24 Day Challenge - Day 1

Advocare 24-Day Challenge

Day One 

Let me start this off by first introducing how I got involved in this 24-day challenge.  My husband was intrigued by the company, Advocare, and their values.  He also had put in some research into their products and compared them with other similar companies.  So, now he is an Advocare distributor (here's his site) and started his 24-day challenge 6 days ago.  He has already lost 2" off his waist and 4 pounds, has enjoyed the food and is feeling great.   

The largest misconception I have seen with the challenge is that most people think it's one of those meal replacement shake diets.  Actually, it's not!  You learn to eat clean food at regular intervals to stabilize your metabolism.  You eat plenty of food, and take supplements for the other nutrients your body needs.  It's a great plan and will help me and my husband begin eating better for the rest of our lives.  So, keep reading to see how I have progressed through the first day of the 24-day challenge.  The key to this challenge's success is preparation and planning.  I'll do a separate post on how to prep to be successful. 

The first day can be pretty intimidating, especially if you're not used to eating breakfast or having much liquid in the morning.  Luckily, I am used to making breakfast, but still drinking water and lots of it is difficult for me to do that early.
With that said, I was pleasantly surprised with Advocare's products as they were tasty and easy to stomach.  Here's how it went:

Morning Schedule:
4:30 a.m. - Got up to get ready for work.

5:30 a.m. - Drank Fruit Punch flavor Spark.  It was delicious and is my favorite flavor so far.  (I've tasted Cherry and Watermelon so far)

6:05 a.m. - Took fish oil supplement and drank the fiber drink.  It actually wasn't gross or hard to drink.  I may sound surprised because it looks like a gel with malt-o-meal in it.

6:35 a.m. - Ate breakfast.  This consisted of a fried egg (used coconut oil, butter is a no-no at this stage), whole wheat toast with a thin layer of peanut butter, and half a sliced up apple.  Drinking the Spark and fiber drink, I already felt full, but I managed to eat all but a little of the toast and a couple slices of apple.

Snack 1:
I had a small snack around 9:30 a.m. that consisted of homemade trail mix.  I picked up bulk walnuts, almonds and raisins from the grocery store and mixed in high-quality organic dark chocolate that I chopped up.

Lunch:
Salad with clean chicken fajita mix (recipe made from the 24-day challenge cookbook) and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. 

Snack 2: 
I had packed celery and carrots, so I had a serving of the veggies with a tablespoon of Adam's peanut butter. 

Dinner: 
I had prepared the chicken breasts the night before so they could marinade all night & day.  I used the Zesty Chicken Marinade in the Challenge's cookbook.  THIS WAS SOOO GOOD!!!  I had cooked up some quinoa and steamed broccoli on the side.  I love to drizzle balsamic vinegar over the broccoli and quinoa. 

What I noticed today:
The Spark left me alert and more awake than my 1 - 2 cups of coffee do.  I had a morning full of meetings and was able to stay awake and was able to think through issues, hold deeper conversations, and focus more on my work.  I had no crash, which would normally happen right after lunch. 

I also was pretty full throughout the day.  I normally get shakes every 2-3 hours and am starving.  This was not the case today.  So, for day 1, I am pleasantly surprised and pleased. 

Journey to a Healthy Makeup

My last post - Toxic Beauty - covered my recent reasons into changing my beauty products to safer, less toxic brands.  I also covered what makeup I currently (then) used, as well as how they ranked on the toxicity scale.  If you haven't already, I encourage you to take a look at that blog post.

Now that I have had a chance to research, purchase replacement makeup products, and try them out I wanted to give you my opinions of what I have tried thus far.  So...here goes...

There were a few brands that sparked my interest in all my research.  I was looking for companies that didn't include ingredients in the dirty dozen list, and makeup that ranked as a 3 or lower on Skin Deep's cosmetic database.  The main goal was to reduce the amount of hormone disruptors my body was taking in as I already have a hormone imbalance due to PCOS. 

My makeup needs:

1. I have sensitive skin (probably having something to do with my hormone imbalance), so makeup can easily cause a lot of redness around my nose and cheeks, or cause breakouts on my forehead.  I already have pretty red, blotchy skin and break out regularly on my chin.  I also have horrible under-eye bags/circles that I need to cover each morning and scarring on my chin from PCOS.  So, I need a foundation that evens out my skin tone and a good concealer for my under-eye area and blemishes. 
2. I cannot live without a good charcoal colored eye-liner.  I'm not a fan of liquid, I really wanted a pencil that is soft and easy to apply.  
3. Shimmery eye shadows, not too vibrant, but ones that actually show up and don't crease up halfway through the day.
4. A good mascara that doesn't flake or clump.

Here is a summary of the makeups that I tried out and what I thought of them:

Foundation-

• Terra Firma Cosmetics Hydrasilk Mineral Foundation
  

  

  Terra Firma Sample Stack - Foundation/Blush

  Terra Firma caught my eye because it was a local company, had GREAT prices, and didn't include the ingredients I was trying to avoid.  I purchased the sampler, which includes 4 shades of foundation, a finishing powder and two blush colors.  This was a GREAT deal at $16.00.  I loved how they offer the option to try samples first since ordering online can be tricky. 
  
  The first 2 days of wearing the foundation and finishing powder together my skin felt like all the moisture was being sucked out of it.  This was so uncomfortable and itchy that the second day I washed it off within an hour of putting it on.  I tried again the next day, but didn't put on the finishing powder.  No itchy dry skin after that, so there must be something in the finishing powder that my face didn't like. 
  
  WHAT I LOVE- The coverage of the foundation is AMAZING for a mineral powder.  My skin tone was evened out, skin looked great, and it is buildable.  I also love the price and that they are local to me.
  
  VERDICT - I still prefer liquid foundation, so I'm not completely hooked.  I do love how it feels and looks, so if I don't fall in love with a liquid then I will consider using this full-time.
• Juice Beauty Perfecting Foundation
  I fell in love with Juice Beauty's products the moment I stumbled upon their website.  The reviews looked great, the prices were what I would expect ($35), and I was intrigued by what everyone was saying about how it smelled.  I know, smell is a stupid reason, but still it was intriguing.  I also had a family member that LOVED their foundation and other products, so based on her reviews I wanted to give them a try. 
  

  

  Juice Beauty Foundation and Finishing Powder

  
  This is a liquid foundation, which is what I was hoping to find, but when you put it on it dries pretty quickly so you would want to use your fingers rather than a brush to apply it.  It goes on smooth, smells citrusy (so nice and awakening in the morning!), and feels great all day.  I have had a couple mornings where my skin looked like I had too much makeup on, or it accentuated a dry spot more than I wished, but I've noticed it reacts differently to what type of moisturizer I put on first. 
  
  WHAT I LOVE- The coverage is good, evens out my skin tone.  It feels great on my skin and smells great. The finishing powder does an amazing job of giving that air-brushed look.
  
  WHAT I DON'T LOVE- Not as buildable as I wish it was, but that's what I use concealer for if I need to.  I've also gotten inconsistent results, so I'm still working with it to determine if it's my moisturizer or if I need to just exfoliate more. 
  
  
  VERDICT- I am using this every morning and like it.  Not sure if I love it yet.  I'm planning on using the rest of the bottle up and if I am hooked by then I will reorder.  If not, I will look elsewhere. 

Concealer-

• Terra Firma Hocus Pocus Undereye Mineral Concealer
  I purchased a sample baggie of this powder after reading great reviews on it.  This did NOT cover my undereye circles at all.
• Juice Beauty Correcting Concealer
  I purchased this at Ulta and took it back the next day.  It was watery and sheer, didn't cover my dark circles at all. 
• Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer
  This is a creme concealer that comes in a squeeze tube.  It is thick, so you only need a dab for the undereye area.  I LOVE this concealer!  It covers so well for undereyes and blemishes without looking cakey and lasts all day.  This is my new favorite makeup product and it's worth every penny!

Blush- 

• Terra Firma Mineral Blush
  I haven't every really used blush because of my redness in my skin, but I really wanted to learn how to contour, plus some came with the Terra Firma sample stack so I gave it a try.  I have to say, I LOVE the "In Love" mineral blush color so much. I use it every day.  This is something I will continue to purchase.

Eye Shadow-

• Tarte Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palette
  I had a hard time finding a palette of eyeshadow to get that was safe for use. Tarte offers several choices, I chose the palette that included olive, peach, gold and espresso.  I do like this palette, however I have a hard time with getting the colors to stick around all day long.  I think I will continue to add to my eye shadow collection as I get more money, trying out other brands to see what I like the best.  This was a good get-me-by starter for the time being. 

Tarte Concealer, Eye Shadow, Eye Liner and Mascara

Eye Liner-

• Tarte Skinny SmolderEYES
  I have been HOOKED on Clinique's quickliner since high school, so I knew finding a replacement might be difficult. I needed something that was easy to apply and I love charcoal (not black!) which proved harder to find than I thought it would be.  
  
  This eyeliner intrigued me as it had GREAT reviews, looked like what I was used to using already, and came in a charcoal gray color. 
  
  WHAT I LOVE- I love how easy it is to apply and how it looks.  It goes on so smooth.
  
  WHAT I DON'T LOVE- I have to sharpen it often, about 2x a week. I purchased it a month ago and I've used at lease half of it.  Don't get me wrong, I don't use a TON of eyeliner, usually just on my top eyelid.  I also have to be sure to apply a light eye shadow over it if I apply it to my bottom lid so it doesn't smear during the day.
  
  VERDICT- I do love this eye liner, but I might try some of Tarte's others as they have many to choose from.  I wish it lasted longer.

Mascara-

• Tarte's Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara
  I received this as a free sample with my purchase, so of course I was going to try it out!  I also couldn't find a mascara I wanted to try with Juice Beauty and didn't end up splurging for Terra Firma's yet. 
  
  WHAT I LOVE- This mascara is a perfect, all around mascara!  No flaking or smearing.  Doesn't look clumpy.  Washes of well. And I love the container! It's an earth-friendly wood container.  Works better than the Clinique or department store mascaras I've always used.
  
  WHAT I DON'T LOVE- Nothing!  It's perfect!
  
  VERDICT- This is a keeper for sure!

Overall, I think I was pretty lucky to have found so many keepers.  My skin is happier.  Purchasing these brands, you can get JuiceBeauty and Tarte at Ulta.  Tarte is also at Sephora.  Terra Firma you can get off their website, or in some beauty stores (look at their site for locations).

Terra Firma - http://terrafirmacosmetics.com/index.html
Juice Beauty - http://www.juicebeauty.com/
Tarte - http://tartecosmetics.com/

Have you tried any other "safe" makeups that you would like to share?  I encourage you to comment below with your experiences!

Toxic Beauty

On my journey to living a healthier life I have tackled many of the basics.  I started with nutrition – eating healthier and learning more about the sources of foods, pesticides, organics, GMOs, and how it can all disrupt your body.  Next, I tackled the cleaning products arena.  I made my own laundry detergent and cleaning products that are safer to use.   

My next battle is what I put on my skin each day- makeup, as well as lotions and cleansers.  Your skin absorbs much of what is put on it, including any nasty chemicals.  I have put this off for quite a while as it is expensive to just trash your nasty products and replace them with better choices, but also to learn what is in my favorite beauty products was a scary thought.  BUT, the time has come and I am going through them now.  ::nervous sigh:: 

Here's a good video to help explain why you should be cautious with your makeup and other beauty product choices.

First I wanted to set some guidelines for myself so I knew what I was willing to put on my skin for the rest of my life, therefore making it evident what I was trashing and what to replace it with.   Here are my guidelines:

      I.         Does not contain any of the “dirty dozen” ingredients:

1. BHA and BHT
2. Coal tar dyes
3. DEA
4. Dibutyl phthalate
5. Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
6. Parabens
7. Parfum (a.k.a. fragrance)
8. PEG compounds
9. Petrolatum
10. Siloxanes
11. Sodium laureth sulfate
12. Triclosan

This ingredient list was created by a David Suzuki, a Canadian geneticist and founder of the David Suzuki foundation.  This list contains many ingredients that cause cancer, reproductive and non-reproductive organ toxicity, and other health risks.  Here is a link to his organization’s guide to the dirty dozen list.   You can read more about each of these ingredients in more detail by following that link.

 II.          Toss any products that may interfere with my hormones.  Since I have a hormone imbalance already (PCOS), I have to be extra-conscious of any ingredient that can make it into my body mimicking my natural hormones and causing things to get even more off track. These are called Endocrine Disrupters. 

  III.      Rates a 3 or less on EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database.  This database contains almost 10,000 personal care product ingredients and shares them on their website, along with ratings and concerns for each product.  Most of my products were listed.

Here are my products I use regularly and how they rated against my guidelines:

• Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion = 2
  Largest concerns were allergens.
  Verdict: KEEP IT!

• Epionce Milky Lotion Cleanser = 2
  Largest concerns were allergens.
  Verdict: KEEP IT!

• Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara = 3
  Largest concern – contains parabens (endocrine disruption)
  Verdict: TRASH IT!

•  Jane Iredale Amazing Base (mineral foundation from dermatologist) = 7
  Largest concerns – Cancer, organ toxicity (titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, dimethicone, etc)
  Verdict: TRASH IT!

•  Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow = 4
  Largest concerns = Cancer
  Verdict: TRASH IT!

•  Neutrogena SkinClearing Blemish Treatment Foundation = 5?
  This score is questionable as the old formulation was listed.  Not sure if there is a difference to the current formulation.
  
  Largest concerns = Biochemical/cellular level changes, endocrine disruption, cancer, organ toxicity (contains Retinyl Palmitate, Parabens)
  Verdict: TRASH IT!

•  Clinique Long Last Lipstick = 5
  Largest concerns – cancer, organ system toxicity, developmental/reproductive toxology (Glyceryl Rosinate, BHT)
  Verdict: TRASH IT!

•  Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer = ?
  This product was not in the database.  Upon further investigation it has been found that this product contains nanoparticles.  I was not able to obtain a complete list of ingredients and Clinique does not allow you to request a full list of ingredients anyways. You can only ask them about up to 4 ingredients per product.  A little sketchy if you ask me.  This is my FAVORITE product as I always have bags and dark circles under my eyes, as well as blemishes and it has never failed me.  I hope I can find a good replacement.
  Verdict: TRASH IT! 

•  Clinique Quickliner = 4
  Largest concerns – Neurotoxicity, cancer, organ system toxicity, possible endocrine disruption. (Aluminum Powder, BHT, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE)
  
  This has always been my favorite eyeliner as well.  Goes on SO smooth and easy to apply.  I’ll be sad to see this one go.
  Verdict: TRASH IT!

• Burt’s Bees Replenishing Lip Balm = 2
  Not a lot to worry about with this one except perhaps Castor Oil (can cause developmental/reproductive toxicity).
  Verdict: KEEP IT! (or trash it, I’m not too attached to it)

• Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo = 4
  Largest concerns = Fragrance – organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, cancer
  Verdict: TRASH IT!

That's a lot of things to trash!  It's a little scary too, knowing that I've been putting this junk on my body since around the age of 16.  

Next week I'll talk about some options for replacing all of these things I've trashed.  I've compiled a LOOONG list of possible companies, but still need to sort it out and read reviews, ingredient lists, etc.  STAY TUNED!!

1 Piece Out Of 5,000

I'm currently doing a bible study on one of my greatest weaknesses - prayer.  The study I'm doing is called "Living A Praying Life" by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.  Prayer has always been a struggle with me for many reasons.  Not having enough time, forgetting to do it when I do have down-time, feeling awkward praying out loud by myself or if someone else is in the house with me....etc.  We all make excuses at some point, but I truly think that prayer is part of a strong foundation of having a close and personal relationship with God and living a blessed and fulfilled life according to His purpose.

The most recent teaching that reconfirmed my ideas about prayer, and I found encouraging, was how prayer plays such an important role in every step of our life even when you think your prayer isn't being answered or is being ignored.  Dean's example is this- imagine that you are handed 1 piece of a 5,000 piece puzzle.  Would you be able to guess what the puzzle was a picture of based on that one small piece?  Chances are slim that you would. Think of your life in the same way.  If something isn't going how you expected it to go, it is just one small piece of God's plan for your life.  He has intricately weaved all of our live's plans together, and he knows what is best for us.  Trust Him with your life, be patient, and wait to see where God gets you.

What is an example of a time in your life where you thought God was ignoring or denying your prayers, but in time you looked back to see that He was blessing you above and beyond what you had ever imagined?

Schloss Hurlach (Hurlach Castle)

One small example in my life from way back was after high school I really wanted to go to college in Germany.  It was a YWAM discipleship school in a castle outside of Munich.  I've always had a very strong desire to live in Germany (still do!) and I thought that this was my time to do it.  Besides, I was going there to learn more about God, church, discipleship, so why wouldn't God help me get there?  I got all the necessary papers in order, loans figured out, and all of the needed references....except for one.  That one (my pastor's!) never made it to them and I didn't get in.  I was so heart broken and couldn't understand how that wasn't part of God's plan for my life and how my pastor couldn't get the papers in!  This caused some resentment and bitterness, but I did get over it.

Looking back, I'm glad that I didn't go.  Because of the path I took I ended up getting a good degree, didn't need to take out a student loan, met my husband (man of my dreams!!!) and am now in a job that I love.  Even though there have been struggles and hard times, I'm so happy and blessed to be where I'm at right now and I know that I wouldn't be here now if I would have went to the YWAM school.

There are so many other life examples I could write about, but I'll just leave you with that one.  Remember- Jesus told us to "Have faith in God" - Mark 11:22.  As Dean says in her study - "When you place your faith in an outcome, you will often be disappointed.  When you put your faith in God, you will never be disappointed."  Don't put a period where God has put a comma.  He will always have more to bless you with if you let Him.

Creating a dog-friendly yard

Our American Bulldog - Tug

After much frustration with having a SUPER small back yard (think housing development where you can see in everyone's yards from your window) and a bigger dog who does need to go potty and therefor not being able to use our back yard at all I finally began researching ways to fix this problem.  Some things I was looking for:

• A good spot that was out of the way for us, but easily accessible for our dog.
• Easy to clean up and maintain
• Drained well (I live in rainy Washington, so LOTS of rain)
• Reduced the odor

After lots of looking around online, I decided to go with a sand base, topped with river pebbles.  These are a little larger than pea gravel and would allow the water to drain well and would be easy to hose off and keep clean.  It would also be fairly easy to poop-scoop regularly. 

I started by finding the best location in our yard for his area.  I dug down about an inch or two, also trying to level out the area as it was pretty sloped.   I purchased some cedar edging and placed it around the borders to keep the filler material in place better.  Next, I poured in sand, then topping it with the rock. 

After laying the rock

We need to still add some more rock as my calculations were a bit off, but it's a good start.  Our next task was to re-train our dog to go potty just in this area.  Our dog is super sensitive so we had to be careful in how we trained him to go over there so he wouldn't be scared. (such a big baby)  Reading other blogs gave us a good idea of how to do this.  We would take him out at first on a leash when he had to go.  Each time he went potty we would get super excited, praise him, and give him a treat.  He got the peeing down really well, but for some reason did NOT want to poop there.  I do have to say, two months later he still does not want to poop there, so I'm not sure what that's all about or how to change it.  He knows that's his potty area, but he is stubborn. 

One thing I may change - the rock is a hard surface, so liquid does bounce off (pee ends up on his leg sometimes).  I'm thinking of adding bark or something, even though I absolutely despise bark. 

All in all, I love having him potty in just one area. Our grass is growing back, and is green!  I'm looking forward to this summer actually being able to walk around bare-foot in our yard and not worrying about keeping kiddos out of the grass.