pile of trash on a sidewalk

20 Ways You Can Reduce Waste in Your Every Day Life

For me, this year has been all about sustainability. As a social entrepreneur sustainability has two very important definitions that I take to heart every single day:

  • The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
  • Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.

The more I think about the future of my entrepreneurship the more this thinking has lead me to perform specific actions that condition me to be more thoughtful about my personal impact on the earth. Like all of us I am bombarded and indoctrinated by “throw away” culture on a daily basis. To counteract this toxic messaging I am constantly reading books, articles, and digital magazines as well as listening to podcasts that help me rethink the way I live. I am constantly asking myself what can I personally do to reduce my carbon footprint, minimize the amount of waste I am producing, and change my thinking around what “away” really means as it pertains to waste. There is no such thing as away and with this in mind I have forced myself to consider small ways I can improve the negative impact that I personally have on the environment. While it is true that I cannot save the earth alone it is also true that every small action that I take to reduce, reuse, and not produce waste has a cumulative impact on improving the earth.

“What can I do to reduce my carbon footprint and minimize the amount of waste I am producing”

To continue reading the full blog click here

DIY Organic Coconut Peppermint Toothpaste (REPOST)

In my quest to detox my life in as many ways as I can (read more here), re-sharing this simple DIY Organic Coconut Peppermint Toothpaste recipe. With only three ingredients it doesn’t get more simple than this. I already love it 100x more than the Crest I’m used to buying. The benefits of coconut oil are abundant. It’s definitely one of those things that I wish I would have done a while ago and I can’t believe I ever used anything else. Simple. Cheaper. Better. Natural.

DIY Coconut Peppermint Toothpaste

  • 1/4 cup organic coconut oil measured then melted
  • 2-3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 10 drops peppermint essential oil
  • 1 drop stevia (optional)
  • Melt coconut oil, add soda and peppermint oil drops. Mix to combine. Allow to set.

Original Post

 

Top Five Juice Nutrition Facts That Will Improve Your Life | Guest Post by David Hanson

Juicing is simply the process of extracting the liquid or juicy part of any kind of fruit that produces juice. In recent times, when the idea of juicing is becoming more popular, modern techniques of juicing now abound. You can now within the comfort of your home use a cold press juicer machine to squeeze out your delicious fruit drink.

My focus for this article is not on how you get extract juice from fruits, but to discuss juice nutrition facts that are important to your well-being. You will actually see how these nutritional facts will really make your life better; this is speaking in practical terms. Do you believe juice nutrition can truly contribute to healthy living? Let us find out anyways.

In no particular order, let us consider our 5 juice nutrition facts that will actually make your life better:

1. Allows you consume recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals

The nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables are many, but many of us still find it difficult to sacrifice our favorite kind of dishes for them. In many households, fruits and vegetables have been regulated to a weekly routine, rather than an everyday meal. The fact that juice extracts are sweeter and more convenient to consume means we can now consume enough vitamins and minerals every day. You can make it a habit to substitute your regular soft drinks or ice-creams for a delicious drink of fruit juice and your body will be thankful.

2. Your body is in a good athletic fit

There surely are no arguments about the benefits of fitness exercises. But there can be serious issues when the body is too stiff; it becomes hard to make all those flexible moves. What can be more frustrating than running out of gas after only a few minutes of workout?A tested replacement for performance enhancing drugs is the beet root. It can be taken as fruit juice extras. Its function is to improve muscle tolerance by aiding oxygen and blood movement in the muscles.

3. It can help boost your self-esteem

Looking good is everybody’s business; we all want to be the center of attraction in that formal or informal gathering. When you’re looking all radiant at the event, you are sure to grab the headlines. Oily foods can help you achieve this, but regular consumption of fresh cucumber with beet and carrot juice can. The nutrients from such fruit juice are good for the body. They will also help check your appetite for junk meals.

4. Fend off cancer more effectively

Like I mentioned earlier, people find it easier to consume the juice rather than actually eating the fruits and vegetables. Even if the juice will not absolutely do the functions eating the greens raw will do, it is better than taking nothing at all. For the cancer patients who need to refresh their body from the strain of chemotherapy, it is easier to swallow the juice for them.

5. It helps adjust to a fast-paced world easier

The speed at which every of our daily activities have to be carried out implies we have lesser time to cook meals. Fruit juice is your best bet while on the go, sometimes even helps you maintain the needed energy levels to keep you moving.

I hope these facts convince you about why you should seriously incorporate juice into your nutrition. This is even better, considering it is relatively inexpensive to maintain regular juice nutrition.

The question now is how you will go about your juice nutrition plan?

David is a freelance writer and juicing enthusiast.

Photo credit: Yes30 (cover)

What Chronic Fatigue Feels Like | Living with Fibromyalgia

I’m writing this post during what will most likely be my last chronic fatigue flare of 2017. Even though I’ve lived with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue (CFS) since 2010; every major flare seems like the first and even though mentally I handle them much better than I did in the past, it’s still difficult not to feel a surreal sense of death, doom, and despair.

It’s difficult not to feel a surreal sense of death, doom, and despair

The mental anguish and feeling that life simply cannot continue is what’s most difficult. Even though you know it will subside there’s always this feeling that maybe it won’t. This is what scares you the most.

Chronic fatigue is difficult to live with and live through but it is even more challenging to explain to others. It is so much more than just being tired, even more than being exhausted, and unless you’ve experienced it for yourself; you can never fully understand what it is like to live through an intense-severe chronic fatigue flare. Still it is my hope that through this post you might be understand the illness a little better and have an ounce more empathy for those of us living with these debilitating invisible illnesses.

What is Chronic Fatigue?

According to Medical News Today...Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) is a condition of prolonged and severe tiredness or weariness. It is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other conditions. CFS is a syndrome of persistent incapacitating weakness or fatigue, accompanied by nonspecific symptoms, that lasts at least 6 months, and not attributable to any known cause.

To be diagnosed with this condition, tiredness must be severe enough to decrease an individual’s ability to participate in ordinary activities by 50 percent. Chronic fatigue syndrome is much more than just feeling tired often. People with CFS are so run down that it interferes with their lives and can make it hard to function at all.

What is A Chronic Fatigue Flare?

So take all the information above and multiply it times one hundred and you essentially have what a CFS flare is. “A flare is the worsening or exacerbation of symptoms that already exist,” says Daniel Clauw, MD, professor of anesthesiology, rheumatology and psychiatry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “Patients use different time frames for what they consider a flare, but it’s generally several days or weeks of worsening symptoms. Anything shorter is considered normal waxing and waning of symptoms that someone with fibromyalgia can expect.”

When I’m in a fare I can literally sleep for 10-14 hours on end without let up. My entire body is weighed down and the entire experience is quite frightening. Imagine that someone has drugged you against your will and no matter how hard you try you simply cannot wake up.

Imagine that someone has drugged you against your will and no matter how hard you try you simply cannot wake up.

These sleep spells can last a few days, several days, or several weeks. Usually the sleep will let up slightly during the day to allow you to use the bathroom or maybe eat a bowl of cereal but for the most part any activity that requires any type of extensive brain or physical work

  • Cooking
  • Taking a shower
  • Doing laundry

are completely out of the question. At its worst, even getting out of the bed can literally takes hours upon hours. Other symptoms can include:

  • Internal fevers
  • Chills
  • Sweating spells
  • Muscle spasms
  • Nausea and more

But the #1 symptom is the exhaustion. Endless mind numbing exhaustion.

Getting out of the bed can literally takes hours upon hours.

So you seen CFS is no laughing matter. It is a real, tangible, debilitating illness that so far has o cure. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy and I pray for the day that it will be a thing of the past. Until then I share my experiences, spread awareness, and take one day, one flare at a time.

To learn more about chronic fatigue click here

Source: Medical News Today

What Is A Fibromyalgia Flare? | Living with Fibromyalgia (REPOST)

The second most common question that people living with fibromyalgia (or any chronic invisible illness for that matter) get asked next to What is Fibromyalgia is What is a Fibromyalgia Flare?

If you know someone living with this illness then you’ve probably heard them tell you on one occasion or another that they are experiencing a “flare up”. Trying to articulate what you mean by a “flare” is perhaps one of the hardest things to do mainly because “flares” look so different for each person.

Surprisingly, attempting to explain a flare is just as difficult as trying to understand a flare and it is for this reason that so many of us living with the illness avoid discussing our symptoms altogether.

However, education, awareness, and knowledge are important when dealing with any chronic illness- fibromyalgia or otherwise and it is only through explaining that we help all people grasp the truly omnipresent nature of chronic invisible illness and help everyone to better understand what we live with day in and day out.

It is only through explaining that we help all people grasp the truly omnipresent nature of chronic invisible illness and help everyone to better understand what we live with day in and day out.

To put it succinctly “Talking about our disease is the only way we can get the support, empathy, and understanding that we need from caretakers, health care providers, family and the greater public.

That being said, the article below (taken from Arthritis.org) provides the easiest and most succinct explanation of fibromyalgia “flares” and I hope that everyone reading it can understand just alittle bit better what those of us living with the chronic illness experience each and every day.

What Is a fibromyalgia Flare courtesy Arthritis.org

While a person with fibromyalgia might experience certain symptoms on a regular basis, when symptoms worsen or happen more frequently for a period of time, it is called a flare.

“A flare is the worsening or exacerbation of symptoms that already exist,” says Daniel Clauw, MD, professor of anesthesiology, rheumatology and psychiatry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “Patients use different timeframes for what they consider a flare, but it’s generally several days or weeks of worsening symptoms. Anything shorter is considered normal waxing and waning of symptoms that someone with fibromyalgia can expect.”

Symptoms of fibromyalgia include:

  • Widespread muscle pain
  • Fatigue that makes completing daily activities difficult
  • Stiffness, especially in the morning or after a long period of inactivity
  • Cognitive difficulties, also known as fibro fog, including problems with memory, concentration and organization
  • Emotional issues, such as anxiety, sadness or depression
  • Sleep problems, such as taking a long time to fall or sleep, frequent waking or waking up and still not feeling rested

While these are common symptoms among people with fibromyalgia, everyone experiences flares differently.

“People with fibromyalgia do not all experience flares the same way,” Dr. Clauw says. “A good way to explain it is that every person with fibromyalgia has their Achilles heel – their ‘thing’ that really gives them trouble. When their fibromyalgia worsens, that particular thing really gets bad.”

A person’s predominant symptoms during a flare can change over time.

Triggers for fibromyalgia Flares

One of the best ways to prevent a flare is to determine what might be causing it in the first place. These causes are called triggers. Like symptoms, triggers for fibromyalgia vary by person, but they can include:

  • Physical or psychological stress
  • Temperature and/weather changes
  • Hormonal changes
  • Traveling and/or changes in schedule
  • Changes in treatment
  • Diet
  • Poor sleep

“We know that any type of stress – not just psychological, but also physical, immune or anything that disrupts the body’s normal routine – can trigger a flare,” Dr. Clauw says. “Anything from a motor vehicle accident to surgery or another type of stressful life event can cause a worsening of symptoms. Flares can also be caused by behavioral triggers such as not sleeping well, suddenly stopping exercise or overdoing it on activity.”

Some flares are unavoidable, and certain triggers are beyond your control. You can try to identify what aggravates your fibromyalgia symptoms by keeping a log of your activities, what you eat, how you sleep and how all of those factors influence your symptoms. After logging these factors for several weeks, you might be able to see a pattern. This will help you know how to better manage the inputs that might trigger a flare.

To learn more click here

For the entire month of November, the blog will feature articles, features and information that is relented to chronic pain, invisible illness, and rare diseases in celebration of the U.S Pain Foundation’s annual KNOWvember campaign.

Source: Arthritis.org (article) The Vanguard Clinic (image)

 

 

Cookie Recipe Roundup | Twelve Days of Gluten Free Cookies 2017

The 2nd Annual Cookie Recipe Roundup Twelve Days of Gluten Free Cookies

The 2nd Annual Cookie Recipe Roundup compiles all the cookies that made this year’s Twelve Days of Gluten Free Cookies. I hope you are having a wonderful day, spending time with family, and eating amazing food & gluten free cookies. Until next year.

Most Viewed Cookie This Week: Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookie

Twelve Days of Gluten Free Cookies 2017:
(1) Dark Chocolate Chunk Eggnog Cookies

Eggnog + cookies = pure decadence

(2) Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip 

A gift from Ina

(3) Salted Cinnamon Sugar Caramel Apple Blondies

Caramel blondies

(4) Simple Shortbread

Shortbread delights

(5) Hazel Nut Almond Graham Crackers 

Gluten free graham crackers

(6) Grain- Free Loaded Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Grain free

(8) Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies with a twist

(10) Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

The best cookies ever

(11) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Carrot Cake Cookies

The perfect breakfast cookie

(12) Pumpkin Cheesecake + Shortbread Bars

Cheesecake + shortbread  = perfect match

 

Twelve Days of Gluten Free Cookies: Pumpkin Cheesecake + Shortbread Bars (Day 12)

It wasn’t until this year working in my bakery and (awesome) business partner that I started loving pumpkin flavored desserts. These quick shortbread cheesecake bars combine the best features of cheesecake atop a soft buttery shortbread cookie crust. The pumpkin flavor is an added bonus as is the nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice oh my. I think I’m making myself drool all over again just writing this post. Get into these cheesecake bars before the pumpkin season unofficially come to an end. Continue reading