Why School Uniforms Should Be Banned

Me and my sister on the first days of school.  On the left we're wearing uniforms and fake smiles (her in K, me in 4th).  On the right we are happily wearing what we picked out (her in 1st, me in 5th).  I remember I loved that outfit.

This post is all my opinion.  If you like school uniforms, we can agree to disagree.  When I was in 4th grade, my school decided to implement school uniforms.  It was a public school and they gave parents the option to opt their children out.  My mom was pretty cool and she didn't like the idea of uniforms, but she told us to at least give it a try.

That year we went school shopping like we always did, but the fun was sucked out of the experience because we could only buy specific articles of clothing in navy blue, white, or khaki.  Not only were the uniforms uncomfortable, they were ugly.  My sister and I hated wearing them and every day when we came home from school, the first thing we did was change clothes.

My mom was on our side even more because she was having to do more laundry.  Other parents who liked the uniforms even got upset with her because she expressed her distaste for them.
  
The thing is, most people who are in favor of school uniforms aren't the ones who have to wear them.  Their argument is this is a way for everyone to be equal.  No one will be made fun of because they can't afford "trendy" clothes.  But these people live in a fantasy world.  Bullies will find something else to tease weaker kids about.  I know, because I was often the one being made fun of.  Plus, the "cool" kids still look good, while the awkward looking kids are now forced to look even more ridiculous.

School uniforms strip kids of their individuality.  This is a time where creativity should be encouraged, not suppressed.  Suppression doesn't work.  Emotions and opinions will come out, often in unhealthy ways.  When I have children, I will never make them wear school uniforms.
  
Thankfully, my mom saw how stupid this idea was and opted my sister and I out the following year.  Many other parents did the same and I remember 5th grade being particularly fun.  Our freedom was back and it was a beautiful thing.

Why Counting Calories is a Waste of Time

If you've ever spent any time using numbers to keep track of the food you're eating, this post is for you.

There are countless programs and apps that claim if you stick to a certain amount of calories per day, you'll be able to reach your goals.  I'll acknowledge this method can help people lose weight.  But often times it only works temporarily.  Plus, it's extremely frustrating and limiting.

Counting calories is a waste of time for one simple reason.  It only takes into account a quantity of a food, not the quality.  The problem is, our bodies are so much more complex than that.  We are not numbers, we are people.  You are so much more than a number on a scale.  

Only focusing on the amount of food you're putting into your body without being mindful of what you're eating is the root cause this method is failing you.  You can eat 100 calories of processed cheese crackers or 100 calories of broccoli.  Your body digests each food differently and obviously the broccoli will benefit your body, while processed foods are a detriment. 

Instead of obsessively adding up calories, carbs, fat, and protein, we should focus on eating whole, organic, clean, high quality foods.  That way, we're more in tune with what our bodies actually need.  We won't be starving at the end of the day and we won't feel guilty eating until we're full if we fill up on healthy foods.  

If you're wondering how much you should be eating, try listening to what your body is telling you.  By eating slowly and chewing well you can focus on the signals that say you're full and stop eating.  Instead of looking at the numbers on the nutrition facts, check the ingredients.  Avoid buying anything with a lot of ingredients you can't even pronounce.

I have personally never counted calories because I've been underweight my whole life.  When I started living the Beauty Detox lifestyle, my instinct about counting calories was validated because Kimberly Snyder, C.N., does not promote this method.  I'm very passionate about this because it's such a popular diet tactic, yet it isn't very effective or efficient.

I would like to see this method fade as our society moves toward a healthier, more natural way of eating.  That way, we can eat freely and know we're getting the proper nutrition.  When we shift our focus to what we're eating, we will look and feel our best.

For more information on shifting to a healthier diet, check out my post, How Beauty Detox Changed My Life.

Why You Should Ditch Your Hair Dryer

For most of my life, my hair has been hard to manage.  Since I'm a ginger, I have a thicker texture compared to other hair colors.  It was often frizzy and puffy, especially when I was a teenager.  

At the age of 14, my cousin taught me how to straighten my hair, for which I'm eternally grateful.  But back then, I became obsessed and would never leave the house without straightening it.  My mom insisted I wash my hair every single day to prevent oil build up, and my destructive routine began.  

Every day I would wash my hair, coat it in chemical-laden hair products, blow dry it, and finally, straighten it.  I have a lot of hair so this was extremely time consuming.  As a result of doing this for years, my hair became damaged, but as long as it was straight, I didn't care.

Finally, I couldn't keep up with it anymore.  I started doing my hair every other day, which did lighten the burden a little.  Once, for whatever reason, I had to wash my hair at night.  I let it air dry and straightened it the next morning.  To my surprise, there was a huge improvement in the texture.  It was smoother and much less frizzy.  

That was about five years ago, and since ditching the hair dryer, I haven't used one since.  My hair texture gradually improved and there is much less damage.  I still use a flat iron, but only about once a week.  Thankfully, the oil on my scalp has balanced.  I only need to wash my hair twice a week because the natural oils aren't being stripped away every day.

Changing my diet has also been a huge component of improving the health of my hair and reducing oil, therefore allowing me to wash it less often.  You can read about the specifics of how I did this in How Beauty Detox Changed My Life.  I also ditched the hair products and do a coconut oil hair mask once a week to help keep my hair soft and healthy.

Everyone has different hair types and those with thinner hair may have to wash it more often.  But I would encourage you to try letting it air dry over night.  You will be saving your hair from intense heat damage and that will add up.  Your hair texture will improve, you will save precious time, and even save a little electricity.  

I'm always striving to find new ways to simplify my life and this has been an extremely helpful, easy, and healthy way for me to do just that.

How I Married My 5th Grade Crush

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25 ESV

I would like to share this story to spread love and joy.  There is so much heartache in this world so when something like this happens, I think people should know about it.  I typically don't like being in the spotlight, but in this case, my love story is special and worth sharing.  In order to fully explain why it's so unique, you have to understand the kind of girl I was.  

I've always been shy, introverted, and kept to myself.  As a teenager, I dated a few guys, but was never in a relationship.  I was often depressed because I felt like an outcast who didn't fit in anywhere.  At times I thought I'd never find someone who would love me and after I got my heart broken at 19, I gave up on all hope of falling in love.  

2010 was a very transformative year for me.  I was in college, still living at home, so my life was pretty simple.  My depression was even worse at the beginning of the year because of the aforementioned heart break, but God was preparing me.  He was teaching me to be content with who I was at this time in my life.  I didn't need anyone else to complete me.  By the end of the year, I was a new woman.  It took a lot of time to get to that point, but for the first time I felt free to just be happy where I was in life.  And that's when my prayers were answered.

In December of that year, I was on Facebook and added a friend named Brian because I saw him on my recommended friend's list.  I recognized him as my 5th grade crush and just wanted more friends.  He accepted my request and I thought nothing of it, until he messaged me in January of 2011.  He was trying to figure out how we knew each other and I reminded him we were in the same 5th grade class.  I mentioned I had a video of the play we were in and he should come over and watch it some time.  At this point, I still didn't get my hopes up that anything would come of this.  I just thought of him as an old friend.  He seemed interested in seeing the video so we made plans for him to come over and watch it the next night.  

I'll never forget seeing him again for the first time in ten years.  I opened the door and we had instant chemistry.  It was so easy to talk to him and I don't remember there being one awkward moment.  We watched the video and talked for hours.  We ended up hanging out the rest of the weekend and by Sunday we were officially each other's first boyfriend and girlfriend.

There were several moments that made me realize this man was "the one".  For example, that Sunday night we discovered we were both saving ourselves for marriage.  I remember the shock and thrill it was hearing that from such an attractive guy.  It was refreshing and it allowed us to connect on a much deeper level.

As our relationship flourished we learned new things about each other.  Like how he had prayed for a redhead with pale skin and how I prayed for someone who would be strong where I was weak and weak where I was strong so we could help balance each other.  All these things were true of us.  The love we felt for each other was instant and only continued to grow.

As the months went on, it became clear we both wanted the same things.  Marriage was discussed frequently and on September 9th, 2011 (5 years ago today), he proposed at a beautiful park.  I didn't hesitate for a second before saying yes.  We both just knew we would be together forever.

We began planning our wedding at the beginning of 2012 and decided December 1st of that year was our wedding date.  It seemed like that day would never come.  We talked about moving the wedding up and decided to pray about it separately, but both felt a peace to keep it on that day.  

My goal for posting this isn't to brag about my happiness or be praised.  I want anyone single who felt like I did to know the right person is worth waiting for.  God blesses those who are patient and wait for His timing.  We're by no means perfect, we just have faith.  Brian and I prayed for each other and did not give in to the social pressures this world imposes on the youth.  I encourage anyone doubting their self worth to pray for guidance and stay strong.  Not everyone's story will look the same and that's okay.

 

I will be posting the wedding day story on our four year anniversary, so look out for that!

Natural Home Remedy For Strep Throat and Sinus Infections

I'm sharing this home remedy because I broke out in a horrific rash that lasted almost a month from taking Zithromax Z-Pak for strep throat.  You can read the full story, Rash From Hell.  Now I'd like to share a natural way to heal strep throat and sinus infections.
  
After that terrible experience, I had to find an alternative, so I began to research.  I found several videos and blogs about a simple 3 ingredient recipe.  I've used it several times and it's had a 100% success rate.  Specifically, last November, I was fighting a sinus infection for about a week, trying to just get over it.  It continued to get worse so I made this recipe and it cleared up within two days.

Ingredients:  
2 Tbsp raw unfiltered honey
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cloves of minced fresh garlic (Let the garlic sit out for 15 minutes after mincing to activate potency)

Mix these ingredients together and coat it on your throat as often as you can throughout the day.  I made about 3 batches the first day and tried to take a teaspoon every hour.  The second day I continued to take it as often as I thought about it.  I felt better within hours of taking it the first time.

I really believe this is an excellent alternative to prescription medication.  You can save money and time going to the doctor.  Plus, this is a much more natural way to fight sickness.  Garlic and honey are natural antibiotics and cayenne pepper is actually great for healing and soothing sore throats.  My guess is, doctors make money prescribing medication so they don't like to promote easy, low cost, natural remedies like this.

The last thing I'll say is I am not qualified to give medical advice.  I'm simply sharing something that worked for me.  If you don't get better, you should see a doctor.  But I predict, if used properly, you'll love this recipe and it will be effective.

Source: http://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/fire-spice-naturally-treat-strep-throat/

Rash From Hell

I love sharing experiences I've gone through to help anyone in a similar situation.  That's what this post is all about.  If you've ever had a rash from an allergic reaction, you know how horrible it is.
  
In 2011, when I was 21, I went to my primary care physician and was prescribed a Z-Pak for strep throat.  I took two early that day and by evening, I had developed hives all over my body.  The red bumps itched so intensely, but scratching made it feel like I was on fire.  I couldn't sleep and I can honestly say this was the worst feeling I'd ever had in my life.
  
I went back to the doctor begging them to tell me how to get rid of the rash.  I was shocked by how nonchalant they were when I was sitting there in agony.  I said from the beginning it had to be from the Z-Pak because within hours of taking it I got the rash.  But the doctor wasn't convinced and thought maybe it was a side effect of strep throat.  That didn't make any sense to me and I was very upset with her attitude towards the whole situation.

I was given anti-itch cream and put on steroids because Benadryl did nothing.  Lukewarm oatmeal baths helped, but only slightly.  Gradually, the steroids cleared up the rash and after about a week, it appeared to be completely gone.  I finished the steroids right around the time I went back to school at UNF.  I'll never forget the panic I felt sitting in my first class of the new semester and realizing the rash was coming back.  I went home early and ended up back in the doctor's office.  I was still shocked by how she didn't want to admit it was probably a reaction to the Z-Pak.  She kept saying she had never seen a reaction like this before.  My thought was, just because it's rare, doesn't mean it can't happen.  She prescribed me another round of steroids and referred me to an allergy doctor.

I had several appointments with an allergy specialist.  He was an older, heavy man who didn't seem to care about me at all.  He ordered a skin allergy test.  This didn't make much sense to me either because I got the rash after taking a pill, which couldn't be properly recreated.  After all that wasted time and money, the tests were inconclusive.  His conclusion was he didn't know what caused the rash and I'd be fine to take a Z-Pak again if I had to.  That flabbergasted me.  He said I would be fine taking a medication that caused me intense pain and discomfort for almost a month.  He was crazy if he thought I'd ever get near that stuff again.

During that month, I was at a restaurant with my boyfriend at the time (now husband).  I was very self-conscious of the rash and noticed the smooth legs of some of the girls around us.  I was feeling very insecure with my rashy and hairy (of course I couldn't shave) legs and he noticed how I was feeling without me saying a word.  He whispered in my ear "You are beautiful and I love you."  I will never forget that.

Thank God, after the second round of steroids, the rash did not come back.  I firmly believe it was a direct reaction to taking the Z-Pak and it just took my body that long to get it out of my system.
  
I did learn many lessons from this experience.  I gained a new appreciation for my health and I try to not take feeling good for granted.  I also learned how to tell if a doctor cares about their patients or not.  My experience with the primary care doctors and the allergy doctor were not good because I felt like they didn't care or believe me.  They seemed to not want to say a medicine hurt me because they are making money on prescribing them.

It was easy to see the difference when I met my gynecologist who genuinely cares about me and my well being.  She called me with test results, saving me from having to come in and pay for an office visit, she recommended a natural remedy instead of just throwing a prescription at me, and I can tell she really enjoys taking care of her patients and connecting with them on a personal level.

Mainly, I learned to trust myself with my health.  I know my body better than anyone.  You may also be wondering what I do now if I catch that type of sickness again.

The last few times I felt like I was getting sick I used an incredible home remedy.  To learn more, check out my other blog, Natural Home Remedy For Strep Throat and Sinus Infections.  I wouldn't wish that rash on my worst enemy and I hope this helps you navigate your path to health.

How Beauty Detox Changed My Life

Recently I was featured on celebrity nutritionist, Kimberly Snyder's blog for my Beauty Detox transformation.  I shared how her books influenced the health of my skin in a previous blog, My Journey to Clear Skin.  Today, I wanted to expand on this because the Beauty Detox philosophy has benefited me in much more than just helping my complexion.  

I grew up on the Standard American Diet.  My body was not perfect, but I was surviving just fine.  But what was the state of my health?  My skin was congested, I had low energy, my hair was damaged, and my digestive health wasn't as efficient as it could have been.

The point is, yes you can survive perfectly fine on an unhealthy diet.  But what if you are only just surviving?  What if there was a way to survive and thrive?  That's what the Beauty Detox lifestyle is all about.  It's about eating for your best health and focusing on what foods are going to help your body clear out toxins, not build them up.

Living this lifestyle has opened my eyes to many different things.  For example, the overwhelming deception surrounding food and beverages in this country.  Large companies are making a ton of money by deceiving us every day.  They want us to believe their products are beneficial so we’ll continue to buy them.  You may have never thought about this, or if you have, you may not care.  I’m writing this because I do care.  I care that millions of people are overweight, sick, and unhappy with their bodies.  It breaks my heart to see people struggling with a variety of afflictions when the solution is so simple.  That's why I have to share this. 

I was one of those miserable people for so long.  I hated what I saw in the mirror, but had no idea how to change it.  In 2014, I was working as a nanny.  One afternoon, between me and two toddlers, we almost finished a bag of chips.  It wasn't unusual for me to eat junk food like this and I always felt awful afterwards.  It was then I decided I couldn't live like this anymore.  Something had to change.  I started researching nutrition and praying for a solution to my acne.

God led me down a path of health discovery.  First, my husband and I cleaned out our pantry and fridge, getting rid of all processed food.  The desire to learn about nutrition led me to finding the Beauty Detox books.  

I had always felt pride in eating meat and thought the idea of being vegan was ridiculous.  Then, I read The Beauty Detox Solution and it completely changed my mind.  The simple, non-judgmental, scientific facts stated in that book made me realize I had to reduce my meat consumption and cut out dairy.  I look back on times in my life when the vegan diet had been displayed in a pushy way and how that was not effective at all.  What a blessing it was to discover it the way I did.

It was a gradual process, but I'm now eating a vegan diet 98% of the time.  My husband is a hunter, so I do eat venison occasionally.  Other than that, I'm extremely happy with the delicious vegan options I have.  As a result, my skin has drastically improved, I have more energy than ever before, my hair is silkier, and my mind is clearer.  I've also noticed a drastic improvement in my digestive health, which is key to looking and feeling your best.

Another great part of Beauty Detox is you don't have to worry about taking a lot of supplements.  With this diet, you're getting a wide variety of nutrition.  Probiotics and Detoxy are the only supplements I take.  The probiotics promote healthy gut bacteria and the Detoxy has been extremely helpful to me and my husband for it's ability detoxify our systems gently.

The pros of this lifestyle far outweigh any cons.  I do have to explain my diet more often and most of the time people are very understanding.  In the instances when people have expressed misguided concern, I explain I feel better eating this way.  I'm confident in my decisions so I don't feel the need to go into an unnecessary debate.  I do have to put more effort into food planning and prep, but it definitely beats acne, low energy, and feeling sick.

This lifestyle does require self discipline.  Some days I slip up and eat too much sugar, but then I feel sick and remember my health goals.  This is not a temporary program, it is permanent for me.  I've found I don't even desire the foods I used to crave because I know how harmful they are and in the beginning when I did "cheat" I felt weighed down and tired.  I also don't feel I'm missing out on anything because the foods I'm eating now are full of flavor and I know they're good for my body.  This lifestyle helped me shape my daily routine by making meal plans easy with Beauty Detox recipes that have been easy to implement.

Yoga is another aspect I love about this lifestyle.  I had already began to dabble in it when I started Beauty Detox, so it encouraged me even more to keep up with my at home yoga practice when I learned Kimberly Snyder promotes it as well.

Another aspect I'd like to acknowledge is the financial side of eating healthy.  I would rather spend more money on healthy food and sacrifice in other areas than spend less on cheap food resulting in not feeling good and looking worse.  I see it all the time where people use money as an excuse to not buy organic and settle for junk food.  It all comes down to priorities.  Do you care more about your health or going shopping for things you don't need?
  
I've also heard the argument it doesn't matter what you eat because many people have horrible diets and live until they're 90.  The examples I've been given are of people who are yes, at an advanced age, but are being kept alive by medications with serious side effects.  I would rather take care of my body now than be an old woman relying on medicines to keep me alive.  Low quality food causes disease and cancer and what will your quality of life be when you're 90?  What seems convenient and cheap now costs you later and in the mean time you're overweight and sick.

I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty.  My desire is for you to take an interest in your health and the health of your loved ones.  For me personally, the best way to motivate lifestyle changes is to do my own research and I encourage you to do the same.  What I learned inspired me so much I have to share it with as many people possible.  I've never felt better, I've never looked better, and I can't wait to see how much more I continue to improve as the years go by.

To learn more about the lifestyle, go right to the source.  Click here to price the books on Amazon.  You can buy Detoxy and the Probiotics by clicking here.