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Archive for Health and Nutrition

Abscess Tooth? Root Canal?

Posted by html404 on October 23, 2012
in Health, Health and Nutrition

I am sure you all must be wondering what has displaced me for the past five days. It’s been a combination of dealing with an abscess tooth with the potential of needing a root canal (self-diagnosis with the help of others) while trying to avoid a costly trip to the dentist and really not feeling like blogging amidst all of it.

Last week my back molar that has been missing part of a filling for well over a year started bothering me. I have staved off any major issues by using Thieves essential oil and Thieves spray. I think it was just this year that I lost the rest of the filling. Then either chewing gum or chomping down hard last Tuesday or Wednesday on some food made my tooth start to ache. On Thursday I woke up to a swollen lower cheek/jaw bone. Friday/Saturday it had moved to the middle of my chin. Sunday it started to settle down. Monday it was the same or a little better. Today it seems to be a bump. That’s the good news.

Here is me in all my glory (kind of scary, I know!) :

Thursday, October 18th

Friday, October 19th

Today

I haven’t eaten much in the past six days. Today is the only day I actually ate all three meals because I have a bit more mobility for chewing (on one side). It’s painful to yawn or chew and my cheek/jawbone area is tender to touch or to lay on. While I should be starving I find I am not, but I am hungry and craving things that would just melt in my mouth. I survived three days on piece of cheese cake, minus most of the crust because it was just easier to eat.

I have treated this dental issue with warm salt water rinses, Thieves essential oil, Thieves spray, Helichrysum and Cloves essential oil. I have taken Ningxia Red and Inner Defense to boost my immune system and to ward off the infection. My drink preference has been hot lemon tea with raw honey as it has beneficial enzymes and good bacteria to help my body fight the infection. Plus my tooth isn’t as sensitive to warm as it is to cold.

If the swelling and pain goes away the only thing I will be making an appointment for is a filling to cover that cavity back up. Otherwise the dentist might just confirm that I do indeed have an abscess tooth in need of a root canal, which I will still try to avoid by prolonging the use of my alternative care methods…..because avoiding a root canal is my goal in all of this. I have read some nasty things about them and know others who were able to successfully treat and avoid a root canal.

So have you ever had an abscess tooth or had a root canal? Try avoiding a root canal? Do tell all in the comment section below!

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Funk Buddy and Breast Cancer Awareness Month Plus a Recipe

Posted by html404 on October 2, 2012
in Books, Giving Back/Charity, Health, Health and Nutrition, Recipes

Do you know anyone battling breast cancer? October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast dancer in a lifetime and 289,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed in US women in 2012. Incredible and sobering. I just went to a seminar on hormones this past weekend and according to the speaker (who has seen NO breast cancer patients in his practice) low progesterone may be the cause of breast cancer in some women. So keep that in mind as suggestion to loved ones and friends, and if they do want to look into it and get their progesterone tested it should be at 10 or above, even if the test says 5 is normal because labs averages are skewed in a major way. Labs throw out the first and last 100 and make the middle numbers their average. Just something I learned at the seminar.

I wanted to help share the news of Funky Buddy and Breast Cancer Awareness Month by sharing a couple of other resources with you.

Funky Buddy

Funky Buddy is simply a buddy program created by Dr. Kristi Funk of Pink Lotus Breast Center in Los Angeles. It’s purpose is to pair newly diagnosed patients with patients she had already treated.

Best Friend’s Guide to Breast Cancer Book

Food is Medicine: The Best Friend’s Guide to Breast Cancer has an appendix of 30 tried-and-true family recipes! I am featuring one of those recipes below that I am really looking forward to trying – have to get zucchini and blueberries first!

Lemony Blueberry Zucchini Loaf (Source: The Best Friend’s Guide to Breast Cancer)

Zucchini is a good source of vitamins A, K, and B6, as well as vitamin C, which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Another bonus: it’s rich in the minerals potassium, manganese, and magnesium, which help with immune function. This loaf packs an even greater nutritional punch thanks to the blueberries, well-known as one of nature’s most potent cancer fighters. To top it off, the hint of lemon tingles the tongue and gives a boost to the blandness of the zucchini.

The loaf is hearty enough for breakfast and handy for snacking, too. Because it’s not too sweet, your friend or loved one will find that it’s mild enough if she’s queasy, and the ground ginger will soothe her churning stomach as well. I’ve found that it’s easy to get down when most food isn’t appealing. Of course, it’s a tasty treat when she has her appetite, too!

You’ll need:

1 cup of blueberries
2 cups of peeled, shredded zucchini
3 eggs
¾ cup of vegetable oil
1 and ½ cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of lemon extract
2 and ½ cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
¼ teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)
Crisco

1) Heat oven to 350°. Grease only the bottom of two glass loaf pans with Crisco.

2) In one bowl, beat the eggs, then add vegetable oil, sugar, and lemon extract until well blended.

3) In another bowl, sift the flour, salt, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, and baking powder.

4) Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until well-incorporated, then fold in the zucchini, then blueberries and walnuts. Pour into the two loaf pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

A portion of proceeds (20%) from sales of the book is going to support Pink Lotus Petals.

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Self Improvement Month and CoolSculpting

Posted by html404 on September 30, 2012
in Exercise, Health, Health and Nutrition, Weight Loss

I don’t know if you knew this or not because I didn’t until last week, but September is self improvement month. I want to talk a little about my own goals in that department as well as self improvement and Cool Sculpting. While today is the last day of the month I can honestly say that I did work on my own self-improvement when I participated in Mamavation’s 2-Week Challenge.

However, for the the last two weeks since the challenge ended I have not been doing well at all in the exercise department. If you remember I had really wanted to keep up with my daily exercise. I have failed. My eating habits have gone a little downhill too.

I need to come up with a plan of action, like having a set time to exercise each day and sticking to it or else I don’t think I’ll ever get back in the habit of regular, daily exercise. It use to be so easy and now it’s such a struggle.

I really think exercising right when I get up is going to be the key or else it just won’t get done because I’ll start work and won’t stop until late at night. I tried exercising right before bed and it was brutal because I was doing it when I was exhausted and not when I was full of energy first thing in the morning.

That’s my goal, get up, exercise right away, at least 5x/week because it’s the only way I’ll reach my weight loss goals. Along with the exercise, I want to reach the goal of 10K steps every day too (measured with my pedometer).

Self Improvement Month and CoolSculpting

What is CoolSculpting?

It is a new FDA approved, non-invasive procedure for fat reduction. It involves no knives, no suction hoses, no needles and not even lasers are used. CoolSculpting is a procedure that freezes your fat cells without harming your skin. After your treatment, you get on with your busy day. According to their Facebook page, people see an average of 20% reduction in fat after one visit. If it’s necessary, you and your doctor may decide on more treatments at which time more fact reduction is to be expected. No pills or supplements are required as long as you maintain your weight with normal diet and exercise, your long-term results should remain stable. Hello, you again.

Sounds pretty cool, eh? I don’t know about you but it sounds a lot more appealing than undergoing the knife.

Have you ever considered weight reduction surgery of any kind? I never have…until I started watching the past season of Extreme Weight Loss. That’s when I realized how it almost seemed necessary for people who lose a lot of weight to do something with their excess skin.

In honor of Self-Improvement Month, CoolSculpting is hosting a Self-Improvement Instant-Win Challenge inviting you to make one small pledge on how you will improve your health and fitness routine this month (and future months since the challenge goes through the first week of October). If you do make a pledge to improve something, you will be given the opportunity to win one of 10 instant win $50 Amazon e-cards or the grand prize of a $500 American Express Gift Card. Who couldn’t use an extra $50 or $500 right now?

Enter the pledge on CoolSculpting’s Facebook sweepstakes page.

You might also like to connect with them at their website: http://www.coolsculpting.com, Facebook and Twitter @CoolSculpting. To find a CoolSculpting provider visit: http://www.coolsculpting.com/find-a-center

This is a sponsored post for CoolSculpting by ZELTIQ.

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End of Mamavation 2 Week Challenge #Mamavation #2WeekChallenge

Posted by html404 on September 17, 2012
in Exercise, Health and Nutrition, Monday Motivation

The Mamavation 2 Week Challenge has come to an end. It makes me sad. I won’t miss the burpees workout though….ugh….that one still feels like it kills me, more so if I am really tired while doing the workout. The past week has been somewhat of a struggle. I didn’t do my workout during the morning/day, I waited until evening, many times right before I was heading off to bed….bad choice. I should have just stuck to doing it right when I woke up. I also struggled with my carb/sweet cravings. I was able to make a couple 10K or more step days, but for the most part fell short of that daily goal. On the more active days I don’t get as much work done and I’ve gotta work to make money and working means sitting in front of the computer most days. If I could walk and type fast I would, but I don’t type very well on my iPhone. I am faster with a traditional keyboard and thanks to my pedometer, learned that typing does burn calories!

I have yet to weigh myself. I kept forgetting to measure myself, so I don’t have those to compare to and fear I won’t see much of a change…..

I am not sure what I am going to do next. I’d like to continue my daily but am not sure I will be very motivated to unless I can sign up for another 2 Week Challenge or something similar. The accountability helps.

How are you doing for your Monday Motivation goals? I know I have a busy week ahead….

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Canning and Freezing Veggies – The Labor of Love

Posted by Brande on September 13, 2012
in All Natural Products, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Food and Treats, Fun Stuff, Gardening, Health and Nutrition, Home, Organic, Seasonal Stuff

Well, I did it! I accomplished canning and freezing veggies! My first canning season in the new place with most of my own veggies! The other veggies that we didn’t grow I bought from a local stand. The kitchen heats up awful fast in the middle of August, but it will be so nice in those cold months to make my family meals with vegetables from our own garden! Here’s what I canned: pickles, crushed tomatoes, 3 pickled beans, pickled grape tomatoes, salsa, BBQ sauce, pickled hot peppers, white peaches, and bruschetta! In all that makes exactly 50 jars of wonderfulness!

I also blanched and froze bags of corn, cut peppers, whole red peppers, peas, beans, cucumbers, and zucchini!

I looked up most of the recipes on the internet with a few out of an old Ball Canning Book I found. I received and email from Grit Magazine awhile ago with the “Ultimate Guide to Food Preservation”, that would have been VERY handy a few weeks back! There is a wealth of information on their site, including sweepstakes! Go and check them out!

~ Brande

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Monday Motivation: Mamavation 2 Week Challenge #Mamavation #2WeekChallenge

Posted by html404 on September 3, 2012
in Exercise, Health, Health and Nutrition, Monday Motivation, Weight Loss

Most of you know since the start of the year I have wanted to do something about my weight so I wouldn’t just keep gaining, but have failed royally in that department. I had considered Mamavation Bootcamp, but was just not ready. After all, I have been sitting in front of the computer most of the summer. Bootcamp would probably kill me, since weeding the garden last weekend nearly did me in. Then last Thursday I came across the Mamavation 2 Week Challenge and thought the Beginner Track would help me ease back into exercising. So I signed up, tweeted Mr.BookieBoo and wrote up my post (not really a requirement, I am doing to hopefully give myself additional accountability).

Today is the first day and I am probably going to die doing the beginner’s workout, but here goes nothing or everything depending on how I look at it!

For more information about Mamavation’s 2 Week Challenge read this post.

If you all want to hold me accountable or follow the challenge search for the hashtags #Mamavation and #2WeekChallenge on Twitter.

Here it goes….just maybe this will help prepare me for the next Mamavation Bootcamp….whenever the next one may be.

Do you have any fitness or weight loss goals you are trying to achieve? How are you doing?

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Congratulations! Slique Kit™ Giveaway Winner!

Posted by html404 on August 1, 2012
in Giveaways, Health, Health and Nutrition

I closed out three giveaways yesterday and contacted all the winners. So I wanted to give them special acknowledgement congratulating them on winning and for all of you who entered – Thank you!

In case you missed it, congratulations to Paula on winning the Slique Kit™ giveaway!

Please stay tuned for the next several weeks as we will be offering several giveaways, but realize giveaways will slow down again in late September and early October as I have a big blog event that I will need time to prepare for and write about! I don’t know how bloggers who attend several huge events do it!

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S2H and Special 15% Off at Switch2Health

Posted by html404 on July 31, 2012
in Health, Health and Nutrition

A couple of years ago we received a S2H for review and we never got the review up because the children lost it. Then when we moved last August we found it while packing and I found the contact to let them know what happened and apologized. Well, FAIL again because I didn’t get the review up and again I have no idea where the S2H is. Of course, it has been one of those odd things that remains at the back of my mind and I was reminded of it again when I got the email below from them.

So finally, I am just going to get the review up and give them the extra feature of their 15% off sale. Maybe it’s weird to be admitting publicly to such a huge failure, but I am just being honest here. I am only human and sometimes I do drop the ball on things like this. Just to let any brands, PR reps and companies reading know, I am using a calendar and reminder system now, so things have improved around here. I also have contributors who help me!

Our Review of the S2H Replay

The S2H Replay is a wrist band that calculates your physical activity. Our children loved this little gadget. They loved seeing how active they were and kind of fought over whose turn it was to use it. I actually think this would be a great little gift to motivate them to stay active. I also think that with a little friendly competition between siblings – nothing like egging each other on – that this could turn out to be a real tool towards better health in our family. I can see it all now and am tucking this little idea away as a Christmas gift idea, especially for the older children.

As you can tell, the S2H Replay is very user friendly, especially since our children were the main users. The only aspect of the gadget and technology we did not make use of was the online part, but I can understand how useful having all that info in one place would be. At the time, I didn’t quite get it or want my children’s info stored online and that hindered me from trying out that part, plus I think we lost the code or something we needed to access the online information. Sigh.

Of course now they have apps and a Step Pedometer available. Check out their special below.

Special 15% Off at Switch2Health Email Announcement

The S2H STEP and S2H REPLAY reward you for exercising- simply wear them, be active, get Rewards!

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Goat Milk Yogurt vs. Cow Milk Yogurt Review

Posted by html404 on July 17, 2012
in All Natural Products, Food and Treats, Health and Nutrition, Reviews

Redwood Hill’s Goat Milk Yogurt Review

We were excited to try two different brands of yogurt. Green Valley and Redwood Hill Farm yogurt and kefir. Our store only had Redwood Hill blueberry yogurt in stock so that is what we got to try. And to clarify Redwood Hill Farm makes the goat milk yogurt, kefir and cheese. and Green Valley Organics Lactose free makes cow milk yogurt, kefir and sour cream.

See? All natural organic yogurt. It’s really hard to find in stores, but I love that you can pronounce all the ingredients and that it is healthy and good for you. As organic farmers and a mom of eight children it is important to feed my family food that doesn’t contain ingredients that could harm them.

My family was eager to see how goat milk yogurt would taste. In the past we haven’t really liked goat milk products that we tested out, but this brand was different.

A few children thought that they could taste the goat milk, but the majority thought that it tasted just like regular yogurt. My kids could eat yogurt everyday and they really enjoyed Redwood Hill’s. Even my pickier eaters liked it.

Green Valley Organics Lactose Free Yogurt – Cow’s Milk Yogurt Review

My husband loved the Green Valley Organics Lactose Free strawberry yogurt, which is made from cow’s milk. He thought that it was the best strawberry yogurt he had tasted – we have tried many brands and my husband can be very particular when it comes to food! He thought this strawberry yogurt was creamy and very good. The strawberry flavor really popped and it’s affordable as well. My husband eats yogurt almost daily and he is rather picky about what brands he will buys, but this one hit the spot for him and he would buy it in the future.

The Redwood Hill Farm Kefir was yummy. My oldest daughter who is very health conscious, loved it and thought it was the best kefir she had ever had. She typically doesn’t care for goat milk products, but loved this one. My other kids really enjoyed it too. We could not even tell it was made from goat milk due to the yummy flavors and fruity texture.

You can find Green Valley and Redwood Hill Farm’s products at Whole Foods stores nationwide as well as Jewel-Osco. Organic, all natural, and free from harmful chemicals and additives – sure to be a family staple at our house.

Visit Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery or Green Valley Organics Lactose Free on the web to find out more information about their farm and their products.

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Ningxia Red Part 5 of the Slique™ Kit & Giveaway

Posted by html404 on July 3, 2012
in All Natural Products, Giveaways, Health, Health and Nutrition

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am going to finish up my Slique™ series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4) that I started months ago and just dropped. The last product to give an overview and review of is Ningxia Red. It is a drink made of Ningxia wolfberries, which is a berry full of antioxidants. It is native to the Ningxia province in China and is thought to prolong life since the residents of the Ningxia province are known for their longevity.

Ingredients in Ningxia Red are:

It took us a little time to get use to the taste of Ningxia Red as it has a different taste. It tastes much better chilled. I think all of us drink it now except one of our boys, but he’s a pick pot anyways.

Since January, I have experienced slightly better vision. I got glasses when I was 16-17 years old for driving, sports and reading the chalkboard at school. Once I had my glasses I never wanted to have blurred vision so I just wore my glasses all the time, even for reading. Now I have been taking my glasses off to read, use my iPhone or journal because my sight is blurry for close reading. Hard to believe, but even my husband said that he’s never known me to have to do that in the 20 years he’s known me.

“The Slique™ Kit is a compilation of products designed to maximize weight-management success and improve overall health. Each of the five products in this kit—Slique Tea, Slique Essence, Balance Complete™, Essentialzymes-4™, and NingXia Red®—work together to enhance nutrient absorption, supply required nutrition and fiber, increase energy, and control appetite by reducing cravings.”

The retail value of this kit is $275 and you can enter to win your own Slique™ Kit below! Due to the value of this giveaway, I will run it for four weeks and you can tweet and do the bonus entry every day!

a Rafflecopter giveaway