Green Living Means Organic Cosmetics
By now everyone knows about environmentally friendly ways to live. This means thinking of ways to save energy and to make sure that you’re not using too much non-renewable resources on unnecessary things. Even the concept of green shopping is related to helping minimize pollution by not expending too much gas to purchase groceries.
One other aspect of green living means not contributing to the production of plastic, by not buying too much cosmetics in plastic bottles. But, we ask, how can we live without our usual beauty products? The answer of course is, go homemade!
Homemade Hair Conditioner
Many people pay a lot of money for a conditioner that actually makes your hair look and feel good. Here’s a great natural recipe to save you money and help your hair. Just mix an egg yolk with a tablespoon of castor oil and apply to hair. Let sit for about ten minutes and rinse out. You can use this every so often as a conditioning treatment for healthy shiny hair. If you like being experimental, you can try mixing other kitchen items, herbs, and natural items with eggs for healthy, shiny hair.
Hand and Foot Cream
A quick face mask will help make you look great in not a lot of time, but hands and feet require extra care. Use ½ cup of olive oil mixed with natural sea salt and massage into your hands and feet. Leave a few minutes to soak and then rinse off with warm water.
When it comes to natural beauty products, these recipes are just the start. You can find hundreds of different combinations in natural beauty books, magazines, and on the internet. Or you can go to your kitchen cabinet and make your own special creations.
Befriending Your Food Suppliers
In the Philippines, we have this concept called “suki”. If you know a food supplier long enough, he will know exactly how to prepare the food for you and you can be assured that your “suki” supplier will always keep you in mind when the freshest products come in. This tip is handy enough if you’re saving up cash for other necessities.
Befriending the butcher is the oldest trick known to shopping. It started back in medieval times and continues today, just not as strong. With supermarkets importing much of their food, finding the right place to shop is growing more difficult by the day. Taking a good look around in your city, as well as a few outlying areas can still prove useful when looking for the best deals on items you buy regularly.
Butcher – Finding a local butcher is the best thing to do if your family consumes large amounts of meat. The butcher can provide certain cuts that you may not always find in larger supermarkets. Not only can they make specialty cuts of meat for you, they always know what is fresh and can provide tips on how to prepare certain types of meat.
Many butchers also can provide lower prices on meat because they are distributing operations. When the meat has to be sold to a supermarket, you have to pay the mark-up from the butcher as well as the supermarket that bought the product. Many butchers, if you get to know them over time, will be able to let you know exactly when meat goes on sale.
Fish Monger – For the seafood lovers out there, finding a fish monger to befriend can also aid in cost savings. The fish monger has the inside scoop as to what fish is the most fresh and can prepare different cuts depending on whether you are planning for sushi, a catfish fry or a high quality tuna steak. If you get to know the fish monger, he or she can also suggest new items that you may like, but would have never thought about buying in a local grocery store; they may just turn out to be your favorite type of seafood.
Depending on your shopping habits, and how much money you wish to save (so that you will have just enough for other necessities like safe weight loss supplements), should, at least somewhat factor in to your decision on where to shop. Many of the smaller cities still have a butcher, fish monger and even a local farmer’s co-op where many items can be purchased for a fraction of the cost.
Eat Your Workout
The body uses different nutrients to provide lasting energy at each stage of activity. Those who are generally more active must load up on the carbohydrates since they are the first nutrients to be turned into energy. Proteins are used for muscle recovery by allowing the body to produce some amino acids, which are not normally found in the body, but still required for active people. There are many different ways to eat in order to get the energy you need; it is as simple as figuring out what type of active life you are leading and how each nutrient works with or against you. Check out the following eating tips before you start looking for diet pill reviews…
Substances That Provide Energy
Carbohydrates are compounds made up of sugars and are classified by the number of sugar units contained: monosaccharides, such as glucose and fructose contain a single simple sugar. Disaccharides, such as sucrose and lactose, contain more complex sugar structures. Oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, such as starch, glycogen, and cellulose are the most complex and as such, are the most difficult to break down and transform into energy.
Proteins consist of amino acids joined by peptide bonds, creating an organic nutrient. The body cannot manufacture some of the essential amino acids found in proteins, so the body relies on the diet providing these nutrients. Proteins are broken down through digestion into free amino acids, which the body can then use for energy.
Fats consist of a glycerin molecule with three fatty acids attached. Fatty acids are un-branched hydrocarbon chains, which basically mean the bonds that connect them make up saturated fatty acids (single bonds) or unsaturated fatty acids (double bonds). Fats are important to help keep cell membranes functioning properly, to insulate body organs against shock, to keep body temperature stable. They also help in maintaining healthy skin, nails and hair. Just like amino acids, the body does not manufacture certain fatty acids, termed essential fatty acids, which must be further supplied by the diet. Fats are basically the reserve store of energy for the body.
Substances That Support Metabolism
One of the main reasons the substances above create energy is that they supply stored energy, which is broken down by metabolism. When foods are broken down by metabolism, they release their stored energy and transfer that energy to our bodies. Of course, many people start to see a decline in their metabolism as they age, but there are a few substances to focus on to help support and maintain a healthy metabolism for a longer period of time.
Trace elements, salts and ions such as copper and iron are some of the minerals that help make up dietary minerals, which are necessary to assisting your metabolism.
Vitamins are a key to a healthy metabolism. As organic compounds, they usually act as coenzymes or cofactors to help break down various proteins in the body.
Water is the universal solvent, which means it helps break down almost every thing our body throws at it. Since our bodies are made up of over 70% water, it only makes sense that this is an essential part to maintaining a healthy metabolism.
By understanding what makes up stored energy and what breaks it down into usable piece, you can better understand how to eat correctly for the maximum energy. If you have any questions, there are numerous resources, from your family physician to the trainer at your local gym. Get with a licensed professional to help determine the plan that is best for you.
How to Curb Retail Therapy
Any woman knows something about retail therapy. If like I was in the past you’re not clear on the meaning of this term it’s something that so aptly describes the action of buying something to feel better.
You know you do this when you see a pattern in your purchases. Do you shop more when you feel depressed? Do you go out to buy things you don’t necessarily need just because you feel “you deserve it” after the hard work you’ve been doing?
Retail therapy isn’t a bad thing per se, but it’s a huge problem when you can barely afford it.
One strategy I learned to curb retail therapy is to change the way I value money. Instead of dollar or peso signs, I think in terms of milk cartons and baby food containers. I always keep track of how much I actually have (credit limit doesn’t count!) and assign a tangible value for that money. If you think of what necessities you can buy with the money you’re about to spend, you will have a clearer head when you go to places like amazon, ebay or prevera reviews.
Teaching the Value of Hard Work to Teeners
If your son or daughter is considering a high end career like medicine or law, you will have to make him or her learn the value of saving up for the future. It’s easy for kids to think that they can depend on their parents forever, but the truth is that they will also need to learn how to work hard to fund their needs. Although you may be setting aside a certain budget for their tuition fees in college, there are hidden expenses like research and laboratory equipment (scalpels, test tubes, lab gowns, scales etc.) and books.
here’s what you can do. Help your kids find work around the neighborhood. Do you have friends that are empty nesters? Maybe they can’t get around like they used to. Why not loan out your teen to friends in need?
There are a lot of things that teenagers can do to help neighbors. They could:
* Mow the lawn in the summer – Elderly neighbors or single mothers may not be able to get out and mow their lawn as often as it needs it. A teenager could do this task whether the neighbor has a push or riding lawn mower. If they’ve been trained, they could also help with edging and trimming bushes.
* Gardening – If neighbors have a garden, you could loan out your teen to help friends and neighbors till, plant, weed, and harvest their garden. They may learn enough to help you plant your own garden the next growing season.
* Shovel snow in the winter – In the winter people aren’t so concerned about their lawns, but they are interested in keeping their driveway and sidewalks free of snow. This is another activity that older friends and neighbors may have problems completing. Single mothers, unless they have older children of their own, would also appreciate any teen providing the muscle for this job.
* Help decorate for the holidays – Did you notice a neighbor that didn’t decorate for the holidays last year? Is it because they didn’t want to or because they couldn’t? Quite often older neighbors aren’t interested in celebrating because they’ve lost a loved one or their children don’t live nearby. Your teen could offer to decorate, even if only minimally, and then invite your neighbor to spend part of the holidays with you and your family.
* Care for pets if their neighbor has to be away from home – If your teen loves animals, they may want to help care for a neighbor’s pets while they’re away. They may also be willing to go over and take their dog for a walk every day to let it get exercise.
* Baby-sit – Of course, any working parents would be glad for an opportunity to go out without their children. Baby-sitting is generally thought of as a teenage girl’s job, but if your teenage son likes children, why shouldn’t he be able to baby-sit? Most new mothers would jump at the chance to have someone come keep an eye on a newborn while Mom takes a much-needed shower and nap.
* Offer to do housework for a new mother – Speaking of baby-sitting; are there any new mothers in your neighborhood? Any new mother would love it if your teenager came over to help with the housework. They would probably appreciate your teen’s help with cooking, as well.
Senior adult neighbors aren’t the only ones that need help, although that’s who most people think of when offering to help. Single mothers with small children and new mothers would also love to be the benefit of your teen’s efforts, should you decide to loan out your teen.
