The movie made me think about what I put on my body and in my home. The movie talked about Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, we will call them EDC’s. Please bear with me for a moment so I can explain, I can see your eyes rolling. Ha! I will keep this part short, promise! Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals mimic hormones that naturally occur in our bodies, including both female and male sex hormones, thyroid, pancreas, neurological, and immune system. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the endocrine system is very complex, regulating our body’s functions including growth, development, maturation, and operation of various organs. When this system is disrupted a variety of health problems can occur. I will name a few, but this list is very long: cancer, neurological problems, skin problems, diabetes, infertility, cardiovascular disease, allergies, inflammation, and obesity.

What types of EDC’s are in personal care and cleaning products?

Fragrances, triclosan which is an antibacterial and antifungal agent, parabens (preservative), pesticides, and artificial coloring. This is a short list that we can elaborate on in a future blog.

So I made a few changes! Knowing that we cannot remove all EDC’s from our daily lives, I thought changing a few items that I use on a daily basis could make a difference and it did. My first adventure was to create a body wash that cleaned, smelled nice, lathered and did not dry out my skin. After trying various recipes I hit the jackpot! I had to tell everyone! As I began to spread the word and bragging to my mom and my aunt, I found out they have been making their own body wash and many other products for years! I should have just asked them first but a self-learned lesson is the best! My body wash can be customized with any scents using essential oils, moisturizing level, and amount of soap used. Here is the recipe that works for me!

Body Wash Recipe

• ¼ cup  Aloe Vera Gel                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

• 2/3 cup Castile Soap                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

• 1 tsp  Vitamin E                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

• 1 tsp Oil of choice ( sweet almond, avocado, grapeseed, MCT)                                                                                                                                                                                                                

• 10 to 20 drops of your favorite essential oils. I use Doterra. (optional)

Place in a bottle and shake it up.  Shake well when you are ready to use.

What you will notice with homemade body wash is that it is not thick. Why? Because EDC’s make traditional products thick! This is something that you can get used to. Also making products is extremely cheap! Even after buying all the products to make the body wash you end up with at least four bottles of the wash for the price of one popular name brand product. And without the EDC’s! I gifted all my clients a bottle of the wash for Christmas. I got positive feedback and a few requests for refills. If you would like your bottle refilled or bring me a bottle to fill, I will fill it for $3.

I also make my own face wash and I love it!

The recipe is the same as the body wash except I add ¼ cup of raw honey and 2 tsp of oil of choice. I also heat this slightly when making to blend all the ingredients. I have gotten lots of compliments on my skin lately which leads me to believe it’s working better than anything I have used. For the record, I have oily skin and pores that you can drive a truck though! AND NO CHEMICALS!

I make my own face moisturizer. I absolutely love it! This recipe will work for oily, dry or normal skin by adjusting to the type of oil you put into it. To find out which oil works best for your skin do a test. I had avocado, grapeseed, sweet almond oil, and fractionated coconut oil. I put a drop of each on my skin and waited to see which one gave me the results I wanted. Grapeseed oil works best for my skin. Much cheaper than spending $50 on a chemically laden moisturizer that does not work for your skin type. And you can cook with most of those oils! Win! Win!

Face Moisturizer

• 3 TBSP Aloe Vera Gel                                                                                  

• 1 TBSP Grapeseed Oil                                                                                               

• 1 TBSP Shea or Cocoa Butter                                                                                  

• 3 to 5 drops of essential oil of choice

In a small saucepan or double boiler melt the three ingredients and mix well. Place into a container of choice and add essential oils, mix well.

I store this in a glass 4 oz mason jar on my bathroom counter. It is best to store all your non-chemical products in glass. I prefer to use plastic in the shower area for safety.

The homemade body butter is another one of my projects. This recipe works great for me in colder weather but I may have to tweak it for summer. A larger batch of my face moisturizer would be a great warm weather product.

Body Butter

• ¼ cup each of Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, and ¼ cup of oil of choice. Choose from the list above.

Melt all oils in a double boiler. I use a pan of simmering water and set a glass mixing bowl on top. Melt and mix well. Set in refrigerator to cool and harden. With a hand, mixer breaks up the mix and continue to beat until it fluffs up and looks like whipped cream. Add 1 tsp vitamin E and essential oils. Store in a 12 to 16 oz glass mason jar.

What I changed to clean my home and laundry?

I discovered a product called Sal Suds by Dr. Bronner’s. I love it! It is so versatile and can be used to clean most anything from laundry to dishes to bathrooms. Sal Suds is concentrated and can be diluted for many household needs. www.drbronner.com  has many ways to use this product. I take a ¼ cup and put into a 28 oz spray bottle filled with warm water. I use this to clean everything! Wiping counters, sinks, my yoga mat, and my favorite is dishes. I spray my dishes I’m hand washing with a squirt or two of this and scrub it and rinse. Laundry has been a fun adventure!

I have always been a Tide and Bounce girl so this was a hard change. The results will astound you! First I found Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. Similar to baking soda but a different chemical compound. A box is very cheap and can be used for cleaning just about anything. I use ¼ cup of Super Washing Soda and two TBSP of Sal Suds. If the load needs a deodorizer I add a ¼ cup of white vinegar. I then dry my clothes with wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets. Yes, the laundry has a little static but that can be resolved by not drying them to death! What happened? Washcloths that I have converted to cleaning rags can now be used as body washcloths again. I converted them because they no longer let the soap get lather when I took a shower. They also had this weird film on them that made them feel like slick plastic instead of a 100 percent cotton cloth. This is because my detergent and dryer sheets left a film of chemicals all over them and I was unable to use them. The same was happening with my clothes but I did not notice as much. Your clothes touch your skin, which is the largest organ of your body, any EDC’s on your clothes seep into your skin. Laundry items that need a gentler touch I have created a liquid soap that cleans and refreshes.

Laundry Soap

• 1 cup of Super Washing Soda                                                                                                

• 1 cup Sal Suds   

• 8 cups of water

Put all ingredients in an empty laundry jug and shake well.  Add water first to avoid excessive suds.

Over the last six months, I have noticed a huge difference in my skin. I used to get hives and itch constantly after a shower. Hives would pop up just because for no reason. There was a reason. EDC’s. NO MORE HIVES! I have had many health issues in the past seven years. Most unrelated to each other but quite a few were related to my endocrine system. My quest to get healthy, reduce chemicals in my home and body, and help the environment has been a wonderful adventure of learning, experimenting, and sharing! Also, find out if your body care products are toxic at Elite's Blog.

Join me on this journey as learning with others is a beautiful thing!

Have a Healthy day!

Carla

The post Why I Started Making My Own Personal Care and Cleaning Products appeared first on Elite Physiques.

Important Health Topics

Digestive enzymes

Most of us already know that taking digestive enzymes help with bloating and gas but did you know they might help with soreness better than a foam roller? We are always teaching our clients about good nutrition and their health. One thing we always recommend to them is to take digestive enzymes. Check out Ben Greenfield post he will tell you everything you want to know about the 13 digestive enzymes that your body needs.  Also, check out this cool video on a piece of beef being broke up into amino acids using digestive enzymes.

Exercise myths that are still hanging around

When Cathy Lawdanski from "My Side Of 50", ask me to write a blog post about "exercise myths", I gladly excepted. Some of these myths make me laugh they have been around so long. Check out this post from, "My Side Of 50" about exercise myths. Let me know which ones if any, that you believe. I hope it will be all of them.

Tips for Using Oregano Essential Oil

This list below tells it all. Make sure you have oregano oil handy in your health toolbox. For recipes and more information on essential oils check out my site at Elite wellness advocate. What do you use oregano essential oil for?

Why I put coconut oil in my coffee

Because I love it! No, really it does taste good, makes me fill fuller and gives me energy. Besides all that coconut has the following benefits

• Research shows it helps reduce inflammation and help with arthritis.
• It has antibacterial and antifungal properties that can help with parasitises and candida.
• Helps prevent osteoporosis. The antioxidants help fight free radicals and oxidative stress that causes bone loss and aging.

Coconut oil also helps with weight loss, lowering blood pressure, and more. You can read some of the studies at Authority Nutrition.

Keep checking back for more important health topics. Do you have anything you want to add to this list or anything you want me to blog about?

Please leave a commit below and share this post about health. Thanks for reading!

Stay Healthy,

The post Educate Yourself About These Important Health Topics appeared first on Elite Physiques.

Get out your oils and get ready to have some fun with this Essential Oil Challenge!

This 7 Day Essential Oil Challenge is a great way to get in the habit of using essential oils

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Day 1

Diffuse! Start today and use one every day or night.

You can buy a defuser or use a small crockpot (I use both and bought my small crockpot for $10). I use the crockpot more in the winter because I put small pieces of evergreen tree in it, part of a cinnamon stick, essential oils, star anise, or you can put whatever you like in it. Defusers are clean and nice to look at (you can find some here)

Why use a defuser?

Boost your immune system - to keep away colds and flu this year you can use eucalyptus, cinnamon, and frankincense.

Relaxation and sleep - essential oils can increase energy, help you sleep, and help improve mood.  I use lavender and breath at night. During the day to relax I use lavender, bergamot, and ylang-ylang.

Improve cognitive function - charge up your brain cells! Essential oils have adaptogenic qualities, they can help you when you are stressed and pick you up when you are feeling tired. They can also help balance the body's hormones. Some good choices are peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, and pine. Here are some defusers that have a high rating, I use the first one.

 Day 2

Use lemon essential oil

• This is an easy essential oil to use. I use lemon more than any other oil.
• Take it internally in your water for a fresh taste, also for respiratory issues.
• Clean with it. Lemon makes a good disinfect and furniture polish. Just add a few drops to a spray bottle for general cleaning and for polish add it to a little olive oil.
• Use it in a diffuser for a fresh, purifying, and uplifting environment.
• Cook with it. Lemon essential oil makes great cookies and what about lemon chicken? Yum!

Application methods for Lemon essential oil

Use topical, can be applied with no dilution. Avoid direct sunlight or UV light for up to 12 hours after applying on the skin.

Use it Aromatically in a diffuser.

Internally you can use it with a drink, put it in a capsule, or use in cooking.

Day 3

Cook with essential oils.

Just add a drop or two to your next recipe. If your recipe calls for lemon, rosemary, dill, lime, peppermint, cinnamon, lavender try using essential oils instead. Some oils have an antimicrobial effect and can even help minimize food borne illness.

Things to remember

Use in much smaller quantities, just a couple of drops

Dilute in a small amount of fat first, I use coconut oil

To learn more about cooking with oils the do's and don'ts go to, Cooking with essential oils with DRERICZ.

Day 4

Make a body product

This is fun and easy! Pamper yourself or someone you love. You can read about how using most store-bought beauty and body products affect our environment and health on this blog post,  Is Environmental and Product Toxicity Affecting Your Health?

I make my own body butter, body scrubs, perfume, bath salts and more. Follow my board on Pinterest for easy recipes. They also make great gifts!

Day 5

Use as a Laundry freshener

Add 5 to 10 drops of citrus, grapefruit, lavender, or juniper to a washcloth and put it in the dryer to make clothes come out smelling fresh and clean.

Day 6

Make your bathroom smell clean with ever visit

Put 3 to 6 drops of your favorite oil on the cardboard part of the toilet paper roll. With every turn, you will get a nice aroma. I like orange, lavender, citrus bliss, and cheer.

Day 7

Use for your health

Put a couple of drops of lavender on your temples to relieve stress. Improve digestion and breath better with peppermint. Peppermint will also wake you up by rubbing a couple of drops in your hand and breathing in. Frankincense has been used for thousands of years in Ayurveda medicine and for the first time is being taken seriously by medical science it's my favorite essential oil! Use it for healing, sore joints, colds, dry hands, cuts, and razor burns, For more ideas, check out Natural Health.

I hope you join my Essential Oil Challenge. Please post your ideas below.

My essential oil page

The post 7 Day Essential Oil Challenge appeared first on Elite Physiques.

The Amazing Green Smoothie Recipe

You can use whatever greens you like. I use kale, spinach, and swiss chard most of the time. Sometimes I use dandelion greens. I don't measure, I just fill the Vitamix 3/4 the way with greens (I do press them in). I then put 1/4 cucumber, 3 celery sticks, and a green apple.

I next put in pineapple or mango, turmeric root, and ginger root 1 inch of each. 

This is what it looks like.

I then fill it up with water and blend until I get this. Easy Easy! Doesn't it make your mouth water?

It's ready to pour into the molds.

 Strawberry Protein smoothie recipe. 

I use 1 scoop of Jay Robb Chocolate or vanilla protein powder, 1 teaspoon of Great Lakes Gelatin, 1 scoop of l-Glutamine, 1 teaspoon of Psyllium Seed Husks for fiber, strawberries, 4 drops of lemon essential oil and water.

This blender is the bomb! I paid $15 for it and take it with me when I travel. I add water to this and blend.

Looks delish, Right?

Now for the Healthy Popsicles!

I pour some of the smoothies in the molds (about 1/2 full) See photos. 

I then put them in the freezer for about 2 hours along with my leftover green smoothies that I put in mason jars.

After 2 hours I take them out and add some fresh fruit.

Next, I fill up the molds with the smoothie, put in the stick and back in the freezer for another couple of hours or until froze. 

Can you believe how easy that was to make these healthy popsicles? Here are some links to make it easier for you to find some of the things that I use. These are affiliate links and I get a small fee if you buy a product. This helps me pay for the expense of the blog. Enjoy!

The post Healthy Popsicles Made From My Favorite Smoothie Recipes appeared first on Elite Physiques.

POLLUTION IN YOUR COMMUNITY

If you want to know what pollution is in your community go to, www.Scorecard.goodguide.com. You will get an in-depth pollution report for your county, covering air, water, chemicals, and more. I put in my county, Delaware, and found we are not very clean. Scorecard, is sponsored by GoodGuide, the world's largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of consumer products. I continued to research and found on the American lung Association website another website about air quality, http://www.stateoftheair.org/. They rated the air quality in my area with an F. 

ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP

Another great place to find out about toxic products is The Environmental Working Group. They have a  searchable database of toxic ingredients in cosmetic and personal care products. Just plug in your products and you will see all the scary toxic stuff that's in them. You can search by ingredients, brands, company's, and products. I have their app "SkinDeep" on my phone and can scan products before I buy them.

They rate products from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most toxic.

Hazard score key:

Low hazard	Moderate hazard	High hazard

Data score key:

Data: None		Data availability rating: the scope of ingredient safety data contained in Skin Deep®, and the number of studies available in the open scientific literature
Data: Limited
Data: Fair
Data: Good
Data: Robust

Watch for there "sunscreen guide from EWG" coming this Spring.

DO YOUR PART EARTHDAY AND EVERYDAY

 And yes, Environmental and Product Toxicity Affecting Your Health? So what can we do? Earth day is April the 22nd. It is much more than a day but it is a place to start! Their mission is, Building the world’s largest environmental movement - See more at Earthday.org. I will be spending Earth Day at Stratford Ecological Center.  In conjunction with the Earth Day collaboration with Green Columbus, Stratford is hosting an Earth Day Service Site for the 9th year. Earth Day/Earth Week Service Site Tree Planting & Garlic Mustard Pull:. you can  Join like-minded volunteers to help plant many saplings and pull garlic mustard in their State Nature Preserve. 

RESOURCES BOOKS AND DVD"S

This PDF Toxic Matters is a great resource.

Use Essential oils to make your own body care and cleaning products. 

Follow my  blog to learn more about a healthy body and life also, healthy recipes.

What do you think, is environmental and product toxicity affecting Your Health? Please share.

The post Is Environmental and Product Toxicity Affecting Your Health? appeared first on Elite Physiques.

I have two ways to enjoy the smells of fall

1. Essential oils in a diffuser  
2. Essential oils using a small crock pot 

You can fill the crock pot with any of the essential oil fall blends below or with vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, pumpkin spice, essential oils, or anything else you have in your cabinet that might smell good. Make sure you read up on Essential Oil Safety however, I believe all oils can be used in a diffuser.

My favorite essential oil Fall blends to use in a diffuser

Freshness of Fall

It's like walking through the forest

• 4 drops of pine essential oil
• 3 drops of peppermint essential oil
• 2 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
• 2 drops of tea tree essential oil
• 2 drops of breath essential oil

Cinnamon spice

This can be used in the fall and around Christmas

• 4 drops of cinnamon essential oil and 1/4 of a cinnamon stick (optional)
• 4 drops of wild orange essential oil
• 2 drops of lemon essential oil
• 2 drops of clove essential oil

Fall wellness blend

This is an immune booster

• 2 drops of wild orange essential oil
• 3 drops of cinnamon essential oil
• 2 drops of rosemary essential oil
• 2 drops of eucalyptus essential oil

What are your favorite essential oil fall blends? 

To buy or learn more about essential oils go to Elite Physiques essential oils.

The post Essential Oil Fall Blends appeared first on Elite Physiques.

Here is a list of oils that I will be taking on my trip. Start thinking about what essential you will be taking on our next vacation or while traveling for work.

1) For stress and fatigue

traveling can be stressful and you also want to let go of work and relax. So here are so oils that will help you

Lavender, Frankincense, Bergamot, Lemon, Peppermint

2) Bad odors

Sometimes the rooms do not smell so good. Use Lemon, Lemongrass, or Citrus

3) Room sprays, car mists, and linen disinfect

I use this spray to disinfect the bathroom, chair, and bed in  my hotel room.  This is a recipe I make from Mountain Rose Oils

This is a classic recipe, but you can customize it by adjusting the quantities or adding other antibacterial essential oils such as Tea Tree, Oregano, Thyme, Sage, Ravensara, Lavender, Juniper Berry, Hyssop, Bay Laurel, or Scotch Pine.

Ingredients:

20 drops organic Clove Bud essential oil
35 drops organic Lemon essential oil
20 drops organic Cinnamon Bark essential oil
15 drops organic Tea Tree essential oil
10 drops organic Rosemary essential oil                                                                                                                                                              1/4 cup of witch hazel and 1/4 cup distilled water
Mix all essential oils together in a dark glass bottle.

You can also use the above single oils with a little carrier oil

Essential oils are highly concentrated, strong, and powerful liquids that can be harmful if not used carefully and properly. This is an especially potent blend of essential oils which could cause irritation when applied to the skin, even in diluted amounts. We advocate caution when using them, and do not recommend using this essential oil internally. Please keep essential oils out of reach of children. We do not advocate usage of this recipe on babies, toddlers, or children

4) Insect bites and repellents

These oils are a must. It's not fun being out for the evening or out hiking and being bit up by bugs. Terra Shield, Eucalyptus, Lemongrass, and lavender, are oils that will keep bugs away. Cinnamon, Lavender, and purify can help take the sting away and smooth bug bites.

5) Digestive problems

Don't forget to take the oils that help with diarrhea, heartburn, indigestion, food poisoning, and parasites. I take DigestZen, however here are other oils that can help Black pepper, Bergamot, Ginger, and Juniper Berry.

 6) Muscle pains and Headaches

Most of my vacations involve hiking and climbing so these are some of the oils I might use for pain and achy muscles. Deep Blue (great for inflammation), Serenity, marjoram, peppermint and Wintergreen.

Let me know what works for you and what essential oils you take on vacation or on the road traveling with work.

Healthy travels,

The post Essential Oils To Take On The Road With You appeared first on Elite Physiques.

So first thing, my Husband and I carried a 32 inch picture tube TV down a full flight of stairs and into his truck. I must have twisted my ankle because I could hardly walk.I know I'm strong but what was he thinking? I could have fallen down the steps.

Next we went to the basement and found a printer, an old computer, and a monitor. I carried the computer up. By the time I got outside something bit me. It must have been in the computer. OUCH, I almost dropped the computer.

Anyway when we got to the recycle center we knew we would have to pay $1 an inch for the TV but, we didn't know they would give us money for the rest of the junk, cool right!

Ok, now about the oils.

When I got home I could barely walk and the bite didn't look any better and was itching like crazy. I got out my oils and my book. I put DoTerra's Blue on my ankle as well as an ice pack. Then I put frankincense and lavender on the bite.

I had a party to go to at 7:00 so I was hoping for the best. A couple hours later after watching a movie (in the daytime that's a first) I got up and WOW I could walk! Believe it or not, it was easier to walk in heels thank goodness. The bug bite was gone and had stopped itching. On to the party!

That was on Saturday. Sunday I painted one of the bathrooms in the gym. I used non-VOC paint and I'm telling you something was wrong and I should have taken it back because the smell was bad. Any way I got out my handy dandy oil book and found that Purify would help. After about 10 minutes in my new DoTERRA diffuser I could tell a difference. I love these oils!

Finely for dinner we had pork loin. It called for honey, ginger, and soy sauce (I use Liquid Aminos instead of soy). Instead of using fresh ginger I used essential oil ginger. It was delicious you could really taste the ginger.

Check out this blog for other great ways to use your Essential Oils http://doterrablog.com. What do you use essential oils for the most?

Please share my blog with your family and friends and make a comment below.

Stay Healthy,

The post What I Used My Essential Oils For This Weekend appeared first on Elite Physiques.