Happy Sunday! Short run done. I am officially sick. The achy body of the last couple days has moved to my scalp. Exhausted. Cleaning and taking it easy for the rest of the day.

Side note...I bought the boyfriend a few books for his birthday and one of them is called "The Immune System Recovery Plan." We always buy each other something health related for our birthdays and he has joint issues and is looking into diet. I read some of it while he was feverishly playing his new video game. We are going to give it a go. Pretty common stuff you hear...no gluten, dairy, soy, allergens and what Heron often speaks of...healing your gut. Since we are back to eating meat, I believe it will be pretty easy. We will start in the next week or so. I am going to begin cutting some stuff out now so that it is not a huge shock to my body and brain.

I'm behind.. had a nice Thanksgiving break, didn't go too crazy with food, I was completely aware of what I'm eating and I was fine with it. My fitnessblender month has been ok. I moved and that's what I wanted, but the hurt ankle on the last week really sucked! However, I am grateful for my life and Arturo, we are both very grateful!

Amy, others had commented about his mischievous look, and he really is. He's not trying to be bad (no dog is) he just need to grow up!
Kris aww thanks.. We love fostering its sometimes stressful A.F but there is nothing like reading the updates from the new families.
I'm sorry that you are sick Try taking Umcka it super charges the immune system and cuts recovery time. Any herb that you know boost the immune system will work but you have to get it in tincture form. Capsule just don't absorb as well and its not fresh. Every day the bottle sits on the shelf, the potency reduces.
Keep healing your gut! And I wish you success on your plan, remember if you slip up no big deal, don't use that as an excuse to keep slipping. (I've fallen into that thinking way too many times!)
Oh and winter is the perfect time to cook bone broth.(AWESOME for gut healing especially if you add all the anti-inflammatory herbs/spices) Whole foods sells soup bones, but you might have to ask the butcher. Fowl bones, simmer for 48hrs and other bones 72hrs, be sure to top off with water so it won't evaporate too fast, you can add raw apple cider vinegar to extract more nutrients. The bone is done when you can crumble/break with a hard pinch. Add some veggie and meat and make it a meal or use it for cooking, braising liquid or a sauce.

John, you are consistent as usual, what a great example!

Carol, you are ready when you are ready. Check out this video from fitnessblender titled My Motivation to Workout; The Real Reason I Eat Healthily & Exercise + How to Get Motivated. https://youtu.be/9klGIcyAPeo
It might give you a boost.
Arturo recently asked me "am I going back to Muay thai because that seems to really help your weight loss" (mind you, he's not telling me that I need to lose weight lol) I told him that although I agree, that is not my motivation anymore. My main priority is to build muscle because my joints are really really crappy and I keep getting hurt because I don't have enough muscles so my joints are doing most of the work. In order for me to mostly injury and pain free, I really have to build more muscles and not rush progress. So dig deep when you are ready and come up with your own motivation. I wish you all the best, Sending good thoughts to you!

Also an interesting video on body fluctuation.36 Hours of Body Fluctuation - Cheat Meal Before and After https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=806qfaW77AA

John, I'm happy that you made peace with your food/alcohol but I have difficulties, some days are just easier than others. Example, I was invited to a nice Italian restaurant by Arturo's superior who I adore someone always bring good wine. I had a great time with his team, I didn't eat bread, pasta or potatoes because I want to enjoy wine and a dessert. I didn't feel bad at all (easy day), and my net carb for the was in the 80s so not bad!

Amy, yes I do make my own fermented veggies, I LOOOOVE my fermented cucumbers. I add ginger, chili and juniper berries. Yum. I think people can be intimidated by making your fermentation because of the fear of "screwing up" and that's the beauty of fermentation, you don't really screw up, it might not be your taste preference but its still full of probiotics! Making your own is the best, the bacteria is local to your environment. Start with sauerkraut but if you want to ferment anything that has sugar in it like carrots and beets, you either have to add liquid whey or probiotics that is alive. Another option is to save the liquid from the non sugary veggie fermentation and add to the sugary veggie. Its just that with sugar can turn into alcohol but if you want to make beet hooch then go for it!
Few tips:
Don't worry about too much about the measurements of ingredients.
mold on top of the fermentation is common, its harmless and just compost the top layer that has the mold.
Be sure you REALLY push down the veggies (unless its stuff like cucumber) I mean punch down with your fist type of deal.
Make sure everything is under the brine, you can fill a small ziplock bag with water. Or get source kraut, by using that you are guarantee no mold and all the veggies will stay submerged. http://www.krautsource.com/new-products/kraut-source
That site also have great recipes! If you want to ferment regularly, I recommend getting a wood pounder.
Optimal days of fermentation is 7 days (unless its summer) to get the full benefit.
Also I highly recommend making your own yogurt, very simple! There are yogurt cultures that can be fermented at room temperature. The best part is that you can getting maximum probiotics at a fraction of the cost AND if you ferment it longer(, the bacteria will eat more sugar in the milk. It might taste more tart but you can add you favorite sugar substitute if you don't like it too tart. If you have friends with dogs, you can give them the extra whey from making yogurt, its basically probiotic in liquid form and dogs love that fermented, tart taste.
Let me know if you have any questions.

Hey gang! Sorry for being away. Been crazy busy and plan on catching up with all of you this weekend. Miss ya and hope you are having a great Friday!!!