A fine balancing act

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Finding a balance between jobs, school, rehabilitation from injuries and volunteering, all the while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle can prove challenging at times. Even with many things on my plate, I find time to go for a walk, sit on a bench in the inner harbor to watch the float planes take off and land, or do some art. It CAN be done. Even if you think you don’t have the time. Find the time. Often times the reason I am not posting is because I have too much on my plate, and I am taking some much needed down time.

Like many other chronic conditions, allergies and asthma can add a significant time commitment to your already filled schedule. Reading all the food labels at the grocery store; on cosmetics, beauty or cleaning products, can take a fair bit of time, depending on the allergies you have. When I am looking for new products to use, whether it be; shampoo, conditioner, make-up or other soaps, I need to plan for a good hour or two for label reading, going to different stores if needed, and often, calling manufacturers. My most recent challenge has been to find a new shampoo as I have been getting hives from the one I used for years. It is becoming quite the search… A week later I am still looking.

This can often add more anxiety to our lives. Too much anxiety is not good. What do you do to wind down, relax, take a break? Who helps you to let loose and take some time where you are not thinking about the million things you have to get done?

New recipes to be added soon!

Recipe Book

I will be adding some more recipes soon and am wondering what types of recipes you are all interested. I try to keep them the simplest a possible, so anyone can make them. :)

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Hopefully you have a little sun wherever you may be. Our weekend here in Victoria, BC is looking wet and grey… Perfect weekend for some website work and to build the french site which will be very similar to this one. Stay tuned, and please share any topic, or recipe suggestions you may have. The more the merrier.

Allergy friendly lip gloss

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Have you ever tried to find lip gloss that doesn’t contain soy, almonds, other nut oils or castor oil? If you haven’t had to yet, good luck! Unless you are looking at a health food store or special pharmacy, they are fairly tricky to find. Safe ones I mean. I’ve been fortunate to find many different brands out here on the west coast. Most of them have a shea butter as the main ingredient. I have been using Shea Lips which is a Canadian Company, for the last few years.  I recently tried the ones in the above picture and LOVED the products! They have jojoba, avocado and hemp oil in them, and the combination really helps dry lips! I HIGHLY recommend Dr.Bronner’s lip balm and the Shea Lips brand as well. Both are absolutely terrific and organic. What more could one ask for? :)

What is your favorite allergy friendly brand of lip gloss or chap stick?

A homemade $25 HEPA filter!

HEPA Filter

If you have environmental allergies, you will want to make sure your home is a safe place. Minimizing the triggers in your home is of utmost importance, and it is harder to minimize triggers in an office or in public transit. Having a controlled home environment means that you can come home at the end of the day, to a safe place. Where your body gets some down time and is not exposed to as many triggers. Air purifiers are very good at cleaning the air in your home from those smaller particles that could be triggering you.

HEPA filters can be expensive. They usually range between $100.00 and $800.00 and in some cases, for larger houses, you may need two.

The University of Michigan Health System has come up with a short, informative video that demonstrates how you can make your own homemade filtration unit for approximately $25. I fully intend on making one myself to see how it works!
Click here to view their video…

Another post I have written on dust allergies can be found here:
Dust here, there and everywhere

Cosmetics and perfumes… Quite the concoction

Yesterday’s post was about shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Today I thought I would chime in on all the possible triggers one can find in cosmetics and perfumes…

Now I’m not that fond of cosmetics, nor am I one to use perfume much, because most are just filled with preservatives and other allergens one could not even imagine finding in cosmetics. Some cosmetics use refined tree nut and peanut oils!! Isn’t that a little worrisome?

The only perfume I ever use are the natural ones, by Pacifica Perfumes.

Pacifica skin care is made without: Animal testing, phthalates, parabens, sulfates, propylene glycol, benzene, GMOs, mineral oil, peanut oil, and triclosan (and other ingredients you do not want!)” - http://www.pacificaperfume.com/our-products

When it comes to mascara, I have recently discovered Earthlab Cosmetics Raw Mascara which has no parabens or other preservatives and natural ingredients. http://www.earthlabcosmetics.com/StoreFront.bok

Raw Mascara     IMG_0579

The ingredients are things you will recognize or at least have heard of. Not some crazy long chemical names and other allergens!

What are your thoughts?

 

An Asthma game you do not want to miss!

Quest for the Code

My friend recently discovered a terrific game from the starlight children’s foundation! This fun, engaging and educational game is free. Even at 24 yrs I had fun playing! :) It reminds me of the Magic School bus.

Have your kids play and learn about triggers, warning signs and symptoms, proper use of asthma medication devices, peak flow monitoring and other info.

“The game combines asthma education with rich graphics, an engaging storyline and the talent of eleven top celebrities to help young people learn how to manage their asthma.”
www.starlight.org/asthma/

This is exactly what we need more of!

Do you know of any others out there?

Teen dating with food allergies

“I think the big things for adolescents are really around dating with food allergies”

Interview around dating for teens by Lynn Desjardins from Radio Canada International. Be sure to listen to the recorded interview at the bottom of the page! :)

Kissing with Allergies - RCI