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More Than Halfway Through 21DSD and I Have a Flippin Cold!

March 1, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 5 Comments

Well, I’ve done it. I’m more than halfway through The 21 Day Sugar Detox and I was feeling mighty fine…then I got this cold, sore throat, and nasty plugged up nose. The first thing that crossed my mind was to go get spoonfuls of raw honey and soothe my burning throat. Crap…I can’t have honey. Ok, how about a cough syrup? I don’t think so. They all have some form of sugar and other weird ingredients.

Ok, so how do you tackle a cold when you are on The 21 day Sugar Detox?

1) Make a crock pot tea remedy and drink all day! This is something a friend of mine taught me and now I do it every time one of us is sick. Put on a kettle of water and boil. Then add the whole kettle of water to the crock pot. Cut up a lemon or two, squeeze the juices into the crock pot, then throw in the rind. Next, add a few sticks of cinnamon, a few inches of fresh garlic, and a few green/or black tea bags. Simmer in the crock pot on low all day and drink when needed.

2) Substitute coconut oil for raw honey. Coconut oil soothes the throat just as good, maybe even better, than raw honey. I add a scoop to my mug of tea when I drink my crock pot tea.

3) Increase your Vitamin D3 intake to 1,000iu per pound of body weight. Yes, it seems like a lot, but it will knock out the cold in no time!

4) Blow your nose often, one nostril at a time. Blow it often too. If your sinus’ are really stopped up, consider doing a Neti Pot to help clear them.

5) Gargle! Gargling moistens the sore throat and brings temporary relief. Add a teaspoon of salt to a cup of warm water and gargle. Get the water as deep into your throat as you can. Do this four times a day. You can also gargle with a turmeric/cayenne mixture. Cayenne works so great because it increases blood flow to your sore throat and promotes healing that way. Add a 5 shakes of cayenne and 5 shakes of turmeric to a warm glass of water. Gargle it several times throughout the day.

I refuse to let this cold bring me down! I feel like I have gone through the worst of this detox…which even wasn’t that bad for me. I weighed myself yesterday and I have lost 8lbs! I haven’t taken my measurements yet; I will do that at the end to see how many inches I have lost. Other than the cold, I feel great. My cravings are gone and I am not even tempted by the amazing Paleo treats I have been making for my kids. I am considering staying on the detox throughout the duration of Lent.

I am posting halfway picture. The quality in the “now” picture is pretty bad. I’m sorry, hubby has been working a lot and I don’t trust my 4 year old with my Rebel camera…but I can still notice how my stomach is not as bloated! I’ll take a better one when I’m all done with the detox.

Paleo & Vegan Start 21 Day Sugar Detox!

February 18, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 18 Comments

A few weeks ago I started mentioning that I was starting the going to start the 21 Day Sugar Detox after I moved into our new home and got settled. My Vegan friend over at Tan Toes Strong Woman messaged me and asked if we could join forces and do it together. I thought it was a fabulous idea! I think the thought of Vegan and Paleo coming together and doing the same eating plan is AWESOME. A Facebook follower said it perfect; it’s almost like Republican and Democrat coming together! The world needs more of us, different as it may be, joining arms. How boring would this place be if we were all alike.

So, here we are Vegan April and Paleo Jackie on our quest to detox our body from sugar and carbs. Why are we doing this? Well, if you jump over to April’s blog you will read that 6 months ago she made some incredible life changes. First of all, she quit smoking!!! That’s a huge accomplishment in itself. She’s lost 30lbs since becoming dietary vegan, 20% body fat, and she can run an ultra marathon. However, when she came off her high blood pressure meds, she is right back to +150/+100. So, she figures it is most likely genetic, but wants to give it one more shot without pills and see if sugar may be the culprit. I think she is pretty awesome already!

“I am already getting the “seriously?” questions. It is interesting how some folk’s first reaction to self improvement is defensive as if you are making a judgement against them versus a simple desire for progress in yourself.” – April

Why am I doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox? Well, I have, literally, been in transition for 6 months. I have not gained a pound. I have lost a few, but I still have 20lbs to go before I am at my healthy weight. I’ve lost 50lbs eating Paleo, and it’s still working. But, I have run into some serious plateau’s…and with the move, I have not ate the greatest. I need to refocus. I’m also doing it as part of Lent. I wanted to give something up physically, and I wanted it to be uncomfortable.

I am almost embarrassed to post my before pictures because I just have such a long journey ahead of me. However, I’m gonna suck it up and post them. I’ll include my before Paleo picture just to show you how far I have come (really to remind myself!). I am hoping to drop some more weight in doing this detox and to cut my reliance on stevia, butter, and baked Paleo goods.

I’ll share with you what I eat day-to-day basis. So far this morning, I have had a few glasses of water, 2 cups of coffee with full fat coconut milk, a little leftover chicken, and a spinach omelette with avocado and salsa on top. I am satiated and do not feel like I am on a diet!

Please follow me on Facebook for more interaction during this detox!

BEFORE Paleo — Before starting Paleo,Jan 2012

These next 3 pictures are my current. I do NOT think that 21 days will change my body much. However I do think that I will lose some bloat in my stomach. As you can see, I carry most my weight in my upper thighs and butt. I am muscular underneath the fat, so I’m also hoping I will become more defined as I lose a little more weight. Depending on my results, I may do the detox twice in a row. real front

I’m NOT Crunchy…I’m CHEAP and LAZY!!!

January 30, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 9 Comments

I am not sure what I don’t like about the label of being “crunchy.” If you are not sure what this means or have never heard it, let me enlighten you with my ever-so, trustworthy source, Urban Dictionary.

Crunchy Mama (defined): “Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions medical authority; tends to be VEGETARIAN (hhahahaha) and/or prepares all-organic foods.”

I love the vegetarian part! Ok, let’s break this down…

“Mother who supports homebirth.”

I absolutely support a woman’s right to choose where she would like to have her baby. I almost had a homebirth with my son! I was 9 centimeters when I got to the Birth Center. Homebirth’s are becoming more popular because of the way that hospital births are run. Unfortunately, hospital births are a business. Please watch, “The Business of Being Born.” Total eye-opener. I had a hospital birth with my daughter. My water broke at home. I went to the hospital an hour later. I was forced to stay in my bed so my vagina wouldn’t become contaminated. In my bed, I sat and sat…and nothing happened, so I was hooked up to Pitocin. Labor started and it hurt. Pitocin contractions are freakin painful! I asked for my epidural. I pushed and had my baby, my beautiful Arianna. I was numb for hours and hours. She wouldn’t latch on and they washed off her precious vernix without asking me.

Now with my son, TOTAL different experience. If you want to read his birth story here, it will save me all the beautiful details. But, his birth was complete opposite. I hated my birth experience with my daughter so I looked for an alternative, and for us it was a incredible waterbirth at a nearby Birth Center. I didn’t even know I was in labor!!! The contractions felt so different than my Pitocin contractions!

I support women’s right to choose where to give birth and I, fully, support and understand the rising “trend” of homebirth.

“A mother who breastfeeds.”

I don’t understand how, if you are human, you CAN’T support breastfeeding. Other than all the health benefits, a good reason to breastfeed is because it’s CHEAP! Holy crap, formula is expensive! And my other favorite reason is because I’M LAZY! How hard is it to whip out a boob?

I know breastfeeding comes with it’s challenges, trust me, I had my share! My daughter was breastfed and my son was, also, breastfed. However, my son was nursed by many, many mothers. When my son was 2 months old, my younger sister passed away. The grief, shock, and trauma from her death caused my supply to tap out. I posted a plea of help to other mother’s…and with goosebumps on my body right now, I am so incredibly grateful to all those mommie’s out there who came to our rescue. I received coolers and coolers of milk from the most unselfish and generous people in the world. I had to buy a new deep freezer! I even received 2 donations from 2 seperate mother’s who had lost their baby, yet wanted their milk to nourish another baby. I’m telling you folks, the generosity of mother’s is amazing! You can read more about our milk-sharing experience here.

My son at 6 months old with milk that was donated from a special mommy who lost her baby girl.

“A mother who supports babywearing.”

I LOVE baby-wearing! I love the Moby Wrap for the 0-3 month age and the ERGObaby carrier for the 3 month and above age. They are LIFESAVERS!!! My baby’s, like all baby’s, loved and demanded to be held. It’s natural. We are to hold our young. That is what they need and thrive on. I hear it all the time, “My baby just want’s to be held,”…”she won’t let me put her down,”…”he cries when I put him in the swing.” Well, guess what…your baby is NORMAL! I baby-wear because I hate the sound of my baby crying. I babywear because it’s easier. I babywear because I don’t have to try to quietly set my son down and escape out the room. I babywear because I’m cheap and I don’t want to buy a swing, a bouncer, a new stroller, a floor mat, a hanging hammock…my God, what else is there! All those baby products and your baby just wants YOU…you’re warmth, your body next to theirs, your heartbeat, your breath on their skin. They want YOU.

My 3 year old in the Ergo with me (before I lost 50lbs)

“A mother who supports cloth-diapering.”

OMG, I LOVE cloth diapering! And no, I don’t love it cause it’s environmentally friendly and I’m saving thousands of pounds of poop-soaked diapers from fermenting in a land-fill…although that is a plus. I love cloth-diapering cause IT’S FREAKIN CHEAP!!! I have, literally, spent about $50 on my son’s diapers! FIFTY DOLLARS!!! My son is 18 months old and we have saved thousands and thousands of dollars on wasted diapers. I spent about $300 on my daughter’s diapers, which then got passed down to my son. And let me tell you something, he is so cute in a PINK diaper! Yes, I’m cheap, folks, so that is why I cloth diaper.

“A mother who supports co-sleeping.”

This one fits right in with the lazy part. Who want’s to get up and go to another room, feed their baby, and then go back into another room again? Whew! It’s annoying and tiring. Just let your baby sleep in between you. We had this fabulous thing that our kids slept in called a SnuggleNest. It was awesome! It is a little bed that you can put the baby in and it has sides to protect you from rolling over on to them. I know that is a concern wtih a lot of people who won’t co-sleep, but the SnuggleNest makes co-sleeping a very safe option! Plus, there are so many benefits to co-sleeping. And, no, you don’t have to co-sleep forever! We only co-slept till our kids were around 6-9 months old.

All this to say that the bottom line is…I’m cheap and I’m lazy! But you can call me crunchy if you want!

Why We Ditched Our iPhone’s

January 23, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 35 Comments

Disclosure: By writing this post, I am, by NOOOOO means, trying to make anyone else feel guilty for having or using an iPhone. This is all about me and my husband and how ditching our iPhone’s have changed our relationship with each other and our children.

About 9 months ago, I read a post called, “How to Miss a Childhood” over at Hands Free Mama and I was, literally, gasping in tears as I was reading it. I realized that much of what she was talking about…was me. It was me, plain and simple.

While pushing your child on a swing, do you pull out your phone and start checking Facebook? …yes.

Does your child bring you your phone excitedly, like she found your most prized possession? …yes.

Do you pull out your phone at a stoplight?…yes.

Do you look at your phone at the dinner table? Do you pull out your phone when you are at a restaurant waiting for your food?…yes and yes.

Does your child look up from doing something proudly to see if you were watching, only to find you looking down at your phone? …unfortunately, yes.

Do you get irritated when your kids are talking to you when you are focused on your phone? …yes.

Do you feel like you can’t leave home without your iPhone? …yes I did.

And there’s more…

Do you check your phone first thing in the morning … even before you kiss, hug, or greet the people in your family?

Do you look up from your phone when your child speaks to you or just reply with an “uh huh” so she thinks you were listening?

Do you use drive time to call other people regardless of the fact you could be talking to your kids about their day—or about their worries, their fears, or their dreams?

Do you decide the app you’re playing is more important than throwing the ball in the yard with your kids? Even better, yell at them to leave you alone while you play your game.

Do you take your children to the zoo and spend so much time on your phone that your child looks longingly at the mother who is engaged with her children and wishes she was with her instead?

After reading these questions, my eyes filled with tears and my heart weighed heavy with guilt. How many moments had I missed with my children because I was playing with my Iphone? How many memories were never made? The tears fell freely as I kept thinking about how my life had become so connected to my iPhone. The guilt for what I had done to my kids was overwhelming. I couldn’t bear it.

You see, my husband, a few months prior to this day, had already ditched his iPhone. He did it for a much different reason. To him, the iPhone was temptation. It was a means to access pornography in the deep, dark secret places of his life. His old addiction was sparked when the iPhone came into his life. It was an addiction that he had broken several times prior, but with the access of porn at his fingertips, he was overwhelmed with temptation. It hurt when I found out…when he confessed to me, with guilt and tears in his eyes. My self wanted to slug him. How could he do this to me again? But instead, I hugged him and cried with him and told him we would get through this. He smashed his iPhone to bits and pieces and we have never looked back. This was a year ago and I am so proud of the changes that my husband has made since he made the decision to get rid of his iPhone. I’m proud of the changes I have made.

I don’t miss any moments with my children.

If I leave my phone at home and forget it…so what.

I am FULLY there.

My kids have ALL of me…not just some. I am with them. I see them. I rejoice with them. I learn with them. I dance with them. I sing in the car with them.

My relationship with my husband has deepened to a new level through all of this. I am there for my children and he is there for me. We have decided that our family is more important than technology at our fingertips. Do we miss it? Sure! Especially when we are out on a day trip and lost! However, we have learned that good ole Mapquest printed with ink and paper is still good enough. We’ve learned that it is much more fun to wonder into a new restaurant instead of planning ahead. We’ve learned to hold each other hands…”family hands” as my daughter calls it…instead of holding our phones.

We are here…

in this moment…

in this time.

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What the Heck is Kombucha?

January 17, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 76 Comments

Over on my Facebook page, I am always talking about Kombucha. I am a Kombucha addict. I love it. I love the taste, the smell, and the squishy SCOBY’s that I use to make the drink. It is my drink of choice.

I get so many messages and comments from people who have never heard of it. Well, here is my little bit of knowledge on the health benefits of Kombucha.

Kombucha is an ancient elixir that has a history of starting in China and, somehow, made it’s way over here to America. It is a sort of “tea” that is infused by fermentation with beneficial bacteria, probiotics, and yeast and is great for your gut and overall health. It is made from either using black or green tea, and some herbal teas, some sugar (which the yeast feeds on), and lots of patience.

The SCOBY (“symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast”) looks like a flat mushroom but solid and squishy. This SCOBY is actually alive and feeds on the white sugar that is in the tea. Wait, WHITE SUGAR?!?! Yes, plain old white sugar. It may be the only thing I buy white sugar for, but my SCOBY’s thrive on it. After fermentation, which usually takes around 7-10 days, the SCOBY is then taken out of the tea and the tea is then bottled and refrigerated and ready to drink! Or, you may choose to do a second fermentation which is just for a few more days. The purpose of the second fermentation is to create more “fizz” (Kombucha is naturally carbonated because of the fermentation) and, also, a time to add any kind of fruit flavorings that you may want to the tea. My flavoring of choice is Pom juice. I add a few ounces to every 16 ounce jar and it gives it a delicious taste.

Taste. What does it taste like? I get this question all the time and it’s really hard to describe the taste. To me it taste like something between a hard cider and champagne. But, no, Kombucha is not alcoholic.

Why do I drink it? Well, first of all, I’m cheap. I am a self-proclaimed cheapo and the cost of probiotics is just ridiculous. The cost to make a gallon of Kombucha is around $1! The cost to buy a 16 ounce bottle of Kombucha from a health food store is $4!!! The cost to buy a bottle of probiotics is $40! Hmmm, tough decision but I’ll stick with my cheap Kombucha!

How I make it:

Step One: Boil 2 quarts of water and add 3 family-size tea bags and 1 cup of white sugar. You can use organic sugar and organic tea if you would like, but it is not necessary.

Step Two: Once the tea is cooled (not hot, you could kill your SCOBY) add it to a gallon glass jar. Must be glass. Then add 2 more quarts of filtered water and 1 cup of starter liquid (which should have come with your new SCOBY).

Step Three: Cover the jar with a coffee filter or cloth and set aside to ferment for 7-10 days. Taste it every other day or so and you will learn about the process of how the SCOBY alters the taste.

Step Four: Take the SCOBY and the new baby that may have formed on the top of the liquid and put them aside.

Step Five: This is personal preference now, as I mentioned above. Either bottle it up and put the Kombucha in the fridge or do a second fermentation. I don’t do a second fermentation. I just bottle it up, add a few ounces of Pom juice to the bottles and put them in the fridge. Make sure you keep 1 cup of the Kombucha to put in the next batch. This is your starter liquid which will get the next batch going.

Step Six: Repeat steps 1-5 and drink up!

Where can I get Kombucha?

You can either buy Kombucha at health food stores, or you can easily make it yourself at home!

Click here to get Kombucha cultures to make at home.

***I’ve been told that you should start slow with drinking Kombucha because it is a natural detoxer. I started drinking a cup a day and then gradually increased it. I, now, drink about 32 ounces a day and enjoy every sip of it!***