v e g a n

I just rewatched Forks Over Knives on netflix.. still amazing! I've watched it before and liked it a lot, and it really made be start thinking about what I was eating. I'd say the amount of meat I ate after watching it did slow down, but didn't stop like it has now.
Some of the other documentaries I like on netflix are Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and Food Matters, but I have pretty much every food related documentary on netflix in my Instant Queue ready to be watched in the near future.
I still can't believe how much my life is changing. Just from simply reading and watching some documentaries. All this information was out there, I just hadn't been listening before. I didn't care at all to eat better or use organic products. I am definitely feeling good about this though!!

I've decided that it is the smarter decision based on what I've learned to keep my family on a plant based diet. We're going to go all the way- Vegan. Since researching, I've found the benefits of ridding dairy are pretty amazing. Finding out that milk actually leaches calcium from the body, doing exactly the opposite of what the media says it does, really made an impact on me. Not only have I learned that we don't need milk to get what we need, but it just bothers me altogether that the media can blatantly lie like that. I read that it is well known in the medical field that milk is bad for you, yet they still do nothing about it. Unbelievable. I found a few websites that help guide parents of vegan families, & I'm loving them! 1 2 3 4 5 6 Here are some other sites I found pretty inspiring, 1 2 3 4 :) I also found a handy list of restaurants that serve vegan dishes, or how you can tweak them to become vegan. :)

How many meat eaters does it take to change a lightbulb?
None, they would rather stay in the dark about things. 

New me.

I feel like a completely different person. 

I don't even think the same way I did a few weeks ago. I'm obsessed with my book, Skinny Bitch, I'm reading labels on all my food, I'm getting into groups on Meetup that hike to explore plants and their natural healing methods, I'm gathering ideas about growing an herb garden in an old dresser drawer on my porch, I'm reading The Vaccine Book to finally find out the straightforward facts about vaccines, and I haven't ate meat in at least a week, I may be not be eating any dairy soon either. I know I can't make all these life altering decisions based off what one good book says, so I'm going to do my research, and if milk really is bad for your bones, which it looks like it is, we shall stop drinking it and get what we need from other foods.

Some books I picked up at the library!

I'm bugging the crap out of Jorge by explaining to him how terrible all the food is over and over again. Poor puy, he just wants to eat his meat everyday and drink his huge glass of milk, then give a glass of milk filled with some mexican 'enriched' chocolate powder that has who knows what in it to my kid one day. NO way jose! I am just trying to make him aware, like I am becoming by reading these books, I'm not trying to tell him to become a vegetarian like I am. Although it would be a hell of a lot easier if we did this together. But he's getting annoyed, and it's making me kind of sad. I don't think he's going to put up with this long, but it's not going to stop. And I WILL NOT allow him to give Betsey food that I don't approve of. After finding out about all the toxins in the food, how could he expect me to not freak out when he tells me he's going to take me kid out to eat that stuff when she's not with me?! Doesn't he want what's best for her?

 

So my kitchen is also looking a little different than it used to, thanks to my new knowledge of good food vs. bad food. I've never in my life had a fridge so packed with fruits & veggies! It makes me so happy! Also, this isn't food related, but I have been using less paper towels to save money for a little while now and I recently had the genius idea to grab the burp cloths out of Betsey's room that we're not using anymore and use those as rags in the kitchen also! Too bad I'm not putting as much effort into making money as I am into learning all this organic stuff! :/ I'd be loaded, this stuff is fun but doesn't happen over night.

Someone come take that macaroni salad! Grosssss & I can't throw away that much food......

Brussel sprouts, carrots, tofu <3

Now I can't forget to mention my Celadon Road progress! I have planned my first party already, and have a few people who have RSVP'd on the facebook event, but I'm going to start contacting people here pretty soon, people that I think will be interested in coming and maybe buying things or hosting! I have tried a few of the products and I really like them. The glass cleaner smells freakin awesome! I really want to get myself some face wash, and vegetable wash, but I haven't tried those. These are the things I got in my $99 start up kit! The baby wash is awesome too, especially since it's in a stainless steel container. Pretty cool to reuse! :)

Some recent pictures of the most beautiful baby girl I have ever laid eyes on.. <3

Officially a Celadon Road consultant!

Alright! It probably wasn't even a few hours after typing up my last post that I received my call from Natalie and became a consultant!
It's pretty late right now & I'm exhausted, but I've been wanting to put this information up on here so I'll do this really quickly. Here is my Celadon Road facebook page. I made it a few days ago.. It's eventually going to have info about parties and such. It doesn't have much yet, but I did but a nice little about me on it today. :) And this is the website that the company requires us to have. It's awesome cause this is the only place where you can see the prices of the products. I think I mentioned in my last post that I couldn't find their prices anywhere.. Well when I talked to Natalie for the first time, she told me that they did that so if their prices changed, it would save all that paper so they didn't have to reprint the catalogs. So smart! But kind of a hassle if you can't get onto the computer right away.. Natalie said she just prints out some price sheets and keeps them with the catalogs to give out; what a brilliant idea!

 Okay, goodnight.

Waiting on a call from CR.

    So right now I am patiently (yeah, right) awaiting my call from someone from Celadon Road, a direct sales company that I found last night that am way excited about! If you haven't heard of them before, Celadon Road is pretty much like Avon, you throw parties, try to sell the products to all your friends, you can get prizes for hosting parties. The main reason I chose these guys over any others is because they sell all green, organic, eco-friendly pruducts. Go ahead and take a look through their catalog, you won't be disappointed! They have great looking products for health, beauty, cleaning, BABY TOYS & LOTIONS, pets, home decor, jewelry and more. I'm obviously pretty excited ha, but then again I have noticed that once I find something I want to do, I get a little obsessed and start planning everything before I even know it's going to happen. So I'm not going to continue planning for this anymore until someone calls me, which I hope is today because I really want to get this going! I need the extra money in my wallet BADLY, and I really would love to start sharing with friends who have kids about the cleaning products in their homes. Buying these products would be so much easier than making everything from pinterest ha. Too bad I just went and bought all my homemade cleaning ingredients! Maybe I can still return the borax? I'm sure most of the other stuff will get used eventually. :)

 

    Alright I'm not planning anything, but I was thinking last night about hosting parties, not just for Celadon Road, but for any direct sales company that I end up doing. I have a few friends that are also selling some products like Scentsy and Thirty One that I'm hoping I can co-host some parties with! One of my friends even does facials! Maybe she would be able to make some money doing those and it would be a great way to bring women to the party. I don't know, the only thing I'm a little worried about are the prices of the products. Celadon Road doesn't show the prices of their products in their catalog, it just shows a number, so I have no idea what to expect. I've been looking around the internet and haven't found much. I'll just have to ask today when they call. I really hope it's affordable! I can see myself going far with this, hosting parties and making people want to use organic, chemical free products. I can't freakin wait. :)

One Week Later..

    It's been one week since my eyes were opened to the world of chemicals in the  products we all use everyday. I can't believe what going "no poo" has started in my life. From the second I began reading about it, I knew I had to try it. But it didn't stop there, I started doing the no  poo thing and OCM a week ago, and since then I haven't been able to get off the internet! I'm making a huge list of homemade cleaning products so I can (hopefully soon) replace all my cleaners with these all natural, and super cheap homemade ones. That has been a project of mine for a few days now. I even found some cute labels! I think I'll put the list I eventually end up with on here. :)

My little Betsey getting more vacs.. :(

    Then I saw something about what they put in vaccinations. Yes, that's a totally different topic, I know. But I feel like since my eyes have been opened to the chemicals in our products, I guess I'm more curious and I just can't stop researching everything I hear is somehow bad for us. So I came across this website that is full of information that will scare the crap out of any new (or not) mom that hasn't yet heard about the dangers of vaccines. It was from this site that I first learned about the aluminum, formaldehyde, cells from aborted human babies, and so much more. I couldn't believe all this stuff was being injected into our babies in certain vaccines! I also read that they discovered monkeys were getting autism after testing some vaccines on them. WOW, it says that the number of autistic children has gone from 1 in 5000 in the 1990's to 1 in 150! Later I read that there are cancer cells left inside the flu shot?! Seriously? The media has been blaming many of the recent disease outbreaks on unvaccinated people, when it's actually the one's who had the vaccines that are getting the diseases. Like when whooping cough went a little crazy in 2010, it was actually found to be prevalent among children that have been vaccinated against whooping cough, & experts have reluctantly admitted that a failure of the vaccine, not the fact that some children were unvaccinated, was likely the real cause of that outbreak. I have been doing my research and it looks like many families have a hard time getting their pediatrician to keep them after they decide they don't want to vaccinate anymore. I hope this isn't the case for me as I am on medical and I don't exactly have a ton of doctors available to us, but we are going to do our best to find one that will accept the decisions I make for my family. 

    So I was on facebook liking all the organic, crunchy, all natural, co-sleeping, breastfeeding, vaccine-free, attachment parenting pages, and I started coming across some about homeschooling & unschooling. I watched a video on one of their pages about how bad the public high schools are and how kids aren't learning anything. I already know how terrible public schools are. I went to a traditional, 4,000 student high school during my freshman and sophomore years, and a tiny, 30-kids-in-my-whole-class charter school. There were more in the other grades, and when I graduated, there were tons of kids I had never seen before that did home study, but it was pretty much just my one little class for the next year and a half. (I finished the last half of my senior year in home study, I was sooo over high school.) ANYWAY, my point is I personally know the difference in the kids, the learning, everything. I don't know if you can blame the teachers at the big schools on this for not taking control of the students because there's really not a whole lot they can do. There is absolutely no respect anymore, that was lost in (public) middle school. Now the kids at the charter school I went to, wow, what a difference! They are respectful and go to school to learn. Most of them went to college right after high school and aren't pregnant. This isn't so common anymore, and no I'm not one of the ones who went to a big college and didn't get pregnant, obviously, but I'd like different for my little Betsey!

    So here I am. In the past week I have opened my eyes and am looking at everything in a whole new way. I don't look at restaurants the same, shampoo the same, medicine the same, or doctors the same. I don't know if I can ever home school my daughter, maybe a charter school like I went to could be just as good for her? Honestly, I can't even believe I am writing all of this right now. A year ago I NEVER would have thought this would be me, but people grow up and learn and change.

Look at Betsey's chubby little legs.. :)

Oil Cleansing Method & No 'Poo

    So I bumped into a post on a lovely blog the other day that really caught my eye! Cleaning and conditioning your hair without shampoo or conditioner. Weird huh?! I thought so, but it also sounded pretty cool.. I don't spend a ridiculous amount of money on hair products like some people out there, but I do know it adds up. I'm also becoming more and more aware everyday that the ingredients in the products we use so much of are pretty bad for us and it is so simple and cheap to replace these with our own homemade concoction!

First is going shampoo & conditioner free (No 'Poo)!

The how and why for for going "'poo free" is pretty long on their blog. So I'm just going to summarize again. I want to keep it on here for myself so I don't have to keep going back and forth, although I am enjoying going back to their blog to read though the hundreds of comments they have racked up on these posts! It's pretty amazing how many people are already doing this!

Here's why: 

Shampoo is a detergent. It cleans your hair while stripping it of all the healthy oils your body naturally produces to protect it and keep it soft and strong.

It wasn’t introduced until the early 20th century, before that many people used soap, which washes your hair without removing as much of the natural oils that shampoo does. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stand very well in alkaline water. When mineral levels in water began to rise, that made soap a messy, poor item to wash with. It causes ‘soap scum’ rings around your tub and on your shower doors. Alkali (hard water) makes the scales on your hair stand up, feel rough and get tangled. When washing with water that has a higher alkaline content and soap, the “soap scum” gets all tangled up in your hair, is much harder to wash out, and creates a big mess. Shampoo came out on the market just in time, displaying it’s only real benefit, it behaves similarly in both hard and soft water. Therefore it was a “superior” product to it's competitor, soap. Shampoo didn't come without it's own problems, though. Because it is harsh enough to strip the natural oils from your hair, you need something to replenish them, and so conditioner was born.

Detergent is harsh. We probably wouldn't use the same stuff on our bodies that we use on our dishes, but that's basically what we're doing with shampoo.

It has all kinds of chemicals. Most shampoos contain mineral oil, a byproduct when gasoline is distilled from crude oil. It's no good because it clogs the pores and suffocates the skin, which is a breathing organ. This stuff is so abundant that it actually costs more to dispose of it then it does to package and sell it, so it ends up everywhere. :| It’s added to shampoo and conditioner to thickly coat the strands, giving hair an artificial shine. Since it can’t absorb into skin, like some other ingredients, it acts as a barrier on our scalp, preventing oil from being released, which then requires more shampoo to strip away the grease. This means the more shampoo you use, the more you need.

Most shampoos & conditioners also contain SLS and SLFS (sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate), these are skin and eye irritants that also acts as a foaming agent in soaps, toothpastes, dishwashing liquid, mouth wash, body wash, mascara, and just about anything that produces a foamy lather. The Materials Safety Data Sheet cautions to avoid body contact with SLS, it also puts infants and children (whose eyes are developing at a more rapid rate) at risk for improper eye development when it is absorbed through the skin and accumulates in eye tissues.

Because of residual levels in internal organs, it's questioned how safe our current rates of exposure are. "Debunkers" and companies who sell products containing these ingredients claim that the short exposure (shampoo and rinse) isn't enough for it to build up, and that by itself, in the dilution present within the product, the ingredient won't cause damage. This is basically true, however neither take into account recent reports (within the last five years), exposure due to the amount of products which contain SLS/SLFS and how often we use them, the known chemical reaction with other ingredients commonly found in these products. While not carcinogens, both these substances, when mixed with other ingredients commonly found in shampoo bottles, may cause carcinogenic nitrates to form. Using it in moderation, and even in high amounts probably isn't going to kill you, but it's definitely not improving your health! The suggested safe percentage of SLS or SLFS to be used in products like shampoo and toothpaste isn't adhered to as often as it should be.

Effects of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS):

Mimic the hormone Oestrogen- This has many health implications and may be responsible for a variety of health problems from PMS and Menopausal symptoms to dropping male fertility and increasing female cancers such as breast cancer, where oestrogen levels are known to be involved.

If you're completely freaked out/disgusted and want to easily find some SLS-free products of all kinds, this site has a nice chart of links to help you.

Skin is our largest organ, and it’s extremely porous. 

Substances can easily enter the bloodstream directly 

through our skin, and can stay there for a long time.

It's an unnecessary cost. Using it creates dependence because you are stripping your hair of the protective oils, then you need to use other hair products to keep it detangled, workable and styled.

Also, having kids and other  family members with different types of hair means buying different types of (sometimes very pricey) shampoos and conditioners. Because this is all natural, everyone can use it! If you need to tweak it a little for oily hair vs. dry hair you can get a couple bottles and make them separately!

And that's it! Doesn't that make you wonder why the heck you've been using shampoo & conditioner for so long? If you haven't said that to yourself yet, keep reading! Once you find out how ridiculously easy this is, you will not only be asking yourself that question but you'll be making your new shopping list. :)

Now here's how.

The new shampoo: baking soda & water.

- Gentle

- The weakest alkaline

- Very gently clarifies hair from chemical build up.

You can always change up the recipe to suit your needs, but the basic recipe is one tablespoon of baking soda to one cup of water. If you have curly or thick hair you may need to add more baking soda, and if your hair is thinner, you add less baking soda.

In the shower I just squeeze the bottle directly onto my head starting from the scalp down to the bottom of my hair. I put more on the top, since the rest will come down on it's own. Massage it in then let it sit for a minute or two. Rinse! Not much different than your regular shampoo other than the fact that there are no bubbles... 

The new conditioner: apple cider vinegar & water.

- A mild acidic

- Works well to counteract the baking soda

- Acts as a wonderful replacement for conditioner

- It detangles the hair follicles

- Seals the cuticle

- Balances the hair's pH balance

Just like the baking soda, the standard recipe is one tablespoon apple cider vinegar to one cup water.

Same routine! Pour it on from top to bottom. Let is sit a little while.. Then rinse (if you have oily hair you can rinse it sooner). :)

This stuff is SUPER strong. I don't know why I was so surprised that it smelled so much like vinegar, haha. I guess the "apple cider" threw me off a bit and I didn't think it was going to be so strong, but don't be fooled! You are going to want to rinse this stuff out very well! But it is very worth it. I guess I shouldn't really say it's worth it, I don't really know yet as I've only been doing this one day! But when I got out of the shower this morning and immediately went to brush my hair, I had absolutely no tangles at all! My brush went through perfectly the first time and my hair felt so great. I was so happy!

If you aren't into the apple cider vinegar smell like this lady, you can 86 the other recipe and try hers! Mix one part organic white vinegar to four parts water. Then you can add other essential oils or herbs. She adds a cinnamon stick & 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla to mask the smell of vinegar and leave her hair smelling nice.

I use two 8 oz travel bottles from Target and they work perfectly for my new shampoo and conditioner. :)

Just so you know..

There may be a transition period that lasts from a few weeks to a few months thanks to the lack of shampoo. Very normal! Your hair is used to having it's oils stripped so it may take a little while for the oil to stop producing so heavily. (From what I've read online, it looks like a lot of people have gotten their normal hair back in about two weeks!)

Some say you can wean off the baking soda and vinegar altogether and clean your hair with just water.. we'll see!

If your hair is too dry after the transition period, you can replace the vinegar with lemon juice, or just skip it!

If your hair is too dry, try using less baking soda. or you can try replacing the vinegar for honey!

Eventually you won't need to wash your hair everyday! Some don't even have to wash their hair more than twice a week!

Second, is the Oil Cleansing Method.

I started last night after having read a ton of blogs & comments from people who have had (mostly) positive and negative results. I was so excited because I have tried at least 10 different facail cleansers in the past couple years and am still breaking out. I just turned 21 so I know a lot of it has to do with being young and still having those hormones. I also have super dry patches on my skin and have been using an Olay moisturizer for my face.

Basically on their blog, I added the link above, they have a quote from acne.org talking about how oil dissolves oil. Obviously referring to the oil on your face being dissolved by the oils in the mixture. Pretty interesting! You don't need all the chemicals in your normal face wash that dry out your skin to dissolve all the oils from your (my) greasy face ;) , just some ingredients straight out of your kitchen!

Let me review.....

The most popular blend of oils for this cleansing method:

castor oil- draws out dirt & other gunk from your pores.

extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)- brilliant moisturizer, helping heal & nourish the skin.

If you have normal skin, not too oily or dry, you will start off with a one-to-one ratio of castor oil and EVOO.

If you have acne-prone or oily skin, you will start off with three parts castor oil and one part EVOO.

If your skin is on the drier side, you will start off with one part castor oil and three parts EVOO.

I tend to have oily skin and am breaking out a little bit right now so I'm using three parts castor oil and one part EVOO. I read in some of the comments that quite a bit of people have had good luck using Jojoba oil on their face. So since this isn't a you-have-to-do-it-our-way kind of thing, I decided to add a few drops of the Jojoba oil to my mix.

Anyway, then you rub! Pour a quarter size amount onto your palm, apply to your DRY face, then rub (not scrub) for about a minute.

Next, wet a washcloth with hot water and cover your face until it has reached room temp. This is steaming your pores and removing the impurities & dead skin cells. It should take about a minute! This took me a little bit longer to figure out because it's kind of hard to breathe when you have a wet cloth pressed against your face, but once you do it right it feels soooo good.

Rinse and wring your washcloth to rub off the rest of the oil. I kind of scrubbed my face during this part cause I didn't want to leave any oil on my face. I noticed that it dripped down to my neck also so I had to scrub all over..

I read on another site about splashing cold water on your face to close the pores after you have gotten all the excess oil off. I haven't seen much about this, but I get it. You steam your face to get the crud out of your pores, then you close them so nothing will jump back in.. makes sense!

Some more things to know..

-Olive oil has the same pH as human skin so it's the perfect cleansing balancer.

-The OCM (oil cleansing method) is also great at removing make up!

-You probably won't need to do this more than once a day.

Today after using this oil face wash, I didn't have to use my moisturizer and haven't had dry skin at all! My face feels pretty perfect actually! I am very impressed. I can't wait to see how it turns out and do a review. :)

Sounds good to me!

Some more interesting sites I came across while I was browsing..

- An entire forum dedicated to going 'Poo Free

- We will definitely be exploring some of these uses for Castor Oil. Especially putting it on our hair & eyelashes for hair growth!

- Also, even more uses for Baking Soda!