Bathroom Causes of Breast Cancer

Have you ever tried to read the ingredients on a bottle of lotion, shampoo, or makeup and discovered it's next to impossible unless you have a chemistry degree? Most people assume that products on the store shelf are safe, and are under some kind of government regulation. The truth is, the FDA does NOT test and approve ingredients used in personal care products and cosmetics.

According to a study of 2,400 men and women by the Environmental Working Group, the average American uses 9 personal care products each day, which exposes them to 126 chemical ingredients. The Breast Cancer Fund webiste includes a list of chemicals commonly found in cosmetics and personal care products that are known or probable carcinogens. Lather, rinse and repeat with known breast carcinogen Ethylene Oxide? I don't think so. http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/chemicals-linked-to-breast-cancer/cosmetics/

So how does one without a chemistry degree evaluate their personal care products? With over 10,000 ingredients in products on the market today, it is almost impossible to know what is safe by simply reading the labels. Fortunately, there is an organization that rates the safety of cosmetics and personal care products. Go to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ and search several of your favorite products. Usually, it is easier to find a safer version of a similar product with just a few clicks of your mouse.

An Organized Disaster, Before & After

If you've never undertaken a major remodeling project in your house, it may be hard to imagine the level of chaos that can ensue after tearing into a few walls and scattering your belongings from the room you choose to assault throughout the house. Sometimes, we gladly dive into a project because all we think about are the benefits of proceeding. Then halfway through when it looks like WW3 has broken out in the kitchen, all that is apparent are the negatives to having begun this stupid project in the first place! Here is my "lovely" kitchen about a year and half ago. That's my husband beyond the demilitarized zone.


Sometimes when we are making big changes in our lives, there is a point where we see how messy everything has become and our inside voice starts screaming "What were you thinking?!?!!" Hopefully at that point, we can dredge out some thoughts from our past. Particularly the ones that lead us to believe getting into this was a good idea would be helpful. However, rather we feel good about our self-induced situation at the time or not, these crisis moments usually come slightly after the point of no return. Since our options for stopping look even worse than where we started, such as trying to fix dinner in a kitchen that looks like it's been crushed by a tank, we proceed.


Even though we can be fearful or weary during a major life undertaking, we generally are able to press on when we set our mind to it. Maybe that mindset is only there because we don't feel like we have much of a choice, but we get there none the less. Just remember, there is victory in simply managing to ride the roller coaster. Rather we screamed or peed our pants is kind of beside the point. We didn't try to get off during the ride, and no one died. Fortunately, no casualties were reported during the battle of my kitchen either. And now I'm pretty glad I decided to ride this organized disaster from before until after.

Now that's a great food additive!

Yes. I'm one of them. One of those women who stand in the grocery store isle, reading every ingredient on the package of dried goods and frozen foods. I do this so I can pick food that doesn't contain ingredients I can't read with numbers after it to identify how many tries it took the chemist to cook up the recipe in his lab. Avoiding artificial food additives like preservatives, dyes and flavor enhancers has become a way of life for me. So people I know would be shocked to find me playing around with food additives in my own kitchen! But the additives I have been experimenting with are herbs and spices that are known to be powerfully protective of health.

Most of us have a hard time replacing things in our diet with something else entirely, which is what many books on nutrition suggest we do. Seriously, one book I read suggested eating a big bowl of lima beans for breakfast. How many people probably took the author up on that suggestion? Yuck! So in an effort to find a way to make the transition to healthier eating easier for all of us, I have been testing a less radical method, where I take whatever food I am already eating, and simply add something healthy to it.

Let's start with parsley. We all know we should eat more dark green veggies, right? Well I can count on one finger the number of times I usually do that in a week. But, if I sprinkle a some dried parsley into a casserole or even a TV dinner, my family doesn't object. It actually makes the food look better. The amazing news is how powerful parsley is. It removes toxins from the bloodstream, kills bacteria, improves digestive function and increases energy production.

Cinnamon is another great example. Studies have shown it helps regulate blood sugar in diabetics, reduces arthritis pain, overcomes medication-resistant yeast infections and reduces the proliferation of cancerous cells! So what a nice treat that it's also easy to add to cookies, sprinkle on popcorn or stir into oatmeal or even ice cream. Lately, I have been dumping about a teaspoon of cinnamon in my coffee filter before adding the coffee and brewing. Heavenly! Comparing the benefits of real cinnamon to the store coffees, which are usually labeled "artificially flavored" and it's a no-brainer.

There are many more healthful "food additives" you can use, but for now see where you can start adding these two power houses and start reading labels. Try to stick to ingredients your grandma would have had in her kitchen. Unless she wore a white lab coat, that is. Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/2053280192/

The Amazing Pizza Calorie Reducer!

I know this sounds like something that could be pitched on a late night TV infomercial, right? I mean, who doesn't like pizza and who wouldn't want to eat the same thing with less calories? Especially when it won't cost you $59.99, or $29.99 or even $9.99! In fact you can reduce the calories on hundreds of pizzas for only $2.99!

This is an easy one. If you want to change any pizza to a "lite" version of itself, simply blot it with a paper towel or napkin. Since much of the grease rises to the top, it is easy to blot away some of the fat and calories. It may not seem like much, but consider this. Eating just 50 calories a day more than you burn, will add up to a weight gain of 52 pounds in 10 years!

Since the average can of pop has around 150 calories, (That's 12 ounces. Many gas station cups are 42 ounces or more!) skipping the pop is an even more powerful way to make one of our favorite dinners less likely to make us feel lousy later. I can't personally recommend diet pop, as the chemicals used in them are suspected of being dangerous to good health. My personal pick? Unsweetened iced tea. Zero calories and loaded with healthy antioxidants. And that makes my beverage as nutritious as the veggies on my pizza. So act now! The AMAZING Pizza Calorie Reducer actually is sold in stores.

How to Beat the Clock. "Bear"ly.

This morning I got to play "Beat the Clock." Let's just say my alarm didn't go off, (until 6:25 tonight that is) and as I was rolling out of a bed T minus 40 to the morning meeting, my daughter ran into my room with eyes as wide as saucers saying in disbelief, "Cookster's gone!" Cookster is a rabbit that I received as a gift on Mother's Day. Funny story- maybe material for another post on forced pet adoptions. Anyway, we had moved his, (sorry- HER) cage outside onto the deck the other night and she managed to pull a disappearing act. No rabbit in site, but the cage was still locked tight. Perhaps she used to be owned by a magician?

Fortunately, Cookster was easily recovered after we spooked her out of hiding and she ran under the swing set. We all circled around her, tiptoeing carefully like Elmer Fudd during wabbit season. Daddy managed to grab her and then also discovered the secret passage that enabled her magnificent escape from the cage of doo. (this is not a typo. there is not supposed to be an M-or a rabbit in my house either.) I would tell you how she did it, but for fear this would somehow result in Cookster breaking the magician's code, I'll leave it out. Needless to say, I didn't have time to take the scenic route to work. I did manage to arrive on time, but feeling a bit like I had just been chased by a bear.

I'm convinced that "Beat the Clock" has by now surpassed baseball as America's favorite pass time. True, we can get a rush from it, just like sliding into home plate in unison with the ball thudding into the catcher's mitt. But feeling rushed and endangered certainly doesn't do us any good physically or emotionally. That frequent adrenaline rush can take it's toll. I experienced that a few years ago when my body decided it was sick of producing daily Neolithic Age doses of the hormone and just about quit producing adrenaline all together. It was like someone shut off my air supply and I started deflating like the bounce house after the carnival was over.

So the next time a game of "Beat the Clock" presents itself, consider instead making a play to avoid it. Because by playing at all, you really can never win. So don't take that last phone call 2 minutes before you have to walk out the door. Give up trying to squeeze in one more stop on the way someplace because you probably have time. Avoid eeeeking through intersections 1/12 of a second before the light turns red, and by all means never feel guilty about what you could have gotten done instead of showing up someplace 5 minutes early. After all, the human race has strived for thousands of years to create a modern age where people don't get chased by bears. So, the next time you hear the announcer calling your name for the home team in a game of "Beat the Clock" against the Bears, just go ahead and forfeit. Use that energy to win at something you actually care about instead.

Photo courtesy of Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/z_mandrews/3708592160/

Improve Your Relationships In 30 Seconds

I think relationships are a bit like creating a new recipe. Some come out as a fantastic sweet treat, and others make your dog barf on the lawn. And yes, I know by experience. On the specific occasion I am remembering, I think I must have been close to discovering the secret recipe for Silly String, because my 8 pound Pomeranian sprayed out far more than you could compress into a brightly colored can.

Creating new recipes has been a favorite pastime of mine for close to a decade now. And thankfully most of them did not require a call to the animal hospital after-hours hot line. I have gotten better at first-try recipes over the years. Now when my husband tells people he's my guinea pig, he does so while smiling and patting his stomach instead of rolling his eyes and faking dry heaves. But I had to stick with it. I learned that by getting feedback each time and asking myself what could be better, I could adjust what I did and eventually turn the recipe into a winner.

And that is a lot like relationships. The fact is, most have room for improvement, even if they are already decent. So take a moment and think of one of your relationships. If you could make it even better, would you be willing to try something new? If you could make it as heavenly as a perfect french silk pie, would it be worth experimenting a little or even investing some time and money?

The reality is that there are ways to improve relationships, and you can start right now by spending just 30 seconds. Try the quiz on the link below. It is a microscopic summary of the most powerful book I have ever read on relationships. I've read many over the years and this one gets my vote for the easiest to implement that produces the fastest, biggest and long-lasting changes. But I'll warn you, the quiz doesn't even begin to explain the powerful principals in the book, which you can apply towards your spouse, children, friends and co-workers alike. So think about what your relationships are worth to you, and make a decision to invest in them. It's time, effort and money well spent. Even if the initial response is people you love faking dry heaves.
http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/30sec.html#love

Chile Pepper Snappiness

In an earlier post entitled "Chile Pepper Happiness", I relayed the joy I got from making chicken enchiladas with made from scratch sauce made from dried red chilies. The entire production took well over an hour and a half and it was great fun. But, tonight I modified the recipe. Can of tomatoes, spices, plus a chipotle chile whirled in the blender. No frying and rolling tortillas either. I just layered them like lasagna. Because this time I just wanted to eat chicken enchiladas, and what was a joyous outlet of creativity a few weeks ago, this time just sounded like a bunch of work.

Lesson to remember, don't feel the need to do things just like you have before, even if those things used to be a lot of fun. Pay attention to where you are at in this present moment. Don't do things just to meet expectations, be it those of your neighbor down the street or those that you made for yourself months or years ago.

Banana-Nana-Faux-Fana Bread

Fake banana bread? Well, not really, but this banana bread recipe does not contain any white flour, sugar or butter, therefore I felt it deserved a powerful and distinct title like "faux" banana bread, even though it does contain bananas and only slightly modified alternatives to the original ingredients. The exciting news is that it tastes as delicious as traditional recipes. My friends loved it. They didn't even look at me like I was crazy when I told them later that I used the following healthy foods to create the recipe:

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon pure stevia extract*
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups mashed bananas
1/2 cup olive oil (light, or one not labelled extra virgin)
1/4 cup milk
4 eggs
(A great addition would be chopped walnuts, but I haven't tried it yet)

Mix all the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then combine and stir well. Bake in 2 greased loaf pans 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. You can half the recipe, but I always make 2 loaves because it disappears so fast you would think we had monkeys for pets; ones that don't know what "faux" means.

*Stevia is a natural herbal sweetener. It is available in powdered form or drops. Here is my favorite brand which will convert accurately in my recipes. It's a small container, but it contains over 900 servings.

Pure Stevia Powd 1.3oz by Kal, 1.3 Ounces from NaturalGrocers.com

How Can Anyone Get Addicted to Exercise?

A friend of mine just started working out. Good for her! However, after the first night she wanted to petition the U.N. to add dumbbell squats as a practiced banned by the Geneva Convention's prohibition against torture. But, she restrained herself and instead took a wiser approach to seek group condolence through a Facebook post along the lines of, "I mean, what is with these exercise junkies, anyway? How can anyone get addicted to THIS? No seriously- tell me how."

Have you have ever tried a new exercise program and latter felt like someone should draw a chalk line around you and begin investigating the brutal crime? ("Mr./Ms. Reader, Where were you on the night of January the 2nd?") But, fear not! I have already done some detective work and am prepared to reveal to you two powerful secrets that will get you to a point where exercise becomes not only tolerable, but fun, refreshing, rejuvenating and something you will crave.

I started to realize the general public may not be aware of these principals after about the 80th person told me they were walking regularly, but not succeeding in their goal of losing weight. Since I HATED running in school because it made me feel WORSE not BETTER, I understand how many people would give up trying to work out, or fail to get the big benefits of exercise because they don't know how to get the really dramatic results in their health and happiness that are possible through regular exercise, when done correctly.

Now, just so you don't worry that the conclusion of this post will be to tell you that running is required (I'm still not a big fan), I will tell you that few things have been shown to increase happiness in people faster and more consistently than simply walking. And have you heard yet that regular exercise beats even powerful anti-depressant medications in effectiveness against depression?! It's true! But, like the drugs, exercise also has side-effects. WARNING: May cause weight loss, longevity, an increase in self-esteem and reduce the need for little blue pills with the most comical and ridiculous warning statements EVER! So, are you ready to learn the secret of how people can become addicted to exercise?

First, it's important to understand that most fatigue during exercise (or walking up stairs or carrying in groceries for that matter) is directly related to the shape your heart is in. No, not the big red valentine shape. Whenever you feel winded or tired from exertion, that is usually because your heart isn't able to keep up with demand to get oxygen to the rest of your body. All you need to do to improve this, which will improve a host of other things in your life as well, is to make sure your workout is the type that will improve the condition of your heart. There are two key secrets: 1) getting your heart rate up to a necessary level and 2) sustaining that level for a minimum amount of time before resting.

Here is how to do it. 1) Find your target heart rate by taking 220-your age, then multiply x 60%. This is the minimum heart rate you need to hit in order to be effective at strengthen your heart. (i.e. A 20 year old would figure 220-20= 200 x 60%=120 beats per minute.) Step one must be used in combination with step two. 2) You need to sustain this minimum heart rate for at least 20-30 minutes at a time. The good news is that only 3 times a week is enough to do the job. After a week or so, try increasing your rate to 65-75%. After about 2-3 weeks you will start to feel better and even begin to enjoy the feeling of exercise! (Seriously, you don't think the exercise junkies got addicted because it still causes them pain?)

There is a simpler tactic to give you an idea if you are working out in the right range or not. If you are too out of breath to sing, but can still carry on a conversation, you may be in the right range. But in my experience, (which included having a very irregular heart rate and being sent to a cardiologist at the age of 17) counting your pulse for 6 seconds and multiplying x10 a few times during your workout, is really worth the life-changing results. So, beyond these two simple but powerful secrets, the best advice I can give you is that it's a little like starting smoking. Just keep doing it until you no longer feel like you are going to die.

Chile Pepper Happiness

Today I made Chicken Enchiladas. Certainly this doesn't sound like the beginnings of a great eye-opening post on finding more happiness in your life. However, when I think about the number of times I giggled with joy over buying and breaking open an entire bag of dried real chile peppers, it must have added some needed spice to my life as well as my Mexican entree.

I like to cook. A lot. However, the business of my life the last few weeks has caused dinner time around here to look more like an exhibit displaying improper dietary habits of dorm-bound college students on days when the cafeteria is closed. So, taking an hour and a half to seed, steam, season, grind and strain real chile peppers into a fabulous enchilada sauce that makes canned taste like it was made with used motor oil, was much like taking a short vacation in my own home.

Most of us have hobbies we enjoy. Most of us have also taken those hobbies and stashed them away in the basement or attic to collect dust or hold up boxes of old record albums or clothes we intend to take to Goodwill....eventually. With eighty things to do every day, it's no wonder we often end up relenting to a mindless evening of watching TV shows we don't even like instead of diving into something, anything that gives us real joy.

Take a moment to remember the last time you did something you really enjoyed. No, I mean it-stop reading for a second and think back. Got something in your mind? OK :0) How were your energy levels after you participated in that particular enjoyable activity? Try another memory, or two or three, and you will discover that usually doing something that engages our senses and strikes a passion GIVES US ENERGY. So next time you are feeling a bit low or especially when you have been stressed and need a distraction, think of a hobby or interest such as reading, gardening, antiquing, whatever it is and spend a few precious moments immersing yourself into it. I hope you too get to add some extra spice to your life this week. So that is my post on how cooking in little ways, adds to my happiness. And that's the whole enchilada!

Is Your Brain on Eggs?

Most people tend to be quite aware of how they feel WHEN they eat something. That first big bite of a D.Q. Sundae can leave us rolling our eyes and licking our lips in the simple bliss of one of life's most common and sought after pleasures; a tasty treat. At times we have all used food or drink to help us feel cheery, comforted, calmer, or even push our own internal buttons to signal we should now be entering wired hyper-drive. I remember the silent years from my husband's Mt. Dew abuse. Funny they don't have a support group for that? Hi, my name is Roman and I'm an...hey look out the window at that truck at the stoplight! Let's see if we can catch it on foot!

So we all usually notice how we feel WHEN we eat something. But a major breakthrough in creating more happiness in my own life came when I started noticing how I felt AFTER I ate something. I started to discover that about 2 hours after eating many types of junk food, that there is a good reason to call it that because I felt like TRASH! I was sleepy, groggy, edgy, and at times almost unable to put together a complete sentence. Now I might be one of the lucky ones who has a strong and adverse reaction to unhealthy food. But many people have unpleasant symptoms fairly frequently, and haven't connected the bright pink green and orange candy DOTS to discover that much of their misery comes from what they had to eat or drink, hours or sometimes even days earlier.

Take eggs for example. A few years ago when I was having some pretty rotten energy problems, I discovered through a simple and free test I did at home, that a lot of my symptoms were made far worse shortly after I ate anything that contained eggs. Since eggs are in lots of products I usually had a small dose at least one or two times a day. Once I did a more standard home test of avoiding the suspect food for 2-3 weeks and then eating some, it was confirmed that eggs had been knocking me down for months or years! After I rigorously avoided them, any accidental exposure would cause my mind and legs to quit working normally and I would fall into an egg induced comma for about a 5-10 hour nap. (Most people with food sensitivities get FAR more sensitive once they quit eating that food, but they overall get much better.) My family had seen me fall prey to an accidental baked-goods sneak attack a few times during those years. Once, when I was starting to slur my words and make sensical non-sentences, my daughter stopped and asked me, Mommy, is your brain on eggs?" Yes, it was!!!

It took me years to discover this problem, but I had a long history of a racing heart with palpitations. But a few years ago I read a book about food sensitivities, and it explained a simple way to do a preliminary test. (Allergy tests are very expensive and only come back positive in the worst of cases, though many people would feel better to avoid some things regularly.) So here is how to do the test. Take your resting heart rate before eating something. Count the full minute because an exact number will be important as you will see in a minute. Then after eating something (you can do one food at a time to narrow it down) take your resting pulse again 30, 60 & 90 minutes later. If your pulse jumps or slows more than 4 points, it's a sign your body in it's current state of health may do better to cut back or avoid those things that trigger a change in heart rate. For someone like me, who even though I was physically fit, could experience a resting heart rate of 100 bpm and a total loss of energy, completely avoiding the food became the only sane thing to do. At least until my health improved and I found a therapy to rid myself of that sensitivity. Though avoiding mayonnaise and breaded fried-foods made life a real pain for a while, I was glad to discover that for me eggs were a no-no so I could retain consciousness at the dinner table. At least until my health improved and I found some therapies to overcome the sensitivity.

There are many things that can cause you to feel rotten an hour or two after you eat them and it doesn't have to be a food sensitivity. Refined carbs & sugars can crash your blood sugar, caffeine can trigger anxiety attacks, and some food additives such as MSG can trigger severe responses in some people up to two days later. Chinese on Sunday, and Crazy on Tuesday! But today on my lunch break, I've been enjoying my home aid pasta and sauce, something I personally tend to get lots of sustained energy from. And, its got my own special food "additive;" a yellow spice called Tumeric which has near miracle healing properties. I hope to hook you all on it sometime in the near future. But for now, Happiness Hunters, consider keeping a simple food journal of your own. Jot down what you eat and how you feel throughout the day, and see if you can start to distinguish any patters. Omelet anyone?

Oh, Happy Day!

Happy days. If only they were as easy to create as turning on the old T.V. show by the same name. But in reality, most of us can't make our problems disappear as easily as the Fonz could set the jukebox with a tap of his fist. So we go along frustrated, and if we let it stew long enough, it becomes angry resentment. Which, I'm pretty sure will screw up most any one's day.

Right or wrong, I've tried to alleviate a lot of my frustrations by taking action to fix them. Maybe you might be one of the lucky ones who can "choose to be happy", in spite of having your life include a host of things that basically irritate you. But for me, I've given up on feeling guilty about not being able to get cheery in spite of situations being far from what I desire.

So, with no disrespect intended to those who possess enough power of positive thinking to change their mind about miserable life situations with their super-magic chooser, I look forward to sharing may of the tips, tricks and stories of ways I have found over the years to solve problems and created the life I want, from finding the perfect way to do my eyeshadow to overcoming the health issues that were sending me to heart specialists at the age of 17. What is a stunning revelation to me at this moment, is that for years I thought I couldn't figure out how to choose happiness. Yet, through years of focusing on modifying what I did and didn't want or allow in my life, I guess that in the end I ultimately did still choose to have a happy life.