Books can change lives!!!

Have you ever had a book completely change your life? I honestly didn't think it was possible until I read The UltraMind Solution by Mark Hyman, MD. 

Here's a quick synopsis. Dr. Hyman talks about how millions of Americans suffer from a "broken brain." Mainstream medicine has other terms for a "broken brain" like ADHD, depression, anxiety and dementia, to name a few. Mainstream medicine "fixes" these conditions with medications. How many of you are taking a prescription or have taken one for ADHD, depression or anxiety? These prescriptions don't really heal the condition they just take care of the symptoms. Dr. Hyman says we need to take a more whole body approach and in order to do this we need to look at the foods we eat, the toxins in our lives and our lifestyle choices. By incorporating more whole foods and fewer processed foods, by decreasing the stress in our lives and living a greener lifestyle we can cool the inflammation that causes many of us to suffer from a broken brain. It's really quite simple. By slowly adding in more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, doing more yoga or meditation, and switching cleaning products we will decrease the chances of becoming sick.

This book made me look at my own life, what I eat, the products  I use and how I manage stress. This book is also the main reason why I want to go to medical school and become an osteopathic doctor. I believe that Dr. Hyman has a very powerful message and I want to help spread this message of whole body healing. I now have my mom, my sister and everyone at work reading this book. If you're not afraid of your world being totally turned upside down I highly recommend reading it. Don't worry, it's not too science-y.

Do you have a book that's completely changed your life? It totally doesn't need to be a self-help book. Maybe you've recently read an awesome chick-lit book and your approach to relationships is completely different. Share with me!

I'm a tough critic

I judge BIG TIME! It's what I do. In college I would sit in the dining hall for hours (not by myself!) with my friends and watch people walk by. I would comment on everything from the food on their plate to what they were wearing to OMG I think I hooked up with him. Junior year of college one of my best guy friends told me that his friends hate walking by my table because of the glares they receive. Why can't I just mind my own business?

I thought I would grow out of it, but it's really hard. One of my friends is a huge eye-roller and together we're trying to be less judgmental. It's so not easy! Now I try to imagine if someone were talking such smack about me how I would feel. It's hurtful.

One of my other friends (I'll give these alleged friends names later), used to be a big time gossiper. In the last 2 weeks she's turned over a new leaf. She asks herself before talking about anyone: How does it serve me? Do I feel better talking about this person? If it does serve her she talks about that person with integrity. Hell, I would like to talk about someone with integrity, but I'm still trying to figure out what that means.

Are you too judge-y?

More TESTS?!?!

My whole life I've been terrified of tests. This includes quizzes (don't even get me started on pop quizzes), tests and standardized tests. I've always been a horrible test taker. I would study for hours upon hours and then come T-day my mind would go completely blank. What's worse is that I would start to sweat, break out in hives and start to feel sick to my stomach. Everyone just thought I needed Ritalin and/or Prozac so that's what I got. Well, that didn't really get me the A's. I was just a super hyper, happy teenager with bad grades. Boo!

Anyway, my parents, being the fabulous rents that they are, wanted to do everything and anything to help me feel confident and get the grades I needed to pass. I had tutors, went to study sessions, got permission to be an untimed test taker (this got a lot of eye-rolls in high school), etc. I got a private SAT tutor that cost more than some cars and I didn't even submit my SAT scores! We did it all. Bottom line is I hate them and I suck at them. This is me embracing it.

After graduating from college I was thrilled to not have to take another freaking test. I had thought about becoming a clinical psychologist or a nutritionist, but I didn't want to take a test. How silly is that?

Now, I've found myself in a unique situation. I have a B.A. in psychology and I have a certificate in nutrition counseling. In order for me to advance my career and help people through nutrition or psychology I need to go back to school. I need to face my GRE/MCAT/LSAT fear.

In the last 2 years or so I've been really interested in holistic medicine or functional medicine (it has so many names), and in the last week I've been thinking about going to medical school. I would take the traditional path and then take courses in holistic medicine and graduate with a DO (doctor of osteopathy). This would open doors I never dreamed of. I would help people all over the world heal. I could be part of the movement to change medicine.

I've found myself back in 7th grade math class right before a test: sweating, breaking out in hives and feeling sick to my stomach. Can I do it? If so I need to buckle down and start studying and looking for post bac programs. Anyone really good at organic chemistry?

No Give-Backs

Have you ever given anything away that's not rightfully yours? I did that last night.

In my last relationship I told my boyfriend that I wanted to pick up the guitar, so he gave me his electric guitar. When we broke up we never did the box of goodies swap. No tapes/cds or shirts were returned. Maybe it was to make the breakup easier. I sure as hell wasn't giving him back his old school soccer jersey which I eventually put out on the street and I totally forgot about the electric guitar. Do you think he holds a grudge against me? Did he really want that guitar back? To be completely honest I just feel like who ever is broken up with gets to keep anything that was borrowed during the relationship. Anyway, I never learned to play the guitar so it was collecting dust bunnies and taking up space. My good friend loves instruments, so I figured the nice thing to do would be to give it to her. She'll put it to good use. It would have been better if I could have made money off of it, but that's a whole other tune.

What do you guys think? Are there some things that you have to give back, or can you keep it all? Does the value of the item make a difference?

Letting Loose on Vacation

I recently got back from a vacation with my fam. Let me clarify what I mean by family. I'm talkin' mom, dad, little sister, older sister, brother-in-law, brother, sister in-law, 5 kids between the ages of 3 and 8, 2 6 month old black labs, and my older sister's in-laws. Phew. I'm tired all over again.

I was so jazzed for this vacation. I was ready for some relaxation and sun. But what I've come to realize is family vacations get harder and more stressful the older you get. I shouldn't be complaining because I got a free vacation, but still I needed a vacation from my vacation. I love my family a hundred million, but the kids were up at 6 and I was sleeping on the pullout couch so I ended up getting up with them and making them breakfast. Then my parents! Everything they did was wrong. From caring for the new puppies to making dinner. I have the tendency to try to make everything perfect and when my parents don't do something the way I want it done I flip out.

I started moping around the lake house and my older sister noticed and pulled me aside. She knows me so well I didn't even have to tell her what was up. She just said, "You can't fix everything." Why the hell not? But seriously I listened to her and it made the whole vacation so much better. When I stopped trying to control things I had more fun. Everyone is different and they're going to have their own ways of doing things which you may not like. As long as it doesn't directly hurt you, let it GO!

Trash Talk

I recently moved out of an apartment I had for 2 years. What did I learn from the process? Don't trust craigslist movers, don't hold onto shit from highschool unless it's family heirlooms, and don't accept free shit unless it's food. Seriously! Why did I need 3 coffee tables? Why did I need a large, half broken mirror? Why did I need 30 aprons? Take my advice now, so a few years from now you are not moving out of your dorm room senior year or out of your first apartment with a ton of crap that you will never need. I threw out basically the entire contents of my apartment minus my bed (which might have bed bugs when I get it back), my Martha Stewart dresser from K-Mart which is held together by wooden pegs, and my grandmother's china. Shit, come to think of it when I move into my new apartment I'm going to be pretty naked. Literally naked, I got rid of a lot of clothes too. I had no choice! I had to find movers at the last minute and they were so sweaty after moving my bed that I felt pity and just tossed my clothes. Who needs a denim, pleated skirt from the early 90s anyway? I'm starting fresh. Well I'll be living in the suburbs for a month and then into a new apartment in September. I'm totally psyched and ready to jazz up my apartment with a whole new crop of free...I mean...well probably free, but new free shit. Any decorating tips?

New looks

Do you guys ever get bored of your look? Need a refresher? Totally me! I'm one to get stuck in a rut and not change my look because I'm scared of the outcome. But seriously, what's the worst that can happen? You don't like your new haircut or color and you wait for it to grow out, right? Yes. There are also a ton of websites to help you decide on your new look. My newest obsession: instyle.com. Upload a picture and select your do. So fun! Do it! I played around with it and found my perfect do and did it. Granted I needed family members to come with me and hold my hand. Guess which one I went with...