Alternative health

Doing what I can for my health!

This is a long one.

On February 5th 2026, I sat in front of my computer waiting for my Dr. to arrive for our “virtual appointment.” I knew she was going to have a lot to say to me as my numbers were up. We’d just got through Christmas and New Years; so ya, they’d be up. I’d done some nibbles and sips of what I wouldn’t normally eat or drink, I was celebrating. What I did not expect was for her to tell me that I should go on a GLP-1, statin and raise my thyroid meds again. She brought up things that have been on my chart for years and never mentioned them before. It was a weird and unexpected meeting.

But what through me from our visit the most was her tone and position on the subject of me, and how I would go about improving my numbers. “Dear, you can’t do it,” not long term. First off, I HATE when someone calls me dear, I mean really hate it. Next, is that a Doctors job, to be a naysayer? This was in response to me asking “what if I stop eating carbs and sugar completely? No cheating?” She responded that I might be able to do it for a bit, but not long term. She further elaborated “I live in the real world “dear,” (again with the “dear”) you can’t do it long term.”

She then went on explaining how wonderful GLPs are; and how great they are for her patients; and that is what gets her out of bed in the morning. She could see by my face that I was not happy about this recommendation. She knows I don’t like pharmaceuticals, we’ve discussed it many times. So then she tells me that she recommends that I get my covid, rsv, pneumonia, shingles, and tetanus shots.

So we ended the appt. with me fuming on many levels and her final recommendation that I read a great book on GLPs and then we’d circle back. Now I know that there are lots of people out there who would jump at the chance to take a GLP, but not me. Obviously this was to be our last visit.

But, before I ended our relationship completely, I sent in a last request. I wanted to try a CGM (constant glucose monitor). You know the little contraption that everyone has on the back of their arm? I sent a message to her through the medical app and was quickly denied. The fact that she had not recommended it in the first place felt like a fail to me. But when I asked to have one prescribed so that I could learn from it, she denied? Crazy. She stated that if I really felt like it was needed that an endocrinologist would have to prescribe it. I immediately looked that fact up to see if a GP could prescribe, and she totally could have.

Onto the next doctor, an endocrinologist who made me feel better just by saying “you can do it.” It was monumental in just making me feel that I had control and that it was in my hands. I am doing everything that I can right now. I have added intermittent fasting which has actually been so much easier now that I have eliminated added sugar or processed white carbs from my diet. My blood glucose is already leveling off and I’ve dropped 10lbs in six weeks.

At my last endo. appointment it was recommended for me to try berberine to help with cholesterol and glucose lowering. I’d already heard of the supplement when she mentioned the idea so I thought I’d try it. I am very sensitive to supplements or medication so I always try half the recommended dose first. Even at a lesser amount than was recommended to me; my blood sugar plummeted and I spent the better part of a week trying to keep my blood sugar up. This was insane; trying to keep it up while I’m always trying to keep it down.

This was a very discouraging setback for me. But, I tried very hard to keep in mind that it would go back to normal after the berberine left my body. I looked it up; researched as I do and it said up to 48 hours. Well for me, it was 5.5 days before I could say that I was pretty much back to normal.

Through all of this I have continued to workout. What I have discovered thanks to my CGM (that I bought off the website), is that if my glucose spikes, it will come down by walking. I have long heard that we should walk after meals and well, that shit is true. I have also learned that we all have higher glucose in the morning called the glucose phenomenom. Our bodies naturally prepare for waking and to get going in the morning by a cortisol rise; which then kicks our glucose into gear; giving us energy to go.

Each and every piece of food that goes into your mouth raises your glucose. The type of food factors in how much and how long of a rise it will be. Spikes are bad; when it goes way up and comes crashing down. This is called reactive hypoglycemia; and I have lived with this since my teens. This does not happen if I’m smart and don’t eat things that I know that I should not eat. Knocking on wood, I have not had any of these for years. One thing age can do, is make you smarter.

When you eat a processed white carb; bread, pasta, cereal, baked goods on an empty stomach, your glucose rises quickly. Carbohydrates turn into sugar once we eat them. Even worse if you drink your sugar from a soda, fruit juice or other sugary drink.

Not only does what you eat matter in glucose spikes, but how you eat. Fiber is huge and we tend to eat far too little of it. But the simple act of eating fiber before our meal, can help to level insulin. Eat your salad before your protein and if you are having carbs at all, eat them last. If you take on a lifestyle of high protein (needed for muscle growth and maintenance), low carb, you will need to eat good fats so that your body can switch from burning glucose to burning fat for energy.

It is all very interesting to me; of course because I’m in the thick of it right now. I’ve made some mistake, this is a nutritional journey. It is fascinating how far we’ve strayed from how we should be eating. From a natural diet of living off the land to having to open boxes with a shelf life to find our food. We made fat the enemy and now look for low or no fat items to eat. As we look to more processed convenience foods, we are getting sicker.

I continue my journey…

Tattoo experiences

I can’t help but laugh just looking at this innocent photo. The experience left an amazing and lasting memory.

In the world of tattoos, there are so many different people who do tattoos, artists, personalities, and experiences. I got my first tattoo with my sister and niece. It was a quarter sized snowflake on the ankle that we all got. The experience was a lot of fun; we did it together, it was a first and there was much laughter. It was a huge memory experience. It was a first for my sister and I; and that in itself was a big part of the experience. The tattoo artist wasn’t the best; the parlor looked like something from a horror movie in a good way, but it all played a part in the experience.

Moving forward many years; I’ve had a lot of tattoo experiences. Some great, some not so great to pretty bad; so I thought I’d elaborate in case you happen to be searching for somewhere to get a new tattoo. I actually never thought about writing a blog on tattoos but because I’ve had so many different experiences now, I thought that I would share.

First tattoo, as I stated above was a blast. But it was not because of the studio or artist, it was the company and experience itself. The tattoo artist was very nice, patient and understanding which was good for a first tattoo. Although he most definitely should have told us that the ankle bone is a VERY painful place to get a tattoo. To this day it is still my most painful experience. And remembering my sisters face as she got her tattoo is well…priceless. A tiny little tattoo, but placement is everything.

Next came my Canadian fall maple leaves in honor of my children. It is substantial in size and was a good experience. I had it done in San Clemente and from start to finish it was a good experience. Good, not fabulous, fun or exhilarating. The guy was nice enough, he was and is an amazing artist but as far as the whole experience, just okay. I did think when I went in, that he would offer up more ideas for my leaves; but I had to pick what I wanted from the internet and he would draw them.

After that was the back of my right ankle/calf. This was by far my worst experience getting a tattoo. It wasn’t due to pain, cost or lack of a talented artist; but more about being shuffled around and being made to feel like they were doing me a big favor. This was the same place where I had my maple leaves done but a very different experience.

I was shuffled around from artist to artist; then told to come back for them to do more. I made 3 or 4 trips to the place only to be told that it was too soon to do more work on the tattoo. THEY told me to come back; I didn’t just show up unannounced to get my tattoo finished. This in itself left me feeling very ick about the whole thing.

This particular tattoo was in honor of my Mom who had recently passed (even though she would be so mad at me for getting it). It is her signature; how she signed our birthday cards “all my love, Mom,” on it. Two different people were tasked to do the writing and you can tell the difference. When you are made to feel like the studio or artist are doing you a big favor, leave. Leave before you get anything done or pay for bad memories.

Next was spontaneous tattoo with my daughter which I have good memories of, but a mediocre tattoo of a lily of the valley. The meaning is great and the time with my daughter, wonderful. Spur of the moment in life is fun, just remember that tattoos stick around. So even though I love doing things like this with my daughter, the tattoos turned out just okay. The one thing you learn when you get multiple tattoos is the quality of tattoos and the talent of those who do them.

Then onto my right arm which is where the little lily of the valley is. I found a new and very different studio who cater to woman, fineline and tiny tattoos. Color is not their specialty as is the case for many people who tattoo these days. Lots of people are jumping on the band wagon to pump out little tiny tattoos that are very fashionable right now. But I wanted color so I chose an artist who I thought would accomodate me. I wanted some tiny strawberries on my forearm but wanted them colored. The tattoo is adorable; the experience was fun, the tattoo person very friendly and bubbly.

The experience was very much like going to a hairdresser that you love. I was hooked and it was this person who did my next 5 tattoos, all in 2025. After getting my strawberries I was referred to someone else, a tattoo artist to do a hibiscus that I had wanted, because there would be shading and more color needed. I got the tattoo, wish it had been larger but it’s a nice tattoo. Neutral experience.

Next experience was at the same parlor but different artist. And I say “artist” because she actually drew the peony that I have on my shoulder. She is an amazing artist and I absolutely LOVE the tattoo. This was by far my longest sit and for those of you who know me well; know that sitting is not really my thing. I was there from 1:00-7:30. A crazy long time for me to sit and do nothing. The biggest issue for me was that I didn’t know I would be there so long; communication is VERY important. I was not prepared nutritionally for that long of a sit. It was LONG but it is an amazing tattoo.

There was no question that I would go back to Ruby, who did my peony for my next tattoo. But sadly she told me that she was very suddenly out of the studio and did not know when or where she was going to land next. She wasn’t sure about a timeline, so I moved on. But she surely gave me an amazing peony tattoo.

So my most recent tattoo of yesterday started with me trying to get intouch with my “regular” tattoo person. She’s very busy and hard to get a quick reply from. Again, for those of you who know me, when I want something, I want it now. A new tattoo, haircut, outfit etc. I’m a taurus, it’s who I am. So I started searching for someone else to do my tattoo. This lead me on a huge journey, learning much on the way.

There are people who do tattoos; who learned to put a tattoo on skin, but are not artists. There are artists who haven’t learn yet how to apply their art on skin very well. There are also tattoo folks who charge an outrageous amount of money. And there are artists who are just starting out to the very seasoned artists who have been tattooing for years and years. But each and every person, no matter the talent level have different personalities, communication skills and desires as to what drives them.

I found someone who seemed to have good communication skills and talent yet she dropped me like a hot potatoe and left me hanging. So it was onto more searching. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I found my person, the studio, location, friendliness, communication and welcoming feeling I was looking for. She is a talented artist with a passion for tattooing, a “tattoo artist.” Anastasia (@tats_by_avm on instagram) did my most recent addition at Cast of Crowns in Laguna Beach, CA. This tattoo is very important and meaningful to me. It is made up of all of my Grandbabies names.

Finding a tattoo artist is easy. Finding one that you mesh with and you want to go back to can be a little work but worth the effort. There are all levels of people who will put a tattoo on you. And depending on what type of tattoo you want; may offer many different choices these days. Fine line, tiny tattoos are all the rage right now and there are bucket loads of people out there to do them. Finding someone who is trustworthy, passion driven (not money driven), communicative, friendly and welcoming is a different story. They are out there, you just have to find them. Glad I did.

Just be more kind

Being kind is a wonderful endeavor.

This isn’t about lifting or physical fitness; but it is about mental fitness. Stretching our mindset can be tough at times; especially when it comes to dealing with others. I had something happen to me on New Years Eve that really through me. Maybe this happens to other people sometimes, maybe often or not at all. But what happened on December 31, 2025 has never happened to me before.

First, let me say that I did something on that day that is very much out of the ordinary for me; I went to Costco. I don’t enjoy going to Costco, but I do when I really need to. But on December 31st; there is no way that I would normally be seen going to Costco. But go I did; and to be honest I can’t even remember why I went. I typically would NEVER go the day before Christmas, New Years, July 4th, Thanksgiving…you get the idea. I don’t like crowds.

I actually just remembered why I went as I was recalling the incident . I went to get new storage bins for my Christmas decorations. I needed them to clean up for the New Year. Okay, that said I headed in to the crowd. I very quickly found the bins; where a young mother was getting her bins. With her little boy in the cart; I stood back and quietly waited my turn. She turned and said “oh, sorry do you want these?” I told her to go ahead and I’d wait my turn. “No, no, I’ll pass them to you,” she said. I said “that’s okay, I’ll wait,” but she insisted.

I thanked her immensely for taking the time to pass me the bins. And as I walked away I thought about how genuinely nice that was. I grabbed a few other things, seeing that I was already in the thick of it and head out. Through the cash, through the security check and out to the parking lot. As many of you know I have been dealing with quite a few arm and hand injury issues lately.

I got to the car and pondered. The bins just fit in the cart and it was now filled with “stuff.” This would take shoulder muscles and both of my shoulders were still on the mend. So I emptied the contents into the back of the car and tried to wriggle my fingers around the edge of the bin. I’m short so my short wing span is often a problem for me. It was raining at the time so I was trying to hurry as there were tons of people wanting my great close parking spot. I then saw a man my way with his cart and he went between me and the car right behind me waiting. I waited for him to pass before hoisting the bins. But he popped up behind me and asked if he could help.

Admittedly I am not one to ask or accept help, but I’m learning to. I said “thank you, yes,” “that is so nice of you.” He very easily lifted all 4 at once and put them into my car. I thank him a lot. So this was #2 nice gesture, strange. I turned to put my cart into the cart area; as I was pondering these nice acts when a woman from several cars over who was putting her cart away, said “here I’ll grab that for you” and grabbed my cart. Again, I thanked her.

Okay, what the hell just happened? I hopped in the car, and looked in the mirror. “How old do I look today?” I thought to myself. Thinking that these gestures were because of me being old. Funny how I was trying to figure out why all these kind gestures had occurred. But now, almost a week after these kind things happened; I think my bar was set very very low. Honestly, I’m not use to these type of things happening; especially not so many in a row.

I was shocked and very pleasantly surprised that amongst the craziness, the crowds and the hustle and bustle; that people took the time to be kind. Kindness is one of the greatest things we can offer others. Just the other day I was talking to one of my grandsons about kindness. I was reminding him that he had told me during CKO (Christmas Kick Off) that he was going to be more kind. He was going to try to always just be more kind; and we talked about what a wonderful thing that was. He has two brothers close in age, so it is not always an easy thing to do. But the fact that he voiced that idea was amazing at only 8 years old.

I was shocked that New Years Eve day; three people offering acts of kindness. But I will try not to be shocked if it happens again and I will try to be even more kind myself. I try to be kind always, but we can all try harder right?

I guess this did have a bit of fitness in it. I discussed my sore arms. ;)

Happy New Year

"Slice off" injury

WARNING - GRAPHIC (GROSS) CONTENT

I’m not starting my blog with images today because the images are graphic. If you want to see them, keep reading and they will be posted lower down. Heads up (stop reading) for anyone who DOES NOT want to see images of my thumb after I sliced the tip off and the healing process.

Since November 18th I have been dealing with an “avulsion” or “slice off” injury. It is almost 6 weeks now and I am amazed at how our body can heal such a wound. It is completely closed up, shorter than it once was and is highly sensitivity. It also has a sort of pins and needles, numb feeling in it but it’s closed which was my biggest concern.

I am sharing my experience so that if this ever happens to you; you might know what to expect. But, I know many will not want to know, hear or see anything about this so this is your chance to click out.

November 18th was suppose to be a very productive day. I got a new tattoo in the morning that I was very excited about.

So cute.

Before heading home I picked up some groceries to begin my cooking prep. I was making my turkey dinner lasagna for our annual CKO (Christmas Kick Off) celebration that is always held on the weekend before Thanksgiving. I had two cooked turkeys and gravy in the fridge already and was cooking up mushrooms, making a cream sauce and prepping squash. The squash was the issue.

As I prepared to prep the butternut squash for cooking; I grabbed one of my new peelers (which went in the garbage the day of the accident). I had decided to peel my squash (something that I had never done before) but I stopped to think about it. The peeler was brand new and insanely sharp so I was hesitant about going this route. But I thought I’d give it a try and as soon as I started I knew it was not a good idea. For those of you that do not know me well, I’m a crazy safety type person. This peeling idea felt very unsafe; and I even thought “I’m going to cut myself.”

After a few peels, I decided that it seemed too dangerous and I was about to get a fork to replace the hand that would be cut if I slipped when it happened. I should have stopped one slice sooner, because my hand slipped as I prepared to get a fork and I sliced the tip of my thumb off. I knew instantly that it was really bad and grabbrf my thumb to apply pressure. I didn’t look at first, I just stood there holding my thumb tightly, thinking what I should do next. Then I head upstairs to assess the damage.

I had to let go of my thumb at some point, so I slowly let go and it poured. I tried to apply more pressure but nothing was stopping the bleeding. I ran it under cold water and the sink splatter red. I couldn’t stop the bleeding and grabbed a clean cloth, covering my thumb. Again I stood pondering, I was alone with just my dogs so there was no help close by. I couldn’t stop the bleeding so decided that I had to go to the Urgent care. It was the only choice. I head out while tucking my cloth covered thumb into the palm of my hand. I squeezed my thumb as tightly as I could which actually stopped the bleeding until the cloth had to come off.

Once I arrived, I explained and was immediately brought to the wound room where the nurse unclothed my wound. She couldn’t stop the bleeding and very quickly wrapped it again. Soon the Dr. arrived and explained that there could be no stitching; that this was an avulsion wound with nothing to stitch with. The only solution was to cover the wound with coagulant pads which should stop the bleeding and wrap it up.

He tried several times to get them on, but the bleeding continued. Finally he piled them 4 or 5 thick around the tip of my thumb. Then wrapped it in bandages and wrapped my thumb again in gauze. That’s it, that’s all. The pad would stop the bleeding and my thumb would heal from the inside out. Hmmmmm, I was skeptical. But he told me that I would be amazed at how our body can heal itself.

After 4 weeks I unveiled it to my horror. It looked far less healed than I had anticipated and I quickly wrapped it in bandaids. There it stayed for another week until I was ready to look again. What I thought was a huge scab on the top of my thumb was actually the blood soaked clotting pad. Once I finally soaked this off it looked so much better. The skin around 1/2 inch down from the tip of my thumb has all peeled off which I thought was weird. And my thumb is now covered in new skin.

So here we are almost 6 weeks out and it looks pretty great, short but great. It’s been a long 6 weeks with the first 4 having to keep my thumb completely dry. This meant showering with a waterproof shower mitten and doing most of my work with one hand. I covered my hand with mittens, gloves, rubber gloves and other things to remind myself not to use it during the healing process.

Even though the skin has healed; my thumb feels weird and I have to be very careful with it. It is overly sensitive so I can’t use it normally yet. But it has healed and I am very impressed that we can regrow stuff.

Oh, the nurse and the Dr. told me that Mandolines are the largest cause of this type of accident and if I have one to get rid of it. I was using a hand peeler like the yellow one on the left. Actually this is the exact one I was using.

I’m squeezing my thumb so hard that the bottom of my thumb is coming up over the slice.

Second unveiling.

All the skin around my thumb peeled off.

Very pink new skin.

Working through injuries

Injuries suck, but they do not have to sideline all your hardwork.

In the last 3 months I have had more than my fair share of injuries. But first, let me state that none of these were caused by working out. I don’t want anyone thinking that they shouldn’t be working out at “this age.” I know when you are hit by an injury it can be very easy to just stop working out for a while, but you need to re-think that decision. Of course there are going to be times when stopping is a good idea. I’m not going to do a shoulder day after blowing out my shoulder; but I am going to figure out how to work around it. I truly believe that working out through an injury helps to heal the injured area. And, it is most definitely good for your head and mental state.

My injuries since Sept 2025 have unfortunately been extremely painful.

• Right shoulder

• Ribs

• Neck

• Sliced tip of my thumb off

• Left shoulder

It is almost Christmas and I am being VERY careful. I don’t want anymore injuries. It has been a huge challenge to keep going; keep lifting, but I’ve had to for my mental wellness. Working out and lifting is not an option for me. I take it very seriously and will find a way.

My shoulders have been the toughest work through but with a little ingenuity, I figured it out.

My philosophy on working through injury is “make everything else stronger.” When one area is down and out for the count; I have to make everything around the injury, help with healing. That injured area needs help. It is very helpful for your injury when you can successfully isolate the injuried area out and workout around it. Working out brings oxygen filled blood to the area which can help to reduce inflammation and speed recovery.

So even though your head might say stop; you should keep going carefully around your injury. Knowing how to isolate an injury out of a movement can take some work and you may want to hire a professional for help with it. You definitely don’t want to further damage your injury but you also don’t want to stop moving.

Keep going, you got this.

New Digs

I am 18 years old in this photo. Just 2 years into lifting weights. It never crossed my mind back then that I’d still be lifting at the age of 63. But, it’s even more important now.

Hi there, welcome to the new place. I was having a difficult time merging my dog site and my lifting blog so we are now all together. Even though this is my canine related website, lifting is a part of my life; so here we are.

Today I wanted to discuss motivation. At 63 years of age I’ve had many, many ups and downs as far as working out. And, I know that motivation is one of the biggest obstacles when trying to get to the gym or exercise. I’ve been asked how I stay motivated many times when discussing working out for about 47 years (yikes). I have to admit there were spans of time when I just didn’t workout for one reason or another; but when I’m in, I’m in.

Getting motivated and staying motivated is not easy; especially if you are one of the many people who consider working out to be the last thing you want to be doing. I feel very lucky that I happen to love it. I love doing physical things on a day to day basis so it makes that part much easier. But I most definitely have times when I’m just not into it. So what do I do to stay motivated?

• Get dress when you don’t want to workout. Once your dressed in workout attire, it is much easier to get your butt to the gym.

• Allow yourself to NOT workout when you really don’t want to. A day or two off is a good thing.

• Consider yourself lucky to BE ABLE to workout. There are many people who would do anything to be able to.

• Get into the right mindset. You are doing this for you, invest in that one body that you have to live in.

• Working out is a lifestyle. It is not a quick fix or something you do for a week or month and then stop.

• Schedule your workout into your daily schedule; not just when you think you have time.

• I have found that working out first thing in the morning is the absolute best time to schedule it. I work out before my shower, before I eat breakfast but typically after I have walked my dogs. That way I never have to fit it in anywhere.

• Take days off.

• You do not have to spend hours in the gym (unless you want to, that is.) Keep it short and sweet. I like to workout most days so I can get a good workout done in 30-40 with stretching.

• Working out all the time can be a mind game. Try to schedule things around your workouts, don’t be too quick to cancel them. They are extremely important.

• Get some cute new workout duds. That always helps get you in the mood. ;)

Long ago we use to have to do lots of physcial activities throughout the day. Now with modern conveniences, everything is too darn easy. We barely have to lift a finger anymore and because of it out bodies suffer. As we age we tend to do less so we lose muscle even faster than we should. The old saying

“you’re too old to be doing that”

is only true if you stop moving. If you allow your body to decline by not doing physical things then working out seems so much harder. Start today, start slow and keep going.

You got this!!!!