Day 30!

Today is Day 30 of my 30 Day Challenge...I did it!

Mind you, there were days where I ran out of lemons and didn't have my lemon water first thing - I think 3 days I missed out on this. There were also some days when I didn't get in my 30 minutes of exercise but there were also days when I would do 1 hour of exercise or 1.5 hours of exercise. In my brain - these days made up for it. Hehe!

The results?

1. It's totally a lifestyle now. Lemon water, smoothies for breakfast and doing some kind of activity is now part of my everyday.

2. Weight-wise: I'm exactly the same weight. I didn't drop one pound - but I lost inches. All of my clothes fit me a lot better now and I feel and look better.

3. My body feels clean, my skin looks better and I have no desire to eat chips or donuts when I see these being eaten around me. That's huge!

4. I've changed/added other things that I didn't intend to at the beginning of the challenge. For example:

• My smoothies are even more packed with nutrients than originally planned. I've added kefir, hemp oil and flax seeds to them as well. The more nutrients the better!
• I added drinking a banana, almond milk, cacao powder and hemp heart smoothie every other day. It's delicious. 
• I started dry brushing to detox even more (it can't hurt!) I don't know about getting rid of a pound of toxins (seems a little far fetched) but it feels amazing and I'm sure it's getting rid of extra toxins.
• I started eating salads for lunch. It just felt like the best thing to follow up my lemon water and smoothie mornings. I have a big leafy bowl of lettuce with goat cheese and pumpkin seeds most of the time and it's so good. I alternate between avacado dressing or balsamic vinegar dressing. So good.
• For dinners I've been trying to combine my foods better for example not eating starches with protein.
• I didn't buy a metropass this month so I've been doing a lot more cycling and walking.

So this is finally a good snowball effect. You make one lifestyle change and it can lead to so many other ones.

I'm so glad I gave myself this 30 day challenge. It did what I was hoping it would do - help me make healthy habits a lifestyle.

DIY Perfume

I stopped wearing perfume about 3-4 years ago after I learned that our skin was our largest organ. I visualized myself rubbing harmful creams and chemicals in my skin and started a won't-put-anything-on-my-skin-that-I-wouldn't-put-in-my-mouth thing. I know - that is extreme. There are things that are safe to use on your skin that you wouldn't necessarily eat - but still.

I had read not-so-nice things about perfume being hormone disrupting and contained phthalates among other things.

I tried wearing some of the solid perfumes from Lush which are a lot better, but after a few emails back and forth with them I decided it wasn't "safe" enough for me. I wanted to know exactly what "perfume" meant on their list of ingredients and they said:

"I think that if you follow such a careful selection of ingredients that you use on your skin, it might be best that you do not use it."

So I stopped using that and haven't really been wearing anything ever since.

But I missed it.

When I read Ecoholic Body I was so excited to try the DIY perfume on page 85.

So tonight was the night. I made it. It was so easy. And smells so good. And it only had 3 ingredients.

Here's the recipe in case you don't have a copy of Ecoholic Body (which I will blog about sometime soon, it's my go-to resource).

2 tablespoons of grated or beaded beeswax
3 tablespoons of jojoba oil
45 drops of essential oil of your choice

In a double boiler, melt together the jojoba and beeswax. Once melted, remove from heat and add 45 drops of the essential oil of your choice. Pour in a glass container or cute tin and let it solidfy. Once it's set, "dab and go!" (In the words of Adria!)

Thank you Iris for being there and helping me make my first batch of lavender perfume. I'm already wearing it and feel so calm. Hehe! So excited. This is definitely going to be my new scent.

I keep smelling my wrists. It smells so good.

Photo from here

Lafes Deodorant

I've been using Lafes for just over a year and a half now - and it's been the same $7.99 stick. This stuff lasts for a long time!

I can honestly say it took me years to find a natural deodorant that actually worked - for me. There were lots that my friends and family have used that worked for them, but somehow not for me.

Sidenote: I must say that I loved using Mama Goode's  deodorant. My body for the most part adjusted to it and it was my go-to for quite a bit. I just wished she lived in Toronto!

So on the long hunt for a natural deodorant that didn't leave me smelling like Pine Sol or B.O., I finally landed on Lafes. My brother convinced me it was the best stuff in the world and all his coworkers who do heavy lifting love it too. I was so excited! I tried it. And then was so disappointed - why? Surprise! It didn't work for me...I still smelled like B.O. a few hours after applying it. Sigh.

And then I discovered a little trick - and it's worked like a charm.

I use this Lafes stick and then pat dry with baking soda. Yup. This combo works amazingly for me. I'm sure there's lots of people who can just use this "salt stick" and it works for them, but for me, I find the combo of this patted with baking soda is what does it for me.

What exactly do I do?
I wet the stick under water for a wee bit. Rub it up and down about 25 times on my armpit. Take a little bit of baking powder (that I've put into a little shaker container) and pat dry.

At the end of the day [graphic warning] I can rub my armpits and take a whiff and smell nothing. Honestly, it works that well.

If you're on the hunt for a natural deodorant that actually works - try this one out. Remember that everybody is different and every body is different. Find one that works for you, it's so worth it.