Materialism

Right now, there is a struggle inside of me. With some of the changes I’ve made to my life, I am wanting some material things that will help with the lifestyle change. For instance, I am cooking more whole foods, learning how to cook, trying new recipes. I recently purchased a blender/food processor. I also would like a crock pot (I’ll be working soon so it would be nice to just turn it on in the morning and have dinner ready when we get home), a bread pan, egg beaters, and a spice rack with jars. I really could do without these things, but I want to start making my own mayo, try out making frosting, making my own chicken stock, learn how to make proper soups with that chicken stock and some of those things will make it easier for me. I can probably hold off on a lot of these things, but I’ll need the spice jars and rack soon, I have a lot of spices/herbs in plastic bags from my source. It is pretty much a necessity.

But with the food processor and blender, I really don’t need those other things. I have a whisk. Everything else can really be handled by what I have. It’s just difficult for me to want these things (and more as the move comes closer) when I have gotten along wonderfully without them. And really, I am not going to make frosting all that often.

I would also like to get a tent so that Jason and I can go camping. We both love it, so we would get good use out the gear. I want a new, more powerful vacuum so that I don’t have to work as hard with the vacuum I currently have. We’re going to be moving into a bigger place, so we would like a table and chairs for the dining area as well as a couch or love seat for the living room. With a lot of the stuff, we plan on going garage-saling and bargain hunting, so we probably won’t spend all that much money. But as I said in No Material Needs, it is a freeing thing to not want anything. Obviously, I’ve lost that place a little bit because I’ve started thinking about what I want when I get to Oklahoma. I want to plant a small garden, we need to get bikes, we want a sofa and dining table, it looks like we might need to get a washing machine. Material things can bog you down, and I’ve gotten to a point of not having a lot of material things. I really don’t want to add more.

But it’s also not necessary for me to live in poverty either. We will occupy only as much space as we have. We’ll have a little more room (the smallest houses that are available are 2 bedrooms), so I guess it’s okay to have some more things to make that place comfortable. When life changes, the material needs/wants are going to change too, I suppose. Let me know what you guys think.

Reasons to Go Green

Is global warming real or imagined? For me, I don’t care about it. I do care about the environment, of course. That is why I clean with vinegar, baking soda, Murphy’s Oil Soap, Seventh generation dish soap, and Bright Green laundry detergent (or another biodegradable detergent). I also hang dry my clothes (with the occasional dryer load for bedding). I use rags and microfiber cloths, using paper towels for big nasty clean ups only. I recycle almost everything that I can, including clothes and unwanted items by giving them to GoodWill. Most of the time, I try to buy items used, and am in the process of really delving more into that practice. When I’m not using an electronic, I unplug it, turn off the lights when I’m not using them, and replace as many bulbs with energy-efficient ones.

I think that people have blown the whole global warming thing out of proportion. They have forgotten what’s really the core issue. We need to take care of our environment because we are NOT separate from it. You can compare it to the things that you use around the house. If you do not take care of an item, it will break or become useless quickly. The Earth is going to experience climate change whether we are the cause or not. My philosophy is do what you can and let what happens happen.

But there are a couple more reasons to go green: Your wallet and your health. Seriously. My main cleaners are vinegar and baking soda. I only do laundry twice a month, and dishes are dishes. I have no need for Clorox bleach or other disinfectants because vinegar does that for me. Guess how much a gallon of vinegar costs me? Three dollars. I also use it as a fabric softener for my laundry, which also freshens the clothes. I use baking soda to scrub the grout in my shower, and once a month on my carpets to keep them smelling fresh. I bought a ton of it at Costco for ten dollars back in October of 2009 and I’m not even halfway through it. There is no need for all those other expensive cleaners. You can even make your own laundry detergent using washing soda and some other ingredients. As far as using less energy, come on, it saves you money! Why would you not do that?

Health is the big reason that I am green, at least when it comes to the products I use. All of my cleaners are green and I’m down to the last of my beauty products that aren’t natural (I’m tempted to throw them away…I just want to be done with them. But it’s so hard for me to do it. At the same time, I don’t want to be using chemicals on myself…the agony!). There are SO many environmental toxins, why would you expose yourself to more when you’re at home? There are so many alternatives.

So go green for whatever reason you choose. The most important reason should be your own health, and the health of those around you (children and pets). The fact that it costs less is awesome and that it helps the environment is just another perk. Whether global warming is a sham or not shouldn’t matter.

An Introduction to Vitamin D

This photo is by Patrick Hajzler, AKA OeilDeNuit on stock.xchng

Vitamin D has been in the news a lot recently. What’s all the buzz? Vitamin D is way more important than previously thought. The short of it is that D is a vital part to your immune system. It is also important for calcium absorption and bone health. Vitamin D deficiency can also affect your mood, playing a part in Seasonal Affective Disorder (AKA winter depression, the winter blues).

The scary thing is that more people are deficient in Vitamin D than realized. It’s not causing rickets or osteomalacia in the US, but it can lead to increased risk for cancer, osteoporosis, and even the common cold.

But it’s easy to fix. Get at least 15 minutes of direct sunshine a day and your body will produce more than enough for your cells to use. You say you live in a place that isn’t sunny enough? What can you do? Supplement. Find a supplement of D3, which is what your body naturally produces, and take at least 5,000 IU (International Units). The current recommendation is only 400 IU, but your body needs way more than that. However, I recommend getting out in the sun as much as possible, without burning of course. If you’re out in the sun 15-30 minutes, you are not going to burn, and you cannot overdose on vitamin D this way because any excess D is actually burned off by the sun. Supplementation could very well cause an overdose, but so far in my research I have not heard of it. Still, I would be careful – listen to your body and try to get as much natural D as possible.

Another thing to consider is that taking vitamin D by itself is not going to do all the work. Vitamins and minerals ALL work together to keep your body running. Here are the ones that help vitamin D do it’s work:
magnesium
zinc
vitamin K2
boron
genestein
a tiny amount of vitamin A
The most important one is magnesium. Nuts and seeds are a good source of magnesium. So break out the nuts while you’re sunbathing.

It’s important for everyone to get enough D, but some might have more trouble than others. For instances, those who are dark-skinned might have to stay in the sun longer to produce a good amount vitamin D. Adversely, if you have a lighter skin-tone, you may not need to stay out in the sun to produce the necessary amount.

So what are you to do if you’re going to be out in the sun longer than 30 minutes? Cover up with cotton. White clothing, however easy it becomes dirty, will reflect the sun, and keep you cooler than stripping down to your bikini. If you don’t like that so much, find a good sunscreen (as much as I hate chemicals) that has UVA protection. UVB is the light wave that causes sunburns while UVA has been found to be the cause(http://www.skincancer.org/understanding-uva-and-uvb.html) of the cancer so many people are afraid of. I recommend using a sunscreen using all organic materials except for the SPF factor itself. Here’s a list of sunscreens according to certain specifications: nor parabens, pthalates, PEG’s, propylene glycol, SLS, dioxanes, synthetic fragrances or the often used  SPF chemical oxybenzone (for what some of those chemicals really are, go here (http://safemama.com/glossary/). For most normal day use, you only need an SPF of 15. I’ve also heard (haven’t tried it myself), that lathering coconut oil has a certain sunscreen (around SPF 4, don’t quote me) aspect to it, as well as  being wonderful for the skin.

The sun really isn’t something that needs to be avoided all the time, nor do you need to wear SPF 50 whenever you go out. In fact, if you cut out grains, eat a multitude of veggies, naturally raised/organic meats, fruits and limit excess sugar intake, you may find that you aren’t as prone to burning (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/topic/sunburn-on-the-pb-or-lack-thereof). The Skin Cancer website says that any tanning at all is bad, but how do you get your vitamin D naturally? Take what they recommend about staying out of the sun with a grain of salt. Besides, it’s nice to take a 15-30 minute break to go soak up some rays. I do it every chance I get.

For more on Vitamin D, go here.

No material needs.

Today I realized that until I move, I do not need anything. Food, of course. That’s a given. But I am free from materialism. I had been worrying so much over the things I will be needing once I get to Oklahoma, but I really don’t need to worry about that until that time comes. It has been really liberating realizing that I have everything I need and want (except my husband, but besides him). I have good friends, neighbors, a husband who is providing for me, a roof over my head, clothes, transportation, food, everything I need. So there is no need for me to worry over the future. It will come when it will come and until it does, I am going to enjoy this freedom of not wanting or needing anything. It’s a good place to be. It’s living wholistically.

7 ways to simplify your life.

One of the main pillars of living wholistically is to simplify your life. But how should you go about doing that? Why should you do it? Only you can answer those questions, but I can share my experience with how I have simplified my life and some steps I took, and will take, to do it.

1) De-clutter. This means going through all of your possessions and deciding what to keep and what to let go of. When you have more than you need, you can become overwhelmed with trying to keep it organized. Material things also seem to weigh a person down to some extent (especially when moving). If you’re keeping something as a keepsake, but don’t really need or use it, take a picture so you can see it when you want to remember, then let it go.

2) Organize your stuff. My house used to be organized chaos. I would know where things were, but things were everywhere. That was partly because I needed to de-clutter. The last place I lived had plenty of room for all of the things we had, but it didn’t have any place to put our stuff. Where I live now has so much storage space that everything fits nicely.  So get cabinets, bins, and other organizing tools so that every thing has its place and every place has its thing. I feel more motivated to do stuff when I have a clean house. Plus, I spend less time looking for something that I need. Even in organized chaos I had trouble finding things.

3) Organize your time. If you have too many activities going on in your life, either drop some of it or get someone to help you out. Having to much going on can overwhelm you and stress you out. Make sure that you have enough time for yourself. It is important to have alone time as much as it is to have friend time.

4) Make a spending plan and follow it. Having your finances in order can really take your mind of money. It also allows you to see where your money is really going. This gives you more time to do other things.

5) Get off the computer and the couch. Go read a book, take a walk, work out, cook a fantastic meal, or sit out in the sun. You wouldn’t believe the amount you can do when you don’t spend all of your time on the computer.

6) Eat healthier. Start eating good, whole foods like veggies, fish, eggs, meat, fruits, and good sources of fat instead of processed foods and grains. Grains cause inflammation in your body, as well as the malabsorption of nutrients which leads to a multitude of health problems. Staying healthy means less doctors visits, insurance dealings, and more energy to do the things you want to do.

7) Downsize. What I mean is do you have more space than you need in your house or apartment? Could you do without that second car, or without a car at all? The absolute most a couple needs is a two bedroom place (the extra bedroom is for guests or an office). Obviously if you have children, you will need more space, but carefully consider what you need. If you can swing having only one car, or no car, that’s great! One less car means less money spent on insurance, gas, and maintenance. But if you can’t, that’s fine too. Sometimes there’s no getting around it.

So how have I done these steps?

Right out of high school I had a lot of stuff, the result of living between two households. When I moved in with my husband (then my boyfriend), our stuff was combined and took up a ridiculous amount of space. We were living in a luxury one bedroom apartment and I don’t think we every fully unpacked.

Then we moved to a small, 300 square foot studio and had to get rid of nearly half our stuff. It was STILL very crowded because we kept some things that we really shouldn’t have. So when we moved again to a smallish space, we went through all our things once more to see what we didn’t need. Finally all of our stuff could easily fit into a 10′ uHaul.

We’ve moved twice since that move and have let go of things we don’t need anymore. It is a continuing process. As we are getting ready to move again (fifth move in three years!) I am going through our things, taking pictures of things I want to remember, but don’t need to hold onto anymore. At this place, every thing has its place and every place has its thing. It has taken my whole life to get to this point. I’m glad I’m finally here because I find it easier for me to do things in a clean uncluttered house.

Something else I have finally gotten the hang of is a spending plan for my husband and I. There have been so many different budgets and spending plans I have tried for us, and I finally found the one that works. It has made our life easier. We still worry about money, of course, but we at least know where our money is going.

I’ve also started eating differently. I limit the amount of grains, sugar, and dairy (I’m allergic to milk, but cheese and yoghurt don’t seem to bother me as much) I eat. My whole diet consists of vegetables, good sources of fat (avocados, olive oil, butter) meat, eggs, fruit, and the occasional dark chocolate. I feel much better, have more energy and rarely get sick anymore. My allergies are all but nonexistent.

The latest thing I’ve done is to limit the amount of time I am on the computer. You wouldn’t believe the amount of things that you can do when you don’t spend so much time in front of a screen (this includes T.V.s.). Sometimes I’ll go for a walk instead of watching something on the internet. I’ve even gotten to the point of not being on the computer for one whole day a week. It is quite liberating.

In April, my husband and I are trading our car in for bikes. We do eventually plan to buy another one, but we’re saving up for it so we don’t have to have a car lease. It might make some things a little more difficult, but we won’t have to deal with upkeep, gas or insurance. Plus we’ll have the bus system and we’ll be getting more exercise.

Simplifying your life is a process. It has taken me a while to get to where I am now. It was, and is, not easy, but I’ve taken it step by step. Like any change, it is not going to happen overnight. But little by little, you can do it.

Do what you can, then let the universe do the rest.

I’m going to be moving in about a month. Moving is very stressful. This will be the fifth move I’ve done in three years. This time, however, I don’t have to pack and move anything myself – the military is having a company do it for us. You would think that I’d be less stressed, right?

Not so much.

The main thing I am worried about is money. I’ve been saving up for this, and we have a sizable amount that will last us probably two months if I can’t find a job right away. But I still worry about it. Part of the worry comes from the massive amount of student loans that Jason and I have together. Our main financial goal is to pay those off by the time he is out of the military, which probably won’t be so difficult once I get settled. But a lot of the money saved up will go to deposit on the rental, setting up an account for utilities, and we want to get on with a new cell phone provider so that’s another chunk of money. There will also be the flight there, cab drive to and from airports, and probably other things that I can’t think of right now.

I guess I have this want of control, when in reality, I don’t have all that much. I do what I can and sometimes it’s enough, sometimes it’s not. But what else can I do if I’ve done all I can? The answer is nothing.

I have a theory why I am stressing so much about this. We have this hormone response to stress, the fight or flight response. Since we no longer have the life threatening situations daily, like being eaten by a bear, we tend to make simple stresses life-or-death situations. This happens with big projects at work or school, moves, and so many other situations. But they aren’t life-or-death. The worse case scenario of me not getting a job within the first couple of months is that we will have to put a few loans on deferment. As much as I would despise that (yes that’s how quickly I want to get the loans paid off), it wouldn’t be the end of the world, nor my life. I suppose that money matters are my fight-or-flight response because it is connected to being able to put a roof over our heads and feeding ourselves these days.

The reason I’m posting about this is to help me, and hopefully you, put this into perspective. Sure I will have some hard times financially, but I really have been through worse and I will get through this too. “This too shall pass” has to be the best saying ever. I have done, and am doing, all that I can financially to get ready for this move. I am also undertaking the daunting task of inventorying everything in this place, which, thankfully, has been reduced quite a bit over the last four moves I’ve done. I am doing what I can, and I have to trust the universe that all will end well. There is nothing else I can do, so I shall not worry over things beyond my control.

Move Deliberately

So many of our actions are responses to stimuli around us. Our body is often on automatic, almost like we’re going through the motions. We put our bodies on automatic so our mind is free to think of other things. Doing this creates a disconnect between our mind and body.

Today, my energies felt so scattered, because I cheated last night on my no extra sugar hiatus. Instead of getting down on myself, I challenged myself to change how I was feeling. My mind was going a million miles a minute and disconnected from my body, so I slowed my mind down by moving deliberately. I started thinking about my movements. To help me, I put on some meditation music.

Moving deliberately is really difficult. All the itches you scratch, the adjustments to your hair, clothes, body positioning is subconscious. To think about each one means you need to slow your mind down. Often this means you need to slow your movements. It is a really great exercise to help you become aware of your body and surroundings.

So, while you are sitting there, take a moment to become aware of your body. Feel yourself sitting in the chair. Feel your feet on the ground. Be aware of any movements you make and try to think of doing that action. Concentrate on your breathing. Focus your mind on you and your movements. Avoid your mind wandering to the things you must do. They can be done later. Focus, be aware of your physical body.

This exercise becomes especially interesting when you try it while doing a task. For instance, this whole article is being written deliberately. I think about each word as I type it. I think about each sentence. So, it has taken me longer to write this, but I am exercising my mind-body connection. Before writing this article, I was doing some yoga to help me slow down and become aware of my body. Sometimes my mind drifted, often to writing an article about it. So I told my mind that after I was done with Yoga, I would write this post. I was then able to concentrate on my movements.

I have even had some interruptions while moving deliberately. My neighbors tripped their fuse, which happens to be in my apartment, so I was called to switch my focus. But I was able to move deliberately. My energy has slowed down to a comfortable speed so that I can go about my day in a productive level.

Try this exercise for five minutes today. Try doing the laundry in this manner, any mundane task will do. See how you feel afterward. It is a big difference.

Wholistic Living: a day in the life of me

Today was such a wonderful day that I just had to post about it. I feel that this kind of day embodies the Wholistic ideal.

I was awakened by the sun and laid in bed, cuddling Noodle, my cat, until I was ready to get up. I took a shower, got dressed, started a load of laundry and then started scrubbing my shower. My cleaning tools? Baking soda, vinegar, a grout scrubber, and a spongy cloth. No harsh chemicals whatsoever.

Yesterday I had made a menu for the week and figured out which ingredients I would need and where I should get them. After I finished cleaning the bathroom, I ate a pear, hung my laundry to dry and headed out to the store with the most ingredients, so that I could make at least one meal for tonight. I bought only the ingredients I needed, although it was tempting to buy other things.

When I got home, I put the groceries away, played on the computer a little, made some calls, had some yogurt, then went outside to lay in the beautiful sunshine for about 20 minutes, soaking up my vitamin D. I try to go out into the sun for 15-20 minutes whenever it’s sunny out to get my optimum level of D.

Soon after I was done with my sunbathing, the guy from the auto-repair place came to fix the chip I had, only to discover that it was just sap that was stubbornly stuck on my windshield! Was I ever thankful.

I went inside and worked for about an hour on my resume. I completed all of the success stories for the resume, which is the bulk of it, so I have a good part of my resume done.

Because I didn’t really feel like working  on my resume any more, I decided to inventory some of our stuff for the upcoming move. That meant taking pictures, writing what the thing was and how much it cost. It’s a little tedious, but I’m also doing this for insurance purposes, which I’m sure I will be glad I did if anything ever happens. I only did a little, but it was also about an hours worth. If I do a little each day, soon it will all be done.

After doing that, I played on the computer some more before making an early dinner. Oregano parsley chicken as well as green beans with onions, bacon and garlic in them. There were some green beans left, which will actually go perfect in the crustless Quiche I plan to make later this week. It was all so tasty and filled me up.

To finish my grocery shopping for the day, I walked to the stores where I would buy some more ingredients, getting in a little exercise for the day. It felt good to be walking out in the sun. And I fended off the urge to “reward” myself for having done such a good job today.

When I got home, I started dusting and de-cobwebbing my place. I have to do this quite often because we get an abundance of spiders and the dust/pollen in this area is terrible – I need a mask when doing this job. I found at least three spiders today.

Then I did the dishes, wiped down the kitchen and sat down to write this. Wow, I did a lot. I didn’t really realize until I wrote it all down. Then I keep remembering things I did, but I won’t include all of them. These are just the highlights. I had a low-stress day that was productive, included good food, some exercise and some play time.

Obviously not every day is going to be like this. But it’s good to point these days out when they do, so you can remember them when you do have a bad day.

The best part was that today I had absolutely no added sugar! I am feeling so much better since limiting my sugar, more productive and in a better mood. Tomorrow feels like it will be good too. Good night everyone and have a wonderful day tomorrow!

Taking Control of Your Health

I take a lot of stock in being healthy. I try to prevent myself from getting sick through good diet and exercise. I take control of my health. In fact, I haven’t been to a medical doctor for over three years. I probably will soon though, because a physical is always a good thing, but I do not run to a doctor for every little sniffle that I had.

When I was younger, I loved going to the doctor, I went for everything, even just simple colds. Even if it was a virus, my pediatrician would give me antibiotics. Then in high school I received a book called “Holistic Herbal” by David Hoffman. I started to become interested in natural healing, specifically herbal. So I stopped going to the doc for every little sniffle.

During my senior year in high school I developed ovarian cysts. My doctor wanted to put me on the birth control pill, because that is how he knew to treat them. I declined and told him that I was going to go to a naturopathic doctor. I wanted to treat the underlying cause, not the symptom. The pill messes with your hormones, and messed up hormones, were why I was getting the cysts in the first place. So, I went on a hormone balancing supplement regimen. It helped a little, but I didn’t follow the diet completely that was supposed to go with it, so after I stopped taking the supplements because of lack of funds, I still had some problems.

More recently, I decided to stop eating grains and limit my sugar intake as per the Primal Blueprint (you will find that I will mention this book and way of life a lot). WOW what a difference. No more pain so I’m guessing no more cysts. My face has cleared up, I have more energy, I feel better, I am more motivated to do things – it has been such a wonderful change. All of this without any medicine whatsoever.

I take my health very seriously. I want to live to be old, but I don’t want all the aches and pains that ail so many elderly. For most of my life, I dreaded becoming old because I thought that is what being old meant. Well, I won’t stand for it. I am taking care of myself now, researching things and finding what is right for me in terms of food and exercise. So far, sugar is a huge no-no (as seen in my sugar post), and grains also do not agree with me. Milk makes me stuff up, but cheese and yogurt do not. I enjoy walking, sometimes walking to the store instead of driving just because I can. I have found that house work is a great way to exercise and I occasionally do some yoga, push ups and other weight-baring exercise.

Basically, I have taken my health into my own hands. I do not blindly follow what a doctor says just because he/she has a degree. Sure they went through a lot of school, but that tends to generalize illnesses and treatments, not to mention treat the symptoms and not the disease.

So, my challenge to you is to take your health into your own hands. Absolutely go to your doctor, but ask questions, do research, become active in your health care. What they say is not the end all. For that matter, what I say on here isn’t the end all either. The information I provide on here is research that I find interesting and relevant. I am not a doctor, but like I said, I take my health seriously so I do a lot of research. Guess what, a lot of what I find to be right for me sounds like common sense.

Taking  control of your health means preventing issues from arising. If you already have a problem, try fixing through natural methods before turning to medicine. Medicine does have its place, don’t get me wrong. I think that it is overused in our society today because we look for a quick fix. Antibiotics for instance (however, they are becoming more selective about that, thankfully). Antidepressants. But you know what, both of those have their place. There are some illnesses, like malaria, that need antibiotics. There are people who have serious hormonal imbalances in their brain that can’t be fixed with diet alone.
Taking control of your health just means to be aware of what is going on in your body. A lot of times, going with your gut feeling is right, because it is your body. You just have to listen. It is difficult to learn to listen to your body, but it is the first step in your health. Sure a little ice cream once in a while isn’t going to kill you, but if you have it every day, even every week, that can affect you more than you know.

Listen to your body and take control of your health.

Change, it is the way of life

Change. Some people are afraid of change. Others welcome it. There are many different kinds of changes, some small that hardly affect anything at all and some so massive it changes the course of history. However you feel about change, it’s actually impossible to stop it. All you can do is adjust and adapt to it.

But you can also purposefully make change. One that comes to mind that many people wish to make is how much they weigh, or how they look. Another is being more organized or procrastinating less. You see, everyone wants some sort of change, and most of the time, that change is for the better.

The problem is that people don’t always follow through with their changes. Then they start to pity themselves, think that they don’t have the will power to make the change they want. Or, even worse, they make excuses for why they couldn’t change. I think there are several reasons why this ‘failure’ comes about.

People expect things to change overnight. While it is true that some things to happen quickly, most of the time when you are trying to change something about yourself, it is going to take a while. How to fix it? Be patient. Every time you “mess up” just start over again. And again, and again until whatever you’re trying to change has.

Another thing people often think is that there is only one way to accomplish a certain change. There can be general guidelines, but there is no formula to successfully do something. Think of all the languages that the world has come up with. If you are trying something, like becoming more organized or coming up with a spending plan and it isn’t working for you (and you’ve tried it again and again to no avail) change your approach, don’t just give up completely.

Basically, you have to find what works for you. In the future, I will have pages of different ways to make different changes so that you can have easy access and try out different tactics.

Changing yourself is difficult. But it can be done, with the right frame of mind, perseverance, and patience. Keep up the good work and know that it will pay off.