Makeup with Pilates

Imagine: Legs straightened, mascara in hand,
and location was the bathroom...

My parents and I are kind of obsessed with Pilates. And by obsessed, I mean that we are all instructors so we teach, take and talk about Pilates classes all the time! Recently, I've been trying to find a way to modify advanced exercises so that I can teach them in full classes! A full class is about 5-7 people. But I want to make it so that they are working toward something even better!

Well this morning I was getting ready for work. I'm used to being alone in the morning, but this morning C was late to school and both of my parents were up and about. But... since I'm used to being alone I left the bathroom door wide open while I was putting on my make up. And no... I wasn't just putting on my make up. I was trying to figure out the best modification for an exercise.

So as I was putting on my mascara, I was standing in front of the sink with my back to the door. I had my legs turned out and my feet about three feet apart. I had my arms extended out toward the side walls. With a very controlled motion, I was twisting slowly from side to side... Mascara in hand!

Little did I know that my Dad had walked downstairs and was watching me! I was caught and their was no way to hide it!

He asked what I was doing. My answer: Putting on my make up. He laughed and I had to follow up with what I was really doing....

Playing Pilates!

The Royal Toe

My Dad stubbed his toe. He probably broke it too and so his toe turned purple. This is how I found out...

K and I had crashed Mom and Dad's date again. We all went wine tasting at Whole Foods and then out to dinner. As soon as we sat down, this is what Dad announced.

A Knight in purple

"I figured out what to call your middle toe."

"What?" ... my first response.

"The royal toe!"

I stared questioningly.

"Because my middle toe is purple!"

Yes,  my dad was taking the color of royalty, the color that kings, knights and other royalty wore in the past, and was using it to name his toe.

He added at the end... "Instead of the middle finger, its the middle toe!"

Winter Diets vs. Summer Diets

Summer is around the corner and spring break season is already here! Granted, I don't get a spring break for the first time ever, but that doesn't mean bathing suit season isn't in the back of everybody's mind. Seasons are changing and so are diets, fitness schedules and tans.

I have now been graduated for a little over a year. In college it used to be a New Year's Resolution to eat salads and start going to the gym. Every year. But let's be realistic, everyone was just trying to get in a better body condition for Spring Break. This year has been different for two different reasons. The first is I actually found a work out routine that I love and so I don't have to force myself to show up at the gyms and debate the entire way there if I can just skip that day's work out. (I will probably talk more about this next Sunday) And the other reason is, now that I am not having my diet controlled by whatever the sorority fed me, I am easily eating healthier and what my body needs, when it needs it.

Summer Diet

The sorority was putting forth a nice effort to serve healthy food. But it is still different from what I chose to eat when I am on my own or at home. Plus, I've always hated that low fat or low carb diet. If I eat low fat then I get hungry again so quickly and end up eating three times as much as I would have just eaten the fat in the first place. The fat is what keeps you full! (Again a good topic for a future post)

I'm not talking about fat free today, instead want to talk about how the way people eat changes throughout the year... Or at least in my family's case. All winter I have been all about chicken soup, minestrone, chili, hot ham and cheese sandwiches and warm drinks... although lattes are a part of my diet year round. Everything has to do with my warmth. Fresh cut vegetables are just not appealing this time of the year.

It's not that I don't like vegetables. I love avocados, celery, tomatoes and other fresh fruits and vegies. Wintertime just means I want them all cooked and served to me warm.

This week, however, things changed. My mom was making her fresh vegetable juice, which usually has no appeal to me, and I found myself stealing the celery she cut up. I even wanted a glass of the juice! Of course, she didn't share though. But it has been that way all week. I found myself craving salads, celery and avocados for the first time this year. The temperature is changing and I'm pretty sure my body's needs are too!

I used to think people changed their diets so that they could attempt a six pack for the summer... And by six pack I mean both kinds. But now my opinion has changed. I think that as the seasons change, our bodies have different needs, if you listen to your body you can see that there is a reason for your craving.

Winter Diet

Example: I am a huge chocolate craver. Did you know chocolate is high in magnesium? I started taking magnesium supplements and my chocolate intake went way down!

It's the same for everyday diets. And now the time has come for my summer diets! I am over eating salads that are full of mostly lettuce, no matter what the season... Ever since my braces, junior year of college, I decided that they just take too long to chew. But I like salads made from tons of veggies! And one of my favorite summer foods are avocados!... In every way shape and form! Guacamole or just freshly cut avocados with a sliced tomato, are both amazing!

Good thing I crave fresh food in the summer... Now I can eat the nutrition my body craves and have room for six packs ;)

To read more about my diet, visit my Mom's blog: http://sixhungrykids.blogspot.com

Whispers to Squawking

Sorry I haven't written in a while. The last post was a rush and things never slowed down. I've been super busy. I started teaching more regular hours of Pilates, played driver for my younger siblings the week Mom and Dad went to Vegas (for business I guess), went apartment hunting and am now shopping for the apartment. Bottom line... I have not been in the mood to blog, and I have done way too much Google-ing... a little for the Oscars, but mostly for furniture.

Throughout all my busy-ness, Sweetie, the Hahns Macaw, keeps her same routine. I can never seem to walk out the door on time in the morning. It's always a rush. It would be nice to one day be able to stroll to my car, but no. That's right, I run out the door as fast as I can without spilling my latte.

Sweetie (Left) and Nikki (Right)

The entire time, from the moment I finish making my latte, through putting on my coat, slipping on my shoes, searching through my purse for my keys and until I finally find the last place I set my phone, Sweetie whispers to me.

"Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye."

Yes. Constantly whispers it over and over again dozens of times.

That is, until I walk out and shut the door. Then, she, as well as Nikki who decides to join in, switch their tone of voice.

"SQUAWK! SQUAWK! SQUAWK, SQUAWK! SQUAWK!"

Smart birds, but I don't know if they quite get the point of whispering.

Natural Antibiotics

My mom doesn't help me fill out forms. Any forms, applications or paperwork at all was picked up, filled out and turned in by me... nobody else... Part of that whole "growing up" thing. Well, senior year in high school, when I was filling my application for college housing, I was sneezing, using tissue after tissue after tissue, my eyes were stinging and watering. I can't remember if it was a cold or allergies but I ended up having to take a Sudafed.

Well, wasn't that an experience! I got so loopy and could not concentrate. I kept asking my mom this one question but couldn't concentrate long enough to write it down... Yes, I was too loopy. She had me hand over the computer and she filled out my form!

Back to the present: The colds have passed, except for C's random Kleenex's found in certain areas of the house. I thought, however, that I would follow up last week's health post with what herbs I took in place of drugs this past cold. Obviously, I haven't been friendly with Sudafed and look for other options.

Here are two reasons I turn to herbs:

Reason #1:
An herb is found to help cure an ailment. To make this available to the public via a drug, the specific compound in the herb, which plays the main part in curing the ailment, is isolated. The compound is then chemically derived and a drug is made.

An herb is put together in a way that all the ingredients work together to have their effect, in this case curing a cold. When one ingredient is separated from the rest of the compounds, it does not have the assistance of the others. Not only that, but it is also not the real compound. To make the drugs, the needed compound is chemically created.

Reason #2:
A drug is used with the main purpose of hiding symptoms, for example, of a cold. Clear the sinuses, stop the runny nose and relieve stinging eyes. A drug hides these symptoms well, however, doesn't always assist in curing the actual problem.

An herb is different. An herb is used with the ultimate purpose of helping the body fight the cold. A side effect might be clearing the sinuses and relieving the other symptoms. They aren't always immediate but it doesn't matter since the main goal is to strengthen the body's immune system and get rid of the sickness.

That being said...
Here are the two herbs that I used rather than Sudafed:

Give me the real thing and all the healthy ingredients to go with it!

1. D-Hist
Don't mask allergies or colds! This product helps support the sinuses and nasal passageway tissue.

2. Sinupret
This is another herbal medication commonly prescribed in Europe, that supports the upper respiratory system and healthy nasal passages. But it also helps strengthen the immune system.

When you get sick, take all your vitamins, take extra vitamin C, and look into what kind of herbs can help your strengthen your immune system, which will in turn clear your sinuses and nasal passages.

To read more about either of the above herbs, D-Hist or Sinupret, visit the following links: http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/328, http://www.bionoricausa.com/2010/11/sinupret-adult-strength/

Sick with a Cold=Jack and H2O2

The colds are back and little rougher than the first round this winter season. I was the first to catch it and now it is making its round throughout the family. The Jack Daniels can be found on the kitchen counter next to the tea and honey. And the vitamin cupboard is probably opened about 50 percent of the day.

Obviously from my post during the last cold season, we don't pick the typical methods to fight the bug. No cough syrup and hopefully no Sudafed or Dayquil. Nope. Instead its a spoonful of whiskey, some vitamins, a couple herbs and hydrogen peroxide.

When we take things for a cold, we aren't just trying to make ourselves feel better and hide the symptoms, we try to give our body what it needs to kill the bug and detox. Tea with honey and less than a shot of Jack are to help with throat pain, but when it comes down to actually trying to fight the cold, hydrogen peroxide is one of the places we turn.

First, a bit of history... In 1928, Richard Simmons, M.D., hypothesized that the cold and flu virus come into the body through the ear canal. That's right, not the mouth, nose or eyes, but the ears. His theory was dismissed by the medical community. I, however, think he had a point. When colds are going around, I try to avoid touching my face. I don't touch my eyes, nose or mouth. But I fix my earrings, put my hair behind my ear and I rest my head in my hand... the side of my head and thus next to my ears... I do all of this with the intention of not touching my face. And how many people put a pencil or pen behind their ears?

I think Dr. Simmons had a point. In 1938, German researchers experimented with using hydrogen peroxide the ears in order to fight the common cold. It worked, but their research was and, for the most part, still is ignored.

Here is what they did:

1. Tilt your head to the side and pour some hydrogen peroxide in your ear. 
2. Let the peroxide sit. It will find and begin to start killing bacteria and you will feel it bubbling. It may tickle or sting, but it won't hurt.
3. After a few minutes, it will stop and then you can drain your ear. If it doesn't stop after five minutes, then drain your ear and repeat with fresh hydrogen peroxide until the bubbling stops.
4. Repeat in your second ear. 

Begin this process within the first 10 to 12 hours of the first symptoms. Evidently, if done within this time period, you might be able to fight a cold off before completely catching it.

Maybe if I grabbed the hydrogen peroxide the morning of the day I pulled out the Jack Daniels for my tea, I wouldn't have gotten the full blown cold and could have fought it off faster! I usually wait till day 2 or 3 when I really start feeling bad to start this. I didn't know to start this process so quickly until I did a little more research for this post. Next year, I am definitely going to have to do this immediately within the first signs of the cold.

Happy cold season...

To read more about hydrogen peroxide treatment in the ears, visit the following link: http://www.purestcolloids.com/no-cold.php

Slipping on Ice

Who was affected by the ice storm, blizzard or thundersnow this week? Well, here we definitely got the ice part! Woke up yesterday morning and had to wait 20 minutes for my car to heat up enough to start melting the ice, just so that I could begin to scrape it all off! And our driveway... ice skates might have been nice!

Topics of the day:

• Your wipe out
• How big of a bruise is on your butt?

So the recognition of everybody's fall (whether they will share it or not...) here is one of my favorite wipe out scenes from the movie "While You Were Sleeping." I laugh every time...