A Few Favorite Things

I have the desire to share my gratitude list today. When life gets stressful, busy or we bump into a wall, it is always a blessing to stop and ... be thankful for the flowers (you can smell them too).

So here are a few of my favorite things.

For sunshine and warm days and puffy clouds filling the sky
For flowers of all colors and birds darting among the trees in full song
For my three children coming into to town for a wedding and spending four or more days
For two grandsons who are cute as a button, full of energy and curiosity

For my Young Living business which is rewarding, life giving and exciting
For my Young Living team - warm, generous, and fun loving
For the upcoming 20th anniversary Young Living convention in Utah
For the essential oils which bless me everyday - Valor, Joy, Lavender, Peppermint, Humility, and so many more.

For God's garden, for my balcony garden, for organic farmers
For those who fight for changes to abuses, misinformation and exploitation
For inspirational speakers and teachers and many chances for personal development

For God and His unfailing love and faithfulness
For His continual presence, blessings, and grace
For the example of holy people and saints

I could go on and on. Gratitude lifts the heart, puts us into a positive mindset and transforms gloom and doom in minutes. It helps us see reality. There will always be good and bad in the world, but focusing on the positive helps propel us to greater heights and makes us happier people.

So what are you grateful for today? Help me create a litany of gratitude.

The Science of Weight Loss

I prepared a presentation to share at a nearby library on natural weight loss and thought it might be a topic that would interest many of you. My information comes from Young Living conferences I've attended, the 2014 Food Revolution summit talks, books and other sources. There are a ton of weight loss books, diets, fads, and "experts" on health and nutrition. Much of the information conflicts. How do you know who to believe?

I suggest you take a moment to listen to your own inner voice. I know for me that there is some mis-information that I want to believe because it would mean that I don't have to give up something that I'm attached to. When I take a good honest look at my options, and I take the time to listen to my common sense or my inner voice, what is healthy is usually pretty obvious.

I can weigh my decision against available statistics and scientific studies (being aware of who funded the study and how it was conducted), and also what seems to be working for those who are healthiest and most vibrant.

Here's a startling statistic. In 1950, 22% of a family's annual income was spent on food, while 5% was spent on health care. Today, 9% is spent on food, while 18% is spent on health care. How can our spending on food be so little when the cost of groceries keeps rising, unless we are buying cheaper, government subsidized, processed foods instead of real foods?

An old proverb states, "When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need." That really is profound. Hippocrates stated, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."  It is clear that as a culture we have completely lost the notion of food being healing. We do not consider how what we eat affects each cell of the body.

As Mark Hyman, M.D. states, in the 2014 Food Revolution summit, food is both the cause of illness and the solution to it. That should be a hopeful statement. Many of the ills we face can be reversed or healed by simply eating the food that God made, not the food that man made.

Dr. Hyman helped 15,000 members of Saddleback Church lose a collective 250,000 pounds utilizing this principal in what he calls the "Daniel plan".  Dr. Hyman points out that losing weight is not just about having more willpower. It is a chemical battle and requires detoxing our cells in order to be successful.

An example of this battle involves sugar. Sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine. Animals that were shocked every time they ate sugar continued to eat the sugar despite the shock. Sound familiar. How many times do I eat something sweet, even though I know it will give me a headache, cause indigestion or raise blood sugar to unhealthy levels?

The food industry acutally has "cravability experts" who research and create chemicals that alter brain chemistry, hormones, genes, metabolism and create a true battle within. Dr. Hyman calles the issue a psychobiological one.

Have you thought about a detox lately? In 10 days, you can reset your brain chemistry and stress levels and "own your body again". Detoxing helps you reclaim your taste buds, gather confidence and create a plan of attack once your detox is done. After detoxing, you don't want to jump right back into what you did before or you'll get exactly what you had before. Check out past blogs for details on the Master Cleanse and other detoxes.

It was also stated that sharing a journey to better health with others is the best way to increase your chances of success. In fact, those who partnered with another person in detoxing and changing their diet lost twice as much weight as those who decided to "go it alone".

Dr. Hyman has a key role in a new movie that is coming out soon called "Fed Up". Check out the trailer and take the pledge to be sugar free for 10 days.

Are you fed up yet with the craziness of the food industry and government policy when it comes to food and health? If you are, watch for the movie, plan to bring a friend and keep moving forward on your journey to better health.

Recipes for Natural Cleaners

Getting toxins out of my home is a priority for me. My grandsons are visiting this week and I can be completely comfortable knowing that there is nothing they can get into that could harm them. They can get into my cupboards, suck on my dish rag, or even help me dust, wash dishes or clean windows and they will not be harmed in any way.

We've discussed this before, but most cleaning products contain harmful agents such as bleach, propylene glycol, sulfates or triclosan (which was just banned in Minnesota) to name just a few. I have eliminated anything toxic from my home and now use products made from essential oils from Young Living, some homemade remedies and some cleaning cloths that are used with just water.

Young Living provides a cleaner that uses their proprietary oil blend called Thieves, which is highly antibacterial. The cleaner is safe enough to gargle with (I've done this before) and it smells like Christmas with cinnamon bark, cloves and other ingredients. I also put 8-10 drops of Purification oil blend into a 2 oz. glass spray bottle with water and that becomes my air purifier. I diffuse lemon, pine, or any other essential oil into the air and it cleans the air and me, through my breathing it in.

I have found several other blogs or websites with great resources for making homemade cleaners. One site is Women for a Healthy Environment with some free recipes for homemade cleaners using vinegar, baking soda, washing soap and essential oils. Wellness Mama is another site with some great resources and recipes for natural glass cleaner and more. Check these out.

I had a Norwex demonstration at my house last night and am still excited by the idea of using microfiber cloths with silver imbedded to clean using only water. Not only will this save money, but it is making cleaning fun for me. I've had a few cloths to try out before the party and I am impressed at how they work, wiping up just about anything, including oil, and leaving no film or residue behind. 

I now have a vegetable scrubbing cloth, an optical cloth for my glasses, computer and phone screens, and their enzyme based laundry soap - toxin free. The dusting mitt grabs dust without pushing it around or creating a sticky surface that will then attract dust. (Note: I will be closing out my orders by tomorrow night, so let me know if you want to try anything. Want to host a party with Suzanne and earn some free things? I'm happy to connect you.)

Congratulations to Cat Sim for winning the May promotion of a free Lemon oil for commenting on the blog in May. The winning entry was #20.

Cat SimMay 20, 2014 at 7:16 PM
Looks yummy. I love breakfast omelets for dinner. Thanks for reminding me how much I enjoy a nice cooked egg!

Cat Sim, as you know, lemon oil is great for cleaning and smells wonderful. Enjoy!

What are your favorite natural cleaning discoveries? Do share!