HOW TO: Warm Lemon Tea Detox (+ a free PDF)

The first thing you probably think of when you hear lemon is sour. Or maybe yellow or lemonade. It could also possibly that nasty flavor in virtually every candy bag. That’s completely understandable. I, personally, think of all four at the same time which I think is actually virtually impossible so I probably don’t do that. Anywho, I had many run-ins with lemon water before I decided to make it apart of my morning ritual. As someone who is constantly looking for ways to better herself, I asked my sister for an easy, natural way to balance my pH, which has been known to throw your body out of whack when off balance (Side effects include: acne, body odor, dry skin, unhappiness, etc etc). She sighed, and reluctantly told me to try fresh lemon tea, then asked me why I didn’t look it up my self. I ignored the last part, and asked her to tell me how to make it. I drank it everyday for about a week, until I forgot. Then tried it again months later as part of a diet we were trying, and stopped (the diet and the regular drinking of lemon water) as soon as I had a craving for turkey burgers.  One brisk morning, after realizing that we were out of apple-cinnamon tea, I decided to try it again and have since stuck with it.

As a part of my morning ritual, I drink 10 oz of warm lemon water. But before I get into how it’s down here are some of the benefits of drink fresh lemon tea–

Interesting Facts, Tips, and Benefits:

• the d-limonene found in lemons is being used to dissolve gallstones associated with cancer. In other words, it has promising anticancer properties.
• Fresh lemon juice aids in digestion and  relieve symptoms of indigestion such as heartburn.
• The pectin fiber helps fight hunger craving and aids with weight loss.
• reduces inflammation much like the turmeric mask but all over your body and joints.
• antiseptic properties freshen breath
• It helps to fight and prevent viral infections and colds. Though you can drink cold, drinking warm heightens the enzymes and helps calm sore throats.
• the enzymes make you happier and the lemon water can (and should) be used in replace of coffee in the morning.

Directions:

It is incredibly easy to make, but it varies depending on your weight. Because I am under 150 pounds, I am supposed to drink somewhere between 8 and 12 oz of water, so I drink 10.

Boil one cup of water, and squeeze a half a lemon into your cup. That’s it. Do not drink boiling and burn your tongue, because that won’t help any, and you can always juice the lemon using an electric juicer, but just make sure it is one ounce, for 150 lbs and under and that it is fresh no matter your weight. You can ignore any seeds you may get, but stomach the pulp if you can, it contains many health benefits. If it is over 12 oz, drink over the course of a couple of hours because your body can only metabolize 12 oz of water at a time.

I made a PDF that includes more benefits, tips, a how to guide on how to drink it depending on your weight, and facts about lemons and how much they help your body. It’s not long, only 5 pages–well, 4 if you don’t include the Resources, and 3 if you don’t include the cover. But how fun would that be? Not very. Until next time. Sage Out.

If you have any other questions, you can ask in the comment section, but you can also find most answers in the free pdf. Your Welcome.

Click Here for the free PDF:

15 Sweet Facts About Lemons and Lemon Water

*Side Note: Today was supposed to be a Fitness Friday, but due to the lack of sun this morning I was unable to take the pictures that I wanted to. But there should be a fitness post, next week. See you then ^-^*

HOW TO: Indian Turmeric and Greek Yogurt Face Mask

So I was having a bad face day. You know, one of those days when your skin is extra dry, and you look at least 50 years older than you actually are? Where it feels like no matter how much lotion you put on you are still dry? Yeah, one of those days.

I’m sure there is a logical reason for this. Like, a monster came and sucked the moisture out of my skin while I was sleeping or I am in some freak re-run episode of Grimm and a spinnetod wesen has desiccated the skin on my face. It could also be because it has gotten colder, and we have been keeping the heater on longer than usual so it has dried out my skin. Or the fact that I live in the middle of the desert so it is naturally dry here. It’s all plausible, but I am going for the re-run Grimm episode.

Anywho, before this dry skin debacle, my sister and I had looked up a new, healthy, natural face mask that we could use on our skin when we got the chance. Though we had heard about it before, we decided to look up a yogurt and turmeric face mask after watching an episode of The Mysteries of Laura where Meredith Bose mentions what she uses on her skin to make it look like that of a pre-pubescent boy (man, I watch a lot of TV). Her skin regimen includes a yogurt and turmeric mask. And because of my bad skin day I decided to use a similar mask. It consists of Greek yogurt, honey, and turmeric. Despite the obvious, here’s why you should use it:

The Benefits:

• Turmeric has natural anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.  These properties, help soothe  and promote healing in acne-prone skin. They also reduce redness and inflammation characterized by eczema, which two of my sisters actually had when they were younger.
• Women in India and other parts of Asia use the combination of honey, yogurt, and turmeric to promote skin rejuvenation and soften the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
• Regular use also may reduce the redness and small pimples associated with rosacea.

Now for that good-good…

Warning: For fairer skin tones, this may temporarily dye your skin.This appears as more of a glow than anything and lasts only a few days.

Directions:

Rinse face with luke warm water and pat dry. Mix together a spoonful of yogurt (enough for a single use, first try), a teaspoon of organic honey, and around a tablespoon or two of turmeric to the point that it is a bright yellow. While face is still slightly damp (not dripping) use your clean finger tips to slather the yogurt mixture onto your face and neck. Try to avoid your hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows (unlike me)– If done too many times it will dye those as well. Keep on for 20-30 minutes. It will tingle slightly and it will smell strongly of turmeric, but in the end, you hardly notice and the time passes by quicker than you’d think.

After that, you rinse your face and neck, pat them dry and apply your favorite moisturizer. That’s it. That alone restored my faith in my skin.

I have started doing this a couple of times a month and have thoroughly enjoyed it. But remember, it does stain your skin slightly (more so the lighter your skin), but more in a slight glow than anything. There was a stronger glow my second time around so it appeared as though I was sun-kissed. If you try it, tell me how it went. Until next time. Sage Out.

Have Lunch With Me, Yeah?: Eating Out… Salad At McDonalds and Takeout At The Mall Pt. 1

Salad. Let me tell you a story:

So there I was diving into my McDonalds bag to grab out my Southwest salad with grilled chicken (because they use white flour in the fried chicken).

It was Wednesday afternoon and she was looking good so I took a lot of pictures of her naked (without salad dressing).

We got up close and personal so I could see her salsa.

It got a little dark but I didn’t stop.

And then, I pulled out the salad dressing. They give you two options: Creamy Caesar (though I highly doubt Caesar was all that creamy),

And Ranch. Which is a cool play on words that I just got: He’s a farmer and works on a ranch…. Get it? You probably did. Anyways… something was telling me not to eat this. I didn’t know what it was. But I followed my gut instincts and pulled out my dressing and held a comparison.

In the ingredients list of this ranch, I know what everything is. Canola oil? I know what this is, I use it all of the time. Water? Believe it or not, I just finished drinking this. Salt? All the time. Lemon juice? Razor Blades. Garlic? Vampires. See? This stuff does not only have stellar ingredients it wards away mythical creatures and shavers alike. It’s amaze. Citric Acid is a preservative ( one of the healthiest, it’s like Vitamin C) and Xanthan Gum is a thickener so that it’s not the consistency of water.

This? This is Death. Why use garlic and onion powder when you can use the real thing? And lemon juice concentrate? Seriously? Why distilled vinegar when I can eat wine vinegar and get wasted? And Corn Syrup? What the heck?!

And this? This is Also death. IT has twice as many ingredients as the ranch dressing (both of them) and in my opinion the least amount of ingredients the better, because then this way it has a higher chance of being true all natural organic ingredients and have a lower chance of killing me slowly.  This has both Corn Syrup and Fructose. What do you need the both of them for? Xanthan Gum and water are the only things the all natural dressing I bought and this poisonous McDonalds have in common.

I poured the yummy Texas salad dressing on the salad and it was beyond delicious. The End. I bet you forgot I was even telling a story (I know I did). The moral of this blog post is DON’T EAT THE SALAD DRESSING. Keep this in mind the next time you go to eat at McDonalds. Enjoy.

“Take Out At The Mall” will be a short post as a part 2 to this post that I’ll put up the day after tomorrow. 😀 I’m Grinning.  Kisses and Kombuchas! — Sage