Emerging from a Fog

I’m sitting on my couch in my living room, soaking in a rare winter sunny day. As I sit here, I realize that I am ever-so-slowly (too slow for my taste) coming out of a winter fogged by a thyroid condition.

I have discovered more women than I could possibly imagine, including my mother and grandmother, are taking thyroid medications, although thyroid disorders cause different symptoms in different women.

I fought my symptoms for many months. I didn’t realize that my difficulty in sleeping, my exhaustion, and seeming inability to think – the feeling like I was walking through tar – were symptoms of hypothyroidism (a slow thyroid).

Fortunately, I decided I should really go to the doctor for my annual visit (which I last had four years ago). Also, fortunately, my doctor is well-read on thyroid issues, and realized that although the numbers in my blood test were well within the “normal” range, my symptoms indicated that something was wrong.

Dealing with this health issue this winter has made me more thankful than ever for Shaklee. Here are four reasons why:

1. Shaklee supplements have given me a good nutritional base from which to get better. Because I am not nutritionally deficient, I can focus on what helps my thyroid function better, instead of wondering if my symptoms are a result of a nutritional deficiency (which they could be).

2. I know the supplements I am taking are high-quality. My body only needs to use the nutrients I am feeding it, instead of fighting against toxins, fillers, or synthetic nutrients found in other supplements.

3. My body is freed up to heal because it is not fighting toxins found in common household cleaners. Shaklee’s Get Clean products are safe for me and my family. Plus, I can put my kids to work cleaning when I’m having a bad day. (And even when I'm not!)

4. Because Shaklee products work, you, my customers, are loyal to the products, even when I am not functioning as I would like. I appreciate that so much! My business keeps going, and I am still able to pay for my own products, even when I’m not 100%.

There are so many reasons why I am thankful for Shaklee, but today, those are my top four.

Green Goes with Everything

I gave a friend a copy of this book, Sloane Barnett's Green Goes With Everything. A few weeks later, she told me she could only read it in small doses because she found it so alarming.

After I read it I understood what she meant. I knew most of this information in this book from various other resources, but reading it all together in one location can be overwhelming.

However it's information everyone needs to know, and Green Goes With Everything is worth the read.

I really like the way Barnett writes in this book. She's a news correspondent, and I can tell. She has an easy-to-read writing style - very practical, with lots of pop-out boxes of information you can look over easily. This would be an easy book to read in snatches of time - waiting in line at the post office or in the car for the children after school or the like.

In the interest of full disclosure, Sloane Barnett is the wife of Roger Barnett, the owner of Shaklee Corporation. She doesn't try to hide that fact - and addresses it in the introduction. The interesting thing is that this book is not a sales book for Shaklee. She mentions their products periodically throughout the book, but nothing like I expected.

Instead, she gives lots of research as to what goes into the cleaners available at the stores... and several different alternatives, including Shaklee's.

If you're wondering what the big deal is about non-toxic cleaners, and are convinced that your laundry detergent is "just fine, thank you," or love to put those plug-in fragrances all around your home, I'd encourage you to read this book. It will certainly give you something to think about.

I have an extra copy of this book I would like to give away to someone. So here's the deal - become a fan of my business, Healthy Homes, on facebook to enter a drawing. I'll have one of my kids draw names during the second week of January and send the winner the book.

That way you'll have all the information you need to get started on your New Year's Resolution to keep your house cleaner in 2010! (picture me grinning)