The Inside Snippet – My Invisible Disease

I’ve been taking CBD oil for almost 3 days now and smoking mainly CBD cannabis. Some interesting things have been occurring. Here is your inside snippet:
The ACDC oil has helped reduce my pain and cramps so far. I’ve tried the strain Harlequin and it puts me right to sleep, so I like the ACDC better for all day pain relief. 
So far I’m taking 10 drops 2-3x/day, depending on pain. I’m taking 10 drops in the morning, smoking one CBD strain joint, and drinking one green vegetable juice. In midday, between 2-4pm, I’ll take another 10 drops with whatever juice/soup I’ll be ingesting. At night it seems the pain increases as my body and mind gets more tired from the day’s tasks, so last night I took 20 drops of CBD and smoked THC cannabis to reduce pain and get to sleep.
As for other CBD strains, I have been enjoying a strain the farmer called “Tonic” that is 10% CBD and 0.5% or less of THC. It takes away my anxiety and ADD tendencies, increasing my focus without panic. The best part is that I can drive and go in public  since it doesn’t alter my “euphoric” center. It reminds me of a light Xanax or anti-anxiety med. It gives me a sense that it’s rewiring my brain because I noticed my emotional reactions to stress have been lessened after smoking it daily, compared to THC creating more emotion, sensitivity, and anxiety. (This is probably why I’m a hermit crab when smoking High THC!) 
The “pennywise” strain has made me sleepy and the ACDC makes my body very sleepy, from the high levels of myrcene. So for daily medicating, I really like the Tonic best to smoke and the ACDC oil best for pain.
New Findings:
Finally, at the end of the night, when I get off work past midnight (closing time), I sit down to have my THC cannabis. The first night after smoking and ingesting CBD all day, I passed right out with just one single hit of THC-dominant cannabis. I knew I was exhausted but soon realized the next day, I was super sensitive to THC again! Something has occurred inside of me that has made me very sensitive to THC. I believe it’s the synergistic effect happening, of the cannabinoids activating each other. Since my body hasn’t had this much CBD on a consistent, dosed basis before, the THC hasn’t had a chance to act accordingly. 
After smoking one joint of a THC-dominant cannabis strain, I felt almost drunk. I had the spins and felt like gravity had turned up to 20x. This is what happens to me when I have too much THC; I need to lay down in a dark room and not make any effort to speak or move. [That just reminded of the anti-pot girl melted on the couch commercial and the dog is like “What happened to you? We used to play.”]
Cannabis works on a bell curve: too little doesn’t work and too much doesn’t work well medically for a consistent basis. I’m learning and feeling this exact curve and learning my dosing rate. Everyone will have a personal rate of need for cannabinoids depending on your personal deficiency. 
Other details of my holistic healing regimen:
I’m enjoying my 21-Day Meditation Challenge with Oprah and Deepak. This is my second challenge with them, and I would highly recommend this type of meditation for beginners. This round is focusing on my belief system and core beliefs: love, self-worth, security, and wholeness. Taking 20 minutes a day for guided, contemplative meditation keeps me focused for most of the day on the mantra. Today was about turning beliefs into actions, as well as focusing on all 4 core beliefs and how I externalize them in my life.
I’m still on a liquid diet and made some potato-parsnip soup today from scratch. I used my vitamix and it came out very smooth and yummy! I really hope I’m not on a liquid diet by Thanksgiving so I can enjoy some sweet potato mash and marshmallows. As for all my other meals, I’m drinking organic green juice by SujaJuice or having a broth/smooth soup. Due to the low calories, I am losing some weight, unfortunately, but know I’ll be healed up and eating very soon once again.
For my exercise, I have been dancing 20-30 minutes per day to 90’s pop songs. Music and dancing really helps me forget about whatever pain I may be in in those moments, and gets my lymphatic system and fluid flowing so I don’t feel so much pain all over. I’m still experiencing random pains from my fibromyalgia and nerve damage, so moving around a little bit each day is a must.
Still taking 2-4oz Aloe Juice and 4-800mg Turmeric Supreme
Best Health To You,
Nicole

My Invisible Disease – Healing with Holistic Medicine

Hello,

My name is Nicole and I have Ulcerative Colitis. It’s an embarrassing disease inflicting my lifestyle each and every day. I’ve been prescribed multiple pharmaceuticals to manage the pain and inflammation, but refuse to take them on account of their side effects. I’ve moved to California to heal holistically and am now able to begin that journey. After finding an organic CBD cannabis farmer, a farmer who focuses on the most medicinal strains of cannabis, I have the ability to start a regimen. From here forward I will document how my daily use of CBD-Rich cannabis manages my pain and inflammation from my UC.  I will start by smoking CBD Cannabis daily, as well as ingesting a raw CBD enriched organic olive oil tincture, made by Professor Snook. Unrecorded attempts to keep the inflammation down will include my plan in place:

  • a very strict low-fiber diet (no raw vegetables, no grains except soft corn and rice)
  • no dairy
  • no gluten
  • low-sugar
  • No beef or alcohol
  • Limited to no caffeine
  • Aloe vera juice daily 2oz
  • Turmeric taken daily 450mg
  • Will start juicing cannabis when possible
  • Daily green juices, smoothies, protein shakes for easy digestion and absorbtion
  • Daily meditation (20 minutes minimum)
  • Some type of physical activity 3x/week (Gardening, dancing, walking, stretching, or yoga)

Here is a snippet of my day:
11/6/2015

Upon waking: Felt anxious, had stomach pains and cramps, back pain and torso pain
12pm Medication: Smoked one raw cone of ACDC, 24% CBD, high in myrcene
Feeling after: Limited pain, was able to distract myself from it and meet with the farmer

2pm: Pain comes back, humming and singing to distract from sharp pains
Medication: Smoked 1 bowl of “Tonic” 10% CBD 0% THC. 10 drops ACDC Olive Oil.
Feeling: Calm. Almost sleepy. Focused on task at hand. Hungry, Less pain. Forgot I was in pain.

3:27pm: Slowly eating first meal of pumpkin soup. 1 cup.

Notes on Tonic Strain: Makes very focused on task on hand.

6:00pm Drank half a Suja Protein Shake

6:25pm Pain came back again. Smoked a bowl of ACDC. Feel very sleepy and hungry now. Pain is subsiding.

6:30pm All I want to do is sleep now.

It’s exhausting being sick. I used to say, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired,” when I had the flu or a cold. But now I have no choice but to manage it, and be well and energized from my good management. UC is an autoimmune disease. It’s simply the body fighting itself for no good reason. I have to make sure to weaken it’s fighting power and restore homeostasis with the cannabinoids. Taking care of myself should be #1. The only reason it’s exhausting and annoying is because I put other things first, such as, well everything.

I feel this way every day:

“Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”-Dalai Lama

By no means am I trying to sacrifice my health here to work in a holistic health field. I’m starting from a hereditary and “previous life choices” debt in health and must work back to balance. By working in this field, I have the appropriate access to the people and herbs that I need to heal myself. And I plan on sharing my journey and teaching others how to heal themselves as well.

My recreational teenage use of cannabis, my experience as a vegan for 7 years, and my training and nutrition background, have all prepared me to tackle this disease. It is now in my power to find a cure to Ulcerative Colitis and help millions of other sick and helpless people. When the doctor told me there is no way to prevent this and no way to cure it, I had two choices: wallow in pharmaceutical pain until death or manage it holistically and live a higher quality of life. What would you choose?

A Harsh Review: HighTimes CannabisCup 2015

Screen Shot 2015-06-22 at 10.40.31 PMI attended the High Times Cannabis Cup this past weekend in search of knowledge, vendors, and business partners. I found a huge stoner party, equipped with ghetto rappers such as Lil’ Debbie, free dabs at every booth, and the endless supply of concert-priced nachos and french fries. I know this sounds like heaven for all of you stoners [and it was tons of fun], but as a business woman going in, I hoped for more organized professionalism.

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Entries

I would like to see High Times get a little more strict with their entries. There was only a small section of organic, solvent-less concentrates/extracts. As a sensitive, allergic-to-everything patient, I only vape solvent-less meds. Every other category was made using solvents such as butane, propane, iso-propane, etc. I expect a “medical” cannabis cup to serve only medicine – NOT extracts with >600ppm of butane. I understand this is the trend in the industry right now, but HighTimesMagazine is the media for cannabis users. It needs to SAY NO to impurities and be a good role model. 

Organization

I would like to see High Times get more organized in general. I understand your Cup has expanded rapidly in the past five years, but please, put responsible, organized, planners in charge of these things. Entry and exit was a mess, food supply was very poor and disgusting, and there was no one to direct you anywhere.

[[I would also like girls in short skirts to not bribe me with vape pens to vote for their collective. I even said, “No thank you, isn’t that breaking the rules?”Also, your flavors make me sneeze. No thanks on additives.]] 

Experience

Before taking any samples, I asked how the product was made.  Just like grocery shopping, I’m an avid label reader. The problem with this was that only one person in each booth knew the answer to this question. The owner/scientist/creator/grower was one person, who was usually busy. Everyone else was a hot girl dressed sexy to pack you hits and smile pretty. (Fun touch, but slightly demeaning to a new woman business owner.)

[[Note: If you own a dispensary, please educate everyone who works for you! If you sign up for a convention, make sure you have enough educated volunteers to help you. Help our industry grow up.]]

Vendors

High Times should have an industry-only night before or after the Cup. Some of us come for business first, play second. It would be super awesome to sit around with all the professionals who would like to network, partner up, or expand. Also, an opportunity to talk to investors would be appreciated.

Please don’t be surprised at my choice of professional language, scientific questions, and the use of a business card. No, I do NOT want to contact you by DM on Instagram. Please grow up.

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Besides the crowd of “stoners running businesses,” I met some great people. They agreed on organic and eco-friendly standards, medicine being tested for purity, and required you to join the collective before hitting their products. These will receive an email or phone call for future partnership.

Wrap it Up

I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt and say they’re trying their best. I apologize if I offended anyone or put anyone down. I enjoyed my time and am thankful for attending the event. I will attend another one and hope that it has grown.

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Founders of Harborside

Post Concussion Syndrome

Concussions. I instantly relate them to football, headaches, and athletes. I never thought I’d be the one dealing with the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury. For over 8 weeks now, I have been given strict orders (over and over again) to do NOTHING until I feel no more pain. But the pain resides, and only gets numbed by pharmaceuticals that I don’t want to be ingesting in the first place. Continue reading “Post Concussion Syndrome”

Fall Goals

In order to stay motivated and on task, we have to set goals for ourselves. Whether they are career goals, relationship goals, or fitness goals, they require time, patience, preparation, and a plan.

This Fall I’m looking to improve my cycling endurance, gain strength, and shred a little more fat.

Here is the plan I’ve made for the next 4-6 weeks:

I devised it using Google Drive Spreadsheets. I used IIFYM calculator, also known as If It Fits Your Macros. They have a great Fat Loss Calculator along with their famous macros calculator. According to IIFYM, if I want to lose 4% more body fat, I will have to eat 1500 calories a day, train 6 days a week, and stick to my plan for at least 5 weeks to see results. 

If you want to get serious about athletic performance, you need to focus on correct macros. The best way to acheive your goals is by seeing a trainer. Don’t haphazardly go about fitness. If you want more flexibility, make a plan for it. If you want awesome back and arms, then work for it. If you want less love handles and more definition, then plan it out. You can come to me for a FREE fitness assessment and I’ll help you get started.

If you want to know more about acheiving your goals, please contact me today.

Best Health,

Nixie

PS: Fall may be here but that is no reason for your efforts at the gym to fall as well. Stay strong and healthy year-round, even on holidays! If you want fitness to be your lifestyle, and if you want to stop “starting over,” then stop giving up! Just because it’s Thanksgiving doesn’t mean you have to skip your gym day or take a WEEK off! Let your mind rest from work, but keep your body healthy and well. 

A Relationship with Food

A relationship with food is similar to all other relationships you encounter in daily life, such as with a friend, spouse, or business partner. These take time, preparation, planning, dedication, comittment, care, thought, and more. You have to schedule time and activities to maintain these relationships and to keep them healthy. Your relationship with food should align with the efforts in your other relationships. Do you slack off remembering birthdays, cheat on your spouse, and play hooky at work? Do you also find yourself slacking at the gym (or not going!), cheating on your healthy diet, and forfeiting the idea to challenge yourself physically? Continue reading “A Relationship with Food”

Get NixFit in 4 Weeks!

 

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I am so excited to share with you my new plan to lose 4% of my body weight in 4 weeks! The plan includes all you need to succeed at losing the weight that is holding you back. I have personally designed 3 Strength HIIT workouts, as well as 3 cardio sessions that will kick any elite athlete’s butt. These workouts will not only help you lose weight, but will get you into tip-top shape! Plyometrics, total body strength, low rest periods, and sports training are combined to give you a Guaranteed Boredom-Free set of workouts!  Continue reading “Get NixFit in 4 Weeks!”

Mindful Moments

“No matter how hard you live healthy and happy, like a marathon runner who drops dead from a heart attack, uncontrollable s**t is always going to come flying your way.”

I’m one of those people who learns things the hard way. I must go through them, I can’t just be told. I’m not a cheater; I take every test life has to give and put in my full effort. No skipping out on the hardships, no skimming over the good times, I’m a full on, balls to wall kinda gal. Well this year is no exception to the rule. The universe has decided to throw me a few curve balls but fortunately, I know I’m not the only batter up. Continue reading “Mindful Moments”