Category Archives: Featured

Your Skin and Summer Sun

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) just published their 2014 guide to safe sunscreens. They reviewed over 2000 sunscreens and over 257 brands. They found more than 75% of the sunscreens contained toxic chemicals that can increase your risk of cancer and other health issues. That’s alarming in and of itself! It’s important to remember that what you are lathering on your body is going into your body. Those chemicals are penetrating the barrier and entering into the cells. Think about your babies and children and all the chemicals you are putting on their heads and bodies with those baby products!

Here’s a fact that should scare you and tell you how far behind the US is to the European countries. Sunscreens haven’t been regulated since 1978 in the US, and the SPF factor only tells you how effective a sunscreen is against UVB rays which cause sunburn. I recently learned that the higher SPF really doesn’t protect more as opposed to a lower SPF. The difference is only a few minutes longer in the sun before having to reapply.

In truth, the sun doesn’t cause cancer, it is essential for your health. Without the sun, most plants couldn’t grow and we would perish from lack of Vitamin D3. It’s recommended that we get 20 minutes of direct sunlight everyday if possible. It boosts the immune system, helps fight cancer and improves the moods.

A recent study published in Environmental Science Technology has also shown the common sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone, methoxycinnamate, and PABA are estrogenic chemicals linked to cancer. That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too! If your sunscreen contains any of these chemicals I’d throw it away right now! Some ingredients may absorb into the blood, release free radicals in sunlight, act like estrogen, disrupt hormones (huge for those of us in perimenopause or menopause), cause allergic reactions (some severe), cause skin irritation or rash. Para amino benzoic acid, Octyl salicyclate, Oxybenzone, Cinoxate, Dioxybenzone, Phenylbenzimidazole, Homosalate, Menthyl anthranilate, Octocrylene, Methoxycinnamate, and last but most dangerous is Parabens. Stay clear of these ingredients!

There are two types of sunscreen, non-mineral and mineral, and some that are both. The non- mineral penetrate the skin and are potentially disruptive to hormones. Mineral contain zinc or titanium. This type does not breakdown in sunlight, and are usually not absorbed so as not to disrupt the body’s hormones, non-allergenic and more effective at blocking the UVA rays. I highly recommend this type especially for babies and children.

The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals for the skin to absorb, no questions about whether the product works and no bogus claims like “sunblock.” (No conventional product blocks out all rays. Which is why the FDA is trying to ban the term.) But I also use my own made with zinc and essential oils, Kiss My Face SPF 30 and Melaleuca Mineral SPF 30.

So, let’s recap:

Get 20+ minutes of sunshine daily
Cover up with light clothing before you get burnt
Wear natural sunscreen if you’re going to stay out for a long period of time, reapply often
Eat a diet high in anti-oxidants to protect your skin
If you get burnt, use a mixture of aloe, coconut oil and vitamin E on your skin or a natural after sun product free of chemicals. Essential oils are a must for my home and family!

I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and health in their lives!

Find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or emailsusano@livinglifeholistic.com

Your Health and Your Wealth

It’s been awhile since my husband and I took a couple of classes for getting debt free. We first attended Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey through our church. That was a lot of information to absorb and navigate. We still use a lot of what we learned in that class and take the refresher course every other year. And since we paid for the first class the refresher courses are free! We also did War On Debt by Dani Johnson. This was especially helpful to me the nerd (if you don’t know what that means take Dave’s course) as I had a hard time finding the extra money without another source or job. What I learned in War on Debt was to look right at my pantry, refrigerator (2nd or 3rd refrigerator) and grocery bill. Ouch! We were throwing our cash in the garbage can and had way too much food.

I did the assessment and found that we could live on our pantry for about four months with very little added. I had no idea. This was such an “AHA” moment to us. I had never used a meal planner or a list to shop. So I was shopping from memory. Hello, I have been through menopause and I think I lost some of those memory cells. I digress here. My point is that I found over $400-$500 per month just in my pantry and food shopping. That doesn’t include what I found when we did a complete assessment for our financial health. It was staggering what we letting go out the door! Do you want to be debt free but don’t know where to start?

When was the last time you took inventory of your financial health? Do you realize how closely your financial health is to your physical health? The stress from being in debt and not able to make your bills or having to make a decision on whether to pay a bill or buy food can be taking a major toll on how long you live in this lifetime! I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create a life with balance, time freedom and health. You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email susano@livinglifeholistic.com

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Living Debt Free and Healthy

May 8, 2014debt Free, Featured, Financial, Health, menopause, Migraines, perimenopause, Weight Lossadmin

I can remember to this day the phone call I received at work. I answered the phone, “This is Susan, how may I help you?” The person identified themselves as the emergency room of the hospital, “Is this Susan? Is your husband Michael?”. I answered “yes” and then the next words rocked my world, “your presence is required at the emergency room”, and I sat down quickly. What, what did you just say to me? They would not disclose what had happened, or whether my husband was dead or alive, just that my presence was required. When I arrived at the emergency room, they quickly brought me back without telling me anything. When they opened the door I saw my husband, bloody, dirty and hooked up to a ton of monitors. He was not dead, thank God, but they didn’t know if he had broken his back, neck or both. After a CAT scan it was a C-4 neck fracture. A halo and one year to heal, followed by 3 years of disability and retraining. That year was 1986. Doctors said he was either dead or paralyzed when they saw his file, but we serve a great big awesome God and he was neither!

All this to preface that we were young, with two small boys, living paycheck to paycheck. We had bought our first home, had some credit card debt, and some school loans. You learn what a priority is quickly when you have a major trauma in your life. We learned how to live on much less very quickly. Later we went to a class called Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsey) and War on Debt (Dani Johnson). We learned to become debt free and never turned back. I can tell you that our health was fully altered due to the debilitating migraines my husband suffered that could not be stopped by medications but only with natural medicine, proper exercise, low glycemic eating, sleep, and essential oils. He now has one occasionally, a far cry from daily. This is why I became a holistic health coach to help others get where we are today. Do you want financial freedom? Time freedom? Do you want true health? You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com

I would love to connect with you for a free 15 minute consultation to see how I can help you! To your health!

Do You Suffer from Adrenal Fatigue?

April 10, 2014Featuredadmin

Each person has two adrenal glands, one on the top of each kidney. These small glands secrete a number of hormones that are critical to our well-being. Adrenaline affects blood pressure, heart rate, and sweating; mineralocorticoids affects blood pressure plus the levels of salts and potassium in the body. Other hormones control how fats, proteins, and carbohydrates are used plus male sex functions. Cortisol is also produced by the adrenal glands and has a number of important functions including helping the body deal with stress.

Adrenal fatigue (hypoadrenia) is a term used in alternative medicine for a syndrome or a group of symptoms that are the result of the adrenal glands functioning below their normal and needed levels. (Traditional, allopathic, medicine has not yet officially accepted adrenal fatigue as a disease or syndrome.) The paramount symptom is fatigue or a persistent tiredness that does not seem to be relieved by rest. Other symptoms may include aches, sleep difficulties, digestive disorders, or a general feeling of not being well. It plays havoc on the hormonal balance which makes women more prone to this disorder. Menopause and adrenal fatigue are common.

The common belief is that adrenal fatigue is the result of the adrenal glands not being able to keep up with the stress load of the individual. This can be physical, emotional, or physiological and can be accumulative if there are multiple and prolonged conditions in one’s life. The chronic stress may make it impossible for the adrenal glands to maintain proper homeostasis. Since the adrenal hormones control so many functions of the body (energy levels, heart functions, immune response, sex drive, etc.) a multiplicity of symptoms can result as the body tries to balance itself and restore homeostasis.

I am certified in Aromatouch Technique which is an applying of eight essential oils in a sequential order to promote health and hormone balance. To learn more visit my site www.livinglifeholistic and sign up for your free PDF for my 12 Favorite Green Smoothies and receive information on this and more!