I am a self-proclaimed avacado-holic, cherished wife of Todd Snyder almost 23 years. Inside of Tiny Town, I’m the Chief Traffic Director and Hope Giver. “I dream it, he builds it and then I share it with the world!” We make a fantastic team! We build tiny homes and communities for families to thrive in for years to come. Our motto is, “Shrink your house, not your dreams”. We are blessed with three amazing kids: Elisabeth, 21, is studying nursing and getting married in June. Christianna, 20, is studying business and graphic design, living with family in Michigan. Andrew, 13, lives in the tiny house with us and when he’s not in school, he’s building tiny houses with his dad. Community info @ www.tinytowntexas.com.
My life mission is to dare people to believe the impossible is NOTHING with God! I’ve got some Big dreams I’ve been working on for twelve years. Watch them unfold in our blog.
My vision To be a part of a community of likeminded people working towards a common goal of creating and sustaining meaningful relationships that rock the world around you
Life motto He is my God; I trust Him
Favorite dreams quote “Your dreams should be so vivid that when you actually achieve them, you’ll feel as if you’ve already lived them.”
Favorite note “I can win with any hand I’m dealt” -God
Favorite songs I know my Redeemer Lives and Legacy
Life verse “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and to share in His sufferings, being made like Him” Phil. 3:14
My top values Leaving a legacy of Faith, Lots of intimacy with my husband, speaking life into my kids, spiritual and physical health, and friendships
Putting my passport and Spanish to work today. Todd and I are driving to Mexico to get some dental work done. Did you know that people take dental vacations to places like Cancun, etc. because the cost of their flight, the stay in a resort, and dental treatment by American accredited dentists (probably retirees), is still far more affordable than getting dental work done in the U.S.?
Myles Wakeham of “Be Unconstrained” podcast says, “The reality is that I can get better quality healthcare by being a medical tourist than back here at home. I don’t run the risk of bankruptcy if some insurance company decide not to pay a claim. I can get a better education by roaming the world and learning from other cultures. Even going to university in Europe or somewhere that respects knowledge and doesn’t try and sell an agenda with it.”
Today, I’m grateful to live in America, but I am thoroughly enjoying the sights and sounds of a different culture.
Nothing like a little culture to shake things up a bit. When I left, My son teasingly told me to check on the wall and report back.
I’m thankful that it only costs a tank of gas as it’s only 2.5 hours to the border.
If you’d like a referral for my dentist he does excellent work And in the last two years has save me Hundreds of dollars.
Dr Omar Antonio Berlanga Ibarra
He has a wonderful bedside manners and his English has improved greatly since I started going to him. He is self-taught. While I ashamedly have not improved my Spanish very much.
Isn’t that a fun way to spend $$$ on dental work?
He works with precision and gentleness
Marble falls
Whitening $138
Pick you up at border
Just be sure and not try to bring back fruit or vegetables from Piedras Negras
Another benefit is you can stock up on pharmaceutical needs for much less money.
It can be intimidating so if you want to hire a Bilingual escort who grew up in the very same city, but now lives near me, I have a contact.
When you walk into McDonald’s on the US side of the border and you’re the only white person in the whole restaurant and they call you señorita quite an adventure
Perry Bigelow: Founder, Professional Builder of the Year, 2005, the nation’s most prestigious homebuilding award.
He has worked on several projects with Habitat for Humanity as well as Homes for Hope. One of his T shirt mottos is “Building locally to eradicate poverty globally”. They work closely with Hope International to generate micro loans in third world countries. These micro loans are primarily used by mothers to expand a very small business in to a small business, increasing the household income to such a place that the children can now afford books to attend school (which is not paid for by their government). This mother can now afford to feed her family two meals a day vs. one. Hope International has a 98% repayment on loans. These mothers link arms with 6-7 other women in their village and promise not to let anyone’s loan to not be paid back, knowing they are all at risk of not getting more loans. They have given 20,000 loans and it has impacted almost 300,000 people in third world countries
Almost 40 Years of Success
2019 Named #1 selling community in Kyle, Texas
2010 Voted Austin’s Builder of the Year
2009 “Best Address” feature article on Blanco River Village – Professional Builder Magazine
2009 “Texas Home Pioneers Green Building Breakthroughs” feature article – Professional Builder Magazine
2007 Crystal Key Award for Best Overall Community – Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago
2007 Founding Member of the Advisory Panel for the National Forum on Children and Nature
2007 Legacy Award- Championing Better Building Performance – Energy & Environmental Building Association
82-2007 Many Key Awards For Architectural Design and Land Planning – HBAGC
2005 Public Recognition Award for Town Center Park and Ravine Park – Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
2005 Builder of the Year – Professional Builder Magazine
2005 Top 10 Eco-Communities in America – Organic Style Magazine
2004 1st Annual Community Vision Award – HBAGC, MPC, ULIC
2004 The First Recipient of the Crowbar Award – Hope International / Hope House
2001 Energy Value Housing Award – Cold Region National Association of Home Builders
1999 International Professional Service Award- Energy & Environmental Building Assoc.
1998 Recognition for Outstanding Contributions to Conserving Natural Resources – North Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District
1998 Smarter House for the Money, HomeTown’s Village Hall Plan- Professional Builder Magazine
1997 Energy Value Award – National Association of Home Builders
1995 Guest Speaker – Rocky Mountain Institute, U.S. Navy Housing Charrette, Washington DC
1995 Best New Community – Chicago Sun-Times
1994 Best Designed Townhome- Builder Magazine National Merit Award
1994 Chicago’s Best Affordable New Home Community- Chicago Sun-Times
1993 Best Energy-Efficient Home in the USA- Professional Builder Magazine
1993 BALA Judge – Builder Magazine
1993 Recognition for Community Design Innovation- Professional Builder Magazine
1992-1993 Adjunct Professor of Housing and Urban Development Eastern College, Graduate School of Business
1992 President Reagan’s Council on Sustainable Development
1991-1998 Energy-Efficient House of the Year – Chicago Sun-Times
1991 U.S. Department of Energy Energy-Efficient Mortgage Collaborative
1990 Energy for Buildings and Homes – Scientific American
1990 Fannie Mae Midwest Regional Advisory Board
1990 Chicagoland Builder of the Year (second time)- Chicago Sun-Times
1989 Featured on This Old House & Home of the Year-Country Living Magazine
1987 Professional Achievement Award for Energy-Efficiency Professional Builder Magazine
1982 Featured on This Old House & Builder of the Year – Chicago Sun-Times
If you think moving up in life means buying a bigger home, it’s time to set the record straight. Most American families have plenty of room to downsize their home without cramping their style.
Consider the numbers: The average new single-family home comes in at over 2,600 square feet, according to the United States Census Bureau.(1) You may not think that’s all too big until you look back at history. The National Association of Realtors reports that the average home size in 1950 was 1,000 square feet or less—and families were bigger back then.(2,3) By those standards, today’s homeowners are living large!
Moving into a smaller home may feel like a step down, but a closer look reveals quite a few upsides: saving money, saving time and having less clutter in your life. Downsizing could be just the fresh start you and your family need!
How to Downsize the Right Way
Smaller mortgage payments and spending less time dusting those spare rooms may sound like a dream come true, but is downsizing really the right move for you? Before you head down the path toward downsizing, read on for some tips to ensure your downsizing-dream doesn’t become a costly mistake.
1. Think Long-Term
If you’re thinking about downsizing your house, planning ahead will help ensure your transition is a success. Do you need extra space for that freelance business you’re planning to start? Or were you left you with more than enough room to spare after the kids headed off to college? Only you know if you can spare that extra space or if losing it would be more of a headache than it’s worth! Find expert agents to help you sell your home.
2. Keep It Functional
Remember back in college when your entire life fit in that tiny dorm room? Somehow you had everything you needed within arm’s length. Though that may be far from practical these days, you can still benefit from cleaning out the clutter from those closets. Sell what you don’t need and take that money to the bank, baby! Or donate it to a local charity and get the added bonus of a tax benefit. Wouldn’t it be nice to have less to clean and more money in your pocket?
Think of all the fun you could have if you didn’t have to polish your miniature unicorn collection every weekend. You just might find a whole new world outside your door!
3. Consider Hidden Costs
Downsizing may save you money in those monthly mortgage payments, but what about the hidden costs? Does your home need any repairs to get it market-ready? What about your old furniture and appliances—will they fit into the smaller place, or do you need to bump up that budget for more space-efficient pieces?
And don’t forget to take into account the cost of moving, property taxes, storage, or even higher HOA fees. When it comes down to decision time, you may find that taking that leap to a smaller space will save you BIG time—or that you can save just by staying right where you are.
4. Focus on the Big Picture
Downsizing your square footage might mean your family has to gather around one TV at night instead of spreading out across three or four different rooms (Gasp!). But is more time with the ones you love really all that bad? It just might be the kick in the pants you need to spend quality time together!
Financial Benefits of Downsizing
Still not convinced? Then it’s time to bring out the big guns and talk money. What if you reduced your mortgage by $500 a month and put that cash toward other financial goals? Check out three strides you could make:
1. Attack Your Debt Snowball
If you’re working hard to kick debt to the curb, downsizing your home can help you maintain that gazelle intensity. Let’s say you owe $18,000 on your student loan. With a 6% interest rate and a minimum payment of $200 a month, you’ll be paying on that loan for 10 more years!
But throw an additional $500 at your loan each month, and you’d trim a whopping seven years and eight months off your pay-off date. Sallie Mae will have to find a new place to live, because you’ll be free from student debt in less than two-and-a-half years!
2. Boost Your Retirement Fund
Once you’re debt-free with a fully funded emergency fund, it’s time to build wealth for the future. Dave recommends investing 15% of your household income into Roth IRAs and pretax retirement plans. If you’re still working your way up to 15%, that extra $500 could be the push you need to get there. And, boy, the difference $500 could make! In 30 years, you could have an additional $1–1.6 million in the bank to get you through your golden years. You can do a lot of living and giving with that nest egg!
3. Pay Off Your Mortgage
Want to downsize Dave’s way? Trade in your mortgage for a paid-off home! Use the proceeds from selling your current home to pay cash for a smaller one. Just imagine what you could do with no mortgage holding you down!
If you can’t pay cash, aim for a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage and put at least 10–20% down on your new home. Apply the $500 you saved from downsizing to your new monthly payment. At 4.5% interest, you could pay off a $200,000 mortgage in less than 10.5 years, saving almost $25,278 in the process. Cha-ching!
Downsizing might not make sense in every situation, but it’s worth a look if saving money and simplifying life appeal to you. Ask an experienced real estate agent to help you determine what your home is worth and show you options for cutting costs. A true pro knows what it takes to get top dollar for your current home and negotiate the best deal on a new one. Ready to downsize but don’t know where to start? We can put you in touch with a real estate agent who Dave recommends in your area.
Maybe you want to “go tiny” or maybe you just want to clear some space in your head and enjoy a simple life with less stress. I like to say, “Downsizing is the art of reducing clutter in your environment to enhance your performance mentally, emotionally and physically.”
The most important thing is to get a clear handle on WHY you’re doing this. Focusing on the joys and benefits will keep you true to the end of the task. Will the tradeoff be worth it? Will the peace of mind you gain be worth saying goodbye to some old memories and possibly some things that feel like “friends” to you like old books? This is an emotional game and to win, you must be ready to take this leap. Take time to overcome your fears to get where you want to be.
Shrink your “todo” list, NOT your free time!
One of our clients relates the story about the day she decided to “go tiny” after her husband had been on board for a while. One Saturday morning, at breakfast, they went over the ‘to do’ list for the day. So much was related to the 3,000 square foot house they lived in with their 2 small boys. The wife said, “All I want to do is take the boys to the zoo today.” to which her husband replied, “If we lived in a tiny house, that would be the only thing on this ‘to do’ list today.” Will the joy of more time doing what you love and with whom you love be your motivation?
Reduce your stuff to reduce your stress
Another client we interviewed on WHY they want to go tiny replied, “So we won’t keep collecting more stuff”. They recognized that stuff was not making their life better or their family stronger and their solution was to downsize from a 4 bedroom 3 bath house to a 394 sq ft tiny house. Will the joy of less stress motivate you to get rid of your stuff?
Does this bring me Joy?
The best advice I got when I decided to go tiny was: “Don’t ask yourself: ‘Can I live without this?’ Instead, Ask: ’Do I need this to live?’”
In each room of my 2200 sq ft house, if I did not need the item to live, my next question was: “Does this item bring bring me joy?” If yes, then I put it in a separate area for the next few weeks. I worked on one room at a time. After I packed up the rest of that room, I took it to the salvation army (I’m opposed to Goodwill where only 10% of my donations help the needy). I reserved only the most valuable items to sell. When I left the salvation army, I felt loads lighter and the reward motivated me to want to do it again and again. I became addicted to downsizing. I repeated this process in each room twice in about 6 months. I ended up with 5 boxes/separated spaces:
1. Storage
2. Give away
3. Sell
4. “Brings me joy”
5. Tiny house (These items usually stayed right in that room til I moved)
I also liked the idea of my “give away” boxes staying in the garage for 2-3 months just in case I found I missed that item in my every day routines. In the end, I sorted through the boxes one last time before I made a final decision to keep or give away including my “brings me joy” box.
It’s also important to set up boundaries to protect yourself from ending up at this same place 12 months from now. If you’re not downsizing your home, how will you ensure you keep the clutter out?
1. Must change your buying habits. To do this, you have to change your mindset.
Yes, my friend, we will travel again one day soon!!
One big question I get asked is: “how can I travel with my tiny house and work on the road?” I thought I’d share with you some of the options I’ve found:
A wellness company with a generous compensation plan that also saves you money every month with products that are healthier and more economical. Honestly, the residual income for the last 17 years has pulled our family out of hard times more than once. Our online video system allows me to use my phone and work from anywhere in the world on my own schedule. In 2019, I took 5 business/pleasure trips with friends in different parts of the country, used them as a tax deduction, and grew my residual income. I also took a 12-day vacation with Todd in our tiny house at the beach, did no work, and had a consistent paycheck when I came home.
Start your own business – we all have hobbies or activities we are exceptionally good at. With hard work and some business acumen you could turn those hobbies into a business and work from your tiny home from all of the places you’ve always wanted to visit. For example, our daughter has started her own company, Sapphire Social Co., offering web design, logo design, and marketing services. This allows her to spend time with family, travel, and make her own schedule.
Here’s an article from Forbes Magazine outlining the 10 best jobs working from home for some more ideas.
In such uncertain times as these, it’s never bad to have a back up plan or a side hustle that can make a difference. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out.
WHAT’S THE REAL TINY ADVANTAGE?
Not too long ago we were asked, “what is the most compelling pitch you can give us to move to the Tiny House concept?” Posed via Facebook Messenger by an empty nester couple, it really made me stop and think.
My reply was simple: to gain financial and time freedom. There’s nothing like the feeling of having no mortgage, no credit card debt, and ridding yourself of all the “stuff” that’s been stealing your time and money for the past several decades. These things added no value to the quality of your life and in some cases made it less enjoyable.
I am so grateful for the changes I’ve made and seen in my life since our family transitioned into a tiny house. My relationships are stronger and more fulfilling, I travel more, live debt-free, and have more time for hobbies and fun! Life is just too short to put off doing what makes you feel alive!
It’s a great time to downsize! Since you’re quarantined to your home, why not begin to downsize?
Our Magic of Minimalism Course via live video has almost ended, but for $27, you can get in before the price doubles and start with Module 1 and work through to Module 5 available now. The last two will soon be uploaded. The link is www.magicofminimalism.thinkific.com
My goal is to educate and help people find solutions for these two main topics!
For the last 20 years, I have passionately pursued this agenda with great success in my own family and household and I am paying it forward with my best tips and tricks exclusively in this private group.
I have also helped my team (about 45 leaders across the nation) achieve economic successes for their family to the tune of 1.7 million dollars over the last 17 years!
My team has helped almost 1400 households convert to safer products, save money, and achieve their health goals!
Each of these households has a success story, a reason they switched stores, a reason why they prefer to shop this way; many have a heartwarming story of what they have witnessed personally in their home, why they refuse to shop for normal brands any more!
Why do we have a 98% reorder rate you ask?
Why have some of our customers been shopping for 208 months in a row??
In this private group, I share multiple ways you can prevent or treat disease and illness.
It all comes down to one thing: Your Immune health.
It’s life or death!
Those with poor immune health died from COVID!
Those with a strong immune system either did not get the virus or recovered without much trouble.
My goal is to educate and help people find solutions for these two main topics! You don’t need all of them. I share my own tried and true methods and sometimes a few tips from others I trust. That’s it! It’s like a feasting buffet table I offer: Take what you like; leave the rest! You won’t hurt my feelings. I’m just here to serve and share what has worked for me and my family to successfully avoid any serious illnesses, prescription drugs, doctor visits, or hospitalizations for almost two decades now!
Whose “truth” are you believing about Current Events?
Follow the money trail!
Who owns the media??
Only 6 corporations own all the news channels.
They are paid to tell the story their owners want, not paid to tell the truth!
We must search out the truth for ourselves and not rely on mainstream media sources.
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You could say the same thing about BIG Pharma:
Who owns them?
What is their agenda?
Do they care about your health or about making their owner’s fat and happy?
Do they care about your pocketbook?
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I believe we have to take responsibility for our own health; do our own research; be our own doctor; become educated so we can make wise decisions for our family; do our best to prevent illness and disease in our own household!!
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I am speaking out for IMMUNE and ECONOMIC Health!!
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I created this private group to educate and help people find solutions for these two main topics!
For the last 20 years, I have passionately pursued this agenda with great success in my own family and household and I am paying it forward with my best tips, research, and health hacks right here.
Crust Ingredients: ? 1 cup (100 g) walnut halves and pieces ? 1?4 cup (about 4) soft, pitted Medjool dates ? 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ? Pinch of sea salt Filling Ingredients: ? 1 cup coconut cream* ? 1?2 cup (about ? soft, pitted Medjool dates ? 3 oz. dark chocolate, melted ? 1?4 cup melted coconut oil ? 1 teaspoons vanilla extract Topping: ? 1/2 cup heavy cream ? 2 teaspoons sweetener ? 1?2 teaspoon vanilla extract Instructions: *For the filling, use the cream at the top of a can of separated full-fat coconut milk. To get it separate, refrigerate a can overnight.
To make the crust, in a food processor with and “s” blade, puree the walnuts, dates, cinnamon, and salt until very fine.
Grease pie pan and press down crust in pan, making sure to bring it up the sides.
Put pan in freezer.
To make the filling, put dates in a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds.
Then add chocolate, coconut oil, and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
Next, add coconut cream and blend for about 25 seconds or until smooth.
Put chocolate filling in pie pan and put back in freezer.
Put heavy cream in bowl and whip for about 45 seconds with electric mixer.
Add sugar and vanilla and beat until hard peaks form. Then, spread on top of pie.
Garnish pie with chocolate flakes and raspberries, if desired.
My friend, Veronica, in Michigan, posted this on Facebook April 5, 2020.?
I have started and stopped this post several times and really truly have struggled with if I should even share my experience but after I shared part of it in response to something a friend posted her and her friends suggested, well rather insisted I share it. I hope if anything, it provides a little peace in these trying times.
Before the social distancing even started the beginning of last month Peter went back to work (in grocery) after having been off for 6 weeks post several hernia repairs. After two days he had a mild fever and found out someone who he had had contact with had what they thought was Covid19. Now remember back to when it was just starting to circulate in the news here. I wasn’t very concerned but he called his doctor anyway and she advised him to self quarantine for 14 days which he did immediately. At the same time so did our whole family, kids were still in school if you remember back that far lol so you get a timeline. I ordered a few things I knew we would need from amazon (toilet paper when you still could only one pack and we are still on that 12 pack lol) and I went to work disinfecting the entire house.
Now I use humor to settle my nerves so fair warning :-). People I don’t think my house had ever been that clean since we built it lol. I did everything and it took days!!! I went as far as cleaning out clothes that didn’t even fit anymore. We hunkered down and Peter rested. After about week his fever and tiredness faded and still stayed in. Fast forward to two weeks later. He was mentally struggling with going back to work because he is one of those at risk people (60+, HBP and scar tissue on his lungs). At this point I went to the grocery store. This was my one trip out of the house and by this point social distancing was in effect and they were slowly shutting down businesses. I did everything they suggested, from wiping down things, not touching my face, using q tip to punch keypad, took a shower when I got home, etc.
Two days later it hit like a ton of bricks. It wasn’t a slow ramp up and I don’t have any underlying conditions and am 44 years old…I think… last time I did the math… ugh. It started with a low grade fever which has never gone above 101 but has hovered around 99.7 without acetaminophen. That part didn’t initially even trouble me because geeze that could have been ovulating temps as far as I knew lol. What did start to worry me was my breathing and how tired I was. With in a day it was like I was breathing hot glass shards and I just felt like I was having to really concentrate on breathing. At first I chalked it up to maybe panic attacks, too much news and social media. I’d love to say that turning off the tv, hiding a lot of types of threads online and catching up on a ton of dvr did the trick but it got worse. At this point we contacted the doctor virtually through Beaumont and after going over everything she said she was sure I had it and to medicate at home and to only come in to the ED if I got to the point I couldn’t breathe. By this point tests were only being given to front line workers and those being admitted and I won’t lie, I was all of the sudden thinking about the worst case scenario.
I hadn’t shared what I was going through with anyone and wasn’t about to call or text my parents and worry them. That night we tried having me sleep in the recliner. I did everything to try and make my lungs feel less constricted ( arms out to my sides ). At this point I had been taking acetaminophen and expectorant like clockwork. It wasn’t getting better and sitting alone in the dark I tried to finally call my parents at some ungodly hour knowing they were probably asleep. I woke up after maybe 3 hours of the roughest sleep ever and we contacted the doctor again and a friend who is a NP. I still felt like I could hang on to the notion of not going into the hospital because now I was crying and was afraid that I might die alone. I have been through cancer and actual wars with bullets flying growing up and nothing was as paralyzing as the fear that was gripping me. I was digging my heals in on not going to the hospital which I know was completely irrational.
About this time I started seeing information about vitamins helping some people. The news was still fighting over the experimental malaria drugs and in my mind I could still talk so I was going to roll the dice, again I know not rational. Prior to this I had tried diffusing some essential oils which I love that zen smell but this seemed to further agitate my breathing so I stopped. I was quarantined even further to just my room. What I am about to share is what I did, what I used and what happened. I am not a doctor, I don’t suggest anyone avoid going to the hospital and yes I kept in touch with mine through out this and my NP friend checked in on me daily via text. Honestly she along with a lot of prayer was my saving grace because it just kept giving me that little dose of hope that this girl thrives on. I love you, you know who you are!!
I have been a Melaleuca customer for 19 years. This isn’t a sales pitch and one of the reasons I hesitated on sharing this. Helping people shop from home for healthier safer products has been my jam and I love it but now I was about to really put their supplements to the test. I had already cleaned and disinfected the house with their EPA approved disinfectant (which is amazeballs but I won’t bore you right now with stats) but I haven’t always been the best customer when it comes to taking my vitamins. Peter is religious, but me…well I make more irrational excuses lol and forget a lot of the time. I started taking their peak performance pack which is a whole host of multi-vitamins and supplements (https://www.melaleuca.com/ProductStore/Product?sku=591) – it took a lot of mind over matter for me to get them all down, I kept taking acetaminophen and expectorant. I took their Activate capsules (https://www.melaleuca.com/ProductStore/Product?sku=2562) and I started drinking their activate drink / 2 packets 3 times a day hot (https://www.melaleuca.com/ProductStore/Product?sku=4545). Like I said I am not doctor and but knew that my body would absorb what it could and the rest would pass the rest. I did this all in the evening. I slept 7 full hours that night and woke up feeling completely different. I wasn’t gasping for air and for the first real time I had some tangible hope. I added having Peter pound on my back and sleeping on my stomach at times. This made the tight constricted feeling in my chest feel more spread out and I could cough up a little here and there. I kept this up but then decided to be stupid again and stop for one day thinking maybe it was a placebo effect or worse yet I was crazy lol. Not smart, I regressed back and by that next morning I was struggling and mentally beating myself up for being stupid. I doubled everything that day.
Fast forward again, I have stayed the course and now have been fever free without medication, can breathe again and am feeling tons better. I am a medical journal reading junkie (stems from having wanted to be a doctor a long time ago) and I am very curious to know why the supplements had such a profound effect. I know the human body is a powerful machine and when we feed it the right things all the way down to a cellular level that it is built to fight. I won’t stop taking my vitamins and supplements anymore but I also wanted to share this because I really did feel as if almost all hope was lost. I was doing everything the experts were suggesting and had I gone one more day feeling like I had when I made that teary phone call at midnight to my parents, I would have not hesitated in going to the hospital because that is how much I was struggling and how hard it was.
It came on fast, it came from the community from going out only 1 time and I didn’t have any of the underlying issues yet it stopped me in my tracks. I want to thank our doctor, our friend and the prayers that my mom covered me in…yes I did finally reach my parents via text. So even if you aren’t feeling sick, please stay in and take your vitamins :-).
Do you suffer from any of these? Sleep & Mood Disturbance Caffeine can interfere with sleep either by causing insomnia or by shortening the duration and depth of sleep. People metabolize caffeine at different rates and the sleep of some people can still be affected even though they last consumed caffeine 8 – 12 hours before sleep. Women on birth control pills and people taking pharmaceutical drugs metabolize caffeine much more slowly because caffeine and drugs both have to be detoxified in the liver. Anyone experiencing sleep problems should try eliminating caffeine from their diet as part of a program to restore restful sleep. Anxiety, nervousness, irritability, and impatience can all be aggravated by caffeine. Depression can result as a withdrawal symptom from an absence of caffeine in caffeine addicted individuals. People can be unaware of the effect of caffeine on their mood until family members of co-workers complain of their caffeine driven behavior. People with mood disturbances may find that nutritional and herbal support during caffeine weaning will help rebalance their brain chemistry and relieve the symptoms of depression. Weight Loss A number of diets such as The Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman, The Rosedale Diet by Ron Rosedale, M.D., and The Perricone Prescription by Nicholas Perricone, M.D. advise their followers to quit caffeine to help their weight loss process. There are documented scientific reasons that support the premise that caffeine interferes with weight loss programs. To read a professional paper on the effects of coffee and caffeine on weight loss, click here. A quick summary of the paper’s main points follows: Caffeine elevates stress hormones. People tend to eat when feeling stressed and this thwarts their diet goals. Caffeine triggers hypoglycemia and increases appetite. Weight loss diets are designed to achieve stable blood sugar without insulin spikes. Caffeine raises blood sugar, which can result in subsequent low blood sugar that drives people to eat high fat, refined carbohydrate foods to get a quick energy boost. Caffeine aggravates Insulin Resistance Syndrome. Obesity, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and cellular insensitivity to insulin are part of a syndrome that can lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes. Caffeine contributes to insulin resistance and impairs glucose tolerance. 41 million Americans are considered to be pre-diabetic and are advised to adapt healthy lifestyle and dietary habits to avoid progressing to type 2 diabetes. Approximately 20% of the population is caffeine sensitive. Even just a few milligrams of caffeine will set off an immediate reaction. People who have no problem drinking coffee all day long simply can’t understand how dramatically caffeine sensitive people respond to the slightest bit of caffeine. If you’re caffeine sensitive, you may have any number of reactions to caffeine, but the most common ones are: Feelings of anxiety, nervousness and irritability Rapid speech The jitters Sleeplessness even though the caffeine was consumed many hours before Incessant thinking and restlessness that interferes with relaxing Other extreme forms of caffeine sensitivity may cause unique symptoms such as: Obsessive compulsive behavior Paranoia Phobias Skin rashes and other allergic symptoms Muscular pain and tension including neck and back pain If you suspect you are caffeine sensitive, the best test is to completely eliminate caffeine from your diet. If the symptoms that are bothering you disappear, you’re among the 20% who learn to avoid caffeinated beverages and coffee flavored foods.
