Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

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When we think about Thanksgiving Day, thoughts of turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie fill our minds. However, today my mind is filled with a year of reasons to be grateful. I am truly fortunate because I always have a long list of gratitude.

So, as I express my gratitude this year, I want you to know that each and every one of you are important to Dan and I. Our passion to continue doing a blog would not be possible without my followers reading all the knowledge and inspirational messages that I blog. I hope the love and faithfulness you have shown me will be poured back out on you in abundance in the coming year. Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day is an annual national holiday in the United States celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth.

From my home to yours, Happy Thanksgiving???? enjoy the mini video's for Thanksgiving. #thankful#Thanksgiving

George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, “a a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”

The American holiday is particularly rich in legend and symbolism, and the traditional fare of the Thanksgiving meal typically includes turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. With respect to vehicular travel, the holiday is often the busiest of the year, as family members gather with one another.

The holiday was annually proclaimed by every president thereafter, and the date chosen, with few exceptions, was the last Thursday in November. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, attempted to extend the Christmas shopping season, which generally begins with the Thanksgiving holiday, and to boost the economy by moving the date back a week, to the third week in November. But not all states complied, and, after a joint resolution of Congress in 1941, Roosevelt issued a proclamation in 1942 designating the fourth Thursday in November (which is not always the last Thursday) as Thanksgiving Day.

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward

As we continue on the topic of nutrition keep in mind the turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie and how grateful we are for our blessings. Ten years ago, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer; through amazing doctors in Mexico I was taught nutrition. You can enjoy a turkey, just having it organic. You can enjoy dressing, just have organic gluten free. You can have pumpkin pie, just have the crust gluten free and the filling organic. I learned that, it’s all about substituting ingredients.

Dan and my first Thanksgiving dinner after cancer was just as wonderful as before; however, was tweaked just a little.

Going back to the first Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 24, 2011

Today as I sit and write, thinking about my year with all of its downs and highs. I have to be thankful this Thanksgiving for my husband and the choice that we made together regarding my treatment. With the knowledge of doctors showing me how to manage cancer and the treatments I learned that it’s all about you and how you take care of yourself.

Through it all I have accomplished healing and managing cancer. I have a new lease on life and will continue to teach what I have learned so that others can see how important it is to keep eating the right foods and staying away from chemicals. How important our immune system is to keeping diseases away.

Thank you all for the prayers and this Thanksgiving goes out to all of you. This Thanksgiving I honor you.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU DO-

It's not what you do once in a while - It's what you do day in and day out that makes a difference. ????

Today I’m blogging on why nutrition is important to your health. I bet you didn’t know this, unhealthy diet contributes to approximately 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S., due to nutrition- and obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. In the last 30 years, obesity rates have doubled in adults, tripled in children, and quadrupled in adolescents.

The typical American diet is too high in calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, and does not have enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains, calcium, and fiber. Such a diet contributes to some of the leading causes of death and increases the risk of numerous diseases, including: heart disease; diabetes; obesity; high blood pressure; stroke; osteoporosis; and cancers, including cervical, colon, gallbladder, kidney, liver, ovarian, uterine, and postmenopausal breast cancers; leukemia; and esophageal cancer (after researchers took smoking into account).

Few recognize that unhealthy diet is a leading cause of disability. Yet unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity are leading causes of loss of independence:

Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness and amputations. Roughly 73,000 people have lower-limb amputations each year due to diabetes.

Bone injuries due to osteoporosis are most likely to occur in the hips, spine, and wrist. Even just a slight fracture in these areas can result in loss of independence. Twenty percent of seniors who break their hip die within just one year. Those who survive often require long-term (nursing home) care.

Heart attack or stroke can result in difficulty with everyday activities—such as walking, bathing, or getting into or out of bed—or cognitive impairment.

Over two-thirds (67.5%) of American adults are overweight or obese. Obesity rates in children have tripled over the last three decades, and one in three children and adolescents 2-19 years old is overweight or obese.

Messages about nutrition and the latest diets are everywhere. With all the attention devoted to discussing nutrition, it seems like it must be pretty important. But why? What can nutrition do for us that is worth all the hype?

Life is an one time deal, make it wisely????be thankful ???? Happy Thanksgiving. #Thanksgiving#thankful

Nutrition is crucial for the growth and development of children and adolescents. A child’s body uses nutrients to build strong bones, grow tall, and expand cognitive capacity. Proper nutrition helps children prevent and fight off illness. It gives them energy and allows them to focus and learn in school.

Good nutrition is the foundation on which a healthy and productive human life is built, and it starts at the very beginning of that life.

Once we reach adulthood, nutrition remains important in a few of the same ways and in some additional ones. For adults, good nutrition can help maintain a healthy weight, prevent non-communicable diseases, support a strong immune system, enable reproduction, enhance productivity, and promote longevity.

Good nutrition and good health are linked in numerous ways. We need the right nutrients to grow and develop, to learn and perform, to reproduce, and to lead long healthy lives.

Eating a healthy diet as part of a healthy lifestyle has benefits at every stage of life.

A well-balanced diet full of essential nutrients can help support a healthy life. However, people with deficiencies, certain diseases and conditions, or with evolving nutritional needs at different stages of life may consider dietary supplements to add missing nutrients to their diets.

Until next time, embrace every new day with gratitude, hope and love. Next blog will be on diving a little deeper into all the ways that good nutrition can improve health and quality of life.