Rock bottom for me is when I find myself sitting in my car eating a Cinnabon. I am likely wearing jeans that I have not washed in two weeks to keep up the facade that I have not gained the holiday weight, and I am drinking a Diet Coke, of course.
It is time for me to get serious about eating healthy again, which means no more sweets and no more Diet Coke. It has been 525,600 minutes, exactly one year, since I had this same conversation with myself. I guess I will add it to my list of New Year’s Resolutions again.
Having the same goal over and over each year can become demoralizing at the very least. Whether it is a small issue like losing a few pounds, or an enormous issue like a goal that my child with autism never masters, it takes all the willpower I have to not throw in the towel and just accept life as “good enough.”

Such a cliché – “When it rains, it pours!” But, sometimes there is no better way to describe life.
We’ve had a lot going on lately and have had a lot of stress in our lives as a result. For the most part I’m good with stress; I can typically roll with the punches, maintain a positive attitude and keep marching forward - usually with a smile. The bottom line is that I know everything is cyclical and that this, too, shall pass. In the past month, though, amidst the rain, it began to pour in the Wilcox household and instead of singing and dancing in the rain – I’m admittedly sloshing a bit, mindfully trying to hum my way through it.
Most impactful, my mother-in-law passed away two days after Christmas. While it wasn’t a total surprise as we watched her health slowly decline over the past few years, it wasn’t necessarily “expected” either and it has been devastating on many levels.

If you take some time to scroll back through my blog posts over time, or if you’ve been a follower of my blog from the beginning, you’ll note that I am highly concerned about the dangerous toxins and chemicals that have become an increasingly common part of our environment. I’m passionate about finding ways to limit our exposures where we can, especially when it comes to young children, infants and pregnant women. Our most susceptible population deserves a healthy, less-toxic future.
Around this time every year the flu shot is one concern that flares on my radar because all of the pharmacies are pushing it…right alongside many doctors, pediatricians, grocery store chains and even friends and family members. Just this weekend a well-meaning extended family member asked me (after I told her that I was battling a cold) if we had gotten our flu shots. We’ve had this discussion before. In fact, we’ve had this discussion several years in a row (every fall); she just doesn’t seem to remember.

UPDATE 11/7/11: I JUST LEARNED THAT THE FREE VIEWING HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH TOMORROW, NOVEMBER 8TH!
Enjoy, ~Leigh
Did you know that this week is Vaccine Awareness Week? Dr. Mercola and the National Vaccine Information Center have teamed up to offer free viewing of a particularly powerful film on the subject of vaccines through November 5th. THE GREATER GOOD is a film I strongly recommend to any person who chooses to be informed about vaccines, whether for yourself or for your child.
My husband and I saw the film together last spring at the Dallas International Film Festival. I feel the film makers did a marvelous job of carefully examining both “sides” of this controversial topic by speaking to experts in the field and interviewing individuals and families who have personally witnessed adverse vaccine reactions. It is a MUST SEE in my opinion.

Ethan, along with countless kids across the state of Texas, went back to school this morning. [Sniff, sniff.] While I was preparing his school supplies and trying to minimize his exposure to toxic chemicals, I got to thinking about hand sanitizers. What’s in them? And, are those ingredients dangerous for our kids?
Thinking along these lines, I sought additional information. I knew that we wanted to avoid Triclosan (which is a chemical in many hand soaps) because it can be very harmful to sensitive systems, but I wasn’t sure if it was a concern in hand sanitizers, or if there was something else I should be concerned about…so I reached out to one of my favorite organizations: Women’s Voices for the Earth.

Last night I went to bed around 9pm. That’s unusual for me – I’m a night owl and often work or watch TV after Ethan is asleep. But, I knew I needed to go to bed early because I felt lousy. Even though I’ve been gluten-free for well over a decade, there are times I get food (either from stores or restaurants) that has been cross-contaminated and it wreaks havoc on my body. Last night was one of those nights…
That also means that this morning was one of those mornings…I awoke at 7am still feeling the effects of a migraine,

During the big Autism One conference last week in Chicago, an announcement was made regarding the launch of a new American political push – The Canary Party.
The tagline: “Sick and tired of…being sick and tired. We have had enough. It is time to end the corruption that is destroying the health of Americans.”
I was in the room during the announcement and can tell you that there was a visceral buzz of excitement. And throughout the remainder of the conference, the momentum continued to build as attendees purchased yellow “Canary” t-shirts, bags, bumper stickers and other various items.
What is The Canary Party?
You can read more at the website, but as an overview, The Canary Party is “a group of citizens disturbed by the increasingly failing health of those in our society.” Their position is that it is “time to stop asking the medical establishment to pay attention to the epidemic of illness, and demand that they do, or replace them” with professionals who will.

What if you discovered you were dying of cancer? I expect you’d seek the best doctors you could find to help you wage a war for your life. You’d likely end up on a variety of medications and treatments, costing you thousands and thousands of dollars…and you’d still probably fear for your health and livelihood. Now, what if I told you that you could reverse the progression of that cancer (or heart disease, diabetes, auto immune disorder, bone disease or stroke) by radically overhauling your diet? Would you be surprised? Would you make those necessary changes all while wondering why your doctor never shared this information and option with you?
The filmmakers of the thought-provoking and potentially life-changing documentary “Forks Over Knives,” which opens in theaters tomorrow, examine this concept – that basic changes to the Western Diet prove to be a much more effective “treatment” for many modern diseases and ailments than standard surgeries/treatments/prescription medications.