The Keto Crockpot Cookbook by Adele Baker is a Great Way to Jump Start Your Keto Nutrition Fitness Journey

It seems wherever you look nowadays, there's new information about Keto diets. Keto diets seem to be all the rage and with good reason. Keto means eliminating carbs, or at the very least keeping them to a bare dietary minimum. 

Low carbs translates to high fat-burning and that's excellent for losing weight and staying in shape. I've been on a Keto diet for over a year and can say it positively works. 

The Keto Crockpot Cookbook by Adele Baker is a beneficial book for anyone pursuing a Keto lifestyle.

DIY Mom Book Review:

The Keto Crockpot Cookbook is so much more than just recipes. The author has included some fantastic information on how Keto diets work, along with a generous list of what to eat and what not to eat on a Keto diet.

The recipes are super simple, convenient and delicious. I can't wait to try them all! This is a great book for anyone interested in beginning a Keto lifestyle or anyone who is already there and needs more ideas!

5 of 5 Stars, Susan Barton, DIY Mom Blog

Get Up, Get Moving, Get Healthy! Intro to the DIY Mom Blog's Healthy Living Series

This is my very first post in my new Friday Fitness, Healthy Living series, where, every Friday, I’ll talk about some of the unique challenges women (especially us “mature” women) face.

I decided to do this series because I’m living proof that you can break bad habits to become a healthier, fitter you. I’ll share my story in the hopes that other women just like me will benefit from my cautionary tale.

A little background on me…

In the past, I was health-conscious and fit. Truth be told, I had a very physically demanding job that helped immensely. But then, in 2012, I quit my job to stay home and go from writing part-time to writing full-time. I was no longer the active person I once was and that definitely took its toll on my body and, ultimately, on my health. My eating habits were atrocious and that made things even worse.

The result? A more than fifty pound weight gain and an unexpected medical diagnosis of severe high blood pressure, high cholesterol and pre-diabetes. I’d been experiencing chest pain and palpitations for a few months and, not surprisingly, when I dragged myself off to the cardiologist (yes, literally dragged myself since I had zero energy) I found that my poor habits had caused a minor heart valve blockage. YIKES! What had I done to myself?

Since I was determined not to add to the rapidly growing number of 50 something women who suddenly die of a massive coronary, I was determined to fix myself. I’d made this mess of my own body and I knew it was up to me to undo it. The heart blockage was there, and as long as it didn’t cause any real problems, it would stay put. But I didn’t intend to make it any worse.

My journey to wellness was slow at first, but that was to be expected. After all, my health problems didn’t happen overnight. Improving my health would take time. It was a process that took some fine-tuning to find what was right for me, my body and my lifestyle. And this is the key here – while I will be sharing my story of regaining control of my health, you’ll need to find what works best for you.

In the coming installments of this Healthy Living series I’ll be talking about my progress and addressing things like diet, exercise, practicing mindfulness and other key elements to gaining control of your health and well-being, so please join me on my journey!

*Please be sure to check back every Friday for Healthy Living updates!

Friday Freebie Books and e-Courses for Readers!

I read and reviewed Mickey Hadick's AWESOME book "Boss Lessons" back in 2016 and gave it a five star review. Mickey was kind enough to pass along some valuable information for my readers and me to take advantage of this Friday. Mickey and several of his author friends are offering their books and e-Courses FREE this coming Black Friday. How great is that?

This is your opportunity to grab some wonderful self-help and health-oriented books and e-Courses. I'm happy to let DIY Mom Blog readers know about this freebie promotion. You can read all about the promo here on the Mind, Body and Spirit Well-Being website. 

My IBS Flare Up Was Caused By WHAT?!

I discovered that I have IBS back when I was in my early twenties. If you don’t know what IBS is, it’s an agonizing stomach issue, which seems to affect sufferers differently and to varying degrees. Flare-ups are difficult, if not darn near impossible, to predict. Triggers vary greatly among sufferers as well. The worst thing is there is no cure. You simply have to learn to sort of live around your IBS. There are now some medications available on the market, but I prefer to treat my IBS holistically. It’s what’s worked for me over the years so I’ll stick with that.

So…what has worked for me? Well, one MAJOR change I made was eliminating gluten from my diet. I won’t pretend to completely understand the ins and outs of how gluten is processed in the body. I’ll only say that, once I stopped eating gluten, I went from having biweekly IBS flare ups to having a flare up maybe once every six months or so. In other words, the difference for me was like night and day.

Recently, when I began having terrible IBS symptoms out of the blue, I was perplexed. I was faithfully eating a gluten-free diet. I don’t overeat fiber too many days in a row (another known issue for me). No more GMOs or premade, processed foods. What the heck was it? Well after finally narrowing down the one thing I was “eating” a light bulb went off. Could it be??

After consulting my good friend Google (via IBS message boards, of course) I was relieved and a bit shocked to find that it was the sugar free gum I had only recently started chewing. It just so happened to be Orbit in my case, but it certainly could have been any sugar free gum. It has something to do with the sugar alcohols that are released in the stomach.

Sugar alcohols aren’t actually sugar and they aren’t alcohol. There are FOUR sugar substitute chemicals commonly found in sugar free gum:  maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol. These are the sugar alcohols, which are really non-sugar carbs. These are the culprits that can wreak havoc on your digestive system because they actually have a laxative effect in the stomach. I know! Some people are more sensitive than others (people with certain stomach issues like IBS, for instance).

I was shocked, since I consider myself so cautious about everything I eat (chew) and drink. Needless to say, I immediately omitted the Orbit and bam…problem solved. I've since gone back to my trusty peppermint candy (non-sugar free) and all is well - side note: peppermint is amazing for settling an upset tummy!

I hope you found value in this information. It took me a few days of agony to figure out what was going on and I was dumbfounded when I discovered that a little piece of gum was tearing up my tummy. Hopefully, my experience will help you too! As always, comments are welcome below.