NEW Mineral Veil

I am very excited to introduce my new product. Mostly b/c I love to use this stuff myself! I am sure all you ladies have heard of the mineral veil by sheer cover, well come to find out it is basically corn starch. When I learned this I thought for sure I can create something just as great with a little more benefit to it. So I experimented and did some research and found that I can make the same exact thing with very fine ground sea salt and himalayan pink salt and a little corn starch. Gives you the same exact effect but really really great for your skin.

 If your skin is oily or you get acne ever this stuff will really help your skin. Salt is so good for skin. These two salts I chose have very high mineral content. 

You can buy my mineral veil for $6.00 a lot cheaper then the name brand, and it is better for you!!

I use it to set my make up, it gives me a very flawless and soft finish I LOVE IT! I personally am so happy I discovered this. I really hope you all will buy some and try it out. It is so cheap and will last you a LOOONG time!!! Buy some here. 

Health and Fitness advice from an ex-fatty

Ok, SO, I am sooo overdue for a blog post. Sadly I have been a little ill lately! I have been in such a slump on my diet and working out I feel like its time for some inspiration (more for me)

So I am going to share a recent tip I heard and sorta loved-

Pre-shower work outs!! I love this bc it is perfect for us moms who have literally only 10 minutes OR LESS to really work out, plus the sweating is never too fun so doing a pre shower work out is genius in my opinion. Here is my version of a pre shower work out:

-25 jumping jacks
-30 crunches legs crossed in the air bringing your knees toward your head as you lift up
-15 pushups girl style or man style if you are super cool
-15 squats (get that butt low ladies and keep that back straight do not let those knees go over your feet POSTURE IS SOOO IMPORTANT)
-10 lunges each leg
- Repeat as much as you can before the BABY WAKES UP!!!! (thats for me)

This should get your heart pumping if you do it very quickly and also targets most your body. The beauty of it, hop in the shower when you are done and heat up those muscles even more and relax too! This will really wake you up as well from that LONG NIGHT! It also gets your pores open and starts releasing all kinds of toxins, that you can wash off quickly in the shower, this will also help keep your skin soft too if you slather some lotion on right after the shower while those pores are still open and receptive to some nice moisture!

Drink tons of water, get rid of more toxins!

Ok, here are two things I would love to share with you. Some of you probably know about these two things, if not then you are going to pee your pants with excitement (I'm serious) Ok go potty first then read.

LOW AND NO CARB PASTAS!!! YES I SAID IT AND SOMEHOW, IT IS POSSIBLE!!!

First one is a low carb pasta, it has like 5 net carbs per serving and it comes just like your average dry pasta would in a box and I am telling you, there is no taste difference what so ever you will never miss your wheat pasta or your white pasta -Dreamfields pasta- click Here to read about it and also get a $1.00 off coupon. I find this pasta at most grocery stores where the other pastas are located.

Second one is a zero carb pasta and pretty much zero everything, they are called shirataki noodles. Now there are a lot of varieties of this noodle; the one I found is located by the tofu and sprouts in the dridge part of the produce. These noodles are a bit rubbery, but boiling them for a couple minutes helps and they are still wonderful regardless. These come in a liquid already soft and ready to serve and must be refrigerated. They have a slight fishy smell that goes away with a good rinse or boil. I am telling you my husband and I were thrilled to find these! If you do a google search about shirataki noodles you can see all the different brands and variations and also where you can buy them. 

Skin skin and more skin

Many of you have probably have heard the skin is the largest organ in your body and is made up of many layers. There are three main layers I want to point out though, top layer is the epidermis, second is the dermis, and third is the hypodermis also known as the subcutaneous adipose layer. Each have a specific role for your bodies protection.

The epidermis is basically a water shield and keeps water inside your body and is waterproof on the outside to keep pathogens away. The epidermis also helps regulate your bodies temperature.

The dermis, below the epidermis is where a lot of nerve endings are so this is where you get heat and touch sensation. The dermis cushions the body from stress and strain. In the dermis is where your sweat glands, hair follicles, sebaceous glands (these secrete your natural oils), lymphatic vessels (these carry lymph), and blood vessels are.

The hypodermis basically connects the two top layers to the bones and muscles in your body. It contains 50% of the your body fat and serves as insulation and padding.

Now that you know what your basic skin make up is, I want to share with you ways to keep your skin healthy and vibrant! Your skin is what people see, you don't see muscle or bone exposed bc you have this perfect blanket of skin. Many of us think about our skin daily (women totally do) and we try to make it appear healthy and beautiful, but what if what you are doing is actually not really helping your skin but rather damaging it?

Your skin is the body's largest organ, and it works with your kidneys to get rid of the bodies toxins. However, your skin needs to be able to breathe to perform these function. 

Mineral oil is probably the most common oil found in popular lotions and skin care, sadly the reason is it is cheap. It actually seals off your skin and keeps it from breathing as well as keeping it from absorbing good nutrients and moisture. This causes premature aging and clogged pores.
Mineral oil covers the skin like plastic wrap, inhibiting the skin's natural immune barrier and its ability to breathe and absorb. Also, mineral oil attracts needed moisture from cells deep in your skin. This means that cell renewal is slowed, then your collagen breaks down, and then your connective tissue is destroyed. Normal cell development is slowed down and the skin ages prematurely when skin cells are robbed of moisture.

Take a look at what you put on your skin does it have mineral oil? THROW IT AWAY IF IT DOES!

Another common ingredient in lotions and creams are different types of alcohols. There are some good alcohols that are natural and are not harsh on skin, but there are many bad ones that include ethanol, denatured alcohol, ethyl alcohol, methanol, benzyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, and sd alcohol, which not only can be extremely drying and irritating to skin, but may be cytotoxic. Meaning it is toxic to your cells.  Again check your products.

So why is it so important that we put good things onto our skin? The answer is clear our skin houses many many blood vessels and your skin absorbs what you put on it and then that is transferred into your blood. If that doesn't make you more careful about what you put on your skin I don't know what will.

Having good skin products is also vital for good skin health bc what you eat is not always enough to nourish your skin. When you digest your food only a very small percentage of nutrients actually go to your skin. So a great solution is putting these nutrients directly on your skin, your skin will get a lot more out of direct contact. This does not mean diet isn't important for skin health bc diet is very very important for healthy, beautiful skin!

Ok, I hope this has inspired some of you to be a little more cautious with what you put on your skin and more so I hope you all are inspired to love your skin! No matter what stage it's at! Scarred, broken, cracked, wrinkled, sagging, jiggly love it no matter what and take good care of it! It protects you from all kinds of awful things that could get into your body! So show some appreciation and love to the largest organ that works hard and gets a lot of abuse.

Some fun facts about your skin:

-Globally, dead skin cells account for about a billion tons of dust in the atmosphere. You shed about 50,000 cells every minute!- Another good reason to use good products that encourage the healthy reproduction of these skin cells, you want to generate new HEALTHY cells! (this is sort of a gross fact when you think of it. We are like breathing in everyones skin ugh)

-The average adult's skin spans 21 square feet, weighs nine pounds, and contains more than 11 MILES of blood vessels!! WOW

Keep watching out I will be posting many skin care tips! Next blog I post will be about dry brushing and why it is sooo good for your skin!!!

Get some good skin care products I make myself (approved by me and many others) go to www.etsy.com/shop/theblissfulbody Until October 16 enjoy 10% off use OPEN10 at check out!!

The Grand Opening of The Blissful Body Shop- coupon code inside

 

Hello all you lovely people! Since you have skin you need to go to my shop and buy something super spectacular www.etsy.com/shop/theblissfulbody

I have been working long and hard to get this shop open and I am SOOOO very excited to announce it is finally here. Since this is such a cool time for me I am giving away a coupon code for my shop. It gives you 10% off  your purchase. Type in OPEN10 at check out!! This coupon is good for a week, so will end October 16.

Right now there are a variety of fragrances, it is hard to choose since you cannot smell them, so please if you want to know a description of the smell just contact me. I will be happy to give the best description I can. I also want to give everyone a heads up that I am not going to always offer the fragrances in the shop now. I will be narrowing it down to about 6 really really good ones then adding some as the seasons change, so keep a look out on that!!

Ok, so here is THE BEST PART this is truly the most exciting thing for me, every item that you purchase I will donate $1.00 to an amazing ministry called Amazima Ministries.  Please check them out at amazima.org they are wonderful. They help children get food, water, health care, and education.

I am so excited about this and I really hope you all will try out my lotions and butters. They make great gifts. Guys I am telling you, a unique home made bottle of lotion will for sure score you massive points with your lady ;-)! 

I really appreciate all your support and all the feedback you can give. Go look at my shop!!! Tell me what you think please please please!!

Here is what is in the shop!

A trip to grander things

I had been meaning to write this a few days ago but life has been exhaustingly busy since I returned from my short trip to see my parents.
My parents live about three hours away in a very tiny town where I grew up. This town offers what most small towns offer, a massive buffet of rumors and gossiping. Everyone knows everyone's business, you cannot leave your house without running into at least three people you enjoy and at least five people you can't stand. It's a great place to raise kids really. As a parent they hardly can get away with much ;)! I remember growing up and thinking "I cannot wait to move to California, where I can not run into people I have to talk too and I can wear other clothes besides sweatshirts and jeans without being stared at like some crazy person."

I could not wait to leave, and I did leave. So now when I visit I am reminded of what that small town had to offer in the form of so many good things- beauty, quiet, peaceful, love, home, places to really escape from everyone and everything, long amazing drives, nature, hospitality, people who care, friendship! As a teenager I rarely appreciated these things. Now being away and realizing how cruel the rest of the world can be I appreciate returning to that little cocoon of home, family, and friends! It's where I can truly relax and enjoy myself and reflect on life.

One of the things I reflected on while I drove there and back was how massive this world is. How tiny I am compared to the scheme of things. The mountains alone made me feel so insignificant. In a way I am so much like that small town tucked away in the mountains, I am hidden from reality and the true world around me; I keep to myself and try to ignore all the bad stuff going on. I am just consumed with my life, always gossiping about my small circle. Making rumors about my silly future that I really have no control over.

So really to put my long trip into words this is what I will leave you with bc this is what I was left with, these words-
Do I want this world to better my life or do I want my life to better this world

How should we spend our precious time?

I had a revelation today while nursing my son (nursing is typically the only time I sit down and actually think) I was thinking about how I spend my time and if it was good or if it was not all that good. I don't believe I do anything bad, but maybe I could be doing a lot better things.

I started thinking about how moms and dads these days have sooo many more interruptions and so many more things to "stress or worry" over bc of how everyone thinks we need to live. We have to worry about jobs and making enough money for a too high of standard! Most of us live outside what we really make (I respect those of you who live within your true budget) and spend money we do not have. Since I am not working Kory and I do not splurge AT ALL I mean literally we buy gas, groceries, and pay bills. Even then the demands seem too high.

Also let me bring up the no brainier in this time, technology! Wow I have a love hate thing going on with technology!!! It can be a time saver but most the time a time waster. Watching tv now is such a waste of time for me it's time I could be folding laundry, doing dishes,vacuuming, or here's a good one spending actual quality time with the people I love! Now, I love plopping down after a long day and relaxing with Kory and Ryan and watching a movie, it's like movies make sense they allow about two hrs to relax and just watch, tv on the other hand can create hours and hours which to me I cannot afford anyway and if you can afford that time you need to find other things to do.

We wonder why divorce rates are so high I swear its bc of technology. I mean who has time anymore to selflessly love their spouse anymore? A man can't come home from work and help his wife, no football is on, there are too many games to be won video games phone games computer games!! And what woman really is stoked about "making love" after an exhausting day with no help and no time to herself? Making love is making us another thing to do on our to do list.

This is so sad to me. Why can't family be family now. It makes me want to throw away my tv my phone my computer. I want my time being spent on people not things to entertain me and not just people my family. I hope no one gets me wrong I do think these things can be good I just think we as Americans waste a lot of our time on really pointless, non-rewarding things that can easily take away from what is very important, our families and our Creator.

Let me know your thoughts on this!!

Health and Fitness advice from an ex-fatty

So I guess when you lose 70 pounds people want to know how, I really don't understand why, but I get the question A LOT! So, what I am going to tell you is probably one of the most secretive diets out there b/c. . . well b/c it is NOT a diet. I do not believe in dieting. Diet means what you eat so its a really silly word to use anyway when referring to what you did to lose weight, "I dieted" ... oh, ok, you ate? 



So anyways thats a pet-peeve of mine I guess. What I want to tell people in this post is I balanced my eating life aka diet, and began to get active. What I mean by balancing my diet is I simply restrained, restricted, enjoyed, indulged. You hear so much about well I counted calories (are you kidding me? That is SOOOOOO time consuming I stopped after one meal) or I quit eating carbs (really? no fruit? no whole grains?) or my favorite I limited my fat (REALLY?? That is sooooo like last year) Ok, ok all of those are great and for sure can help you lose weight, but here are my issues with them. 

When you count calories, it really is such a hard process and you begin to not think about what calories you are taking in, all you are concerned with is how MANY you are taking in. Too many calories does lead to weight gain, but there are so many amazingly healthy foods that are high in calories, and not to mention a TON (especially now a days, all those 100 calorie snacks) of awful foods pretty low in calories. What makes a food high in calories? It is simply the grams of fat, each gram of fat contains 9 calories whereas a gram of protein or a gram of carbohydrates only have 4 calories. I believe this is where the famous limiting my fat intake came from. 

People starting realizing high-fat food was very high calories. So what you need to know is there are good fats and bad fats which I think we do all realize this. Eat the AVOCADOS the FISH the NUTS, these are high calorie good-for-you foods! Even dairy is good I understand there is bad fat in dairy but there are sooo many great things in dairy that help your metabolism (which is what helps you burn calories)! 

Ok, now the carbs! This is definitely a newer thing and one I tend to agree with more so then not. Limiting your carbs FOR SURE makes you lose a lot of weight and actually you lose it very fast, but heres the down side, as soon as you begin introducing more carbs into your diet after not eating very many YOU GAIN QUICKLY! AHHHHH!!! NO GOOD! What you need to do with carbs is after a certain time in the day you can no longer eat carbs, my rule was 2 pm. The reason being, carbs are what fuel your body and if you do not use this fuel, well then by golly it turns into that jiggle you do every thing on earth to hide (oh no.... OH YES) Yes, that is right fat doesn't turn to fat CARBS do! So if you stop eating carbs at a certain time it gives your body enough time in the day to burn them all off before you hit the hay and arn't so active. Also the carbs you eat are very very very important! I said I stopped eating carbs after 2pm that doesn't mean at 10 am I was woofing down some cake and ice cream. No no no, you eat BROWN carbs and fruit NO WHITE carbs. These are refined and quickly turn into fat if not used right away (so basically only eat these if you're about to run a marathon) brown carbs are low glycemic which means they take a long time to break down and give you a lot longer to use the energy they provide your body, not to mention they have fiber which is awesome for getting rid of waste in your body and keeping you "regular" if you know what I am saying ;)

So basically these are the rules I followed I didn't care how many calories I took in necessarily but I cared what type of calories I was consuming. I wanted calories that worked with my body not against it. I stopped consuming carbs by 2pm. I went to the gym! The balance I really had was I ate what I wanted on the weekends. Why you ask? Well to trick my metabolism. You see if you eat the same stuff over and over and you do the same work out over and over, your body becomes accustomed to this and  then it becomes super hard to shed the weight. 

I always tried to trick my body by one day eating a bazillion calories from not so great foods, this would REV my metabolism up a lot b/c the body is saying to the brain "Oh dear Lord she is going back to her old ways we better start working hard to keep her from getting so large she has to be lifted by a crane!" Then the next day I would limit my calories A LOT and eat very minimal and very healthy and the body was like "dang we are doing good" and before you know it that crazy revved up metabolism is burning those small amount of calories faster then you can go to the gym! It really does work.

 So if you are stuck and feel like wow I am trying so hard and not losing 1 lb well then try being really bad for a bit then kick it into EXTREME gear! Also I changed my work outs as much as possible. I did cardio a lot, but also some palates, weight lifting, yoga. Change it up! Ok so that is what I am sharing now. I will be posting more health and fitness tips randomly so keep an eye out!

love love love!