Detox Inspired - My 30 Day Challenge

Last week I took a Detox Workshop with Elaine Brisebois at Lifewise Health and Wellness.
It was an hour and a half class and I took so many notes and learned so much about detoxing your body. Loved it!

It was even better than I thought because it was about detoxing as a lifestyle. I'm all about the lifestyle. If I make a change in my life, it has to be worthy of a lifestyle change. So I was pleasantly surprised when we didn't learn how to do a bi-monthly 4 day juice cleanse, but instead how we can be eating and living in a way that constantly helps our body to get rid of the toxins that build up from the foods we eat and the environment we live in.

I've made myself a 30 day challenge (I'm on day 2).

For the next 30 days I'm going to:

1. Drink a glass of lemon water every morning.
2. Do a 30 minute workout every morning. 
3. Drink a green smoothie for breakfast every morning.

Not so bad right? I can do it. And I think this will really make a difference in how I look and feel. What's great about making myself do this 30 days straight is that once my 30 days are up (September 24?) I'm almost positive this is something I will be able to consistently do. It only takes me waking up 30 minutes earlier each morning. I must do this. I can do this.

So what exactly will I be doing?

1. Wake up, get out of bed and immediately fill a tall glass with water and squeeze half a lemon in it.
2. Put on my 27 minute workout video. I've chosen to do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. (Until I get the real one, I found this link on youtube!)
3. Down a green smoothie. This is the recipe I'm using:

2 handfuls of spinach, 1 stalk of celery, 1 pear, 1/2 english cucumber, 1 tsp green matcha, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 1 cup of water.

Throw it in a blender (spinach first, not like this pic) and blend it on high until smooth.

I fill up a tall glass and drink it for breakfast and then drink the rest of it for "brunch" about 2 hours later.

There's so much to write about why green smoothies and lemon water are great for detoxing - but I will leave that for your own research and the professionals (like Elaine) to tell you about. Just know that your body likes veggies and being at a more alkaline state than acidic.

Looking forward to talking this four week course with Elaine coming up this Fall as well. So much to learn and implement, can't wait.

Here I go!

All Purpose Spray

This is another gem I learned at Tracey's workshop at Grassroots.

The all purpose spray.

This recipe, like the creamy soft scrub is from Women's Voices of the Earth.

It's so easy to make:

2 cups of white vinegar

2 cups of water

20-30 drops essential oil of your choice

Really you just take whatever spray bottle you have in the house, fill half of it with white vinegar, half with water and drop your essential oil of choice in it. I use lavender (for everything). Peppermint and lemon is nice too!

Note: If you have cats, don't use peppermint.

I use it on every surface that can be wiped like my counters, dining table, sink, stove, mirrors, windows etc. It also is great as an air freshener. Yup. I just spray it on my table, wipe it off and then spray some in the air. It's wonderful. A true all purpose cleaner.

What's great about this is that both vinegar and essential oils are naturally antibacterial. If you want it to kill some germies, just spray it on the surface of choice, let it sit for a 1-5 minutes and wipe. No more need for bleach folks, this does it for you.

If I heard right, this only cost 17 cents to make.

Can't go wrong folks! We use ours everyday, multiple times a day. Lasts a long time and smells and works amazing.

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I highly recommend trying and using all the recipes in this link, they work great and are so easy to make yourself.

The ingredients can be found at your local grocery store or bulk store. You probably already have them in your kitchen. Whatever I can't find I just get it from either Tracey or Grassroots. They both carry DIY things in bulk. It's so handy.

Creamy Soft Scrub

A few months ago I attended a DIY Home Cleaners workshop led by Tracey Tief at Grassroots.

My life has never been the same - for real.

I learned how to make my own home cleaners and I've used them every single day since. This also led me to a DIY shampoo and conditioner workshop and a DIY suncreen workshop and multiple visits to Tracey's. But I'll save all of those things for another blog.

Just wanted to share about my absolute favourite DIY cleaner - the creamy soft scrub.
It's heavenly.

It'll make you want to clean.

It makes both Keith and I want to and enjoy cleaning. It's that magical.

The recipe is taken from Women's Voices for the Earth which I just found today has other great recipes. I learned all of these recipes that day as well, but today, as the subject says, is all about the creamy soft scrub.

This is how easy it is to make:

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1/2 cup liquid castile soap 
• 4 teaspoons vegetable glycerin (preservative) 
• 5 or more drops essential oil (optional–try tea tree, rosemary or lavender)
• Mix together and store in a sealed glass jar; shelf life of 2 years.

We use it on our stovetop, our sinks, our tub and our pet Miso's cage (he's a hedgehog and we scrub his wheel and dishes with it). Anything that needs a scrubbing, grab this stuff. It works so well. We use lavender as our essential oil and it smells so incredibly good. We actually enjoy cleaning our stovetop with it.

If I remember correctly, it only cost $2.63 to make 250ml. I'm on the last bit of mine and I've been using it every day for a good 5 or 6 months now. You only need a little bit - about a pea size or two for the bathroom sink and a nickel size or so for the bathroom tub. But I guess just be as generous as you need!

We've made it for friends and family and we've heard nothing but love for this stuff.

Try it! Or come over and we can have a creamy-soft-scrub-making-party. It is definitely something to party about.

soleRebels

My soleRebels arrived. I'm in total shoe love. I got the chocolate tooTOOs and I love them so much!

I learned about this incredible company from Adria Vasil's Ecoholic blog on shoes. As soon as I read up on the company - I was soled. 

soleRebels is the first WFTO/IFAT FAIR TRADE certified Fair Trade footwear firm in Ethiopia and the #1 footwear exporter to the US market. 

There is so much more to read on their site and I encourage you to read through the incredible things this company stands for and has accomplished.

Here is a short video to that will give you just a taste of what they do. 

Bethlehem actually emailed me personally on this order (I was shocked!) as I had a little hiccup in the shipping process. She let me know they were going to take care of things and my shoes would be expedited (and they were!). I thanked her and told her where I heard about her and her company, how I support what she has started and how I plan on being a customer for life since I love what she stands for and does. She said:


Beka that is excellent to hear- thats what we want.  i always say our goal at soleRebels is not to sell you a pair of shoes. Our goal IS to make you so ecstatic with our awesome shoes , our incredible  people service and our exciting brand , that you  become a soleRebel for LIFE!!
sounds like we may just do that with you. proud to hear and many thanks for your business
very best
bethlehem 

Go soleRebels go. Love what you do. Looking forward to rockin' these pair of shoes and others in the future. I even got Keith wanting a pair too!

Fuchs Toothbrush

No. I didn't swear at toothbrushes.

We've been using Fuchs toothbrushes for a few years now and love them.

Actually, the word toothbrush should be singular because really, over the past few years, we've only had one toothbrush. Handle. We have the Ekotec ones so you only have to replace the head of it when it needs replacing. So good because we'll probably never have to throw out the  actual handle of our brush!

As their website says, "this product represents the ultimate merger of superior dental care with environmental awareness." They save us money, help the planet and are hygienic since they're easier to replace.

If the some of the stats out there are true (that 50 million pounds of toothbrushes are tossed in landfills each year in America) then you can sleep easy (and with clean teeth) knowing that you helped minimize that number.