2012 health challenges

Tomorrow I start my 2012 health challenges.  Not a lot, but I think by keeping it simple I will ensure a greater chance of success hahah.  Who knows, maybe I will add some more down the road.  But for now, here we go: 

-WATER CHALLENGE: drink 2 liters of water every day.  This is extremely hard for me because I am a human camel.  I can and do go whole days without drinking water, simply because I'm lazy, don't think about drinking, don't get thirsty, and because it's just hard to drink that much water.  I can't find the motivation.  I will say that I tried a few times to drink 2 liters of water a day, (and I think each time it lasted about 2 or 3 days) and I always really felt the difference.  My skin felt better-cooler, brighter and more vibrant.  People commented to me that my skin looked like it was glowing.  My whole body just felt better too.  It's rare that I can actually feel a health difference if I make a diet change..so I was excited to experience this..and I know that it really helps.

*for all you smoothie and juice drinkers, just a tip I found online: smoothies should be treated as a food, not a drink, because they contain very little water.  As far as fruit juices go, while their water content is high, they can contain quite a lot of sugar.  So stick to one glass a day (which can also count as one of your five-a-day portions of fruits and veggies). 

-HAND CREAM CHALLENGE: I never saw people using hand cream as much as I did when I moved to Germany.  These people are crazy about it.  It has made me become much more aware of how my own hands look, and how I never take care of my hands.  So, I'm going to challenge myself to use hand cream every day, at least once a day.  I actually have 2 kinds in my house, and barely ever use them.  But I do love them: they are both from Alverde, which is a cheap and all-natural certified vegan line you can buy at DM (which is the local Duane-Reade type drug store here).  

-TAE-BO CHALLENGE: Gonna try stick to doing 1 level of Tae-Bo a week, and doing each level at least 2 times a week with my husband.  I posted a link to the videos we are doing in an old post here.

So that's it!  Not too crazy.  Let's see if I can pull it off...I guess I will make some progress updates too ;) 

Smoothie drinking party

My husband is so adorable.  Today he called me from work and said in a really cute voice , "I wanted to invite you to a smoothie drinking party at 6" (at his work when he gets off).  It's a mix of his German coming through in his English, along with his super sweetness.  I wuv him.

Last night we spent a lot of time on ebay and youtube looking at the demos and price differences between Vitamix, Blendtec, and Juicespresso machines...and dreaming of the day we can make our own smoothies and juices at home.  It seems so close, yet so far away.

Are tampons safe?

I was never a really big fan of wearing tampons...and actually I didn't even start wearing them till I was 20, when my friends and I had a big beach trip planned and I got my period.  Why did I avoid wearing tampons?  In my mind, they were always so unnatural...the idea of sticking bleached cotton up into my body freaked me out.  The idea keeping something that is naturally trying to get out of my body from getting out was creepy.  I was scared of getting toxic shock syndrome or just damaging something up there in general.  A lot of women get grossed out by the idea of having to wear pads all day, with a lot commenting that they feel like digesting diapers.  Ok, it's true, they definitely don't feel amazing.  But I dunno, I just always sucked it up for that one week a month because of my fear of tampons.  Only occasionally does it get on my nerves.  

Normal tampons contain harmful ingredients.  Rayon (for absorbency), and Dioxin (a chemical used in bleaching the products).  The tampon industry is convinced that we, as women, need bleached white products in order to view the product as pure and clean.  The problem here is that the Dioxin, which is produced in this bleaching process, can lead to very harmful problems for a woman.  Dioxin is potentially carcinogenic (cancer-associated) and is toxic to the immune and reproductive systems.  It has also been linked to endometriosis and lower sperm counts for men. For both sexes, it breaks down the immune system.  Last September the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that there really is no "acceptable" level of exposure to Dioxin, given that it is cumulative and slow to disintegrate.  The real danger comes from repeated contact.  Women complain about migraines, increased cramp pains, and tons of other effects that are the direct cause of wearing tampons with these ingredients.  There is no way anyone can convince me that wearing normal tampons is natural and safe. 

Tampons are cosmetics and are many times tested on animals (you have to check your brand/company, testing laws in your country for more info).  If you have to wear tampons, please make sure to buy vegan, cruelty-free (and of course organic/bleach-free) tampons. 

So anyways, I suggest giving your body a break from tampons and giving cloth pads a try! (see my post on cloth pads here)

DIY Cloth pads

I decided to stick with the period theme this week since it's my special time of the month, and share some cloth pad info.  I guess by now most women are aware of the cloth pad fad...I remember first reading about it like 5 years ago on the net and being totally shocked.  I was at work and my female co-workers and I were looking at the pics and thinking about the idea and laughing about it.  But then while the other girls continued to laugh, I started to realize that cloth pads were actually not that crazy of an idea.

-environmentally friendly (reusable, so you don't have to create more trash)

-economical (reusable, so you don't have to constantly buy new pads or tampons)

-cute (lots of fun patterns)

-customizable (different shapes, sizes, and functions, add layers, etc)

-vegan!

-better for you than tampons (see my post on tampons here)

Today there are so many sites and shops where you can buy pads, wet bags (to store used pads in while you are on the go), storage bags (for unused pads) and all kinds of accessories.  But, if you're like me and you don't want to spend the money (even though it's actually cheaper in the long run to buy a bunch of cloth pads at one time than to buy disposable period products every month) then maybe you could try to make your own! Here is just one site I found that offers tons of free DIY cloth pad tutorials, patterns, and info: http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~obsidian/clothpads/DIYpads/

I really recommend checking it out.  I know a lot of people out there still think this is a gross idea, but it's really not.  I mean, think about what women did throughout history when they were on their period...they tied rags around themselves.  That's where we get the phrase "on the rag" actually.  It's just something we gotta go through.  So why not have at least a little bit of fun with it by getting some cute rags?? 

Period relief

Woohoo! It's that time of the month.  At least I don't have to work again till Tuesday.  The worst thing is having to stand in front of a room full of people for hours and teach while having cramps, feeling bloated, tired, and bleeding out of your vagina.  Ughhhh.

So today I will post a few tips to reduce menstrual cramps!

-Elevate legs by putting a pillow under your knees

-Use a heating pad on your lower abdomen

-Try to avoid chocolate/greasy foods and eat more cleansing foods like fruits/veggies to restore some balance.  Also avoid sugar and flour based products, pastas and stuff with preservatives if you can!

-Light exercise is good.  Even though all I wanna do is lay on the couch with my compter, some low impact moving around is actually good- light yoga, walking, pilates, etc

-Drink some tea.  Chamomile helps you relax. **if you have excessive bleeding you should stay away from tea.

-Sleep ;)

blow drying side swept bangs

Here's a little trick for getting your side swept bangs really flat from blow drying (without having to use a flat iron).  If you blow dry your bangs in the opposite direction you wear them in, you will avoid getting any lift or curl at the root of the bangs.

Before I started doing this, I always had a little lift in my bangs (like a mini 90's flip) and had to wear a hat for a while until it flattened out.  This trick is awesome, don't know why it took me so long to figure out.  Just blow dry in the opposite direction, and then when the bangs are dry, brush back to your normal part.  Ta da! No flat iron needed.  (Which is great...reduce the heat and damage to your hair!)

Board #2: Insomnia Cure

Today was my first day back at work after more than 2 weeks of break.  During the break I was staying up all night and sleeping till 1.  Today I had to get up at my usual 6:15am work time...and last night I was feeling the pressure to make sure I got a good night's sleep.  I went to bed at 11...but sleep was just not happening for me.  I was tossing and turning, looking at the clock every half hour, etc etc.  Basti was so sweet and got the computer so we could watch Fantasia in bed, in hopes that this would help me.  Still nothing.  Basically the last time I remember looking at the clock it said 5am.  Next thing I knew my alarm was ringing.

I know how you're supposed to make to-do lists and do something calm before going to sleep so your mind isn't racing with a million thoughts all night.  And how you should do like 45 min of exercise at one point during the day.  But none of that mattered after my 2 week stint of being on "spring break time."  And I was so worried about sleeping, that I just couldn't sleep.

Anyways, it's now 9pm and my eyes are burning and I'm preparing to try to pass out.  I was just googling the things I should have (and very easily could have) done last night to remedy my situation.  I had a perfectly willing-to-help husband who didn't have to work today, and he could have drawn me a lavender bath and made me a cup of chamomile tea to drink while relaxing and listening to Enya, and then given me a lavender oil massage.  Ahhh that sounds like heaven.  Why didn't I think of any of this last night??  I think those things could have definitely helped.  Oh well...I made another board to help me remember this for next time I get the insomnia bug.  Just looking at these images is making me sleepy now...