Minimalist Body Care

Whoo hoo-Down a total of seven pounds since the first of the year. A season of The Biggest Loser is on right now,where in the first weeks, each contestant is losing usually a minimum of seven pounds in a week, but I am quite happy in my progress. I've had some "girls power eating" moments, where cookies, chips, cheese dip, and diet coke make up the four food groups, but then I've been able to balance our that gluttony the next few days. Smaller portions, lots of water and tea, and trying to squeeze in moments of exercise where I can have been my strategies.  Nothing dramatic nothing restrictive. It will be a long haul to get to a healthy weight as according to the Body Mass Index Charts (BM), I have another 58 pounds to lose to be in normal range. I use the NIH calculator found here.

Since at a moderate, healthy, and hopefully achievable one-two pound weight loss a week it will take me until December to get there, i want to see  some more visible, and quick, tangible results to my focus on health this year. Not only have I let my weight go, I've also let my skincare routine really fall by the wayside. I've been trying to spend a touch more time each morning, but let's face it, I've been an in and out of the bathroom in under 10 minutes kind of gal my whole life, and it isn't going to change now. So change is going to have to happen in how and what I use with those 10 minutes, and giving myself perhaps one night a week an all out pamper. 

At the library the other day, I picked up a copy of a beautiful magazine called Willow and Sage. I think it comes out quarterly, but it is filled with ideas for make your own scrubs, lotions, and soaps. The pictures were gorgeous with fresh  herbs and small vials of essential oils laying next to gingham and burlap wrapped bars of soap, or vials of salt with jute twine and copper labels. The website even has a store where you can buy all the items you need to make your own. As lovely as all the items were, they were quite expensive, kind of defeating the purpose of trying to make your own products with simple ingredients. There were though many recipes on the pages with normal household ingredients and I gravitated to them. 

Not for breakfast today.

I've been perusing Pinterest boards looking for ideas for homemade face and body washes and scrubs. Just like in the kitchen, I've combined and matched ideas to my own supplies and preferences. This morning, after a very late night following a full day of chaperoning show choir, my body ached. My face also felt tired and weathered from being in and out of the cold. A simple body scrub with three parts oatmeal, blitzed quick in my coffee bean grinder, so I also got the essence of coffee and one part baking soda felt soothing on my skin in the shower this morning.  I used it on my face down to my feet. Later tonight, I'm going to mix an egg, some olive oil, and some honey together, and give my hair a deep condition, putting it up in a shower cap, while I lounge in a bathtub with salts and a dash of vanilla. I have a spoonful of the oatmeal blend left to put on my face and let sit as a mask while I soak. No Super Bowl party for me this year-just calm for myself. 

Any recommendations out there for your own routines?  Who else is trying to scrap chemical laden products in favor of simpler and more natural ingredients?  If anyone has found an idea for deodorant, I am all ears.