Sweeteners - Aspartame

I have previously posted about sugar v sweeteners. I am now about to strengthen my case against using sweeteners and have sugar, esp Aspartame.

Last week, when my brother visited us, I started to drink orange squash which had sweeteners in. Mum bought this knowing that my brother, who has been dieting and doesn't drink anything with sugar in, was coming. Anyway, one of the sweeteners was Aspartame. I thought this would be all right as I would only have a little bit at a time. I was wrong. I had say a glass of squash each day from last Wednesday, and by the end of the last week, esp yesterday, I was feeling its effects. I started to get headaches in the morning and throughout the day. Yesterday I had to resort to having a couple of paracetamols to get rid of the headache. So, although I knew it was a waste, I threw the rest of the bottle down the kitchen sink. Today, I woke up with no headache and my head is feeling normal again.

Today, I read in a health book I have that one of the possible side-effects of Aspartame is migraines. I am sure I heard on a health food programme the other day on TV that Aspartame is fine to eat and doesn't have any bad effects. I am going with my own experience, and from now on am going to avoid any sweeteners, esp Aspartame.

Although sugar has got a bad reputation, I think it is far better to have than sweeteners.

Why I like working with Essante Organics - No 1

This is the start of a series of posts about why I like working with Essante Organics, who sell retail and wholesale organic products for the skin and home. This is really going to be two reasons but all about the same thing - the environment.

1. All their products are 100% organic. This means that when you put them into your body, your body doesn't get any more toxins than necessary. Also, when you are using their products that you have to wash and end up in the water, the waste of them doesn't contaminate any outside waters, and therefore, won't harm any sea life and creatures. All in all, helping the environment be more chemical free than it already is.

2. The containers all appear to be made of recyclable materials. Eg the bottles and tubes I have already got, are made from glass and all have on it  the words 'leave green prints'. As someone who loves to recycle as much as they can, I love this, too.

So there you have it. Not only do the products help your skin and the environment in your house, but the environment outside, too.

So, if you want to care for both your skin and the environment, then Essante Organics products are for you.

Check out what I do for Essante at www.gogreengetpaid.com

Want to go green and get paid for it?

Who doesn't? This is why I am now returning to this blog after a space of a couple of years. I have found a platform where I can spread my knowledge and passion all things natural and organic, and get paid for it. Here is the lowdown.

Ever since I started using natural and/or organic products in 2008, I have always wanted to find a way to share my passion and knowledge about it with others and get paid for it. This last month I have seen posts by other people, including my coach and team members of the affiliate marketer I'm a member of, promoting this company who sells organic products that are toxic free. It is a network marketing company, where you train your way up the ladder until you reach the highest level. It being organics, something I know about, I was v interested in it. After a lot of thinking, I joined the other day and am in Rebecca Woodhead's team, who is my coach and upline for the other company. Rebecca has put a lot of faith in me and my skills, and has made me the Ambassador of Focus, where I focus on training, helping others who join with training and possibly market themselves, too. Am looking forward to doing this. The company is Essante Organics. If you want to find out what they offer, their website is www.GoGreenGetPaid.com.

If you watch that and want to join me becoming focussed and passionate about organics, then my website is: www.essanteorganics.com/hopewithjulie. To join, click on the 'join' button on the top.

If you want to know more about marketing and getting discovered as an author and/or marketer, whatever your business, then sign up for a newsletter here

http://forms.aweber.com/form/25/1466306025.htm

My pledge for Zero Waste Week

This week is Zero Waste Week and lots of people are pledging to reduce waste, esp food.  As someone who is v keen on recycling, reducing and reusing, this is an ideal time for me to think about what I can do to reduce my waste and I have come up with an idea. I use baby wipes to wipe myself, and usually either flush them or bin them, depending on what I use it for. So this week, I have pledged to use them and flush them instead of binning them all the time. How have I been doing? Well, I had put two in my bedroom bin so far, but I have taken one out and flushed it down the toilet when I used that room.  I plan to do this during the week as I go along.  I had started using face wipes, which aren't biodegradable or flushable, but I pledge not to use any of these this week and just use warm water and flannel instead to wash my face in the evening.

Earlier this morning, I started reusing a magazine that came in the paper for catching hairs from my legs when I shaved them. That is another way to reduce wastage.

So, let me know what your pledge is, and how you plan to go about it and get on with it.

Loving home grown fruit and veg

We have recently been loving home grown fruit and veg from our veg patch. We have been eating chives but they are getting rather brown rusty-looking now, either from age or the weather. Not many to cut at the moment. We haven't had much look with radishes again this year. Only had one out of the whole lot, which were nibbled by something.  We have had some carrots, and await more. We had a few cherry tomatoes the other day, and they were sweet.  We have had some spring onions, which taste stronger than shop bought ones. Even my mum finds them strong, and that is saying something. Recently we have had a glut of fresh beetroot, which we've grown for the first time.  They are really nice cooked.  Have a slightly earthy taste but nice. Probably grow some more next year.  We usually see what grows OK one year, to decide to plant again next year.

So, have you been growing fruit and veg?  What have you had success with so far?

Excess packaging on Father's Day

Today is Father's Day.  I bought my dad two packets of handkerchiefs, which came in a plastic box.  Now in those two plastic boxes, there was a piece of card to keep them standing up straight in the box.  In the hankies themselves, they each had a roll of card/paper to keep them standing up as a roll.  There were 5 hankies in each box. So that makes 10 pieces of paper, 2 pieces of card and two plastic boxes.  I had to throw away the plastic, as I didn't think I could recycle it.  But the other bits went for recycling.  Although most of it has gone for recycling, I still think that this was too much packaging.  I did make up for it in a way.  I put the boxes in a gift bag, but didn't sign the card on the bag so I can use it again and again, which I will do.

So, do you think this was too much packaging for two boxes of hankies? Let me know.

Changes to my eating over the years

I recently read in a Sainsbury's magazine an article about how food and how it is cooked has changed over the decades.  It asked people to email in to how their food has changed.  I thought this is a good ideas and replied.  Below is my reply:

In the 80s: breakfast was cereal such as rice crispies or Weetabix with milk. Lunch would be sandwich, yoghurt. Dinner would be fatty foods such as meat pies, pasties, meatballs, burgers. Desserts would be fruit pies, trifles.

In the 90s: breakfast was the same. Lunch was the same, too but dinners were changed to be more healthier due to my dad having major strokes, and finding out it was mainly due to high cholesterol. Out went the fatty dinnners, instead we had home-made chicken curry, spaghetti Bolognese, cold meats,casseroles. And we didn't have any desserts like before.  The curry ingredients changed too.  We first had potatoes and bread with it, then we cut out the potatoes.  Then we changed the bread to popadums, then finally out went the popadums. 

2000s: Another major change in my diet happened. I found I was interolerant to cow's milk, soya, fish and maybe wheat. I also changed my breakfasts to healthier versions. Instead of cereals I had different porridges: millet, quinoa and oats, which I heard about on the TV programme You are what you eat. I had these with fruit spread. These were made with oat milk. I also found goat's cheese and sheep's milk yoghurt. Out went snacking on biscuits, and instead I started snacking on nuts, seeds and dried dates. I gave up eating bread as sandwiches, after finding out I could be intolerant to wheat, and was getting fed up eating it every day by then. I started eating ryvitas instead. Dinners also changed, with a variety of new meals. These included: falafel, vegetarian sausages, houmous. This year I have discovered jacket potatoes and spices, which I have in a potato and chicken curry.  We now have two different curries.  One plain one with raisins in, and the new one with tinned tomatoes, spices, herbs and potatoes in.  I am preferring the latter one these days.

So overall, my diet has changed to a healther one over the years, for health reasons.

How has your diet changed over the years?  If it has, why?  Let me know.