Natural Beauty: DIY Beet-Infused Lip Balm!

Image courtesy of mybrooklynstory.wordpress.com

I once wore 3-inch heels to a college football game. I journeyed two miles on foot from my parked car to the tailgate, proceeded to throw a few back with the best of them and remained on foot for the duration of the game. I was probably wearing a dress too (let's just say I was, for the purposes of this story).

My friends, that's what I call GLAMOUR.

When I think back on those days, I like to imagine myself in small snapshots of time - my hair blowing in the breeze, my ping pong ball sailing straight into the cup of beer - all the while, my gams looking fabulous.

Fast forward to today... I'm 6 years out of college, living in one of the most fashionable cities in the world and (up to this point) fully OK with the fact that I wear my 'uniform' (as I like to call it) 90% of the time - skinny jeans, a baggy gray top and the most comfortable shoes I can find.

Courtesy of edinburghfestival.list.co.uk

But brutal self awareness has kicked in with a vengeance. Something's gotta give.

You don't even look good in gray! 
You have curves you should be showing off while you've still got them! 
You have more fashion sense than this! 
Get it together, Lauren! 

So one of my resolutions this year is to simply be more glamorous. And what's more glamorous than being a confident, self-sufficient woman of the world? I've always admired the way my grandmother's generation made meals from scratch, sewed their own clothes and planted their own gardens. They did it all!

In my effort to be more glam, I decided to make my own beauty products! To start, I chose something that I assumed would be easy breezy. Lesson learned here? Don't assume... EVER.

I've included the play-by-play of this debacle for your viewing pleasure, if only because it was a fun experiment that DID result in a moisturizing beet-infused lip balm, albeit a clumpy one. If you're inspired to try this on your own, I suggest working faster (so the beeswax doesn't have time to clump) OR finding another fun recipe online that looks a little more beginner-friendly.

You might as well get a good laugh though... so here we go!

You'll need 1 medium-sized beet, 1/4 cup of beeswax (can be found at your local health food store), 1/4 cup of castor oil (also at the health food store) and 2 Tbs. sesame oil.

Cut the stem off the beet and gently wash off any dirt (I used 2 beets because mine were super small).

Fill a saucepan with water, throw your beet(s) in and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce to medium and cook for 40-45 minutes. When a fork pierces the beet easily, you're done. Transfer the beet to a bowl of cold water and peel the skin off (it should slide right off).

If you have a juicer, I recommend using it to extract the juice. If you don't have a juicer, get creative. A little pounding or squeezing will do.

Now in a separate saucepan, melt your beeswax. Keep in mind that once you pour out the beeswax, a thin layer will remain. Try to wash the pan immediately or else the wax will harden and give you quite the arm workout trying to clean it later (ie. my first mistake).

In a measuring cup, add the castor oil and sesame oil. Once the beeswax has melted, add it to the measuring cup and stir vigorously, breaking up any clumps (ie. my second mistake).

Now add the beet juice a little at a time until the color you desire is reached!

 Now to recycle! Grab an old lip balm pot, sterilize it and fill it with your creation!

Check out that homemade lip balm, ladies!

P.S. Have you liked my Facebook page yet? Cause you know, that would really rock my world this fine Wednesday!

2013: New Year, New You from New York City!

Image courtesy of eventa.co.uk

Well the good news is we're already one step ahead! We made it to 2013 (apparently the Mayans weren't as prophetic as we thought)! Phew.

So now that things are back to business as usual, it's time to get on with the business of resolutions. If you're like most people, your resolutions probably involve some sort of weight loss goal. You're not alone. Many Americans will jump on the diet bandwagon, most likely in the form of a fad diet, a diet promising instant results so you can fit into that bathing suit you wore in college.

I'm here to save you the trouble. You can thank me later.

The word diet is confusing. On one hand, it refers to a way of eating, a pattern often dictated by culture. On the other end of the spectrum, a diet can refer to a restrictive way of eating in hopes of dropping a few pounds. Here's the problem with looking at diets in this restrictive way. Are you ready for this? Are you sitting down?

They don't work.

Image courtesy of frogrocket.blogspot.com

It doesn't take a genius to figure this out. The statistics speak for themselves - almost 95% of all people who lose weight through dieting gain the weight back within 1-5 years, with many gaining back more weight than they started with. Here's why...

Your body is smart. It's meant to survive. It instinctively knows how to do that. When you begin to drastically restrict your caloric intake, your body goes into survival mode by slowing your metabolism. The more you cut back, the more your metabolism slows. It's a nasty catch-22, making it nearly impossible to lose weight and keep it off permanently. You know as well as I do that it's already hard enough to stick to a diet! Intense caloric restriction just makes it that much harder because as your metabolism slows, you have to eat less and less to keep losing weight. Talk about discouraging.

In addition to metabolism issues, many fad diets specifically lack the nutrients that your body needs to function properly, support your weight loss efforts and maintain your health. Just take the high protein diets for example. Many people lose weight eating in this way, but the consequence in packing your body with so much protein (and lots of animal protein at that, which is extremely high in saturated fat) is a sharp increase in your cholesterol, which could lead to heart disease or stroke. In addition, consuming too much protein puts a major strain on the kidneys, making you much more susceptible to kidney disease. Your body needs carbohydrates, and when you're restricting this important part of your diet, you're losing important vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants.

Most people look at their New Year's diet as a short-term action plan. They hold to a particular way of eating until the weight is lost, then 'wa lah!' they are right back to their old patterns of eating. If you had high cholesterol and took medication to lower it, would you just discontinue using the medication as soon as your cholesterol came down? Probably not! Your cholesterol improved for a reason - because you took your medicine every day. The same goes for a diet. Instead of looking to a fad diet for a quick, short-term fix, being to think of your diet as a long-term, sustainable, healthy eating plan for life - a plan that makes you feel good, satisfies you and keeps your body in tip-top shape.

You only get one body, and it's your job to take care of it. When you start to treat your body like you would your child - feeding it, nurturing it, making sure it gets the rest and care it deserves  - you will automatically begin to see the changes you desire in your waistline, not to mention drastic changes in your energy levels and well-being.

Image courtesy of kcmag.com

Instead of going the fad diet route, I encourage you to explore the concept of 'crowding out'. Instead of telling yourself you 'can't have this/can't have that', focus on what you CAN have. Start to 'crowd out' your temptations with things that are good for you. A great place to start would be eating one big salad per day. This is a simple goal. If you make room for one big salad every day, I guarantee you won't have room for all the other calorie-dense foods that you're accustomed to eating. As you adopt this one simple addition on a daily basis, your taste buds will begin to change and so will your cravings. Your body knows what's good for it and when given the chance, it will begin to crave healthy options like it's instinctively wired to do. Fruits and vegetables are low in calories, but very filling due to their fiber content. I'll bet that you can eat much more of them without ever coming close to your previous caloric intake. Why eat less when you could eat more?

Whether your goal is to eat a salad every day or just to add a side of vegetables to every meal, your resolution for the new year should center around nutrition, not weight loss. When you feed your body the proper things, your body will do you one better and reward you with the physique you spent years trying to attain through fad diets and the empty promises behind them.

Let your resolution this year be to nourish your body through nutritious eating and daily physical activity. It's as simple as that!

Happy New Year from New York City!

Oh...and P.S. If you need help reaching your weight loss, nutrition or healthy living goals in the new year, I am a student at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and I will be officially accepting clients in April. Please feel free to email me at laurenyarbrough@gmail.com to inquire about my services.