Rebuild from Depression Blog

-->We are having giveaways throughout the summer. Check for our latest giveaway post to enter. (See the "latest posts" in the navigation bar.) <--

The Rebuild from Depression book is coming this summer, long put off by a surprising and exciting discovery that I would be having another baby. In celebration of the much belated birth of the book and (more importantlly) in celebration of the fact that it is possible to have a second baby and not end up psychotic and in years of down-cycles, I will be having twice-weekly give-aways (and maybe more) all summer until this second baby (the book) is born.

There is some serious stuff in these give-aways and with everyone running around on summer break, your chances of winning are that much greater if you are around to find this giveaway.

In many of the give-aways you will win a supplement package of a high-EPA Omega 3 from Ascenta with a purity guarantee unlike any other company, a highly-absorbed B-complex supplement, and a highly-absorbed and fizzy magnesium product (Peter Gilliam's Calm). These three supplements are nutrients most of us are deficient in and so I am just taking a guess here that all three will be of general interest. This bundle is in the first give-away. While supplies last, you will have your choice of capsules or liquid for the fish oil and whether you want a higher DHA (which you will if you are pregnant or breast feeding).

It's worth about $75 retail,

You can also expect moving forward a really great desiccated liver product. I also hope to give away a liquid multi-vitamin that I could actually palate in my pregnancy. (Imagine that.)

All of these products helped me through my pregnancy and postpartum period. These products are not for sale here because, frankly, I do not have time to sell products, but there is no time like a major economic slow-down to get free nutritional supplements. We may well need them now more than ever and they are free with quite a few opportunities to win throughout the season.

How to win one of the many give-aways

There are going to be a lot of give-aways, all centered around the same sorts of supplements. In each give-away, you need to leave a comment to express your interest in winning that item and you need to put your email in the comment system here so I can find you when you win. Your email will not appear to everyone else.

Of course, you can also increase your chances of winning in a number of ways which I outline below. The great thing about increasing your chances is that it is cumulative through the month of June. In each give-away I will keep a record of your "points" and those will carry over to the next contest. Add some more points for the next round, and you will have a growing point total and a growing chance to win these really good supplements.

To enter: Leave a comment here including your email (1 point). That's all. Your email will not appear to the public but it is how I will find you when you win. The comments have to be approved so it won't appear right away. (I need to work on that problem.)

Increase your chances:

• Friend me or follow me on Facebook(here) or Twitter(here): 1 point each
• Stumble this entry, one of the food science pages, or anything that has caught your fancy.: 1 point.
• In Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn provide a link to some of the content here (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 1 point
• Provide a link to this contest from your blog: 2 points (but gosh, this just increases your competition, LOL)
• Blog about some of the content on this website (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 3 points

Comment below on what you've done or send a trackback.

Remember, these are all points for future give-aways too. In the future, you need to leave a comment to express interest and your accumulated points will follow.

More ideas for your blog or tweets:

Nutrients and brain health: Omega 3 round-up, Magnesium and depression, Omega 3 and B vitamins, Omega 3 and Alzheimers, ZInc and depression.

Mom's videos. Popular ones are the deviled egg/how to peel an egg (25K views!) and flash fried liver. The recent one on grilled salmon is easy and tasty. It's high in Omega 3 fatty acids.

Depression in pregnancy and postpartum: Depression in pregnancy, Second baby second chance (the story I recently posted).

Heck, you could even write about the book (though if you have a blog and want to review it, contact me for a copy).

I will close the comments for this contest Wednesday June 24 at noon PST, announce a winner shortly thereafter and start a new contest at the same time.

Good luck! Leave a comment to get started.

Technorati Tags: B vitamins, depression, economy, magnesium, Omega 3

I was truly overwhelmed by how many people entered the giveaway. I was deeply touched by the supportive comments that people left there. Thank you very much. Such support gives me such a boost today.

I may well need a boost too because I have spent a goodly bit of time just trying to get this raffle set up. Ninety people? Tweets and Facebook feeds? "Be careful what you ask for" comes to mind right now. I still haven't gotten to the email on this account. Sorry.

Early in the comments, Pilar expressed her dismay that she and the rest of the people who didn't Tweet or link to the contest would not have a chance. It turns out that just over a dozen of the ninety people found me on Twitter or Facebook, so Pilar had a lot of company in just leaving a comment. Pilar got an extra point for being on my email list, as did a whole lot of people who commented.

I thought it would be interesting to test Pilar's concern. I entered everyone in the contest the old-fashioned way: tickets in a kitchen colander. On your ticket I wrote how you won the point. (I am now realizing why this contest has taken me so long.) The winner in sheer point value is easily Diane at Peaceful Acres (who has pictures on her blog of the cleanest cow udder I have ever seen). Look for Diane to win one of these packages with her high odds. I didn't calculate the odds of someone winning who just left a comment, but figure it is fairly even money. (Many people left only a comment.)

The Winner

Future contest alert: Check this blog to see if you have won. You have a week to claim your prize. I'll keep all names in the colander through July but you can increase your chances my leaving more comments on the blog and via the list of suggestions below.


I have an old aluminum kitchen colander here with somewhere over 100 people in it, in some cases multiple times. Diane earned extra points for pasting information about the website across the Internet, to the sad exclusion of StumbleUpon, which may well be why Marjorie won instead last time. Pilar is sure that only leaving a comment means that you don't have a check to win since all entrants are able to earn points doing any of the following:

• Friend me or follow me on Facebook(here) or Twitter(here): 1 point each
• Stumble this entry, one of the food science pages, or anything that has caught your fancy.: 1 point.
• In Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn provide a link to some of the content here (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 1 point
• Provide a link to this contest from your blog: 2 points (but gosh, this just increases your competition, LOL)
• Blog about some of the content on this website (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 3 points

I had to copy that list from the old post because the list itself is no inane there is no way I can remember it.

Gentle e-mail messages to me have suggested the same:

"I have to do *what* to enter the contest?"

Technorati Tags: B vitamins, giveaway, liver, magnesium, Omega 3

For Nourishing Gourmet's weekly Pennywise Platter (which you should read for more money-saving food tips ~~ here is this week's post), I thought I would share one of my favorite frugal secrets -- The Grocery Outlet. If you are located in the western United States, you may just have this discount food store near you.

Shopping at The Grocery Outlet is a shopper's scavenger hunt with seasonal overstocks and the scratch-and-dent equivalent in the food market. You will find aisles of canned goods, cleaning supplies, and even whisky. The key to healthy shopping at The Grocery Outlet is knowing the sections of the store that contain the possibilities for gold.

When I go to the Grocery Outlet, I skip most sections of the store but never miss the dairy and meat case. I have purchased New Zealand butter that was the darkest yellow I have seen. The price rivaled any sale butter in a grocery store (about $2.50/pound) but it had the benefits of grass fed butter. Granted, it was shipped across the sea, but I purchase it nonetheless. I have found deals on gourmet cheeses as well.

Near the refrigerated dairy items I always look at the packaged meat items. You can usually find a gourmet sausage and could well find just about anything else. I skip the bologna. :)

The other primary area I scope is the canned meat section. I find Alaskan pink salmon fairly regularly for $1 for a 15-ounce can, a high Omega 3 depression-fighting fish. They often have sardines, another fish high in beneficial fats.

My mother makes a bee-line to the $1 wine that she uses for cooking. On occasion, she finds a wine she actually likes to drink. My husband makes a bee-line to the gourmet ice cream in the freezer section, though I have to warn that sometimes the ice cream has been partially melted previously and has that not-so-satisfying "crunchy" texture. The prices are great, though, and make it worth risking crunchy ice cream and cooking wine.

Find a location near you: Grocery Outlet store finder.

Happy hunting!

Giveaway results

I can hear the firecrackers popping as I make my way north to Seattle for the raw milk symposium sponsored by the American Veterinarian Medical Association.

It appears that some speakers are worried that their talk will be the most controversial. Most of us prefer not to have that designation. I spoke to another speaker today who said, "You don't have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun one other person in the group."

With that advice in mind, I packed flat-soled shoes. I should have looked for something in camouflage as well. Bill Marler on the Marler Blog and David Gumpert on The Complete Patient have posted a bit about the meeting.

Raw milk politics is strangely and somewhat absurdly, highly contentious.

The giveaway

Congratulations to my new Facebook friend Teresa Stone who has won the triple fun pack of Omega 3 oil, B complex vitamins, and easily absorbed magnesium. Teresa should contact me sometime in the next week and I will get her package to her. Facebook would be a good place to do that or simply here in the comment. Leave your U.S. mailing address and I'll remove it before posting the comment.

Speech Teresa?

Previous winner Terri Mac will be getting desiccated liver tablets to help her through her dissertation. I sure wish I had them back then.

Enter to win in this twice-weekly giveaway by simply leaving a comment on this blog, anywhere at all. (U.S. addresses only.) In the coming week, I will announce two winners later in the week after I have recovered from the above-mentioned symposium. Winners will receive the desiccated liver product (Ultra 40 on this page). Increase your chances doing these things:

• Friend me or follow me on Facebook(here) or Twitter(here): 1 point each
• Stumble this entry, one of the food science pages, or anything that has caught your fancy.: 1 point.
• In Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn provide a link to some of the content here (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 1 point
• Provide a link to this contest from your blog: 2 points (but gosh, this just increases your competition, LOL)
• Blog about some of the content on this website (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas or check FoodGraphs.net): 3 points

Technorati Tags: B vitamins, dairy, giveaway, magnesium, Omega 3, raw milk

I should venture on to YouTube more. You never know what you are going to find and if it makes you laugh, all the better.

Here is a Chris Rock interview on a natural cure for depression.

Nope, it's not weed. It's hard liquor. There is a classic moment at 2 minutes 5 seconds where Rock says, "But isn't alcohol a depressant?" (Indeed alcohol is a depressant.)

The expert says, 'What's in the measles vaccine, Chris? Measles! It works by introducing a mild form of it in your system."

Guys in white coats cart the expert off at the end of the video.

***

The contest winners for this past week are still pending. I am having trouble getting into my FaceBook profile to add names to the colander. Hopefully I'll announce them tomorrow and we have a new round this week. Check back to see if you won. The ever-active commenter on this blog, Diane, posted her winnings on her own blog.

The book is apparently just about ready.

I am making up for lost time in these giveaways since I was running around at a milk symposium. Last week was supposed to be a week of the desiccated liver giveaway. "Yummm," you say sarcastically, but I have to say, there is something about the product that gives me a lot of energy. I take the Ultra 40 product on this page. I like it for price and quality. Liver may be one of nature's best depression-fighting foods.

I'll give away three right now to get us reasonably up to date. Last week's winners announced one week late (paralleling the very late appearance of the book on this website) plus the first winner for this week are:

• Kari who left a comment a few weeks ago on a giveaway post.
• Jenny who left a comment on the Grocery Outlet post.
• Gandree on Twitter.

Congratulations ladies! Contact me within the next ten days to claim your prize. If you ladies don't want to try desiccated liver tablets, I'll send you a book since they are here this week. Leave a comment here, add your U.S. address to it, and I'll remove the address before I post it. My rebuild email is under the weather today.

I will announce the next winner later in the week. The winner will receive a package of Omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium, and B vitamins.

If you are just joining this contest, enter to win by leaving a comment anywhere on this blog. I will ship to any U.S. address. Increase your chances by doing the following (the Diane and Leesie method):

• Friend me or follow me on Facebook(here) or Twitter(here): 1 point each
• Stumble this entry, one of the food science pages, or anything that has caught your fancy.: 1 point.
• In Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn provide a link to some of the content here (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 1 point
• Provide a link to this contest from your blog: 2 points (but gosh, this just increases your competition, LOL)
• Blog about some of the content on this website (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas or check FoodGraphs.net): 3 points

Technorati Tags: B vitamins, giveaway, liver, magnesium, Omega 3, Twitter

I was reading the Afterword for the book (which is now available) that I wrote about six months ago now. I describe in the new version of the Afterword how emotional I was when I realized that not only did I have another baby, but I had a second that looked just like the first. Postpartum depression steals so much from you. You cannot enjoy those tender moments with your baby and they grow up so fast. I had grieved the loss of Frederick's infancy a great deal over the past seven years and found myself so emotional when I realized that not only did I have a second healthy baby, I had one who looked just like the first. I wrote a recap about a month ago about the postpartum depression story on Alastair's six-month birthday.

In this context, I thought I would be self-indulgent and post pictures of these twin-like boys. Here is their birth, also twin-like in the c-sections and their NICU stay for pneumothorax:

Here we are at about a month or so postpartum:

I may be just about the luckiest person in the world.

~~~

Giveaway
Congratulations to Jessica Flohr, my FaceBook friend, who won in the latest supplement giveaway. She wins the jumbo pack of Omega 3s, B vitamins, and magnesium. She should contact me within the next week or so to claim her prize. Jessica could leave a comment right here with her address (and I'll remove the address before posting) or contact me on Facebook. Apparently I have been having comment problems here, problems with my email, and my Facebook account was hacked this morning. So if you have problems, it's probably on my end. I wonder who has time to hack.

We have two more winners in the coming week, one for the jumbo pack like Jessica won and one for a desiccated liver product. Early in the week is the liver, later the jumbo pack.

If you are just joining this contest, enter to win by leaving a comment anywhere on this blog. I will ship to any U.S. address. Increase your chances by doing the following:

• Friend me or follow me on Facebook(here) or Twitter(here): 1 point each
• Stumble this entry, one of the food science pages, or anything that has caught your fancy.: 1 point.
• In Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn provide a link to some of the content here (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 1 point
• Provide a link to this contest from your blog: 2 points (but gosh, this just increases your competition, LOL)
• Blog about some of the content on this website (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas or check FoodGraphs.net): 3 points

Remember to contact me to claim your prize.

Technorati Tags: giveaway, postpartum depression, pregnancy, Rebuild from Depression