Victoria’s morning secret….

I am up pretty early this morning and following the ritual of drinking warm lemon water. In the past 15 years… wow I am 32 as of yesterday! I struggled with painful pimples, usually showing up on my face, for everyone to see. Now there was obviously a vain part of me that was upset about these blemishes because they looked horrible but the pain was even worse than my own ego. I am not sure if I technically had acne, but there was a year I visited India and with the change in diet, humidity and air quality… it was acne.

I was pretty close to trying acne medication and I even bought proactive at one point but left it in the box after hearing horror stories, I eventually ended up giving it to someone who was less afraid of it than I was;) I never did hear about the results… In any case, I tried everything and spend a lot of money on creams, lotions and cleansers. I even just tried to come to terms that I had bad skin, and that was my life…

So here is what I have found has worked for me and some of my friends who I have talked about it with:

Wake up in the morning and drink 2-3 glasses (I do a mason jar) of filtered warm water with 1 freshly squeezed lemon! (you can even add a bit of honey:)

That’s all! It barely costs a thing 😉 You must comply to this if you want to see results, which means do it every day!!! You probably won’t notice anything for about 3 months, but once you do you’ll not only see a reduction of pimples but your skin will be nourished and hydrated. I must be realistic, there is still some scaring but it is also slowly reducing.

I would love to hear other people’s experiences with this after they have tried it for at least 3 months.

I also use about 2 drops of a combination Jojoba and Avocado oil after washing with my personal favorite face wash by Aroma Crystal or sometimes a scrub from Twisted sister. That is just my preference though to wash off the make-up I sometimes like to sport.

Along with a couple of lifestyle changes, I have been following the morning lemon water routine for almost a year now, friends and family have noticed the difference. Three months in we went back to India, I barely broke out and the pain was gone! Sometimes, around menses I will still get a pimple or two but there isn’t pain and they don’t last half as long as they did before.  A grapefruit in the morning is also a nice way to Alkalize the body, after taking the water and grapefruit wait at least 15 min to eat or drink your coffee/tea. (If you are on blood pressure medication speak with your doctor about when or if you can take grapefruit)

This is free advice and it barely costs a thing to buy and squeeze lemons so it’s worth a try. Even if you don’t have bad skin drinking warm lemon water first thing in the morning stimulates and enables the digestive system to get a good clean start, helps the liver to function properly, has a high amount of Vit C boosting your immune system, increases acidity of your digestive system helping you better absorb calcium, prevents coronary heart disease, and lowers your risk for stroke, cataracts, gout, acid reflux and facilitates confidence.

It makes sense for the body as a whole and it’s really easy and I am sure you have heard about it before, so what are you waiting for? Do it 🙂

Will you eat green smoothies and hummus?

A couple inches of snow are still hanging around and it’s pretty chilly outside so Tal and I stayed in and experimented with some recipes.

I had made nut mylks before but never tried to make a green smoothie of them and my nut remains never really quite made it into something I desired to consume… So I want to share what we did with it all!

We made Almond mylk! There are various recipes for nut mylks and you can basically use almost any nut or seed for it.

Here is our process:

Soak the almonds overnight, we used about 1 cup of quality almonds this batch to 3 cups of water

Use a quality blender, you may want to reduce or add water depending on the consistency you desire. My vitamix is about 5 years old so I do half at a time.

empty contents into a Nut Mylk bag or cheese cloth surrounded by a bowl and squeeze;)

You can add cinnamon, honey, agave or any other sweetener of your choice. We did Dates (3-4), I added them in the beginning and soaked them overnight with the almonds.

This recipe should make up to about 1 litre of nut milk, store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated.

To make the Green Smoothie;

2 frozen bananas

1 cup of nut milk  (or any type of milk)

2 big handfulls of Spinach (you won’t even taste it)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbs Coconut oil

1/2 tsp of pure vanilla

Blend everything together and voila! serve cold:)

To make the Hummus:

1 1/2 cups of nut pulp (leftovers from nut milk recipe)

2 cloves of garlic (more or less, however you like it)

4 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp tahini or other raw nut butter

1 tsp of cumin

1/4 tsp of chili powder 

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp of water 

Blend all ingredients together adding the nut pulp last 1 Tbsp at a time. Add more water slowly to reach the consistency you desire. Store in airtight container in the fridge.

ENJOY!!!

What does your poo say to you?

I realize that this may seem like an uncomfortable topic but it’s important shit!

Type 1 has spent a long time in the colon and type 7 has the least lumpy stool at the end of the scale are hard to pass and may require a lot of straining. Loose or liquid stools at end of the spectrum are often too easy to pass – the need to pass them is urgent. Types 3 and especially type 4 are the ideal stools, as they likely to glide out.

The Bristol Stool Scale or Bristol Stool Chart is a medical aid developed by Heaton and Lewis at the University of Bristol and was first published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology in 1997. The form of the stool is dependant on the time it spends in the colon.

There is some debate on the “perfect poo” for a more information check out :

http://www.fibermenace.com/gutsense/transition.html

For the #1 Bum

I did a lot of research about diapers before I even knew I was pregnant. I bought a couple of different Cloth diapers when I was pregnant and I am somewhat strangely attached to them… I tend to show them off whenever I get the chance and I am sure it seems quite odd. Here are some of the reasons why I love ’em:

Obviously the environmental impact, disposable diapers end up in landfills, the feces should be removed out of the disposable diapers before it is put in the trash but that is rarely done. Our landfills contain about 5 MILLION TONS of untreated human waste and that is a breading ground for disease that can potentially affect our groundwater.

Cloth diapers obviously need water to wash but disposable diapers create about 2.3 times more water waste in the production and 3.5 times more energy. -http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/dangers-of-disposable-diapers. It also takes about 1 cup of Crude oil to create the Polyethylene plastic in one disposable diaper!

‘Acrylic acid is an ingredient used to make a resin called sodium polyacrylate (also known as super absorbent polymer, or SAP), which is used in disposables to make them highly absorbent… Adverse reactions such as skin irritation and respiratory problems have also been linked to SAP. SAP has only been used in disposable diapers for the past 20 years, so its long-term health effects on babies are currently unknown.’   –http://www.examiner.com/article/chemical-plant-explosion-may-hinder-disposable-diaper-production

So why would we want our babies fragile skin to sit in disposable diapers potentially absorbing 50 different chemicals including bleach, dioxins, dyes, SAP and others I can’t even begin to spell or pronounce? I have heard my generation say, ‘Well I was diapered with disposables and I’m okay’. Yet we wonder why there is an increase in cancers, asthma, allergies and hormone problems. http://www.unacceptablelevels.com/

Cloth diapers are the past and the FUTURE! They are ‘in’ again and it makes me so happy… I know, it’s strange. Here are some tips and more reasons for my cloth diaper passion:)

My son at 11 months old has NEVER had a diaper rash! When he was teething he got a lil’ red spot one day but it was healed with breast milk within hours. We have also never had a diaper ‘Blow-out’ and believe me this baby can poop! A couple of leaks from heavy nighttime pees yes, but disposables also leak.

There are a wonderful variety of diapers to choose from, wait until your baby is a couple months old before buying a whole wack of them as the fit will be different for each child. Here are some of the diapers I have tried:

BUMMIES – www.bummis.com– very good, simple-ish… especially in the first couple of months when baby doesn’t do the hokey pokey every time you change him/her 😉 Folding required!

APPLE CHEEKS -www.applecheeks.com– These are pretty good and Canadian made, the wonderful thing is that you don’t have to touch the insert as it agitates out in the washer…. and they are super cute!!! We find they don’t fit our son as good as some of the others unfortunately.

OMAIKI – www.omaiki.com – These are so very cute and Canadian as well. My son has figured out how to open the velcro and it will chafe on his skin at times. BUT i have recently found the snap ups and I am impressed:-)

MOTHEREASE – www.mother-ease.com– very soft on the skin, easy to use and i think will be great for potty training as the child can feel when they are wet. We have the bamboo/ organic cotton and they are super absorbant. I have never had a leak with these (+ a diaper cover of course)

SUSTAINABLE BABYISH- www.sloomb.com– I love these for nighttimes!!! I need more:-)

BUMGENIUS –www.bumgenius.com–  Probably my favorite as they are supposed to fit from beginning to the end of diapering, they are very easy to use and very absorbant, they keep my son feeling dry even when they are soaked. We have the One size pocket diapers, the ALL-IN-ONE is okay but takes longer to dry.

Most of these diapers are a bit pricy at first but it’s worth it! You don’t have to keep buying diapers and you can use them on more than one child or you can sell them on Kijiji!

Some parents are turned off cloth diapers because they purchase a whole bunch of bad ones at once, there are bad ones out there!!!

We are a family on a pretty strick budget therefore we don’t and didn’t buy a whole bunch of ‘baby’ stuff or decorate a room all ‘baby’… we spend money on the essentials use hand-me-downs try to reduce the   ‘junk’. Things like healthy food, cloth diapers, handmade mattresses (more on that another day) and a baby chariot were/are what we spend our hard earned moula on;)

I wash my diapers with NELLIES laundry detergent and I strip them with ROCKINGREEN http://www.rockingreensoap.com I sun dry them when possible as it is the best way to ‘bleach’ them. We have a bin with a charcoal filter that we keep the used diapers in, it keeps the smell at bay;) and I wash them every 2 days. I have cut my drying time in HALF by making 3 wool dryer balls… http://www.ehow.com/how_5151381_make-wool-dryer-balls.html or you can buy them http://www.ulat.ca/

‘Babes in Arms‘ is where I got most of my supplies and attended a class on cloth diapering  http://www.babesinarms.ca/

I encourage parents to try out some good diapers, you can even find ones that are new or used on Kijiji. You can also use a Diaper service which can be great and convenient!