Magnesium... a picture-less post

Eight out of ten Americans unknowingly suffer from a deficiency in Magnesium. I am one of those, and I know this because two doctors have now told me so after I had some tests run. Naturally, I had to research the heck out of Magnesium once I was told I needed to supplement it. I found that there are over 300 types of cells in our bodies that rely on this mineral for health. When our levels are low, our bodies could feel more tired, fatigued, and anxious than usual. Heart palpitations can also indicate a low Mg level, which was my biggest indicator.

Also, I've read of a number of ailments that have been scientifically proven to improve when the sufferer started using Magnesium. These include acid reflux, panic attacks, depression, infertility, adhd, cardiovascular conditions such as arrythmias & stroke, menstrual cramps, constipation, migraines, IBS, insomnia, sore muscles, and tooth decay. There are many more benefits, but as you can see, many of us could benefit from this supplement.

My doctor recommended 400-500 mg per day, but this may differ for each individual. Avoid the form Magnesium oxide, as it can cause loose stools. Look for malate, citrate, or glycinate instead. Besides an Epsom salt bath, one of my favorite ways to get extra Magnesium into my day is topically, through a homemade Magnesium Lotion that I of course found on Pinterest. Unlike many of my Pinterest attempts, this one actually turned out very nicely. I use about 1 teaspoon of it on the bottoms of my feet every night. I've added Lavender essential oil, and I call it my sleepytime cream. Of course, I'm sharing the recipe here!

First you need to make some Magnesium Oil, which is easily done with 2 ingredients: distilled water and Magnesium Chloride Flakes. I found my flakes on Amazon. Simply bring 1/2 cup of distilled water to a boil in a small pan then remove from heat. Stir in 1 heaping cup of flakes until they have dissolved. Oil is made! Set it aside for a moment.

Now put 1/2 cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup shea butter, and 2 Tbsp beeswax in a separate pan on low heat and stir until everything is dissolved into a liquid. Remove this from the heat and let this cool until it turns opaque, as in you can't see through it. This will take a few minutes but it's important to wait.

Once your mixture is cooled, whip it with a blender while slowly pouring in the Magnesium oil. The slower you pour the oil in, the better it will blend up. Don't rush. Keep whipping until well blended into a thick lotion, then add 20-30 drops of the essential oils of your choice and blend them in thoroughly. TaDa! You have made Magnesium Lotion! This makes around 10 oz. and keeps for around 6 months.

I hope you like this lotion as much as I do, and I thank Devotional Family for the fabulous recipe.

How I use essential oils to clean my home

It's been said that cleaning your house while your children are growing is like shoveling the drive while it's still snowing. I fully believe this! Yet, I love a good, clean smelling home. Enter essential oils. Before my discovery of them, cleaning my home, especially the bathroom, felt like a toxic undertaking. The cleaners bothered my nose and my lungs. I felt like I needed to wear a mask for some tasks! But now I use vinegar, baking soda, even vodka and some essential oils to keep things sparkling and smelling nice. The fact that I'm not inhaling fumes is an added bonus.

The picture above is the furniture spray that has replaced my Pledge. It smells so much more naturally like lemon than commercial dusting sprays, simply because it is natural. Another one of my new must have's is my Thieves and Vodka counter spray. So simple! In your choice of spray bottles, mix a ratio of 1/2 water and 1/2 vodka. Add 10-20 drops of Thieves, depending on the size of your spray bottle. Shake before each use and disinfect your countertops with this germ killing combo.

Since adding Purification to my laundry detergent, my old towels have new, fluffy life! I also like to add whatever scent I'm in the mood for to a wet washcloth and toss it in the dryer to make everything smell delightful once its dry.  Purification or Lemon are my oils of choice to add to a cup of vinegar and pour into the bottom of the dishwasher before running a load. Adding Thieves to a spray bottle of distilled water works great as an air freshener and airborne germ killer. Misting Lavender water over bedding makes a room smell nice and is also relaxing at the day's end.

The possibilities really are endless, but here are some other great ideas, most of which I have done so I can attest to their worthiness:

• Put 5 drops of your favorite scent on a cotton ball and place in your vacuum cleaner bag. Geranium can help with animal odors.
• To dispel of household cooking odors, add a few drops of clove, cinnamon, or a citrus based oil to a simmering pot of water.
• Kitchen sink scrub - Mix 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/8 cup vinegar, and 5 drops each of Bergamot and Lime. Put mixture in sink and scrub. Rinse with warm water.
• Place 1-3 drops of Thieves or Purification on a cotton ball and place on bottom of trash can or diaper pail. Helps eliminate odors and kills germs.
• To clean and increase shelf life of fresh fruit, fill a bowl with cool water and 2-6 drops of Lemon. Drop rinsed fruit into the water and stir.
• Use 1-2 drops of Lemon to remove gum, oil, glue, adhesive, or crayon from most surfaces.
• For a carpet deodorizer, add 5-10 drops of your favorite oil to a box of baking soda. Mix well and sprinkle over carpets. Let sit for an hour or more and then vacuum. 
• Soak dishcloth overnight in a bowl of water with a few drops of Lemon to disinfect and kill germs.
• Bathroom refresher - Place a few drops of Purification or your favorite scent on a cotton ball and place behind toilet. 
• When washing out the fridge, freezer, or oven, add Lime, Grapefruit, Bergamot, or Lemongrass to the final rinse water.
• For general purpose cleaning - Mix 1 cup vinegar, 2 cups purified water, and 10 drops of Thieves or Purification in a spray bottle. Shake well before each use. Great for mirrors, countertops, and general cleaning.
• To help keep ants, squirrels, spiders, or mice away, place 3-6 drops of Peppermint on a cotton ball at the place they enter.
• To help keep flies away - Mix 25 drops of Peppermint or Lavender with 16 oz. purified water in a spray bottle. Shake well before each use.  Can be used on counters, windows, and doors. 

The last two suggestions regarding critters really do work, by the way. We used to have terrible problems with ants. Not since introducing them to peppermint oil! They stay outside now, where they belong.

Cleaning the toilet is fun, said no one ever. But here is a way to make a science experiment while you scrub the commode. Do these steps in this exact order: first pour 1/2 cup white vinegar in, followed by 10 drops of Melaleuca A (tea tree oil), and finally 1/2 cup of baking soda. Watch the fizz, then scrub away! Fun for the little ones to watch, no chemicals, and smells great.

I hope someone gets a fun cleaning tip from this posting. If you have any other great, all natural ways to clean, please do share!

Your kid is sweet enough

Last week, a good friend and I sat down together for a long overdue lunch and catch up chat. We have a lot in common, both advocates for healthy eating, so naturally our discussion turned to nutrition. In particular, sugar. Like me, she watches how much of the evil white granules she consumes, and keeps a close eye on her kids' consumption, too. She often tells her girls when they have a sweet treat that they have had their sugar for the day. Well one day, before a game, her softball player had chosen a sweet treat to enjoy while they were out for lunch before heading to the ball park. My friend told her daughter, "Okay but now you can't have a treat from concessions after you play." Okay. Fair game. Off to ball park. As you mothers out there can imagine, after the game, here comes the softball player wanting to buy something from concessions because all her friends were. Mom of course reminds the child of her lunchtime indulgence. Child screams, "You are the ONLY mom I know who says You've had your sugar for the day!!!"  And my friend admitted to me that she wonders if she should back off a little, let them eat how their friends eat, which mostly is whatever they want.

Later that day, I thought a lot about that discussion, and I wish I had said, "Absolutely not. Do not back off, not even a little." She is teaching her daughters a valuable lesson in balancing their diets, especially where sugar is concerned. The World Health Organization is now recommending for an adult in a normal body mass index range, no more than 25 grams of added sugars in their daily diets. That's about 6 teaspoons. There are up to 10 teaspoons in one can of soda! One can, friends, and I know teenagers who guzzle down 4-5 cans a day. In fact, it is now estimated that the average American child consumes 32 teaspoons of sugar daily. That's WAY more than the recommended 6 teaspoons.

So why does it even matter? Why should we be concerned about the amount of sugar our children consume? Well, because it's not just in their Snickers bars anymore. It's being added by the heaping spoonful to every processed food on the shelves. It's in fast food French fries, canned soup, frozen pizzas, crackers, peanut butter. It's the number one ingredient that has replaced the fat in all the fat free goodies in the stores. Sugar is wreaking havoc on the health of our youth because they are consuming so much more of it than their bodies can handle. We have young children and teens now seeing diseases that in the past have only been seen in adults, and it's gotta be our Standard American Diet, people. SAD, isn't it? Our refined sugar habit has been linked to obesity, acne, nervous tension, hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypoglycemia, skin irritation, headaches, stiffening of arteries, fatigue, and violent behavior. And yes, these health problems are affecting more and more of our youth population.

Let's talk about insulin. Insulin is a hormone we produce that helps our bodies decide how to derive energy from the foods we eat. Dr. Sara Gottfried explains how this works in the following quote from her book, The Hormone Reset Diet. "Your body runs on glucose, and insulin is one of the master switches. When serving you properly, insulin takes the glucose from the occasional cupcake you eat and stores it in the cells of the liver and muscles as glycogen - a storage form of glucose that can be broken down readily when you need fuel. You are filling up your tank with the gas it needs to run, and sometimes an aggregate of several thousand glucose molecules are kept in the glycogen storage space, like stacking Legos, depending on your fitness. But the catch is that you can only store a small amount of glycogen at any given time. When you eat a cupcake or two every day, there may not be room left in your tank to store the glucose as glycogen. Then insulin turns devious, transforming from a fat-burning hormone into a fat-storage hormone once the glycogen tank is full." In this example, cupcake can be interchanged with any refined sugar filled food, be it bread, a donut, a coke, whatever. So when you make several junky food choices per day, your storage fills up fast and you're stuck converting those carbs into fat instead of using them for fuel, and your body gets sicker and sicker and sicker.

Sugar scares me. The amount of sugar my own children consume daily terrifies me for their future health and I know I harp on them about it too much because of this fear. But I know their diets are just different now than children's diets used to be and the foods they eat are more processed than ever before. I don't want my children facing issues like diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, etc. at a young age, or any age for that matter. So I've got to follow my friend's lead and remind them, maybe a lot more gently than is my nature, to count their sugars daily. To quietly say to them, "I think you've had your sugar for the day" while they are young may save them a lifetime of health problems later. I'm willing to 'be that mom' for their well-being. Thank you, Tricia, for the reminder.

An Oily Post

Essential oils have been around since the beginning of time. There are many mentions of the use of them in the Bible, such as the oil Spikenard being poured over Jesus' feet days before His death on the cross or Queen Esther being massaged with Myrrh for 6 months in preparation for her marriage. Essential oils, by definition, are highly concentrated aromatic essences of plants from around our world. The oils are extracted directly from wood, flowers, fruit, leaves and/or roots. There are countless uses for essential oils. From aromatherapy to personal care to household solutions, every aspect of daily life can be enhanced by incorporating essential oils into your routine.

While there are several companies out there with lines of essential oils, Young Living products are my preferred choice simply because they have stood the test of time and proven themselves as pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils. I use Young Living products in many ways, more and more each day. I flavor my water with Lemon oil, use Frankincense in my homemade nightly face cream, and clear sinuses clogged by allergens with the allergy bomb trio of Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint. I've been using Stress Away both by diffusion and in smoothies to restore a sense of equilibrium. I mix Citrus Fresh with baking soda to sprinkle on my carpets before vacuuming, rub Thieves on the bottom of my feet if I feel a cold coming on, and massage PanAway onto sore muscles after running or bootcamp. DiGize helps ease an upset stomach and Dragon Time aids in many monthly PMS symptoms. I'm in the beginning stages of learning the multitude of uses for these oils, and I have to tell you, it's so much fun! I'm really having a blast with them, and I feel good knowing I'm using natural, chemical-free ways for personal hygiene, health, and household cleaning.

Today I'd like to share a list of ways to use essential oils in your beauty routine. This list is by no means complete, but it gives you an idea of the many uses. More creative minds will find 100 other ways, I'm sure! Always remember to read the instructions for each individual oil you use as some should be diluted with a carrier oil before using (grapeseed, coconut, sweet almond, rosehip, jojoba are a few examples of carrier oils) and some essential oils should not be taken internally. Use caution when using any oil with children.

BEAUTY USES

• Clogged pores - Apply 2-4 drops of Lemon or Tea Tree to affected area and gently remove with cotton ball.
• Nail strengthening recipe - Mix 10 drops each Frankincense, Myrrh, and Lemon to 2 tbsp Vitamin E oil. Mix ingredients together and store in glass bottle. Rub on nails and cuticles twice per week.
• Wrinkle reducing blend - Mix 5 drops Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood, 4 drops Geranium, 3 drops Lavender, and 6 drops Frankincense with a carrier oil and apply to area. Keep away from eyes.
• Dandruff blend - Mix 5 drops Lemon, 2 drops Lavender, 1 drop Rosemary, and 2 drops Peppermint with 2 tbsp of a carrier oil. Massage into scalp thoroughly for 1-2 minutes and leave on for 10 minutes. Shampoo as usual.
• Stretch marks - Mix 5 drops Frankincense, Myrrh, Coriander, Lavender, or Gentle Baby blend with 5 drops of a carrier oil and massage onto stretch marks twice per day.
• Face moisturizer - Mix 1 drop Elemi, Frankincense, or Lavender with a carrier oil for an evening moisturizer before bed.
• Natural face scrub - Mix 1/4 cup plain yogurt, 1/4 cup cornmeal, and 5 drops each of Patchouli, Grapefruit, and Lavender. Store any unused mixture in the fridge and use within a few days.
• Skin toner - Mix 8 oz purified water, 2 drops each of Lavender, Palmarosa, and Rosewood in a clean bottle. Apply the toner to skin with a cottonball after cleaning. Shake well before each use.
• Place 1-2 drops of Rosemary or Carrot Seed on hair brush before brushing to promote growth and thickness.
• Perfume recipe - Mix 25 drops of Lavender, Patchouli, Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood, Geranium, or your favorite scent to wear to 1 oz of good quality vodka. Let age 2 weeks before using. Apply on neck, wrists, behind knees or ears.
• Stress soothing massage oil - Mix 2 drops each of Lavender, Ylang Ylang, German Chamomile, and Bergamot or 2 drops of Stress Away to 5 tsp of a carrier oil. Stir mixture and massage onto body.
• Dry hair hot oil conditioner - Mix 15 drops Rosewood and 5 drops each Sandalwood, Geranium, and Lavender and 4 tbsp of a carrier oil. Place mixture in a small plastic bag and place the bag in a hot cup of water for 1 minute to warm. Apply, then wrap hair in a towel for 20 minutes. Wash hair as normal.
• Hair loss help blend - Mix 3 drops each of Rosemary, Cedarwood, and Lavender with 2 oz Jojoba carrier oil in a container and shake well. Massage into hair and scalp for 5 minutes. Leave on hair for 1 hour, then wash. Use 1-2 times per week.
• Sunscreen - Mix 5 drops each of Myrrh and Carrot Seed with 10 drops of a carrier oil and apply for 40 SPF.
• Oily hair repair blend - Mix 9 drops each of Ylang Ylang, Lime, and Rosemary with 2 tbsp of a carrier oil. Massage into hair and scalp. Wash hair as normal. Use 2-3 times per week.
• Natural lotion - Mix 8 oz unscented lotion with 10 drops Myrrh, 15 drops Geranium, and 5 drops Ylang Ylang. Keep in an airtight container. Be creative! There are many combinations possible here.

As always, contact me with any questions/concerns you have. Stay healthy, keep calm, and use oils!

In today's cup

This is my favorite green breakfast smoothie. We all have products we like, products that make us feel good and that we believe in. One of mine is this Green Superfood from Amazing Grass. Actually, I love all the Amazing Grass products that I've tried, including their protein powder and their immunity boosting powder. But this one is my favorite. Alkalizing and energizing, it sets my intention for my day on healthy and fulfilling. I truly do feel a difference when I start my day in this way. Here's what I blend with one scoop of the green superfood powder:

• 1 cup coconut water (regular water or rice milk works, too)
• 1/2 of a frozen banana
• 1-2 drops of Stress Away essential oil 

Today, I also added a mango. They are my favorite and they are in season! Anything you like can be added, really. Cherries is another fruit I like to add. 

Usually, I buy my Amazing Grass products at Earth Fare, but I'm sure Whole Foods has them as well. Or any health food grocery store, or even online. If you end up trying it, let me know what you think. And, no, they are not paying me to endorse their product. Darn it! 

Peri-what-o-what?!?

"You have entered perimenopause."  Say what?!

It was said quite matter-of-factly to me this past January at my annual doctor's appointment. The woman whom I had trusted with my health since I was 22 years old, the one who doled out great advice to me on everything from nutrition to skin care to hemorrhoids, the woman who delivered my precious baby girl, for crying out loud - this woman was feeding me a line of crap. No, no, no, I insisted. I'm just moody, and bloated, and forgetful, and more irritable than usual, and bloated, and I have a bit of insomnia, my heart has been palpitating some, I can't focus, I get dizzy easy. Did I mention how bloated I was? And I seem to have gained about 10 pounds that refuse to budge. That's all. Oh, wait a minute....Oh!!!

She was right. Perimenopause, that time in a woman's life that resembles puberty in reverse, had found me. Overtaken me. Threatened to out smart me. After going home, processing, giving myself time to cry (yes, I cried. Don't judge.), I decided my hormones were not going to get the best of me. I am reserving the best of me for my family and friends. Hormones will have to take a back seat. 

So I've been educating myself slowly... reading books, perusing blogs, taking what I know from my schooling in nutrition to tweak my diet, learning from others' trial & error in their journeys, adding & subtracting supplements to my daily regime, and beginning to use more essential oils daily (which has been way more helpful than I ever could have imagined.) I'm tackling the issues one by one, starting with the issue that is driving me the craziest. That would be bloating. I am over it. Over. It. 

As I go through this life phase, it helps me to write (okay, rant) about it, so I'm going to use this blog to do just that. And I'll share any tips, tricks, and tid-bits that help me, as well as those that just don't. Maybe someone out there will take something from here that helps them. 

When it comes to bloating, here's a list of foods I've found make it so much worse for me. Chocolate, alcohol, bread, dairy (except Greek yogurt - plain- without the yummy fruit flavors, unfortunately), caffeine, carbonation, gum, pasta, and sugar. That last one is my nemesis. I know sugar does me absolutely no favors, especially as I age. But I love it so! 

I've been doing my best to avoid these bloating triggers, especially sugar, as well as following this list of advice:

1. Don't drink through a straw. This causes you to swallow extra air, resulting in bloating. Plus I've heard it makes your mouth wrinkle and age prematurely.
2. Skip chewing gum and hard candy. Doing these things also causes extra air to be swallowed.
3. Avoid carbonation. The yummy fizzy drinks are full of gas and will bloat your belly.
4. Cut down on caffeine. It may over-stimulate your gut, causing it to puff up. 
5. Cut back on alcohol. It's very dehydrating and constipating, which is another fun peri- symptom in and of itself that quite obviously causes bloating. 
6. Eat potassium-rich foods. Potassium can help relieve bloating by reducing water retention. These foods include in order from highest in potassium to lowest: lima beans, kale, avocado, spinach, salmon, banana, mushrooms, broccoli, beets, cantaloupe, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, cabbage, yogurt. 

Probably the two most important habits I have that help me the most are exercise and staying hydrated. If not for my running and my Indy Adventure Boot Camp, I would be the biggest hot mess in town. I am a full believer that if you are not lifting weights, especially after the age of 40, you are doing yourself an injustice. I love my bootcamp very much and this year, I'm striving to use heavier weights because I know the benefits will way outweigh the struggle.

 Also, I'm recording my ounces of water that I drink daily and trying to keep it at 80 oz. or more. This seems to really help with my bloating problem. The timing of when I drink has become important as well. In the book, The Food Babe Way by Vani Hari, she explains why we should not drink with meals. She says, "If you drink cold water with your meal, energy required for digestion is diverted. While eating, you want all of your energy directed at breaking down food so your body can easily assimilate the nutrients and eliminate waste and toxins." Wow! That made so much sense to me and since I've been practicing this habit, my bloating has decreased significantly. She recommends drinking your water 20 minutes before meals or 30-60 minutes after meals. 

Lastly, there are two essential oils that I'm using to help ease both bloating and just general women issues. Those are Di-Gize and Dragon Time from Young Living, which is the brand I use because of it's purity and track record in the industry. For some reason, the herbs that were recommended to me for women issues did not settle well with my system. I became very dizzy and nauseous while on them. So I switched recently to oils, and though I was somewhat skeptical, I have been more than thrilled with the results I'm seeing (and feeling)! 

Therein lies what I've learned about bloating so far. Mine has eased up since following all this advice, which makes me less irritable, so that's two menopausal dwarfs tackled at once! Now if I could just quit waking up at 2 a.m...