Dairy Obsessed

I am completely obsessed when it comes to dairy.  I love cheese, butter, milk, sour cream and ice cream.  This goes back to when I was little.   My Grandma Anna and Grandpa Oscar used to take me for vanilla ice cream at the local ice cream stand near their house every summer.  There was always a slap of butter on the table at every meal.  I also remember drinking buttermilk while sitting on Grandma's counters learning how to make some of her favorite recipes.  You read that right thick, creamy, yummy, BUTTERMILK!  My grandmother will be 91 years old this year and she still drinks buttermilk and eats butter on a regular basis.  So I looked to see if there is something behind this.

Our bodies cannot absorb some vitamins without fat.  Vitamins A and D in milk are just a few.  Consuming full fat dairy has been linked to cardiovascular disease and stroke.  It is also great for weight loss/weight control.  Let's face, it nobody is craving that rubbery stringy texture of fat free cheese!  So knowing that it will not make a difference in weight loss no one should eat the fake stuff.

Check under the FOOD! tab for two new recipes using full fat dairy!
The buttermint recipe is to die for!

Celebrate Success No Matter How Small

I can sometimes get wrapped up in failures that I have experienced.  I think that I am among the majority when I say that.  Why is it that we focus so much on what still needs to be accomplished?  Why do we have so many excuses as to why we can't achieve what we want in life?
Here's a few tips for how I remind myself each day that I am successful.

1.  Take a few minutes before bed to write out tomorrow's to do list.
2.  As you accomplish things on the list cross them off (iPhone's have a list with checks)
3.  Create a dream board.  As you accomplish those things take them off or put a circle around them and replace it with a new goal.
4.  Celebrate small successes for yourself.  You can celebrate making the bed when you wake up, making a call to schedule that appointment you keep putting off, getting to the gym, ect.

I am currently working on a new dream board as I have already accomplished many of the things on my last board.  I highly recommend making one for yourself so you can remember why you are doing whatever it is that you are doing to get yourself there.

Stop Searching and Start Creating

I have been remodeling my bedroom recently.  I found a sign and I had to have it.  It reads, "Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself."

How many times do you find yourself searching for something?  Maybe it is motivation.  If I could just find the motivation I would be able to achieve X.  Maybe it is a job.  If I could just find a job I love, it would be X.  

I have discovered that those things cannot be "found".  They need to be CREATED.  I realized that I have the opportunity everyday to

1.  Create peace for myself

2.  Create a loving environment for myself

3.  Create my own motivation for what I am going to achieve

4.  Create my goals and work towards them everyday

5.  Create my own health

It's a new beginning each day and BIG things can happen in a matter of 24 hours.  There is no need to keep searching for something that cannot be found. What will you create for yourself today?  There's still plenty of time.

Don't Forget The Skin: Our Largest Organ

Many people work hard to purchase healthy options and non-GMO food for ourselves and our families.  I work hard to nourish my body with quality ingredients.  Until recently I did not realize that this included my skin.  Skin is the largest organ in our bodies.  Whatever we put on our skin absorbs into our body in 26 seconds or less.  Don't believe me?  Put a crushed piece of garlic between your toes, you will taste and smell it within the 26 seconds.  Go ahead...you know you want to try it.

Many of the products that I was using contained parabens.  What is so bad about that?  99% of breast cancer cells contain parabens in them.  It is also linked to infertility in both men and women.  It has estrogen like qualities and confuses our hormones.  United States standard allows over 1,000 chemicals that are banned in Europe.  

Mineral oil is the second most aging thing for the skin, (the sun is first) it creates a barrier and doesn't let your skin breathe.  So why would the cosmetic industry put this in their products?  It's cheap.

The next cheap thing that is added is rendered products.  If you are vegetarian you want to stay away from this.  This could be listed as tallow, lauric acid, or stearic acid (among many others).  This is animal by product that is added as a cheap filler.  The average U.S. woman ingests 5lbs of rendered product in her lifetime.  If the product was safe that would be fine, but most of the rendering comes from road kill, large meat processing plants and euthanized animals.  So there is no telling what kind of chemicals, antibiotics and hormones that could be in the rendered product.

If you would like information on products that do not have these ingredients in them feel free to email me at beckyeggert@gmail.com.  I will get you information.

If Coconut Oil Won't Fix It....Try Peppermint Oil

I have been getting kind of nerdy on oils and natural remedies lately.  A quote often heard by my close family and friends when they have something wrong is, "Coconut Oil fixes everything."  While I still believe that coconut oil is majorly underused for a host of things, including skin care, anti fungal, and great for cooking, I have been introduced to peppermint oil recently.  I was introduced to it because I have been suffering with digestive issues.  I wasn't sure if I was catching a bug (peppermint oil is a natural anti viral), or if I was getting the IBS issues that I had before going gluten free.  I was willing to try it and see what it could do for me.

I am recommending the brand doTERRA.  It is Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade that can be applied topically to the skin or ingested.  Make sure to do your own research. Here are a few of the things I found the most useful to know about peppermint oil.

Alertness and endurance-when ingested or used topically so you get the aromas of the oil it can increase your alertness and revive you in a mid afternoon slump.

Antioxidant-it has natural antioxidants that will get into the bloodstream by applying directly to the skin (it absorbs within 26 seconds) or ingesting it in tea, a beadlet, or infused in water.

Cold Sores and Fever Blisters-apply a small amount directly to the sore.  It has anti viral properties that will help.

Constipation and diarrhea- it can be applied to the abdomen or ingested to help both.

Fever-its natural cooling properties will help reduce the body temperature.

Heartburn-apply topically to the chest or ingest.

Hot flashes-again the cooling properties.

Lactation-apply a small amount to breast and massage and will increase lactation.

Nausea, motion sickness and vomitting-Inhale it until you can ingest it.  

Ticks-apply to the tick and it will back out within a matter of minutes.

Sciatica-massage into hips and work into lower back.  

When ingested the side effect is GREAT BREATH!  Who could argue at least trying it out to see if it will help?