loss – Darcy Flynn

What is satisfying in the moment, but harmful in the long run?

Ok, I’m thinking food choices here, in case anyone’s wondering.

Yes, it’s that time if year, again. When we start thinking about losing…

Pounds off our hips and pounds out of out closets.

Of all New Years resolutions, dieting is third on the list, right behind getting fit, and spending more time with family and friends.

Dieting and de-cltering.

For me they go hand in hand. It seems every time I think about losing a few pounds I gravitate to my closet where the racks are stuffed with at least four different sizes of clothing. For some reason they’re linked in my brain and I can’t seem to do one without tackling the other. Check out Darcy’s De-Clutterting Diet and Darcy’s De-Cluttering Diet Part 2. for a bit of inspiration.

How nice would it be to not only narrow my hips but my clothes size, as well. Just think of all the room I’d have in my closet for more cute clothes! 🙂

Lets talk about diets.

There are the biggies…

You can check out their websites and see what fits your lifestyle.

Then there’s…

Just plain ole’ eating healthy.

You know exactly what that means. I like to follow doctors and chiropractors that recommend an Anti-inflammatory diet. Just Google that phrase and see what comes up.

I recently began following Dr. Steven Sisskind, M.D. Check out his website, RealDoseNutrition. I take one of his supplements and am on his emailing list. As an advocate of the anti-inflammatory diet, he’s fine-tuned healthy eating and weight loss into a simple booklet that’s easy to follow.

My favorite health newsletter is Alternatives, by Dr. David Williams. You do have to buy a subscription, but it’s truly some of the best money I’ve ever spent.

Another one of my favorite’s is Dr. Asa Andrew. He’s a natural medicine doctor and a chiropractor. His book, Empowering Your Health, was life changing for me. It’s available in most book stores and online. His anti-inflammatory diet is included in the book and it’s easy to follow. His book is inspirational and highly motivational.

But, until you get his book or something similar, here’s an abridged shopping list. If you start with these simple changes it will change your body and your life. You will feel better and naturally lose weight.

First, eat lean meats, veggie’s and fruits. Organic and fresh when possible.

Second, omit all forms of sugar from your diet. This includes all white forms of carbohydrates. I know this may be hard for some of us, but try it for three months and you will never be the same. 🙂 After the three months, introduce healthy carbohydrates back into your diet and try to focus on gluten free where you can.

Variety is the spice of life! So…yes, you can occasionally have something sweet. But try to wait until after the three months.

Third, add omega 3’s to your diet. You can Google this but here’s a quick list: raw almonds, raw walnuts, lemon flavored Cod Liver Oil, [I take a tablespoon in the morning and one again in the evening.] Alaskan salmon: wild is best but if that’s not available buy farm raised or canned. Vital Choice Seafood is a great online source for wild. This is where I buy Dr. Perricone’s Anti-aging pack. It’s wild Alaskan salmon and organic frozen blueberries. 🙂

Fourth, move. Get up and walk. Fifteen, twenty minutes. Don’t stress over this. Just get moving. As a writer, I sit most of the time. Not good, folks. If you’re sedentary, like me, take frequent mini-walks. I like to dance, so the days I can’t walk, I’ll put on my iPod and dance around the living room. 🙂 [You’ll find that if you commit to fifteen minutes of walking, you’ll go longer.]

I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Skinny 2013!

What do you want to change in 2013? Your waist line? Your closet clutter? Are you sick of feeling tired all the time? Would you like to lose a few pounds? Maybe, you’d simply like to manage the stress in your life.

How about spending more time with your family in 2013? It’s hard to say, no, with so many wonderful opportunities available to us. But sometimes, it’s something that simple, that helps us manage our time.

Have you tackled any of this before? If so, can you tell us your secrets to having more time, to stress management, weight loss or de-clutering your life?

I would love to hear from you. Connect with me on Facebook, I’d LOVE to be your friend!

For sixteen years, November 27, was a day that I didn’t particularly want to remember. But the fact that it usually falls around Thanksgiving made it hard to ignore. Each year when the 27th of November approached I’d hope when the day came I’d be too busy to realize that it was ‘that’ day.

November 27th is the day my mother passed away. It’s one of the most heartbreaking days of my life. She’d had open heart surgery and she wasn’t supposed to die. She was supposed to recover and join us two weeks later for Thanksgiving. Instead, after ten days of suffering a massive stroke, as well as multiple other complications, she died the day after Thanksgiving.

This year was no different. My routine during this time was to throw myself into the holiday and keep busy. As Thanksgiving approached I hoped November 27th would slip by unnoticed. Then maybe the pain of loosing her would slip by as well. The pain is less to be sure, but I still caught myself hoping I wouldn’t have to face it, again.

Thanksgiving is now past and this morning, I opened my daily devotion book without a thought to the date. It opened to the page I’d read yesterday and there it was, staring me in the face. November 26th. In order to read today’s devotion I had to turn the page. So, I did. November 27th. There it was. I hadn’t escaped as I’d hoped.

The familiar regrets and the sadness returned but only for a brief moment. Seconds after I allowed my mind to turn negative I was struck with a new thought. The still small voice of the Lord seemed to whisper to me…’This is the day your mother entered My presence. This is the day she began eternal life. That’s how you need to think of it.’

Then I read the devotion. A familiar passage from Isaiah. Here’s how it starts.

“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim. And one cried out to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Then it hit me. My mother sees this scene. This is familiar to her. As a Christian I believe this to be true.

Please know, I’ve had many joyful days and happy memories during the past sixteen years thinking of my mother. Truly, the only melancholy day for me was this one. As it approached each year, I’d try to avoid the pain by avoiding the memory.

Of course, that’s no way to live.

But, I have to tell you since my little epiphany this morning, today has been a joyful one for me. It’s like the sunrise on a new day. I’ll never see November 27th the same way again.

Is there a day, a memory or an event from the past that you wish would pass by unnoticed? Have you like me, gotten stuck in a rut of worry or sadness over something? You may not have lost a loved one but maybe you’ve lost a job or something else you’ve treasured. If so, how have you dealt with it? Have you managed that loss over the months or years? Is so, would you share how?

I would love to hear your stories.

Best,

Darcy

Connect with me on Facebook, I’d LOVE to be your friend!

Tag: loss

Sunrise

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