Lotus in the Mudd

We are succesfully back into running after some down time.  After reading "Born to Run", we were on fire and we went all in.  We bought Vibram's to get started.  They are a lot of fun but after a few weeks of pounding the pavement I came down with planter faciitis.  OUCH.  Every morning I would wake up, step out of bed and painfully walk around.  After about 5 min.

Our latest journey is to remove sugar from our home entirely.  Sugar, agave, and honey.  My husband found a great documentary that tells  you all about sugar and its effects on the body and mind.  Your body treats these sugars exactly the same and mainly turns it into fat storage which can lead to diabetes, heart disease, and obesity and several other ailments.  Out of all the health claims over the years I hadn't heard this one.  I knew about red meat, white flour, processed foods, and too much fat in our diets but they rarely talked about sugar.  When we

WOW!  My latest venture is Barefoot running.  My husband and I read this book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  It was the most inspiring book I have read in ages.  I used to be a Cross-Country runner when I was in highschool which lead me to run my first half marathon.  I loved running.  But after graduating I entered the "making a living to survive" stage of a young person's life and didn't have the time or energy after working 10 hrs days doing heavy construction work to run.  Then I got married and had two lovely little daughters.

Aloha from Maui!   Since moving here two months ago we (a family of four ) have visited many of Maui's local restaurants and I would like to share with you some of my thoughts and opinions.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE

Jamie Oliver's new show "Food Revolution" has been the most refreshing change to see on television.  I hope all parents that have their children in public school get a chance to tune in to the show.  We homeschool our children so we don't struggle with most of the issues the show talks about but I am very aware of the food epidemic in this country.  With both parents having to work just to make ends meet,  food ends up being whatever is fast and conveinient and that isn't always good for our families.  AND with there being a fast food joint on every corner

     Today marks an epic event in the Dalton family.  We created a new system for behavior modification.  We have for years, been struggleing with temper tantrums.

It all started with a good friend who loved to frequent Starbucks.  At this time I was not into coffee, but every time I went out with her we ended up with a coffee in our hands.  I started with Mochas and was deaply in love with them and then quickly discovered a thickness accumulating around different areas of my body.  Bummer!  Then as a saving grace to my pocketbook and waistline another friend of mine turned me on to just getting an Americano with a squirt of chocolate.  This satisfied my need for the mochas, although now I had aquired a pretty strong addi

     After being on vacation for the last five days I am excited to get back to eating a more Raw Food based diet.  Eating out practically every meal when you are on vacation quickly shows you the importance on home cooked food especially raw quisine.  I have noticed a considerable amount of grogginess, lack of motivation, a general feeling of bloatedness  and lack of bathroom regularity.  When I eat a mainly Raw Food diet I don't have any of these issue.  So, Here's to getting back to a more conscious way of eating for my health and vitality!

      After returning from a trip to Maui I gained some much  needed perspective for living either on the Big Island,HI or Maui.  We currently live on the Big Island with our two young children.  We have experienced some frustrations trying to raise our children here.  The options for schooling for middle and lower class families leaves something to be desired.  There are no shortages of great private schools but that is exclusive to those who can afford it and honestly, I think that is a very small percentage of the population here.

I have learned the greatest lesson lately.  For years I have been struggling with my personal boundaries with people.  Normally other people's expectations and feelings and needs would spill over onto me and I would take them on as something of my own to deal with, always feeling like I needed to do something for them or just felt obligated to them.  I have started saying no to more and more activities and involvements with people and at first I had terrible anxiety that it would upset this or that person and they would take it personally.  That is just another layer to