Have y'all heard of, read, or do y'all own a copy of Annie Berthold-Bond's book "Better Basics for the Home"?  The sub-title is "Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living".  I've had my copy for about 3 years now and I HIGHLY recommend it.  

Having survived stage IIIa ovarian cancer in 2003, the threat of a recurrence is always at the back of my mind.  I don't believe anything or anyone can totally take away that threat.  Not totally.  But, there are things I should be doing, or better yet NOT be doing, that I haven't been.  That changes starting today.  

I have Annie's above mentioned guide for a healthier life-environment.  I can make choices about what I put in and on and around my body that will hopefully have a positive impact.  Of course, these changes are predicated upon available finances.  *fingers crossed*
Hopefully hubby and I will have time tomorrow to make a trip to the health food store--Monday at the latest.  

The first thing I've done is to stop using commercial moisturizer on my face.  This is what I'm using instead; please remember that these are Annie's recipes, notes, and words, and should be respected as such.  

The Best Basic Soft and Silky Moisturizer
1/2 cup aloe vera gel
1/8 cup glycerin
Combine the ingredients in a glass jar.  Shake or stir to blend.  Dampen your face, then dab the mixture on your fingers and massage into the skin.  Makes 5/8 cup.
Preparetion:  1 minute
Shelf Life:  4 months
Storage:  Glass jar with a screw top
Notes:  Aloe vera gel is emollient, hydrating, and a profound healer for the skin.  Using it daily for 4 months made my age spots disappear.

And here's the smampoo...smampoo??  sheesh...shampoo!  I intend to make/use asap:

Basic Soap Shampoo Formula
10 ounces water (herbal water preferred)
1 to 2 ounces liquid castile soap (the less the better)
1 teaspoon glycerin or 1/2 teaspoon oil
20 to 35 drops essential oil (optional)
Make the herbal water infusion by putting a handful of herbs in a pint mason jar and covering with boiling water.  Cover tightly, let set overnight, then strain.  Add the soap, glycerin, and essential oil (if using); cover and shake to blend.  Shampoo as usual.  Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Perparation time:  15 minutes with herbal water, otherwise just a few minutes.
Shelf Life:  Indefinite with water; a few weeks refrigerated with herbal water
Storage:  Glass jar with a screw top
Notes:  Caution--essential oils can harm the eyes, so be sure not to get shampoos, rinses, or conditioners in the eyes.  Don't add more than 3 drops essential oil per ounce of base preparation.

I must  

Sorry, I got interrupted while posting.  But it was a nice interruption--hubby surprised me by kidnapping me away from the office for lunch.  Such a sweetie!  

Now, what was I writing?  ...ah yes.  I must make changes in my life.  If I can use healthier, simpler products--and make them myself, then I should.  I must.

Hair
Mixed up a batch of Annie B's "soap shampoo" on Saturday evening so I could begin using it Sunday morning.  Holy cow, I like this stuff.  I mean, I REALLY like it!  Even with only 1 ounce of the liquid castile soap mixed in with 10 ounces of water...it lathers like crazy!  For this first week I'm not going to use a conditioner so I can see the results.  I am using a dollop of aloe gel on my ends, after I towel dry.  That might be all I need; we'll see.  So far, so good! 

Other
Hubby and I began our low carb walk yesterday instead of waiting until today.  I love it!  Usually by Sunday evening I'm so carb-bloated and miserable I wish I could die.  Not yesterday!  I felt great!  Now, the most difficult part for me is that time after supper...I'm used to having a sweet around 6:30 or 7:00.  It's only a bad habit, I know.  And last night was no different...I started craving something sweet after supper and I'm thinking, "Man, I'd hate to cheat on my first day!!"     So I got my butt (can we say "butt"?) off the couch, cleaned a stalk of celery, put some peanut butter on that baby and wa-lah!  Craving cured.  I realize I need to watch the carbs in the pb, but I'm not going to down the pb EVERY night, so I should be okay.  We probably need to pick up some low carb snack bars (for cravings) but you've got to watch for maltitol in those.  Anyway, at the risk of repeating myself--so far, so good!   

Quote:


"G", I'm lovin' it     Just remember to DAB it on; don't SLATHER it on, as I was doing at first.  Too much of the mix and your face will feel all sticky and icky!  I love the fact that this mixture contains only TWO ingredients and I can pronounce both of them AND I know where they come from!   

Hair
Still getting fine results from the homemade shampoo.  Hair looks shiny, feels good--pretty soft and not too tangly.  Also, using some aloe on the ends seems to be working, so I'll keep doing that until...well, until it stops working!! 

Other
Day 3 of watching the carbs.  Haven't had any major effects from cutting out the sugar and flour, etc. from my diet--no headaches, no shakes, no mood swings.  So far, so good.  I will not be weighing myself daily.  I did that last time and, for me, it wasn't a good thing.  I want to focus on losing weight at a healthy rate and not get caught up in the numbers.  I'm thinking I'll weigh once a week, at the most...I'm even considering weighing only once a month!  I think curiosity would get the better of me, though, if I tried to go a whole month without knowing if I lost any poundage.  So I'll start with once a week.

Hair
all is well

Other
I am SO freakin' tired....and SO glad this week is over.  Every day this week I've been scoring course evaluations.  You know at the end of each semester, the kiddies get to rate their teacher, and they put their answers on those bubble sheets...and those sheets get delivered to me, by the box-load full, and I run them through my trusty little scanning machine.  Day after day after day.  I swear, doing the evals are much worse than scoring the final exams!!  One day, I think it was Tuesday, I brought my cheap-o pedometer to work.  I clipped it on in the parking lot and didn't take it off until I was back in my car that afternoon.  I walked 2.610 miles, burned 149.4 calories and took 6,944 steps.  No wonder I'm tired!!!    

The low carb life is doing well--I think...at least it feels as if it's doing well.  I'll be weighing on Sunday morning so I won't know for certain until then.  Even if I've only lost, like, one measley pound, I certainly feel better.  I don't feel bloated or stuffed all the time. 

I'm sure there are other things that I wanted to get down in my diary....but I'm just too tired to remember what they are!     Here's hoping next week is calmer and less hectic!

Trisha

I'm sure you'll do fine when you step on the scale.  Keep up the good work!

Hair
Hair is down today with a side part.  Still using Annie B's homemade soap shampoo recipe--I'm hooked.  

Other
Thanks for the diet support, gals.    Nancy, I lost 3 pounds last week.    How did you do?  Hubby lost 8 pounds.  But it's very normal for him to lose more than I in the same amount of time.  Males lose more quickly than females.  And I figure he's got more water weight to lose than me.  Or something like that!    Anywho, I'm quite happy with 3 pounds.  I'd rather lose the weight slower but more consistently.  However, if I don't continue to drop weight on a regular basis then I'll need to take a serious look at what I'm eating....and start exercising.  *sigh*  We'll think about that later.  

Hair is up in the combo do today.  It's definitely my favourite style.  I'm afraid to wear this style every day, though, for fear of damage.  Perhaps there's nothing to fear, though...yeah, the front of the hair is pulled into a ponytail at the back of the head, but it's not pulled tight.  And the clip holding all of the hair in the bun is very hair-friendly (no sharp points, no springs).  So maybe I worry too much.  *shrug*  It's just great having hair long enough to put into different styles!    

Other
Lunch today was a salad; lettuce with a bit of yellow pepper, some yellow squash, diced chicken, 1/4 cup shredded cheese, 1/4 cup of mixed nuts topped with 2 tablespoons of homemade low carb "honey" mustard dressing.  It was wicked yum.     

Hubby, daughter, and I are planning on going to the St Louis Zoo this Saturday!  I'm excited because I've never been.     Hubby has been, when he was little, and my 25-yo daughter was taken to the zoo years ago by her grandparents.  But me?  No.  I hope the weather cooperates.  I can't wait!

Yep, Nanc, I'm fine--just had a 4 day weekend, and I tend to not get on the computer when I'm at home.  

Hair is down today, parted on the left side.  Let's see, when does Summer officially start?  ...June 21, so in about 3 weeks I'll get to measure.  I know for certain that my ticker is wrong because my hair is tremendously close to reaching bsl.  When I reach my hand around and up my back, I can touch the ends of my longest layer.  Just the ends, mind you, and nothing else...but touch them I can!    Been a long time since I've been able to do that.  

Other
Our visit to the Saint Louis Zoo was utterly fantastic!  It was the hottest day yet, with the temperature reaching 94 degrees but, dripping sweat and all, I can't wait to go back.  Next time, though, I'm thinking Fall would be a better season to make that trip.  We got to ride the train all the way around the line.  Oh, and I got to see the tigers, which are probably my favourites.  And the polar bear was swimming in its pool--so awesome to see!  

Still sticking to low carb eating, although this 4-day Memorial Day weekend was terribly difficult in terms of cravings.  The zoo, of course, was chock full of junk food but we found a place that served brats.  For some reason, though, I had some huge chocolate cravings.  I didn't give in but, man, it was tough.  Thank the Lord for Blue Bunny low carb ice cream treats!!