The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Tomorrow is my sisters 30th birthday. As a present I bough her some toxin free make up, that I gave to her in a gift bag. In my family gift bags are almost always re-gifted. This means that when someone gives you a gift bag, you can almost be sure that the bag will be re-gifted to another friend, family member or back to yourself at some point. When I give a gift bag I usually don't write on the tag so that the next person re-using the bag has that option. Why let something so pretty go to waste? The next time someone gives you a gift in a gift bag, re-gift it and suggest the same to others. Most people will please to see their gift bag being re-used instead of thrown in the trash.

Happy Birthday to my beautifully pregnant sister or as dad would say "greatest future parent in the cosmos"

Earth Day

Hope everyone had a great Earth Day, however you spend it. Let's try and live every day like it's earth day!

The Disappearing Male

The Disappearing Male is a  great documentary I just happened to see on CBC today.  I missed the first 15 minutes or so but will be going back and watching it. It's all about toxins in everyday products that are leading to adverse effects on our bodies. The documentary focuses on the male reproductive organs. I recommend this for everyone!!! but it is more crucial for those who have a young child in their lives or on the way.

A better way to pick up poop!

Right now Scoopies are our favorite bags to pick up poop.  The bags are biodegradable and said to degrade in 18 months.  The bags are large and mitt shaped making them easy to use if your hands are large or if you are wearing gloves or mittens. The bags open easy and go on easy making it a quick process to pick up the poo and get on with the walk. Unlike other bags I have tried, I have not yet had a scoopie rip on me. For more information check out the scoopies website. 

 

Early to Bed

 "Early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy wealthy and wise" is one of my mothers favourite expressions. I have a huge problem with the execution aspect of this.  Good night & Good Morning!



My favourite Little Green Gadget

About a year and a half ago I bought this pair of speakers from a Chapters in Dartmouth Nova Scotia.  I love, love , love them. They were flat and I had to fold them into the shape they are currently. Once they are together, those little speakers hole together well. They also bounce if you drop them on the floor (just in case that happens to be an issue for you).

They aren’t loud but I use them in my office and they are loud enough to enjoy the music but not so loud people down the hall can hear (they can still hear me though). They are made by Econation who has also teamed up with Terracycle to create more recycled and upcycled products.

Dark Chocolate

If your celebrating the Easter weekend or just want to be friendly to your co-workers consider giving out Dark Chocolate as opposed to milk! It's better for you and it taste great. For more information on  Dark Chocolate you can read Chocolate the bittersweet treat on the CBC website.

Sweet!

So you still want your coffee and sugar too. Well here’s my new favorite way to sweeten it up. It’s called xylitol. Xylitol is a naturally occurring sweetener that is extracted from fruits and vegetables. It looks and tastes almost exactly like sugar. I can honestly say, I’m not sure I could tell the difference if the packaging weren’t in front of me. 

What’s great about it?

•  It’s two-thirds the calories of regular sugar.
•  It leaves no nasty aftertaste like some sweaters.
•  It’s Diabetic and Hypoglycemic safe
•  It’s good for your teeth

To learn more about Xylitol go to the Xylitol Canada's Website or search xylitol in Wikipedia

I’ve added some pictures of great tasting gum that contains xylitol. My favorite is cinnamon flavor but there are other flavors available.

Habits - Help to Make or Break Them

 There's lots of information and many people out there that say it takes a certain number of days to break or form a habit. There are a many factors involved here, your motivation for making the change being the most important. You are the only person who can make this decision.

For anyone out there who owns and iPhone or iPand and is looking to make a positive change in there lives check out the Way of Life application. There are other habit building apps but this is the only one I’ve tried.

The app is free and will let you set three personal goals (there are also suggestions). If you would like to set more goals, you will have to buy the app. It’s not much and I think its worth the cost. Once you’ve set your goals you can set an alarm and at the end of each day you will be prompted to track whether you’ve succeeded or failed. This is good because it makes you aware of how many times you do or don’t do something. For example, I drink a lot of pop, so one of my goals was to only drink one pop a day (I know, so bad for me!). I started to track this and I noticed, that the days I was at work  I drank very few pop and the days I was at home or out and about I drank more. Now that I’m aware of this, I try and keep my fridge stocked with other (better) drinks so that I won’t fail as much. Its an uphill battle but there is something satisfying about clicking the yes button and filling in the green square. Now that I feel like I have some control over the situation my next step will be to add a new goal to drink no pop a day and see how I make out.  

Check out the apple website and search for the Way of Life app to learn more. The screen shots are very helpful. Better yet, download the free version on your phone and give it a try or see what else is out there that will help you succeed at your goals.