Welcome back again . Get comfy, grab your favorite drink, and join me here in what I call Carol's Corner. Hope everyone in the storm areas are safe and warm. We only got about 4 inches. And tonight it's 18 degrees instead of -7. Whoever thought 18 would be anything close to warm. Picked a new spot in the house for my pictures today. I still haven't had time to take my Christmas decor down, but this spot in our guestroom I thought would make a cool picture with that mirror as a backdrop. Note, still trying to work on my smile. This top is another one from my thrift store stash I got last week.

This Leather Jacket was my best find at the Thrift Store. Got it for $15. It fits perfectly, so now I have my knee length one and this for a grand total of $ 40. Now if this winter would get over, I'd be all set.

The last pic before we get down to business is my FitBit combo for today. I am so having fun with this. Ok, let's see what we're going to discover tonight. This is going to be technical, but might prove useful to discuss with your doctor if you suspect that inflammation is an issue for you, and could be a factor with either weight gain, or problems in losing while on a good food plan. There are two simple blood tests your doctor can order to asess inflammation present in your body. I'm pretty sure my daughter has this done every time a flare occurs. When it's really high, she has to go on prednisone, as well as the weekly injections she has to give herself. I'm sure my sister Rose has similar testing and more ,relating to her Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. The first blood test is Hs-CRP. This test is a marker for inflammation and is a risk factor for arterial disease. Levels tend to increase as body fat increases and with insulin resistance. Here you can see how extra body fat can be the culprit in so many health problems. An optimal value in this test result, would be less than 0.8 mg/L. The second test measures homocysteine which is an inflammatory protein. If this is elevated in the blood, it is a proven independent risk factor for heart disease,Osteoporosis,Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. This also has been found to increase with insulin resistance. By the looks of this, inflammation can be a real problem for Diabetics. I would have to research more to know if this holds true for both Type 1 and Type 2. An optimal value on this test would be less than 6.3. So that's it for this portion of our research, into how inflammation affects our body and the simple blood tests that can determine if your levels are too high. Tomorrow we will talk about tip 5 and adding Systemic Enzymes .

Something to think about when you become discouraged.

See you back here tomorrow. We just have two more segments to explore before we move on to new territory. Please message me if there is a concern or topic you would like to have discussed or researched. Remember, this blog is for you , and what you need to succeed in this journey that we're all part of. Make every day a new beginning. When you least expect it, success is just around the bend. Take each new day you are blessed with and run with it. Make 2015 be the best year ever. Till next time, God Bless.

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