Work it out Wednesday Y'all

So three days a week I walk with a friend but when I work out alone I typically have my headphones in. Today I am going to share my treadmill playlist!!! YEAH.
Okay here we go...
Blow-Ke$ha
Boondocks- Little Big Town
Country Girl (shake it for ME)- Luke Bryan
Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta- Geto Boys
Dirt Road Anthem- Jason Aldean and the Remix version with Ludacris
Hell on Heels- Pistol Annies (Amazing song and has a very vintage feel)
Jumpin' Jumpin'- Destiny's Child
Kerosene - Miranda Lambert
Mouth- Merril Bainbridge (A throw back to 8th grade)
Only Prettier-Miranda Lambert
Paper Planes- M.I.A.
Party Rock Anthem- LMFAO
Roll Out- Ludacris
Roses- Outcast
Sex and Candy- Marcy Playground
That's not my name- The Ting Tings
You Oughta Know- Alanis
To be with You- Mr. Big

So there you have it. I like to switch up the pace with the change in music. Keeps my interested in my run. Have a great Work it out Wednesday y'all!

Kissy Face!

Store bought Shampoo vs. Homemade Shampoo Round 2

Well I am currently on my second batch of homemade shampoo and my hair is starting to get oily. It is okay because with a curling iron and hairspray all things are possible ha! Curl it up and pull it up off your face. Tonight I will wash it and dry it. Drying it does seem to help with the oil but it will get somewhat oily between then and when I wake up tomorrow. I will be using a tip from The Ecottached and using a mixture of cornstarch and unsweetened cocoa powder. I will say my hair (even when a little oily) is so much softer than it has ever been and my ends are healthy and my hair does not get tangled up all the time. It has been a nice change. Not easy! I will say one of the best parts of it all is using an apple cider vinegar rinse. Even though my hair smells like salad for about an hour after it keeps my hair shiny and it really is a good conditioner. I have adjust my use from about 1 cup to 1/2 a cup. Depending on how dry your hair is you may need to adjust as well. My shampoo is still 4 cups water, 1 cup baking soda, and 10 drops essential oil. For me this still works and I will not be changing the ratio but you may need too. The baking soda my dry you out to much so make sure you are really paying attention to your scalp and hair. Good luck on finding out what works for you and let me know what happens and how it goes. Even if you change one chemical product in your home to a green option that is one more than you were doing before and you will notice a difference and it may become a habit you want to pass along! (In typical blogger fashion the pictures are on their side even though they aren't saved that way.)

 Day 1

Day 14

Work it out y'all

You can see me at the gym just workin' on my fitness. Ha. Thanks Fergie.

Okay so I am linking up about working out. What has been working for me is portion controll. Your ideal body isn't just made in the gym but mostly in the kitchen. So, for me working on getting my portions under control and getting my lean and green foods in has helped. Now there is no such thing as a notice diet (contrary to my wishes). Getting your gym time in is great but if you cap it off with a burger and fries what is the point? I am not saying you can't enjoy those things every now and then isn't okay but let's be real about our food chooses.
Think about what you eat. Is it processed? Is it organic? Is it a vegetable? Is it covered in ranch? I know that food can comfort us and be there for us when we think no one else is but that isn't the way to think. Turn to a friend, the gym, or recipes to satisfy cravings with out a million calories. Good luck!!

Because I don't have enough to do...

Well aside from starting to make my own laundry detergent, trying the no 'poo method of hair care, keeping a house, dogs and husband happy/fed/clean/rested I thought why not make my cleaning products. So I used Lysol spray, Lysol wipes or bleach wipes, Windex, 409, all purpose cleaner, bleach, and fabreeze to keep my house clean. Lately though I have been struggling with the idea that these products have so many chemicals that I try to keep out of my food and hair. I mean why work hard to create a safe and healthy alternative for shampoo and laundry soap if I am just going to use all these cleaning products. Now this (keep in mind please) is all my own opinion. I am not saying any of these products are bad or have any health risks. But, for me and my home we will work hard to be green. I am working hard to get better about recycling but I want spray air freshener with who knows what in it everywhere I can. So after doing some research I have found some recopies for common household supplies that can be bought for little money, made in the USA, and are a much more limited amount of chemicals. I have bought some of the things I need to make these. I am going to slowly stock up while I use up the rest of my current cleaning supplies. I do not see the sense in wasting anything I currently have.
1. Spray bottles. Mine were less than a dollar at Wal-Mart and made in the USA.
2. Baking Soda-There isn't much baking soda can't do
3. White Vinegar- I bought made in the USA and cheap at Wal-Mart
4. Castile Soap-this is something I am going to have to look online for because locally it has been hard to find. Maybe Whole Foods carries it? I am not sure. Still looking though.
5. Bleach-I will still use this because it works and you can buy it made in the USA and I like the splash-less kind. Makes life easy.
6. Water-Yeah over half of these cleaning products are water.
7. Essential Oils-Still on the search for what I want.
8. Use old newspaper as paper towels, flour sack towels work so well, and I am attempting to crochet some granny squares to use for cleaning as well. I am trying to scale back my use of paper towels.
9. Borax-Great all purpose cleaner. Can be used so many ways.

All-Purpose disinfectant:
2 cups water
a few drops natural soap
15 drops of essential oil (more or less depending on what you like)
You can use this on counter tops, sinks, toilets, walls, etc. I have read that it is bad on glass so avoid that.
Window cleaner
1/4 tbls Castile soap (you may edit this adding more or less depending on how it turns out)
3 tbls vinegar
2 cups water
Spray bottle. I would add the Castile soap last so it does not foam up.
All Purpose Cleaner
1 teaspoon borax
1/2 teaspoon washing soda
2 tbls vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Castile soap
2 cups hot top water.
Again add the Castile soap last but before you do give the hot water and dry ingredients time to dissolve and shake the bottle gently to help mix it up.

I will post Fabreeze later after I test it out more.
Good Luck.

Store bought Shampoo vs. Homemade Shampoo

Well first of all let me say that I have used store bought shampoo my entire life. I do have very sensitive skin though and there are many that have done some serious damage to my scalp. currently my scalp is very broke out and very painful. My go to shampoo in this situation has always been Nizoral. I initially was introduced to this by my dermatologist as a prescription shampoo but soon there was a less active ingredient version that was out on the shelf in most stores and I switched to that. The prescription price was about $100 initially and the in store brand is about $20. Big difference for the same active ingredient. However, due to a shortage and some company issues the shampoo that has saved my scald for years is no longer for sale (at least until the new year). So for me this was kind of scary. After a few months of struggling with shampoo after shampoo I went back to an older blog post I saw about something called the no poo movement. This is about not using any shampoo due to the chemicals and sulfates and all the harsh things in shampoo. Even some organic shampoos still contain these chemicals. So after looking for alternative recopies I created my first trail of it last night.
1 cup baking soda
4 cups water
10 drops of tea tree oil
I boiled the water and poured in the baking soda and stir until it was as dissolved as I could get it. Then poured it into a big mason jar and added my oils. After it cooled I sat it in the shower ready to be used. Now after shampoo most people condition. I find that most conditioners weight my curly hair down and leave my hair feeling oily. So after a little more digging I went back to an old school method and got some apple cider vinegar  Now, I will just use this as a rinse on my hair not my scalp. Especially while my scalp is still healing. Maybe later I will not worry about it on my scalp but for now I am sure that would be so miserable.
This morning was my first time using the no poo shampoo and at first I was a little unsure. I poured the mixture (after I shook the mason jar up since some of it settled at the bottom) on my hair starting at my bangs and working back. I would say I used about a cup all together. Now this may prove to be too much baking soda or too much of the mixture but I am starting here and will make adjustments as needed. I massaged my scalp from front to back using the pads of my fingers and then let it sit for about two minutes. Then rinsed and using a comb in the shower I made sure it was all out and my scalp felt so clean. It was very nice. My hair is already feeling softer. Now over time I will adjust this to help my scalp heal and depending on the level of frizz you can add more or less baking soda. So that is all! It was very easy and because these were all ingredients I already had it did not cost me anything! SO much better than the cost of shampoo. Now to buy these items (the baking soda and whatever oil you decide on olive oil, tea tree oil, almond oil) it would cost less than $10 and last ten times as long.
Do you think this is something you would try? If so why and for how long? I committing myself to 8 weeks and will document with photos!
Happy Friday Y'all!

My work it out Wednesday post is a day late (no shock)

Okay so my working it out Wednesday is all about work out partners!!! Do you have someone to help motivate you into getting up and working out? I do and I am so lucky! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I walk with a girl named Allyson (who needs to start a blog already haha). She and her Sweet P (her sweet little man) and I walk in the area around her area. We have started to use a run tracker to log our miles. Overall I enjoy working out by myself at the gym or at home but there is something great about having someone to chat with to joke with and to help motivate you. Allyson has set some goals to run a 10k and I can see a marathon in her future and last year I was doing as many 5k's as I could and listening to her discuss her goals has really made me rethink mine. Do I just want to walk/jog/run to lose weight or do I want to set out to do a 10k? Can I do it? So, if you can find a buddy to work out with then do it! Next week I will discuss setting up a home gym and what you can do to create your own gym space.