s daily dose of bagels and donuts.

Unchecked autoimmune diseases mean the gut is in a constant state of inflammation, a breeding ground for chronic illness.

Food Sensitivities and Inflammation

John’s story is not unique. Inflammation is one of the biggest drivers of weight gain and disease in America. While celiac afflicts roughly 1 percent of Americans (1) as many as 30 percent may have non-celiac gluten intolerance. The key difference is that, in people with celiac disease, the body attacks the small intestine.

But in people with non-celiac gluten intolerance, the immune system attacks the gluten. A recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 “diseases” that can be traced back to eating gluten (2). Either way, the gut festers out of sight. And, when the lining of the gut is inflamed, the body is even more prone to food reactions, so the problem spirals out of control.

When the lining of the gut is inflamed, small fissures open between the tightly woven cells making up the gut walls. Known as leaky gut syndrome, these chinks in the gut’s armor allow bacteria and partially digested food molecules to slip out into the bloodstream where they are considered foreign invaders.

Once it spies a potential enemy, the body doesn’t hold back. The immune system attacks full throttle. White blood cells rush to surround the offending particle and systemic inflammation ensues. I’m not talking about a sore throat or infected finger. I’m talking about a hidden, smoldering fire created by the immune system as it tries to fend off a daily onslaught of food allergies.

The problem is that most people, like John, eat foods they are allergic to several times a day. Meaning every time that food enters the body, the immune system whips itself into a frenzy. But because symptoms are delayed up to 72 hours after eating, a low-grade food allergy can be hard to spot.

Without diagnosis or awareness, the damage is repeated over and over, meal after meal. Eventually, inflammation seeps throughout the body, establishing an environment ripe for weight gain and chronic disease.

Identifying and treating food allergies and food sensitivities is an important part of my practice. Six weeks after John went gluten-free on The Blood Sugar Solution not only did he lose 3 notches on his belt, but his knees didn’t hurt, his asthma was gone, he wasn’t hungry and his energy was back.

John’s response was not unusual.  I have seen dramatic effects in weight loss, inflammatory conditions like autoimmune disease, and even mood and behavioral disorders.

The problem is that most physicians, especially allergists, don’t see the value in uncovering hidden food allergies.  That is unfortunate because there is a growing body of medical literature illuminating the intimate relationship between the gut, food, and illness. Luckily, you don’t have to wait for your doctor to catch up with the times. Here are three ways to determine if food allergies are undermining your health.

Three Ways to Identify Food Allergies

– Get a blood test. Blood testing for IgG food allergens (www.immunolabs.com and other labs) can help you to identify hidden food allergies. While these tests do have limitations, and need to be interpreted in the context of the rest of your health, they can be useful guides to what’s bothering YOU in particular. When considering blood tests for allergens, it’s always a good idea to work with a doctor or nutritionist trained in dealing with food allergies.

– Go dairy- and gluten-free for 6 weeks. Dairy and gluten are the most common triggers of food allergies. For patients who have trouble losing weight, I often recommend a short elimination.. Both dairy (milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt) and gluten (most often found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, triticale, and kamut) are linked to insulin resistance and, therefore, weight gain. Temporarily cutting them out of the diet, allows the inflamed gut to heal. This one move may be the single most important thing most you can do to lose weight.

– Avoid the top food allergens.  If you don’t feel a sense of relief from nixing dairy and gluten, you may need to take the elimination diet one step further by cutting out the top food allergens: gluten, dairy, corn, eggs, soy, nuts, nightshades (tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes, and eggplant), citrus, and yeast (baker’s, brewer’s yeast, and fermented products like vinegar). Try this for a full six weeks. That is enough time to feel better and notice a change. When you reintroduce a top food allergen, eat it at least 2-3 times a day for 3 days to see if you notice a reaction. If you do, note the food and eliminate it for 90 days.

If you are overweight, if you suffer from inflammatory diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, the potential health benefits of discovering and uprooting hidden food allergies cannot be overstated. Remember, food is your greatest ally in helping to prevent and treat illness.

 

Grace, grace, God’s grace.  Are you leaning on God’s grace or are you leaning on your own will?  We tend to want to “take charge” of our lives totally and completely.  All we really have to do though is lean into the arms of Jesus and accept the grace that is readily offered to us.

 When you get up every morning, what do you do, what do you think?  Do you ask for grace and guidance, or do you get up and just take charge?  This whole process is easier when you know what your goal is and then just hand it over to the One that can accomplish all.

 This is a process.  There is no magic, instantaneous answer.  It is a process.  One step at a time.  One foot in front of the other.

 Is there something you really, really crave?  Let me just suggest that you might need to start there.  Many times, that indicates an actual allergic reaction.  Other times, it suggests an actual addiction.  With me, before I had even heard of The Daniel Plan, it was diet Dr. Pepper.  I really, really loved diet Dr. Pepper.  And it was diet so it had to be much better for me!  Not!    I would drink two or three a day and I actually believed I was doing my body a favor.

 I ran across an article one day about the dangers, not only of the ingredients in the actual soda, but the very thing that I thought made it healthier, aspartame.  The more I read, the more I became convinced that I needed to break that habit.  I needed to make the CHOICE to quit.  And I did.  It wasn’t easy at first and it definitely wasn’t immediate, but I drank less and less until I realized that I no longer had to have it.  For a couple of years, I would splurge and drink one once a year.  After a year or two of that, I figured out I just really didn’t enjoy it any more.

 What is your weakness?  Is it sugar, caffeine, bread?

 One step at a time with God’s grace.  One foot in front of the other.

 Pray Unceasingly!!

 In His light,

 Lois

One Foot in Front of the Other

The Daniel Plan

 Dr. Mark Hyman says that what you put on your fork dictates whether you are sick or well, slim or fat, depleted or energized. With all that riding on what you eat, it would be easy to feel overwhelmed.

But there’s no pressure to change instantly; gradual change over time is sustainable. Just put one foot in front of the other. There’s plenty of grace while you are in the process. When you have a bad day, what matters is that you decide to get back on track and that you don’t give up.

What do you tend to do when you have a bad day, when you feel lousy or you eat the wrong foods because you’re busy or stressed? Be gracious with yourself, because God is gracious with you. Over time you will have more good days than bad ones, and the changes will be long-lasting for your health.

Food for Thought: God is gentle with you while you are in the change process. Our goal is progress not perfection.

I am a bit late this week.  My computer has been in the hospital and just got released!  Hopefully, all is well again.

 If you’ve ever wondered why some people go into their profession, this might help you understand.  Dr. Hyman is so healthy and energetic, I really hadn’t thought that he might have gone through all the things he teaches us about!

 This is a long article, but it is so informative that I decided to say less and let him say more.

 So, what are YOUR energy drains and gains?

 Pray Unceasingly!!

 In His light,

Lois

 Energy Gains, Energy Drains

Mark Hyman, MD

 I admit it. I was addicted to sugar, caffeine, and adrenalin. I am a recovering dopamine addict, and it almost killed me. Twenty years ago, as a freshly minted doctor, I swallowed the propaganda that doctors are invincible, that “MD” stood for “medical deity.”

During my training, one of my surgical residents told me, “Real doctors don’t do lunch.” I thought I didn’t need to follow the same rules of biology like everyone else. I believed sleeping, eating real food, and resting were luxuries, not necessities.

In fact, even though I knew about healthy lifestyle and nutrition, and had always exercised, I felt I could push the boundaries of my body. When I started my medical career, I worked 80-100 hours a week as a family doctor in small town in Idaho.

I delivered hundreds of babies, ran the emergency room, and saw 30-40 patients a day. Sleep was an afterthought. It was the early 1990’s and I ordered Starbucks coffee by the case straight from Seattle, bought an espresso machine, and served up 4-5 espresso’s a day. I lived in a perpetual state of fatigue and pushed my way through on adrenalin.

I continued those habits when I moved to Massachusetts and worked in an inner-city emergency room. At the time, I had two young children to care for, and worked endless odd shifts in three different hospitals. Some days I went without sleep. I got through the night shifts by downing a quadruple espresso, a pint of Haagen Daz ice cream (coffee flavor), and a giant chocolate chip cookie

I learned how to keep myself awake despite my exhaustion. I didn’t have a stop button. I lived on adrenalin—until my adrenalin ran out and I suddenly got very ill with chronic fatigue syndrome. Every system in my body broke down.

I didn’t choose to change my life – my body chose for me. That is when I had to learn to rebuild my life and my energy and respect the way my body worked. I learned the hard lesson that my body was a biological organism that needed care and attention, that it wasn’t there to sustain my abuse and serve my needs. I realized that if I wanted to enjoy my life, I would have to learn the care and feeding instructions needed for being a human.

Unfortunately, many suffer the same fate I did. We have all been given a beautiful creation – our physical body. But none of us were born with an operating manual or instruction book. How do we make it feel good, take care of it, make it run like it was designed – balanced and in perfect rhythm?

Most of us don’t learn how to manage our energy and bodies well. We use drugs – sugar, caffeine, alcohol, adrenalin, or worse to manage our energy and moods. Most of us don’t connect our behaviors and choices with how we feel every day.

We don’t connect what we eat, how much we rest and sleep, how much we exercise, how much time we make for connecting with friends and community, or the kinds of media and news we watch with how we feel every day.

Feeling fully energized and vitally health comes down to a very simple principle: take out the bad stuff and put in the good stuff. Health results from what you get too little of (good food, nutrients, light, air, water, rest, sleep, rhythm, exercise, community, love, meaning, and purpose) or too much of (poor quality food, stress, toxins, allergens or microbes).

This affects how our bodies, minds, and souls function. For each of us the ideal mix is a little different, and what is needed to thrive is unique to each individual. It takes a little experimentation, observation and fine-tuning to achieve, but there is nothing better than being the best you can in each moment. It is what makes life sweet.

This is what I have spent the last 20 years studying – how can I thrive and help my patients thrive, what prevents us from being well, and what helps us. This approach to health and medicine is called Functional Medicine or “The Medicine of Why”—that is, why our bodies work well or don’t!
It’s actually quite simple.

How to Get More Energy

Simply make a list with two columns. In one column list all the things that give you energy. In the second column list all the things that drain your energy. Each day try to let go of one thing that drains your energy and add one thing that gives you energy.

Here’s my list. Take a piece of paper and make your own now.

My Energy Drains

Not getting enough sleep (less than 8 hours)

Eating too much sugar

Drinking too much coffee (more than 1 cup)

Skipping meals

Eating anything made in a factory (junk and processed food)

Eating bread

Eating dairy

Drinking more than 3 glasses of wine or alcohol a week

Working too much

Not exercising at least 4 times a week

Spending too much time on the computer

Watching TV

Not being outside in nature

Not spending time with friends

Getting dehydrated

My Energy Gains

Eating a high-protein breakfast (shake or eggs)

Eating fresh, whole real food

Having a protein snack in the mid-morning and afternoon

Eating 10 servings of vegetables a day

Not eating 3 hours before I go to sleep

Playing tennis

Running in the woods

Swimming in lakes or rivers

Hugging my kids and wife

Talking to friends

Dinner parties with friends

Helping others and volunteering

Taking my vitamins (multivitamin, fish oil, vitamin D and a few others)

Drinking 6-8 cups of filtered water a day

Being creative in the kitchen and cooking for family and friends

Thinking of my day as a sacred thing—a canvas for living an artful life—and shaping it to have good memories, good blessings, and good feelings

Learning new things about our extraordinary world and the people in it

As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens when you are making other plans.” We all get kicked off our plan from time to time. Something intrudes, somebody gets sick in your life, you may lose your job, your kids may do something stupid, your spouse may cheat on you, the stock market might crash, or it might even rain! These are the inevitable struggles that are part of being human.

Let me share with you how I manage these struggles (yes, they happen in mine too,) and how I stay motivated.

Overcoming Obstacles on Your Path to Health

Dealing with challenges in life is like surfing. You get on the wave, and all is great … and then the wave drops out from under you, or it grows into a huge wave and pummels you into the ground. When that happens, you paddle back out, get back up on the board, and keep surfing.
Here are some ideas on how to do that:

Plan, plan, plan: You wouldn’t take a trip to climb a mountain or take a vacation to France without planning first. It is THE most essential activity you can do to create health. Plan your day, your week, your month and schedule in time for the things in your life that support health—food, fun, sleep, exercise, friends, or whatever else puts deposits in your health bank account.

Think of food first: Most of us are opportunistic eaters—when the opportunity comes, or when we get hungry we eat whatever’s in our path. In our culture that means junk food, fast food and vending machine “food like substances.” We live in a vast nutritional wasteland, a food desert. Every week plan where you are going to get all your meals. Think ahead; don’t end up in a food emergency where the only thing open is a fast food restaurant or convenience store. Think breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. It will become a habit. Plan, shop, prepare, and eat. Create an emergency food pack and buy quick-to-cook meals or make whole foods at home.

Design fun and play into life: MacDonald’s was good for something—it gave us the ditty— “you deserve a break today.” Think of your day as a canvas and think of how you can paint yourself some fun. Learn new things—try yoga, dance, or a new sport. I like to get my exercise by having fun and playing not by going to the gym.

Prioritize sleep: We have a second national debt crisis—sleep debt. And there is no way to trick biology and raise the debt ceiling. Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Everything in your life will look and feel better and you will make better choices when you do this.

Avoid drugs: Almost all of us use drugs every day to manage our energy. These include sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and more. Think about taking a “drug holiday” for six weeks and see how much better you feel.

Remember feeling well: When I get off track, I simply remember what it is like to feel great and what I have to do to get there—eat better, sleep more, exercise more, or do nothing more!

Some of these habits might not be second nature. But our lives are about the thousand little choices we make every day. When I am really off track, I do a reboot— the 10-day detox that resets my body, brain and rhythms. It is a simple, whole foods, sugar-free, drug-free, and allergy-free nourishing way of eating and living for 10 days that can create dramatic and rapid changes in your biology. Try it. Then you may remember what it feels like to be well, some of you for the first time.