Herbalist Consultation

Me on the top of Snake Mountain 

We just came home last night from our long weekend in Vermont. We stayed in an old 1800's farmhouse (that had a to-die-for wraparound porch that I instantly fell in love with) and hiked Snake Mountain, went swimming in Lake Champlain, went to the Ben & Jerry's factory, had cider and donuts at Cold Hollow cider mill, cheese at the Cabot cheese store. I was definitely sore from the hike and dealing with air hunger/shortness of breath but overall it went really well.

Monday morning, Justin and I had our consultations with our new herbalist, Emily French of Sweetgrass Herbals. I absolutely adore her. She is so kind and patient. She herself had Lyme disease, and she is so knowledgable about the human body and the best herbs to treat different issues. We went through each body system and talked about any issues I has having with that particular system. She determined that my liver needs support and strengthening - no surprise there! She tweaked my paleo diet a bit, adding in 1 serving of quinoa on days when I exercise because we are going to work on getting back to building muscle. I'm going to be trying an herb specifically for that issue as well. Adding in a bit of adrenal support, some heart strengthening herbs, and several other things. She really confirmed to me that going off antibiotics was the best thing to do. She said it seems that they did a ton of bacteria killing, because I've definitely improved a lot, and so we're going to work on kicking more to the curb and strengthening all areas of my body so Lyme can't get a foothold again. She really knows her stuff and I'm honestly excited. I can't wait to get my herbs in the mail.

Paleo and intermittent fasting is going well. I had some very small cheats (a scoop of mango sorbet, Cheetos - I know I know - because they were the only thing to eat on the long car ride home) but today I weight myself and my total lost in the last two weeks is 7 pounds. I'm thrilled because I haven't lost that much weight in over two years! I'm feeling good and positive about sticking with this diet. It's really quite easy now that I'm used to it.