I even went to the doctor to ask if I could cause the early onset of diabetes simply by using too much sugar in my coffee. He said no so I continued to pour on the sugar without a care in the world.

photo credit: Surat Lozowick

Today as I sit here in my hotel room for SXSW which begins tomorrow, I wasn’t happy with how much sugar I had for breakfast.  I’ve made drastic reductions in my sugar intake in the last month and eating cornflakes, orange juice and yogurt with a cup of coffee has left me feeling a bit bogged down.

I’m Your Pusher

Sugar was easy to get. Sugar was my friend. I started drinking coffee when I was 14 and found it to be a great medium for delivering both a sugar and caffine rush. Remember that I have ADD so caffeine does not affect me the way it does other people so I viewed coffee as a delicious, toasty warm treat that was my gateway to adulthood. The sweet, syrupy taste of of a strong cup of espresso with steamed milk and a generous pour of sugar was a welcome sight each morning in my early 20′ s.

Breakout

I started getting really bad acne at the age of 26. They were painful, large cysts along my jaw line. They were deep made my tender. Before, I had regular pimples but nothing like this. I looked to the world of formal medicine to help me fix it. but it

My dermatologist had me take pills (tetracycline?). And then Retin-A, then a few laser treatments (holy cow! Expensive!). Then I changed the cleanser I was using on my face. I tried to stop using benzyl peroxide otherwise known as Clearasil. I mean sure to wrap up my hair every night but nothing seemed to help.

I was in denial. I didn’t think that sugar could be the problem.

Eventually I read that I could have a hormone imbalance and one of the solutions was to take birth control pills. One of the side effects of this could be cancer so I decided to look for a different solution.

Exploring Natural Acne Remedies

I tried all sorts of things like putting egg whites on my face, masks with various food items but nothing was working.  I would be okay for a day or too and then another huge, painful pimple would show up.

The search led me to the co-op. I had been there before because it or I could always find lactose free milk and then discovered lactose pills. For those of you who don’t know lactose intolerance means that you have a problem digesting milk and milk products. In fact, 75% of the world is lactose intolerant. Anyway, the wonderful deli smells drew me in. I began sampling some of the food. It was pretty good! And so began my journey into the world of natural foods and homeopathic skin care.

It took two years of shopping at the local co-op before it decided to join and become a member. Once it did, I felt entitled to assess staff more questions, especially questions about my health. I began trying skin care products, deodorants and face care items.

Did you know that you can use coconut oil on your skin? It’s actually quite good for you and is closer to mimicking your body’s own natural skin oils versus mineral.

Skin Care Can Be Dangerous

During this time of experimentation, I was determined to stop using benzyl peroxide. One of the most frustrating things about using it was that it bleached my clothing. I have lost many favorite shirts to the curse of Clearasil.

I also learned that anti-inflammatory ointments like cortisone were not good for use on the face (can cause the skin to thin) and my skin could become dependent on it.

This meant I needed to find a solution that reduced the severity of my acne in the most natural way possible.

Ch, Ch, Changes

The change to my skin didn’t happen overnight but over the period of one year, I began to notice a change. I was having less, cystic breakouts after changing all of my body face care products to ones I purchased at the co-op.

One of the things the staff suggested is that I reduce my sugar intake. I didn’t like this.  Remember, sugar was my friend.  Of course, at one time, cigarettes had been my friend too and after smoking for almost 14 years (started when I was  13), I quite for good in 2006 (age 28).  I began to think about sugar as a possible addictive agent…

I was becoming desperate to get rid of this acne. Not only was it painful, I started to scar more frequently. It seemed like a vicious cycle of breakouts, trying to get rid of the acne and then dealing with the scars.

I now use Dr. Hauska face products and love it!  It’s homeopathic and smells wonderful!  I saw even more improvements after using a base set of cleanser, moisturizer and night treatments!  Woohoo!

Yeast. It’s an organism that makes bread grow. It loves sugar. The co-op staff and my friend @swirlspswirloth mentioned probiotics. I had tried to eat yogurt every day but found it hard to hit it down and look forward to eating it. I wasn’t sure what probiotics were but it sounded like I wouldn’t need to try and get down a cup of yogurt every morning. Turns out probiotics were live bacteria that you took each day that capsule form to help with digestion. They could also help control yeast overgrowth.

As a woman really east overgrowth I knew of was yeast infections. Thankfully those have been few and far between in my life yet I’ve been given the “opportunity” by American television to see all the “wonderful” as its for feminine hygiene products. Joy of joys.

Lasting Change In Effect!

So back to probiotics. Each time I asked about the co-op, the staff said that I should also reduce my sugar intake. This caused me to feel defensive. I’d like sugar. Why should I think that it was causing my acne? Why these people want me to stop eating sugar?

I begin to look into sugar and started to experiment with sugar alternatives. In February 2010, I tried Agave nectar Which is from a plant that sort of looks like an aloe plant.

I was also moved to try this because I started probiotics in January and felt that they are having a positive effect on acne.

Third I met several people who were moving to gluten-free diets. Gluten is derived from grains like wheat and some people are highly allergic to it. This means they eat carbs that come from potatoes, rice and other non “cereal” crops. I had tried gluten-free desserts at the co-op and some quite tasty so I wondered to if reducing my sugar intake and exploring gluten-free products would continue to improve the condition of the skin.

In the month of February, the only time I had table sugar was when I was out having coffee. I was able to avoid consuming any table sugar at home.

Has this made a difference on my acne?

It has!

I’m happy to report in the last two months I have seen a significant reduction in new outbreaks. This means a combination of homeopathic skin care products plus probiotics plus a reduction in in table sugar has started me on the path to acne recovery. Now that I am no longer breaking out several times a week, I am able to address the scarring.   I’ve been experimenting with an at-home glycolic peel which has been going quite well!

all continued to do pose related to health, my acne and co-op stuff throughout the year so stay tuned by subscribing to the RSS feed.

The goal is to get 500 blogs in the 50 days leading up to March 10th, 2010.

I found out about this day of awareness and prevention through education via @LuvvieIG who is the most crazy fun person in person, on Twitter and abundant blogger I’ve ever met! She is full of positive energy and truly puts her heart into this work.

Did You Know

• There are over 33 million people infected with HIV/AIDS?
• 1 million are here in the USA
• 280,000 of those are women

She started The Red Pump Project with Karyn and tirelessly works to raise awareness how women can have fun yet stay safe when being sexually active. I attended a fundraiser last year for The Red Pump Project and had a great time!

In 2006, teenage girls (yes someone between the ages of 13-19 years old) represented 39% of new AIDS infections.  I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to be told that you have contracted a virus that can kill you at what should the the start of the rest of your life.  Can you?

Of that number, 69% were Black and 19% Latino.

This needs to change and I support the Red Pump Project as decisions drive behavior.  Let’s help these young women make better choices that will help to secure a future for them without the pain, shame and burden of being infected with a lifelong virus!

Please join in by visiting the post and adding the badge to your site to show your support!

photo credit: enfad

Now I was skeptical as to how much a “computer game console” could help me be healthy.  I remember the Super Nintendo (SNES) power pad days with the Track and Field.  Those hurdles were hard!  Still, I decided to keep an open mind because you can’t learn if you mind is shut!

First, Annie had me create a profile.   it seems your entire existence with the Wii is based on this profile so we picked out the shape of my head, my hair, my skin tone, my eye color, if I wore glasses and my height/weight.   There is a remote control that you use  to make choices and I found it easy to make basic selections but it took a while to use with the games (more later).

You don’t get on the Wii until just before you’re ready to play.

Wii Yoga

Yoga comes as part of the Fit Plus game package  and was also a part of the original Fit game.  It also has this extremely fun (and physically exhausting) bicycle game.  That one took me over 2 miles of “virtual peddling” to capture the 13 flags.  Whew!

photo credit: domesticknitter

The first thing you do with the fit program is get your BMI which is in index comparing your height/weight against other folks.    I tried three of the yoga items to. The first one was balancing and I wasn’t sure how I would do sense balance is something I’ve always had to work on the. I had ACL surgery on my left knee back in high school.  Combine that with the often sedentary lifestyle of people who work in technology and you have a recipe for not being physically fit!

Surprisingly I got a very good score in terms of balance!  This means doing yoga since 2006 has helped!  When I saw a physical therapist after a nasty fall on the ice that left me on crutches for a month back in 2005, the first thing she told me was that I was physically not strong.  Yes I was thin but I didn’t have core strength.  An easy way to test this is to lean against a wall with your back flat to it in a squatting position.  I began trembling immediately.  That was years ago and since I started doing yoga in 2006, I’ve felt more balanced, had very little pain in my back/neck/wrists and have better posture.  Go yoga!

photo credit: photos.by.ed

I also tried the yoga exercise where you bring your knee up to your chest and a warrior stance. What I enjoyed about using the system was that I could see on the screen my real body balance with this little meter which showed if I had more weight on the left or more weight on the right. The same thing went while doing the warrior pose I could see if I had too much weight on the front foot or not enough on the back foot. Wowzers!

photo credit: kelvin255

I never got this kind of feedback going human person and even though I love doing my video yoga with Yogamazing on iTunes, real time feedback is huge!  Yoga Wii will give you tips to improve your alignment and yoga posture after you complete a section. It will keep track of how much time you have spent doing these exercises. You can then create a goal for yourself to maintain or increase your health.

I think I like the information that we gives me because it’s like Google Analytics. Not only does it collect the information but it also provides me with actionable items! Plug me into the Matrix!

Part of the BMI I is learning your weight.   I wasn’t sure if the Wii could really weigh me but it did! Wearing clothes, I am 128lbs.   I’ve been at this weight since the age of 14, pretty much. The highest I’ve fluctuated was to 140 in 2002 from eating out three times a day for four months while working on a technology project in living out of my suitcase.   I lost the weight by exercising and increasing my protein intake.   it took about three months to lose 15lbs.

I’m Getting A Wii

As you can see, I was able to find many photos of people using the Wii, and more specifically using the lead for yoga! I always thought it was silly to interact with the computer about your health. When the computer know about you? A lot obviously!   I was very impressed with the Wii and was happy that Annie shared it with me. I don’t know what my neighbors will think of me doing this stuff on the Wii but I’m going to wait until I move to San Francisco and pick one up!

photo credit: shareski

I love my sister. It brings me much pain to realize how our childhood has affected her as an adult. I know that I always seem happy, excited, optimistic and ready for the next challenge that life brings my way. Unfortunately, her life and thoughts have been very different.

She suffers from depression. I didn’t really understand what this meant. I thought depression was something that was temporary. I thought it could be cured if things in life got better for you. I thought medication helped make life better if you have depression.

I know it took a lot for her to muster up the courage to do this.

Whenever I think of depression, that commercial with the cloud comes to mind where that’s sad person is always followed by that sad cloud.  Then I think of the more happy, parody version MadTV did:

Pretty much 99.9999% of the time, I am happy, joyous, grateful, full of energy about life!  Sometimes, I have felt guilty that I am just so excited about being alive while others seem to find the world a horrible place to exist.

I would say that I have experienced situational depression when I have had to deal with overwhelming drama in my life like domestic violence.

It’s hard to think when you feel that your mortal life is in danger.  I found the image of Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs to be extremely helpful in understanding what I needed to become the fully developed person I was meant to be:

Thankfully, by refusing to participate in unhealthy relationships, I have not had to experience what I consider to be depression in the years. That’s why I call it “situational depression” because a specific series of events created something like a fog that enveloped me so tightly that it altered my perception of reality.

My sister is a loving person. She is a talented artist. She wants to do great things with her life and in the world but…

She is very critical of herself. She doubts herself often. She questions why anyone would really even like her. She constantly battles with guilt. She gives up easily…sometimes.

I enjoyed her fond childhood memory blog post where she went to the petting zoo with a tin can to feed to the goats (and she did!).

I guess we always had big imaginations for what was possible!

I’ve tried to help her ever since we were little. I could never really understand what she was going through. When I was younger, I know I said things that may have made her feel worse. I just didn’t understand.

Now I do.

One of the things I began doing about seven years ago was that I clearly communicated my unconditional love for her. I told her, no matter what, she would always be my sister, she could always come to me for help, and that I would always love her.

It took a few years for this to sink in with her. She was sure that at any moment I would pull back my “love” if she did something to displease me. Finally, she began to respond by asking for things she needed help with like a ride somewhere or not beating herself up verbally after failing to do something. Meeting other people’s expectations was important to her. Me too. In fact, overly important. Why the fuss? Our mom conditioned us to respond like this. That’s how she was; “Do this or I won’t love you anymore” (implied of course).

All it really did was confuse us, make us wary and uncomfortable sharing our feelings with others. At first, I thought it was just our family and I came to know others who had experienced the same thing. What I realized is, change starts with me.

I am so happy that Gwendolyn decided to drop off a hand-drawn card, a recipe for sugar cookies on Hello Kitty origami paper, a “rat shaped” cookie cutter, Hershey’s kisses, and that delicious bag of Dunn Bros coffee!

I hope we can reconnect in the future. I hope that she continues to get better coping with her depression so that she can live… really live and enjoy her life.

Gwendolyn, if you’re reading this, I love you.

Inspired to write a deeply personal post after enjoying an amazing breakfast with Annie (@modeknit) on Friday and I hope this helps others. She shared how she blogged about her husband’s illness, his battle with cancer and how it helped her to truly and deeply process her experience. Thank you Annie.

I found Kellen’s blog post on Depression 101 to be both personal and detailed in explaining how depression feels and the myths, misunderstandings and assumptions around it.

If you think someone you know is suffering from depression, check out these resources:

• What is Depression? – National Institute of Mental Health
• Depression Overview – Mayo Clinic
• Understanding Depression – WebMD

Some symptoms of depression from the NIMH website:

• Persistent sad, anxious or “empty” feelings
• Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness and/or helplessness
• Irritability, restlessness
• Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex
• Fatigue and decreased energy
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering details and making decisions
• Insomnia, early–morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
• Overeating, or appetite loss
• Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts
• Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment

  
Download now or listen on posterous

Memo.m4a (489 KB)

I Loved the massage provided by Kelly today and after lunch, connected
with Lori for my first ever spa facial.

I also got a plant peel which is said to be like a 30% glycolic peel.

My skin looked brilliant! I had a lot of dry, old skin that was
removed through a series of clensing, exfoliation, massage and the
plant peel. Lori was very knowledgable about holistic approaches to
good skin care and recommended I eat more spinich and melons.

I shared that I’d joined the Seward coop, started a probiotic in
January and had been seemg good results using Dr. Hauska’s holistic
facial skin care products.

She tipped me off on using Brown Rice syrup as a sugar replacement.

We talked about the toxicity in beauty products and agreed organic
foods are the way to go for long term health.

Writing this on the iPhone so I’ll do a final update once I’m home!

What a great birthday experience!

Posted via email from adria’s posterous

Shared from Adria’s Posterous site of verbal reflections http://adria.posterous.com

  
Download now or listen on posterous

Memo.m4a (1031 KB)

Posted via email from adria’s posterous

Shared from Adria’s Posterous site of verbal reflections http://adria.posterous.com

Benefits of Yoga

• Fun
• Easy
• Low investment in time
• Low cost
• You can do yoga anywhere
• Group activity
• Increase your body’s strength
• Reduces anxiety and worry
• Rids your body of stress residue
• Increase your ability to focus
• Improve digestion
• Lose weight
• Tight, muscular “yoga butt”
• Something you can do at home

Why I Love Yoga

It feels good once I start a class.  I begin to forget my worries and start to feel parts of my body relax.  Yoga has lasting postive effect on both my mind and body hours after I have finished.  Pretty good investment for 20 minutes of my time.  My productivity shoots up as well.  It’s one of the first things I do in the morning and when I skip it, my entire day often falls apart before my eyes. I know yoga is a good thing because you see many of the poses in nature.

Local Yoga Spots in Minneapolis

Yoga Center of Minneapolis
212 3rd Ave. N, Suite 205
Minneapolis, MN
Phone: 612-436-4700
Email: register@yogacentermpls.com
Google Map
Tip: My friend attends this one and received his yoga instructor certification here

Minneapolis Yoga Workshop
2637 27th Ave South, Suite 207
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Email: mplsyogaworkshop@hotmail.com
Phone: 612-253-5115
Google Map
Tip: Coupon for one free class

Core Power Yoga in Minneapolis
2930 Emerson Avenue S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Phone: 612-822-9642
Email: membership@corepoweryoga.com
Google Map
Tip: One week of free classes

Note: Please let me know if you enjoy these places or have any problems.

Free Yoga Online

You can subscribe to free yoga classes through iTunes with Chaz.

Yoga Names

Many yoga poses have animal names like “downward dog”. These sorts of names are easier to remember, especially for children learning yoga. In most classes I’ve been to, the instructors repeat the names several times throughout the session so you have time to pick things up.

Do It Like The Animals Do

Nature reflects yoga as an essential survival tool. Watch your dog or cat and every time they wake up, they strech. We could be a lot healthier if we made notes.

The Widget Factory Has a Broken Cog

Humans weren’t meant to sit in a chair for 8+ hours a day so techies often suffer from repetitive stress injuries, back pain, neck pain, weight issues, eye strain and pulled muscles. I think people trapped in the Matrix had better exercise programs than most techies.

How many people do you know who work on their laptops like this?


or this?

And yes, I’ve heard leaning back is actually better than hunching forward but I’m talking about yoga today. I’ll save Ergo posture for another post.

Connecting Your Body and Mind Through Yoga

Thankfully, there’s relief from the pain and aches and it’s not in a bottle of ibuprofen or whiskey. By spending 20 minutes on yourself, you will start to experience that “inner calm” so many yoga folks seem to possess.

Yoga is Powerful

The act of yoga is very centering. It helps bring you back down to earth when everything seems to be rushing and swirling around you. I still remember the amazing feeling I had after my first yoga class. My entire body felt like it was “glowing”. I wanted more of that. Not every session will be great so give it at least 5 sessions to feel the effects.

You’re Not Alone

Yoga is a very social activity. You can travel just about anywhere in the world and find folks doing yoga. Once you get familiar with the poses, you can break out a yoga mat at home, in your hotel room, on the beach or at a gym and no one will give you a second thought.

Illness, Injury and Anxiety

What if you’re very ill or you’ve been in a car accident? Yoga is still for you! Many people think you need to be young and fit to do yoga when in fact, there are many poses that address these concerns. Always talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program. There, that’s my disclaimer.

My Yoga Story

I turned to yoga after a sprained ankle and bad ergonomics at work had my entire body jumbled. What started out as one month on crutches turned into horrible back and neck pain. I couldn’t even turn my head to check traffic for lane changes.

It turned out my body had started to compensate for the sprain. My work chair and desk height were also contributing to the problem. After seeing a chiropractor and physical therapist, I realized that although I was thin, I wasn’t healthy at all. I failed many of the tests the physical therapist gave me which tested my strength. My legs and back were weak and my arms had a limited range of motion because I spent my workday typing away.

I decided to incorporate yoga to build my core body strength. I started out with classes at the local YWCA which I enjoyed. After a few months, I began to explore other yoga options in the city and eventually found Chaz’s YogAmazing video podcasts on iTunes. He is an upbeat yoga instructor and his videos were nice an short. He started a website as well to sell his yoga video collections and I always recommend his videos.

Myths and Stigma’s About Yoga

• It’s for weird people
• It’s only for women
• Guys don’t do yoga
• It’s boring
• You have to be very flexible
• You have to sweat in a room with people you don’t know
• It’s expensive
• You must injure yourself to make progress
• It doesn’t count as exercise