My addiction to Sugar

Lets talk about my addiction to the sweet sweet substance we call sugar. When I started this process I had done research for my theses about how the average American eats roughly 150 lbs of sugar per year, a staggering amount from the 15lbs we ate a hundred years ago. To be totally honest I thought it was a lie in my life, I mean I didn't spend all day eating pixie sticks.... (at least not anymore!).

Growing up I ate allot of sugar everyday. I consumed soda pop, candy bars, ice cream, juice, and every kind of sweet desserts you can name. It didn't help that my family are phenomenal bakers, and I LOVE to create yummy treats myself~

Over the last few years we have been cutting juice more and more out of our diet, sometimes we have juice (from concentrate) for breakfast, but otherwise we have milk or ice water. After all this time it has become such a habit that when we do have juice we only drink a small amount, and the left over juice goes bad in our fridge because we forget about it! Even my two year old would rather have a cup of water with his juice so when it becomes to sweet he can cleanse his pallet.

One of my New Years Resolutions was to cut out soda this year. I used Ginger ale and Sprite as medicine, and still do, but now I need to have a really bad stomach ache before I drink it. Whereas I use to go through a 12 pack each month, and think nothing of it. I was using coupons which saved me money, but it still was costing 4$-5$ each month from my food budget.

I heard the saying that "We all need 2 liters of liquid a day, some of that can be from soda" during a news program, but now as I look back I see the flaws in this, especially with all of the research that has been coming forth lately with the dangers of consuming sodas.

Well, I have been trying to cut out more sugar! I was feeling ready a few months ago to drop the sweets but that when I realized that I had a real problem. It started with migraines, all day everyday, with a sensitivity to light, sound, and movement. Then I couldn't sleep because my arms and legs were twitching and jerking, I couldn't think, and my emotions were everywhere.  All I could think about was getting sugar, and at one point I was digging though my trash to see if there was something left in a package that I had previously chucked.... I had a problem, and I couldn't imagine a solution, it took many days of horrifying disabling pain before there was light at the end of the tunnel.

I have been "Processed Sugar" free for about 6 weeks, I avoid soda, candy, and treats. Anything made with white sugar. I started making smoothies to help with the sugar withdrawals, but that meant that I had to start making homemade yogurt because store bought it filled with sugar. I had to learn how to read ingredient lists so that I wasn't consuming huge amounts of sugar in the different processed foods I was still eating. I also had to learn how to cook real foods, which had its own huge learning curve!

It is July and I can say I am much more comfortable in my life now. I have a treat once in a while as a life without ever having Carmel Bars again is no life at all, but it is truly a treat now.  A side affect is that food tastes better, and I can now taste the natural sweetness of food. I had never known that carrots were sweet, or the delicious crunch of an apple. Before it had been a chore but now that my tongue has been 'cleansed' I enjoy the food that I eat, and my life is filled with joy!

I have also had my energy levels rise, and am able to get through the day without having to take a nap! Life has been so much richer, and more rewarding! I also have more time in the day to do the things that fill me with joy and help me to expand myself since I'm not trying to nod off all day.

Its a wonderful life now,

Peace ;) 

Juicing Exploration

Juicing... As my 84 year old mother would say "is sounding a little too hippy dippy" and a couple months ago I would have had to agree. But todays post is going to be about my adventures with juicing.

First I would like to say that I am not a hard core, eat it "Because it is healthy for me" kind of person. I like food, I like it to taste good, and I like it smell good, and I like it to be consistently the same every time I make it. After reading all about how great juicing is for you to get the nutrients, and hearing people talk about how much better they feel after drinking it I decided last month to give it a try. It never hurts to give something a try? After a month of experimenting with different ingredients and spending time searching blogs and Pintrest I have found a juice that I can say I love.

I chose simple ingredients that I can get anywhere and everywhere that I go. Spinach, carrots, celery, apples, and a grapefruit! As you can see I do my best to choose organic, I feel like when juicing it is important to have the cleanest ingredients you can find. I live on a budget, and so I go to Sams Club to get most of my juicing groceries.

  To give you an idea, I go though 2 boxes of spinach, close to a bag of carrots, one bunch of celery, 1-2 bags of apples, and 1 bag of grapefruits per week. At Sams the costs roughly 20$ each week for all my juicing supplies. 80$ per month sounds like allot, and you can make less to make that stretch, especially since my morning juice is between 2-3 cups of juice, so it would be very easy to cut this in half. The juicer I am using came from Walmart, it is a Hamilton Beach brand and was about $60, They had cheaper, but I wanted something that would last for a longer time. I have been really impressed how easy it is to set up/ take down, to juice with, and to clean!

This is the amount that I consume every day! This is more the fruits and vegetables then I consumed in a week, let alone a day! Last month I went to my in-laws for a week before coming to my families home in Wisconsin. I didn't bring my juicer thinking it wouldn't be a big deal. 8 days later I bought a juicer in WI and started drinking this again, and WOW I suddenly felt better! I personally like drinking this for breakfast every morning, as it starts my day out great. I also noticed that I my whole body started running better, I have been craving less sugar, my hair is becoming less greasy, my skin is cleaning up, and my sleep has improved! All things that I wasn't expecting, but are so welcome, and I understand so much better now why people love juicing.

The last thing I do to my juice is add 1-2 scoops of organic Chia Seeds, this one came from Walmart and was about $8, but the one I get from Sams Club is about double the size and about $10 (I haven't even made a dent into it!) I do this because juicing removes the fiber and 1 scoop of Chia seeds has 5 grams of fiber! I have also been reading that Chia seeds bind with impurities in your body and help your body to remove them. (The best part is that they don't have a flavor so it doesn't change a whole lot in terms of taste :)  )

My Juice Recipe 

-------------------------

2 Large handfuls of Spinach

3 large carrots

2-3 stocks of celery

2 apples 

(2 Gala makes sweeter, 1 Granny Smith & 1 Gala is my personal favorite)

1 grapefruit

 1 scoop Chia Seeds (Optional)

I never expected to incorporate juicing into my life, but now that I have started I can't see my life without it. This may be "Hippy Dippy" as my mama would say, but maybe we all need to be a little more open minded and a little more hippy dippy in our highly processed world.

Peace. 

Diets Don't Work

Ok.... Lets talk about the one topic that everyone on the planet has a love/hate relationship with.... weight. I have been on a "Diet" since I can't even remember when but I remember for my 8th birthday I didn't want to eat cake because it would make me fat... I am now 28 and still can't remember when I felt comfortable with how I  looked or felt about myself, inside or out.

I was lucky as my family were dairy farmers, so I was homeschool since 8 and didn't have to deal with school peers making fun of me. That being said there still wasn't a time in my life where I felt beautiful, and even on my wedding day, I remember thinking that I was so ugly at my 189 lbs. Well, that was almost 7 years ago, and they have been 7 years of dieting failures. I have a beautiful son whom I love more then life itself, a husband who adores me, and a life that is so blessed by my Heavenly Father, but as I look in the mirror and hate what I see.

This Picture is my husband and I at Jewel Lake in BC Canada on June 1, 2015... So one month ago exactly. I had an amazing time, but as I look at the pictures all I see is my 225 pound weight, and the rolls of fat that seem to hang on my body. Missing the amazing memories that I have made with my husband. 

This is my turning point, my personal wake up call. Where I am at right now isn't working, I am not happy and I don't want to live this way. I don't want to look at my life when I am old and crotchety and think how many years I have wasted being fat and unhappy. So I have started taking action by doing something different.

 I always think the quote "The true definition of crazy :If you keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!!" and laugh, but it is so true, I have been living this way for most of my life.

So how do I change what I have always done? Where do I start? I have a BS in Health Education and Promotion/computer science, so I turned to the internet. Netflix, Google, instagram, Facebook, watching several documentaries, and the top three that rang true in my brain were:

Hungry for Change

https://www.facebook.com/hungryforchangefilm?fref=ts

Fed Up

https://www.facebook.com/FedUpMovie?fref=ts

Forks over Knives

https://www.facebook.com/forksoverknives?fref=ts

I learned some big things, the first was how we look at diets. A diet isn't what we go on and off to lose weight, but what we eat as a society. I learned that I was eating so much processed foods, and nothing real, and I realized that I needed to look at my stress level in my daily life. While watching "Hungry for Change" I listened to Jon Gabriel and went to his website and bought his total transformation package. His website is http://www.thegabrielmethod.com 

That brings us to today, I have now listened to Jon's book, started practicing visualization, juicing in the morning, yoga, drinking water, cutting out processed food, detoxing from sugar, and started working on loving myself at the place that I am at now. I also went on Facebook and liked all the people who contributed their knowledge to the documentaries, so that my new feed would be filled with healthily posts and news articles, along with the documentaries pages themselves, and a couple of fitness groups.

I am going to use this blog to talk about what is going on through the process of learning who the real me is. Learning how to live life though myself and not though others, and learning how to do this in a world that is 100% against this way of thinking. My goal is to become healthy, lose the weight naturally, clean up my diet and my life, but the biggest thing I want is to be comfortable with me, the real me and to love that person.  

Gifts and all the comes with them

I love making things! And recently my nephew and his girlfriend bought there first house, so I made him a house warming gift. 

These are double thick hot pads, and they are a huge hit with everyone! I love to crochet, and to make these takes about 2-3 days of crocheting at night while I am watching T.V. 

Hot pads are so easy, but the real point is that this is a gift that I give at weddings, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, house warming, etc. to make a set of 4 costs maybe 3$ and people love homemade gifts. 

In life there will always come a time when you have the need to give a gift, so why not give something nice that is also light on your pocket book!?!

My first vegan smoothie

This is my first attempt at making a vegan smoothie and it was a great success!! I put About 2-2 1/2 cups of the frozen triple berry fruit (which I get at SAMs club) one fresh banana, 12 oz of coconut water, and a heaping TBS of agave nectar! 

Our family went to Jamba Juice yesterday (we were given a free smoothie) and I was surprised at how much I liked homemade better! When I moved out here to Utah a little over six years ago that was my favorite place to go. Even my 2 year old son didn't like it, and he lives on smoothies! I have one more gift card to use there, and am hoping I will be able to find something we will eat! I may give it as a gift to someone who would appreciate it more than us.  

Smoothies

I love smoothies, I mean really really love them. In my mind they are better than ice cream, chocolate, and candy combine!! If I were wealthy with money to spend on whateverpSo I have decided to write a few posts with pictures and recipes of my families favorites!! 

Before we begin I would like to state that you can make different things with the same ingredients, depending on the state  the ingredients. To make a smoothie, the largest part of what you place in your blender needs to be frozen. I have made the mistake of using fresh fruit and found that it is warm and gummy. 

Creamy smoothies need a creamy base, such as yogurt, milk, almond milk, or ice cream. Each has its own flavor, and you can use a combination to make your smoothie different. 

If you are wanting something without dairy, you can use any kind of juice you would like. I have used OJ quite often, but I have also used grapefruit, pomegranate, grape, and cherry!!

If you want a think frozen yogurt kind of smoothie, use 1 1/2-2 cups yogurt. If you want something you could drink through a straw use one cup yogurt and one cup milk.  

For the non-dairy thickening add ice, or more frozen fruit! If you go the ice route remember to drink quickly as your smoothie will become watered down :) 

This one is a strawberry, kiwi, banana smoothies.  

To make this add 2-2 1/2 cups frozen strawberries, 2ripe kiwis, 1 banana, 1 cup milk, 1 cup yogurt, 1-2 TBS honey, splash of lemon, and 1 TBS chia seeds (optional)

Blend and enjoy!!!

Quilting, the next frontier

So one of the big things I wanted to learn this year was to quilt!! It has been a dream for years and I am so excited to show my first finished quilt top!! I was able to take a quilting 101 class from one of the local quilting shops. And am excited because I will be binding it on the 12th! Then on February 21st I will be taking a metro circle quilt class! I was surprised at how easy quilting actually is!

This blog is called better living for less, but I will state now that quilting can become ver pricy... It's true, but quilting can be such a relaxing pastime, and when your done you have a beautiful quilt!! Creating is one of the best parts of this world, and goes hand in hand with better living!! 

New Year, New Me!!

Hello World! I have decided that I am going to start working on the blog again! Since part of my New Years resolution was to cut chemicals out of my life, this would be a great subject to start blogging about!

Part of my plan is to make my own bread. So far (for the last month) I have made all the bread in my house. I have been given a sour dough start from my best friend, and I am so excited to start talking about all the different recipes that you can make with it!!!

My health goals are to be able to pronounce everything I eat, and to cut out as much processed foods and chemicals as I can. That means making my own dressings, ketchup, cookies, pastas, etc. At first when I started I had imagined that there were just some things that were not possible to make at home, but surprisingly so far I haven't come across anything that I can't make myself!

Welcome to my journey, enjoy the ride!!

The Dirty on Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers, I know it sounds a little extreme and hippy-ish, but as a modern day mama who is always looking for a way to save money this is a BIG drain on my baby budget. I totally understand buying the cheaper diapers, but I am the lucky mama of a sensitive skinned boy who can not wear the cheap diapers. So I looked into cloth diapers (CD) and found that there was many different brands; 

This is when I decided to do an experiment! I started by making the perimeters of what would be acceptable and making it a success, so that way I would know if it was a failure for our lives. The three things that mattered most to me were to ease of use (At the time I was finishing my BS degree), I needed to be able to do this with as minimal stress as possible. This second was leakage, at the time we were leaking or blowing out about 5 times a week, so anything under that was acceptable. The third was most important, it have to save me MONEY$$$!!!  

After a lot of research I found out there there were three main styles. The first one is a one-size which means that it will fit the baby from birth to potty training. The pictures below are of the Go-Green Pocket diapers. 

 A pocket diaper looks the most like a regular diaper, and has inserts that you stuff under the pocket. This brand is nice because you don't have to un-stuff them as the washer does it for you! The price of each diaper is about $17, and to survive 3-4 days you need at least 14-20. That can get VERY price, but if this is your first baby and you know you want more children this could work for you.

 I did really like the colored snaps as it made it so much easier to snap them up at night.

 This is an inside shot of the pocket, I loved the look of these diapers but they just didn't hold enough, and my son wet through them to much.

 This diaper is the second kind I tried and it is called the gDiaper, This is a sized diaper which means that you have to have it in small, median, large, and X-LG to go from birth to potty training. I have friends that use these and love them, but the inserts didn't work well for us, they simply leaked to much. This kind did have one great feature and that was disposable inserts. I thought that was great for when others watched my son, except for the fact that they were as much as disposable diapers!

The gDiaper is called a shell diaper because the outside part is reusable (unless it becomes soiled) so all you have to do is take out the dirty liner wipe it out and put a clean liner in!

The Winner of my experiment was the best bottom diapers they are a shell One-size and they have been wonderful! For a set of 3 shells and 9 inserts is about $84. The inserts snap in so they don't move and become uncomfortable, and the designs are so cute!! I have 6 shells, I use three per week then wash the three I used and switch to the other three.

 They have 2 different kinds of inserts in 3 sizes. Pictured here are the hemp (bottom) and the microfiber (top). It is said that the Hemp absorbs more but slowly, and the microfiber absorbs less but faster. This brand also makes a doubler (Hemp) which snaps in and then you can snap a second insert on top of that. I use this for nap time and it is perfect! The inserts here are large (Blue stitching), as when I started my son was already in this size, the other sizes have different colored stitching.

 This is a picture of the owl shell with the microfiber insert, I love that it is easy to snap in the insert and go. They have NEVER leaked, and they are the easiest to clean and wash.

Now if you are truly going to make the switch to CD, then I would suggest making a handful of extra purchases. My list of essentials are.

1) Fuzzybums hanging wetbag 

This is so you don't have the the stench of dirty diapers in your home. I have used this in all seasons (I live in an apartment) and there is no smell outside your door!

2) Wet/dry bag 

This is for you diaper bag. So you can change diapers out and about and take home the inserts to wash.

3) Toilet sprayer 

This attaches to the toilet so can spray off the poo! 

I want to make one point very clear, the best bottom diapers are amazing for MY family, I have friends that use the Go Green Pocket Diapers, and the gDiapers and love them. That being said if you are looking for a reliable place to purchase them I would suggest www.NickisDiapers.com as they seem to have the best deal. 

The last thing I would cover is price, going over the numbers and for all of the extras, and the inserts (this would include small, medium, & Large) is roughly $400-450. This sounds like a lot, but I was spending an average of $70 per month on diapers. As of the moment I only have one child which means that it cost $300 (I will need to buy the small & Medium for our next baby) then I will still save month as that is roughly 5 months of diapers, and we have already been using them for the past 6 months. Now when the next baby comes that will mean that I can divid the diaper price in half, and every baby afterwards will make the diapers less and less.

Lunette ~ A New way to look at an old problem.

Lets be honest, one of the best parts of being pregnant is not having to deal with aunt Flo every month. I don't know about everyone but for me it is something that I find very embarrassing, and it always seems to come at the worst possible time. I hate that even if you buy the cheapest products you still have to have several of every absorbency just to get though your week of misery. Well, I have found something that is truly life changing and money saving! It is called Lunette and it is a menstrual cup!

I was surfing one day on Facebook, and found an article that a friend had posted about the chemicals that are in feminine products, and how it is very important to use the right absorbency. It spoke about how the chemicals are being linked to cancers of the female reproductive organs, and how you need to be careful. In the comments one woman said that she uses a Diva Cup, which is a similar product. Well, I became very curious! I started reading the reviews on it, and someone had posted that they had started with that and then found Lunette. After about a week of researching I ordered two of the lunette cups.

 As you see there are two models, Both are made of a medical silicone, which means that you will never have to worry about Toxic Shock Syndrome (A condition that can happen when leaving tampons in to long and a bacteria grows). They also have pull tab to help with the removal. They are made in Finland, and are extremely popular in European countries. Each cup is $39.99, and if you buy both with shipping it is around $87.

Model 1 is for lighter/ regular days, it is made of a softer silicone, and they recommend if for those that are first starting to use a cup.

Model 2 is a thinker silicone, and holds much more. It is for regular/heavy days. This one also has a shorter pull tab, And both come with their own storage bags.

I went straight to Lunette here ~  http://www.lunette.com/us/

Let me be clear, I was truly worried this was going to be weird. That is wasn't going to work, and that I was going to blow $90! But I had to try, and I am so grateful that I had an open mind. I did a ton of research and the first place I started was Youtube... You would be surprised what people make videos! and I am so grateful for this because this is people being honest.

***** BE CAREFUL!*****
There are so many "Horror" videos,  and I watched them... Though none of them was anything to do with health reasons. Most of them were either, they had a rare condition that causes an odor.

The one video that I found most helpful and I would suggest to anyone looking into this is this one! It helps you to work your cup. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CBh6cAKapA

I found this product to be one of the best finds of the century! I am only sad that I didn't learn about it 10+ years ago! Think of the hundreds of $$ I could have saved!

Homemade Wipes

Wipes and Diapers and Saving Some Cash!

Well it has been months since I added my last post about cloth diapers, and let me say that I love them! I was able to switch while finishing my final semester in college! I am looking forward to continuing on with this. I have been telling everyone who asks about this everything they want to know and more, and after looking over the numbers I have found that every diaper I change saves me 25 cents, and I change 6-8 diapers per day. That means per month I save between $42-$56, and that is just on diapers! I have also added cloth wipes which I only use when he has a wet diaper, this cuts down on my wipe budget, and I have learned how to make disposable wipes. TO MAKE DISPOSABLE WIPES~ In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup fill with 2 cups hot water, 2 TBS baby wash, and 1 TBS baby oil. Then take one new roll of paper towels, cut in half (use a sharp knife,)and put half in a tall plastic container. Pour the mixture and with in 30 seconds you can pull cardboard and with it will come the first wipe! this solution is the same solution that you use on the cloth wipes, and all you have to do is lay the first wipe down, then the second wipe laps over the first and you fold the left over part of the wipe to the center. You continue to do this until you have filled your container. I use an old wipes box that my friend gave me, and when you do it this way, then you have the pop up effect that makes life so much easier. I love saving money, and I love things that also save me time. I also have a little boy who's skin is so overly sensitive to the unpronounceable chemicals that the cheap baby supplies are doused in. I hope that if others are searching for this that all of my research will come in handy and save some time!