Just Elizabeth Ashe
Natural Living

Sometimes You Just Gotta Disconnect.

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You ever just have those days when you're just feeling like really blah and not really wanting to do anything at all. Or that whole week when you are just floating around but not really there at all?

Well that is how I have been for the past week and not really knowing why, until I had to sit back and take a breather. Our washer went out earlier in the week and boy let me tell you, that is not a good thing when you have 4 small kids and 2 adults living at home with you. I have been running around like a mad woman making sure everything's complete around the home. However, at the same time I have forgotten to take some time out for myself.

Trying to be super woman and all that excellent stuff, I ended up stressing myself out with out even knowing what I was doing. It finally hit me hard when I was at the laundry building close to my home. And I started reading a page out of natural living magazine about mediation. On how taking the time to practice it on a regular basis can have great benefits on your health.

Boy oh boy did I feel like someone just dropped kicked me forcing me to listen.

I'm not someone who does not mediate in fact I have been doing it my whole life and realized that as a little girl. That I could zone out and be in complete total awareness of my bodily actions. By taking a lot of deep breaths and really just letting my brain and body come into to harmony with each other. I have been able to and still been able to reduce stress and have a calm demeanor.

However, with all the running around and getting things ready for our trip to hawks Kay resort this week. I sort of lost sight of my own methods of remaining calm and just going with the flow.

Tonight was my breaking point; I realized that I cant go too long without some time out for myself. I had to break myself down and found myself about to cry for no apparent reason, but then again that could just be hormones. So when my husband got home I ran to the shower, washed my hair and took a long hot shower while playing one of favorite Chrissette Michelle's CDs in the background!

I HEART HER MUSIC 🙂

It was just what I needed a little me time you know, some down time where I could just disconnect for a minute and focus on my thoughts and be one with myself.

That shower was just what the doctor ordered, a one and half shower at that.

Even though the kids were trying to come in, they were ok with their father. I needed that alone time, just some time to really relax and get back to me.

After it was all done, I felt re-energized and ready for the next day!

The importance of Downtime Post has really come in handy for me today and is a superior read if you are looking for some helpful tips on how to have your own downtime.

So what about you, what do you do when you have those days or weeks where you feel like you just have to totally disconnect and get back to you?

Health and Fitness

Motivation Weight loss: My Exercise Tips and Strategies

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Well it has been almost a little more than half the year now, and the fall months are starting to come in. Winter will be soon around the corner, the kids will all be back in school and little bit older as each year goes by.

However, at the moment I have been feeling the urge to get back into my fitness routine. I love working out and have pretty much worked out my whole life. I can remember running track, going to weight lifting class and all that good stuff.

Heck I even used to have my own personal trainer certification and worked in a gym.

Well things change and people change, we all go through things.

The past two years were quite a little hectic for me in which I ended moving twice and cutting off all my hair.

In the meantime, while taking care of everyone else I sort of put myself on the back burner and ending up gaining some weight. Not a lot, but enough where all the muscle that I did have has turned to mush.




Something, that I am not used to. I have always had some sort of definition.

So with a new spurt of action, I decided to get back in the gym and take things a lot more seriously!

Yikes:)

I even Hired a personal trainer, got my treadmill out the garage,  and set up a small workout station in the den.

It's time for Motivation Weight Loss to Take effect………

I plan to document my journey, letting you know what products I might use and how many inches I lost and so forth.

As you can see in the picture for my home gym, I have a bosu ball, a proform treadmill, a workout ball, step, a floor mat and some Velcro ankle weights.


When you are used to working out and then stop working out, for more than a year or so. That beginners pain creeps back up on you the first couple of times you workout.

I know that exercise is great for your health. It boosts your metabolism to help you burn more calories and fat. It also helps your body release hormones that improve brain function, while preventing and reducing depression.

You’d think with all these benefits it’d be easy to get and stay motivated to exercise.

Well It's not.

It can be really tough to get off the couch.

Here are five tips and strategies to make it easier:

1. Find something fun. The truth is if exercise isn’t fun you’re probably not going to do it. Who wants to stop whatever they’re doing and torture themselves? The good news is that there’s an easy fix. Do something fun. There are lots of activities that are both exercise and fun. Make a list of activities you like. For example, do you like to dance? Play football? Box? Swim? Ride your bike? Hike? Find an activity you love and make it part of your daily life. One Activity that I plan on incorporating is the wii just dance program. I ended up playing with this program over a family members house and loved it, I really broke out a sweat. Zumba fitness is one that I have tried also and love.

2. Make it a group effort. It’s easier to get and stay motivated if you have others who are counting on you. For example, if you and a few friends join a gym and go to the gym together. You can hold your friends accountable and vice versa. It’s a great way to get and stay motivated. You can celebrate each other’s success. You can motivate each other to push yourselves harder. All my friends have really long work hours So I just decided to go with a personal trainer.

3. Make it convenient and easy. Which is easier, driving to the gym thirty minutes away or running on a treadmill in your home? Many people are seriously pressed for time and finding a way to squeeze in a trip to the gym can seem impossible. Especially when you have kids, so most of my working out will be at home, and some gym.

4. Monitor and Track your progress. It’s incredibly motivating to set goals for fitness. Tracking your fitness helps you see what you’ve accomplished. For example, if you’re walking and running with a goal of eventually running a 5K race. Tracking how long you run each day will help you achieve your goal. You’ll
be able to see what you’ve accomplished and how to plan for the future. I decided to download Jillian michaels free fitness plan to see what it came up with. I added her  two phone apps. A motivation app and a slim-down app. Jillian Michaels program is only $4.00 a week and gives you everything you need to get started. Trackers, meal plans and workout routines to get you started.  I am alsotaking a look at diet power to add to my daily monitoring and tracking process for food.  I have always wanted a really tight body and I think watching what I eat really thorough  would help me reach my goals a lot quicker. They have a special on right now to Try DietPower FREE for 15 Days. In part two  I will let you know If I like it or not.

5. Vary your routine. It’s easy to get into an exercise rut. Simply changing your routine and your activity can prevent this from happening. Mix strength training activities with aerobic activities. Take walks. Take fitness classes from time to time.

Exercise is great for you. There’s no reason it has to be difficult. With a few simple steps and some advanced planning you can get and stay motivated to work out.

Stay tuned for part two of my Motivation Weight Loss Challenge.

Natural Living

Create Your Own Natural First Aid Kit

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Have you ever wanted to make your own natural first aid kit, or just get started in finding more natural alternatives to take of yourself.

With the rise of the natural health industry there are a ton of studies proving and showing that choosing natural health options can be better for your health. I for one know and do not want to put anything in my body that will cause a ton of other symptoms like headaches, nausea, stomach cramps and all that ooky stuff, unless I totally have too.

Who wants all that right.

Let's start by talking about what homeopathy is and how it can help you to heal yourself naturally, then later on show you some simple products that you can use for your family.

Homeopathy is an alternative form of medicine that has been around for years to treat just about anything you can think of. While in modern times the use of natural first aid kits, and homeopathy may seem suspicious, in earlier times it was the main way of doing of things. While the western world is finally catching on to the world of natural healing, it has been used worldwide for years.

Homeopathic medicine is based on three basic principles. The biggest principle of homeopathy is that it treats the main issue at hand on each problem. Instead of treating based on the disease doctors” think” you have, treatment is done based on the symptoms you know you have. The second principle is that there is only one treatment, not two or even ten like a traditional doctor might give you. The third principle is that everything is given in extremely small doses.

To treat yourself homeopathicly, you must figure out all the symptoms. Once you know your symptoms, you find a substance that causes the exact same set of symptoms and take a small amount of it. Because you are only taking a very small amount, the substance not only doesn’t harm you, it’s said to cure you, generally long term or even permanently.

When most people hear about homeopathy, their initial reaction is “no way!” Treating symptoms with something that causes your symptoms seems totally counter intuitive, but it’s a concept that’s used in modern medicine as well as more ancient cures. Shots commonly used to treat allergies contain a small amount of whatever you’re allergic to. Many vaccines contain a small amount of the disease they’re designed to protect against.

While homeopathic medicine is not only considered effective, it has many benefits over modern medicine. Like many other natural medical treatments, most homeopathic remedies are totally natural. While this doesn’t necessarily make them safe, these remedies tend to cause fewer side effects, have little drug interactions, and are generally better for your overall health.

Homeopathic medications are also considered better for your body because they work with it. Many modern medicines work to suppress symptoms like fever or coughing. These symptoms are the body’s natural ways to get rid of disease. Instead of suppressing symptoms, homeopathic medicine works to cure the problem itself while addressing the specific symptoms.

When the right treatment is found, homeopathy is considered very effective. The big problem is that just like there are thousands of prescriptions and over the counter drugs, there are also thousands of homeopathic remedies as well. And if you don’t pick exactly the right one, it won’t work.

While you can buy homeopathic remedies over the counter, just like herbal and other alternative medicines, that doesn’t mean it’s 100% safe to treat yourself. If you’re serious about this treatment you should speak to a doctor who has experience in alternative medicine.

However in the meantime if you want to get started learning about natural healing and natural first kits I suggest you read. The Complete Homeopathy Handbook: Safe and Effective Ways to Treat Fevers, Coughs, Colds and Sore Throats, Childhood Ailments, Food Poisoning, Flu, and a Wide Range of Everyday ComplaintsHealth Mind & Body Books)



I Want Another One………

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You ever wonder if you wanted more children………..

Well I do, I have four boys and never had a little girl, and well after my brother in law had their little girl. I started thinking about the baby thing again and that I want another one.

Call me crazy, I know.

I just love little babies and before they even got pregnant and had their little one, I have been wanting another one.

This just puts the icing on the cake seeing those little toes and beautiful eyes, I want another one to add to my already huge family.

Hey who knows, maybe I'll have that little girl and maybe I'll have that next little boy:)

 

four boys

 

How to Go Green at Home

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Learn how to go green at home in this crazy world. The world the way that it is at the moment, and all the things we hear about on the news with the natural disasters. The doom and gloom in the media about the environment can sometimes put on a strain on our mental health and have us feeling overwhelmed. But with all the sad things going on there are also positive things that can really make a difference for the earth and our environment.

There are small things that you can do each and every day that will a huge impact on the earth. So don't feel overwhelmed, going green is actually pretty easy and really is not all that hard.

There are things you can do each and every day to lesson your impact on the environment, starting right now. Here is a list of things you can start with that won't break a sweat.

For one you can use Reusable Bags. A typical family can shop a lot in a month and I know for a fact that I go to the store each and every week. Many stores do give you the option of using plastic or paper, however if you do not recycle those plastic bags and throw them away. Those bags end up in the landfills and the ocean. In fact according to reuseit.com more than 300,000,000 pounds of these plastic bags end up in landfills each and every year.

And although many of these plastic bags are reusable for doing things around the house, like hold trash and maybe bag a lunch. It does not take from the fact that these bags are not bio-degradable and can take hundreds of years to break down into the environment. Than once they do it leaks harmful chemicals into the soil and water streams.

Reusable Bags

If you kept reusable bags in your car for those grocery store and other stops, you would make a huge difference in the number of plastic bags that end up in landfills, all of which will still be around when your great-grandchildren are alive. If you look around your home, you may have several cloth bags already that would be suitable. Trader Joe's also sells an attractive reusable grocery bag for .99.

But if you are like me and looking for an cute, fashionable reusable grocery bags than you might want to take a look at some of the more modern grocery bags. Waste Less Bags carry a variety which comes in packs of six and features, cute colors, designs and more. The Reusable Grocery Tote Bag Super Saver bags come in a pack of six and are super sturdy. You are able to get more bang for your buck! Then there are Green Concepts Reusable grocery tote bags which are recyclable and comes with one insulated bag.

Another way that you can go green is to save water.

Time your showers. If you took a 5 minute shower every morning instead of a 15 minute one, this would save tons of water in a year as well as save you money on your water bill. Turning off the water while you soap your body and lather the shampoo in your hair as well as shave will help you save lots more.

Save on Paper by Going Digital.

If you are able to read an eBook instead of the hard or paper version than by all means do. You will not only save space in your house but reduce the amount of paper that is being made and being reused properly. This one is a hard one, since I do love reading the hard books, but doing just a little sometimes can go a long way. Kindle is one device that gives you the option of being able to read in eBooks format and on the run. All without having to wait for it to come in the mail. You can also do online banking instead of getting a statement in the mail? Pay bills online instead of using an envelope?

Learn to use Cloth Not Paper

It's been said that using cloth diapers is the single most important way a parent can help the environment. I don't know if it's true, but it does keep around 2 TONS of plastic out of the landfills. If you don't have the heart to do cloth diapers, then at least choose biodegradable diapers like gDiapers. By the same token, microfiber cloths for cleaning save money and are more effective than paper towels for household cleaning.

Let's Bring The Frugal Back!

I have to confess I was once a big spender, and not really a great Conserver. But now that I have four small little ones to look after, you start to put things into a different perspective. I learned to let go of a lot of selfish tendencies and think about the world around me and what is really important.

I say let's make frugal cool again! At one time in this country, people prided themselves on “do without, use it up, wear it out”. They tried to stretch things as far as they would go, repair them when they broke, minimize what they purchased in the first place, and in general have a frugal outlook. Not only will your pocketbook thank you, but you'll keep a lot of stuff out of the landfills. When you are done with something, Freecyle it (Freecyle.org) or give it to charity instead of just tossing it.

It's all about setting goals for yourself and your family by doing a little at a time. Commit to making changes slowly. This way, good habits of stewardship of our planet are more likely to stick and become permanent lifestyle choices.