Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie

I love smoothie bowls. There are simply my favorite thing to eat when I just don't know what to eat. I also believe that they are not exclusive to breakfast. Have one for lunch or dinner. It's the better alternative to the "I'm just going to have a bowl of cereal for dinner" syndrome.

I do that a lot especially when #leohusband is out of town. Cooking for two is cool. Cooking for one is just not worth the effort sometimes.

Enter the smoothie bowl.

Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie

You can do this in a glass or bowl. I personally like the bowl because I add toppers like almonds because unless I'm chewing my body does not recognize that I've eaten.

This is Whole 30 and Paleo. It's also quick to make which is a bonus for my chronic pain warriors. If you want it vegan-friendly omit the bee pollen. Bee pollen is not considered safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Bee pollen also can cause a serious allergic reaction in some humans who ingest it.



Ingredients:
1 pear
1/2 fennel bulb
1 thin slice of fresh ginger, lengthwise
1 cup of packed down spinach
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1/2 c of unsweetened coconut water
2 dates chopped
1 T chia seeds
1/2 avocado
Big handful of ice

If drinking as a smoothie in a glass - 2T of nut butter or hemp seeds
If eating as a smoothie bowl - a handful of chopped nuts or seeds of choice

Optional:
1 T of bee pollen (if you have built up your tolerance) if not 1/8 t until you build up a tolerance over the next several weeks and months, note any reactions you may have - preferably in your bullet journal.

Make it!
Wash all produce.

Cut the pear in quarters and dispose of the core.

Cut the cucumber in half and peel the cucumber.

Remove the pits from the dates and chop finely.

Cut the avocado into quarters and add 1 quarter.

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass or bowl (top with chopped nuts if doing a smoothie bowl).

Viparita Karani for 15 minutes a Day

In yoga, the position called Viparita Karani, commonly known as the "legs up the wall" pose is so beneficial. I wrote about getting into this pose here.

This time I would like to get into the benefits.

Viparita Karani is actually quite the therapeutic pose. Since learning about my Adrenal Fatigue I upped my time in this pose from my usual 5 minutes to 15 minutes.

I combine this pose with 5 minutes of 4-7-8 breathing and my daily 10-minute Headspace meditation.

In order to receive the full therapeutic benefits of this pose, you really should also focus on deep breathing while in the pose.

Viparita Karani for 15 minutes a Day

1. Circulation

Your body has to work really hard to pump all the blood from your legs back to your heart. In legs up the wall, your legs are higher than your heart so it allows gravity to help bring the blood flow back to your heart. The increased circulation decreases inflammation as well as swelling in the feet and legs.

4. Relieves Muscle Tension

Raising your legs is one of the best ways to get rid of tension in your legs, feet, hips, and lower back. It gently stretches the hamstrings which are usually tight, especially if you have been sitting all day.

2. Decreases Stress and Anxiety

You activate the parasympathetic nervous system and oxygenate your brain. When the muscle tension or pain eases and your deep breathing regulates and calms, you will find your stress decreases, and your body will have the chance to heal and repair.

3. Improves the Immune System

When your feet are in the vertical position the lymphatic system is stimulated. The movement of lymph removes the toxins in our body.

5. Improves Digestion

Putting your legs up is an exercise known as "active inversion." Changing your position, and raising your legs above your head helps to loosen fluids and move your bowels. The increased blood flow also helps absorb more nutrients from your food in the long run.

How to Make Iced Tea without an Iced Tea Maker

I was cruising the web yesterday because I was wanting to answer the age old question...could I set my coffee maker up to brew tea in the morning. Yes. I am ready for the switch to tea.

I am perfectly capable of turning on my electric kettle and pouring my cup of tea, but frankly, I was wanting that smell of the brew and also to set the timer on my coffee maker so it would be ready at 6:30 when Fluffy Alarm Clock wakes up.

I want my pre-breakfast treat immediately so to speak.

However, this post is not about making tea in a coffee maker, well sort of.

So can you make tea in a coffee maker? Yes.

What shocked me was the number of people who made iced tea in the coffee maker, so they didn't have to use their iced tea maker.

So I nearly died of laughter.

via GIPHY

I remember my amazing mother making fun of all the people who owned an iced tea maker growing up as she taught me to make iced tea.

I'm going to say this.

Maybe those people who had parents and grandparents were A. not southern and B. must have not been affected by The Great Depression the way other people's parents or grandparents were. Maybe they were just never taught to make iced tea and they think they need a machine?

Most things we've learned to make are usually passed down through the generations...

The article mentioned that you could boil a pot of water for iced tea but then you are having to clean more dishes.

Seriously!?!

People iced tea is not rocket science.

How to Make Iced Tea without an Iced Tea Maker

First, you need a pitcher. My mom has this amazing depression glass one that has been handed down through our family. Until I find one in an antique store, I use just a regular gallon sized pitcher.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Black Tea bags of your choice depending on how strong you like your tea. I usually go for 4.
1/4 cup of raw unfiltered honey (I do my sweet tea paleo style)

Supplies:
Tea Kettle or Electric Tea Kettle
Gallon Sized Pitcher
Clothespin or Clip

Make your iced tea:

1. Fill your kettle to the max or live on the edge and go a bit past the max line
2. Turn your kettle on
3. Clip the tea bags to the side of your pitcher
4. Drop in your honey to the bottom
5. Pour in the boiling water to below the tea bag line
6. Stir the honey in with the boiling water
7. Pour in the rest of the water - usually to the 2L line for me

8. Let the tea steep for 1 - 2 hours
9. Top off the tea with cold water until it reaches the 3L line.

Boom.

Iced Tea.

One dish used.

Store in the refrigerator it will keep for 1 week if it stays around that long.

Vitamin C The Superhero Supplement

I've always been a lover of Vitamin C. A long time ago in a lifetime far away I was an art teacher. Somewhere in the middle of my teaching career, I was doing my open house duties, meeting all the parents of my high schoolers, and I was sick.

I always got sick around the second week of school and I think I hosted open house with a terrible sore throat and congested more often than not.

One mom came up to me after my introduction and what your kid is going to learn in art this year, to tell me that she was an ER nurse and that if I feel a cold coming on...you know, the first tickle in your throat, to take a Vitamin C every hour and drink a gallon of water that day.

I've since added on a zinc lozenge to this routine, and let me tell you it works. It kicks the common cold in the ass and prevents my tendency to get a sinus infection, that gets treated but then turns into bronchitis.

However, I will say that if it is bacteria - like strep - this will not keep you from getting sick because bacterial infections need antibiotics, but viruses, on the other hand, it works like a champ.

And that is what we usually get right? Viruses?

However, what if Vitamin C did so much more?

Vitamin C The Superhero Supplement

If you have chronic pain, illness, or adrenal fatigue, Vitamin C is your powerhouse. It is the foundation you should be building your new health routine on.

Most people think that the best way to get their Vitamin C is through oranges or orange juice.

This is actually the least effective way to get Vitamin C. By the time ripened oranges get to your grocery store most of the bioflavonoids that give you the vitamins are depleted, and the part we eat - the delicious fruit part, has the least nutrients.

The best part to eat for actual nutrients is the rind and who the hell wants to eat that?

Most juicing processes do not use the rind either and if it does use it, then you are probably exposing your body to a host of chemicals that have been sprayed on the orange in the growing process.

So stop saying you are getting your Vitamin C from oranges and orange juice because you actually aren't.

You can get relatively good amounts of Vitamin C from dark leafy greens like Kale or sprouts, but if you have a chronic illness, pain, disease, or a highly stressful and erratic lifestyle, you need to take a supplement.

I'm taking about 3,000 U of Vitamin C a day. This is a good amount for me especially since I do suffer from several illnesses, take multiple medications, and I have adrenal fatigue. The max amount for an adult over 19 years of age is 2,000 units a day.

When you do take more than 2,000 units it should only be for a short time period. For instance, recovering from surgery, a night of zero sleep, heading off a cold, and other stressful situations like moving or grief.

When you get ready to back down to your normal dose decrease by 500 units a day. You can have an adverse reaction if you go back to your normal dose overnight.

Also, check to see where your supplement is getting its ascorbic acid. Some companies use ascorbic acid from corn products, which can be counterintuitive if you are avoiding corn.

Easy Charcoal Grilling Guide

BBQ grills are leaving the stores and so is the patio furniture and bug spray.

While is starting to cool off in parts of the US, it is hotter than Hades in Texas.

It's blazing hot, so we don't spend much time outside let alone grilling over a hot flame. Here we love to grill in the fall and spring. Heck, we've even grilled out in February.

For Valentines, #leohusband went to our local H-E-B butcher and asked him for the best steak they had. He came back with a 42oz tomahawk steak.

Once home #leohusband swallowed his manly pride and ask me to help him grill it.

Check out my Paleo and Whole30 Steak Marinade post for my seasoning.

If I'm doing super strict Whole30 I will finish it with lemon juice but it was a treat day so we used Wostershire sauce. Since the steak was so thick, 2 and a half inches, we came back and did another pass of the dry rub.

Easy Charcoal Grilling Guide
Grilling is easy and I really want more women to embrace it, but as I was talking to a friend, they insisted that their husband grilling is sometimes the only break they get in the kitchen.

I get it.

However, let's say your significant other is out of town for some reason and you just have this hankering for steak.

Well, here you go...

Curried Mixed Nuts

Treat yo self Thursday coming at ya with Curried Mixed Nuts, Paleo and Whole30 Compliant!

This is one of my all time favorite treats. It's spicy and salty which are two favorite combinations. It's Paleo and Whole30, which while I'm on those I get really tired of just plain, old, and boring mixed nuts.

Feel free to alter the spice level through minimizing the cayenne pepper. If you like it hot - add more, not so hot add less. I would say my recipe is a good medium level hotness.

Preheat your oven to 250

Cover a large baking sheet with non-stick foil or parchment.

Ingredients
2 egg whites beaten until frothy and foamy
1 large tub or can of plain, unsalted, and unroasted nuts
2 T Cumin
2 T Curry
1 t Cardamom
1/2 t Cinnamon
1 and 1/4 t Cayenne
2 and 1/2 t Garlic Salt

Dump the nuts into a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir all the spices together until evenly mixed. In another small bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy and foamy.

Coat the nuts with the egg whites and stir well. Pour half the spices over the nuts and stir well to incorporate. Pour the rest of the spices over the nuts, stir again and dump onto the baking sheet. Spread evenly over the sheet.

Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for 1 hour. Break the clusters apart and store in an airtight container.

Does Heat Make Pain Worse?

It's August and so far I've had horrible pain flares once a week for 6 weeks now. I actually have been doing pretty great on my healthy eating protocol and keeping up with my yoga and physical therapy. I'm taking all my supplements, aside from Fluffy Alarm Clock almost died two weeks ago, I've been doing all the things I need to do to not be in pain.

So what gives?

This is why I keep a bullet journal and why it's so damn important if you have a chronic condition to keep one.

Does Heat Make Pain Worse?

Yes.

I looked at my bullet journal from July and August 2017 and guess what? Huge Pain Flares.

One would infere or assume (hope I don't make an ass out of you and me) from my data collected in my bullet journals that as the summer heat increases, so does my pain, exponentually.

Here is this August so far.

Towards the end of July as the heat increased in Texas so did my pain.

Apparently, July - August will probably be my worst months every year. I can't wait for next year's (that sounds weird since we're talking about my pain levels) bullet journal as I will have even more data to have on hand.

If you are shy about getting started in a bullet journal or think you need a ton of supplies check out these posts, here and here.

How to Give Up Coffee

As I've mentioned here and here, I've given up coffee before.

Why am I giving up such delicious nectar from the gods?

Well, my thirty day hormone test results came in and I have severe adrenal fatigue. Which is good because in August of 2017 I had Adrenal Failure. My cortisol was at zero, meaning my adrenal glands were completely depleted.

Adrenal Failure if not given proper medical attention can lead to organ death...in other words, it can kill you.

So most of 2017 and 2018 has been to get out of Adrenal Failure, which I have achieved, but I still have a long way to go because I'm now in severe adrenal fatigue.

Like all things in my life I immediately started researching.

This led me to two different paths.

I already did yoga and meditation which are key in dealing with adrenal fatigue. I knew I was going to treat this with diet changes because my mantra is food is medicine, but which diet?

The so-called adrenal fatigue diet, which has a lot of criticism based on some of the food recommendations or the anti-inflammatory diet which doesn't address key issues of adrenal fatigue?

Either way, both diets suggest giving up coffee because elevated cortisol is indicative of inflammation and adrenal fatigue.

How to Give Up Coffee

I don't want to give up coffee. Talking with my #breadwinnerbff this morning we discussed that the ritual of coffee, the smell, and the richness. You just don't get that richness from tea. You just don't.

Therefore after my adrenals heal, I will probably go back to coffee. Maybe.

When I gave up coffee in my 20's it was easy, I just switched to green tea and that was it. Easy peasy.

In my late 30's (I'm a year and a half away from 40) it's damn near impossible. I'm treating giving up coffee like a Whole30. I'm planning it out and stepping myself down slowly.

1. Pick a Good Date to Start

Just like a Whole30, where they advise you to pick a time when you are not traveling or have a special event - like a birthday or wedding where you would want to eat cake - I started my journey on August 15. I don't have anything special planned for the next month. I'm not going on any trips. I don't have any commitments beyond physical therapy and yoga.

2. Step Down Slowly

There have to be thousand of caffeine charts out there that show you the caffeine content of each drink, I know because I spent a good hour looking at them.

In summation of my research, if you drink a Starbucks Tall Coffee, you may have a problem. It has the most caffeine out of any coffee product on the market weighing in at an average of 260-300 mg per 12 oz cup. Comparatively, Dunkin Donuts (in store) has an average of 150-200 mg per 12 oz cup.

Home brewed espresso at 1.5 oz has 50-80.

Decaf coffee actually has 4-8 mg per cup.

Why ranges? Well, it really depends on how much coffee you use. I like weak coffee, according to #leohusband, so I do 1 Tablespoon for 16oz. This is because I drink it black. Most people who add cream to their coffee like it much stronger so they still have the coffee taste. #leohusband's family would do 2 Tablespoons to my 1 Tablespoon, or 1 Tablespoon for every 8 oz.

via GIPHY

So obviously it would have more caffeine...

Step down the amount of coffee you are brewing, and if you are using a K-Cup, stop.

A. Heating up plastic alters your body chemistry and hormones.
B. Heating up plastic has shown to create or accelerate abnormal cell growth which leads to cancer.
C. Molds and fungus have been found in the holding water tanks.
D. K-Cups are extremely bad for the environment.
E. It's expensive.
F. K-Cups taste like s---

Need I go on.

3. Make the Switch to Tea

After stepping down the amount you are brewing, start mixing in a little decaf.

This was my first step. My scoop is 1 tsp or 5 ml of coffee grounds. So for my '4' cups of coffee that is three scoops. 2 of those scoops are regular and 1 is decaf for this week. Next week 2 scoops of decaf to 1 regular will be next week. My step down day is Saturday because I don't have die-hard commitments on the weekend so it's easier on me.

The half-life of caffeine is about 4.9 hours so at about 10 hours it's technically out of your system.

Once you are down to 2 decaf scoops and 1 regular scoop for about a week, make the switch to black tea.

4. Step down your caffeine intake to Green, White, or Herbal Teas.

You need to decide where you want your caffeine intake to be. Green tea has less caffeine than black tea, white teas have even less, and herbal teas have none. This is where I recommend you treat yo self. If you love a tea - for instance, I love, love, love Numi's Organic White Rose Tea, it feels indulgent with the rose smell and the taste is delicious.

Side note - I love the smell of coffee so I need to replace it with something equally as aromatic.

It's a little expensive but I see it as worth it to stay track on my goals. It won't be forever and if it helps me from falling off the wagon back to my coffee, I can spend a few extra dollars.

5. Make a New Ritual

I'm so happy to be receiving a teapot in my fall Fab Fit Fun Box. This is going to make the transition so much easier. I do love the ritual of making coffee, and I'm going to replace that with using a beautiful teapot. I suggest getting something that gives you joy to use or maybe you have a family heirloom that needs to be dusted off and appreciated. Marie Kondo would be proud.

Quick Paleo Pickles

Lately, I’ve been really into pickled vegetables. Did you know that you can pickle just about anything?

Yesterday, I did a quick pickle of radishes in zucchini to go with my salmon burger.

All you need to make a quick pickling solution you probably already have at home.

There are two ways to go about pickling. 

If you want to infuse herbs then you want the heat method (described below) or if you want them immediately - which I did with my meal - then thinly slice your veggies and dump them into a bowl with a mixture of 1/2 c of raw apple cider vinegar and 1-2 tsp of honey.  

Stir about every 2-3 minutes for approximately 10 minutes. 

Boom, quick pickled veggies.

For infusing herbs, and you've got time as in, overnight kind of time, check out my pickle brine below.

Ingredients:

Veggies

Variety of Herbs and Spices to Taste (dill, garlic, hot peppers, or plain)

3 t of Himalayan Salt

Apple Cider Vinegar

Raw Honey

Water

16 oz Mason Jar

Sanitize your Mason Jar by washing the jar and lid in hot soapy water. Rinse well and dry completely. You could also wash them in the dishwasher if you have a sanitize cycle. 

Combine your choice of chopped veggie with herbs and or spices if you want in the Mason jar, leaving 1-2 inches at the top for the brine.

Heat ½ cup of filtered water over low heat until boiling, then stir in ½ cup of apple cider vinegar, salt, and a little raw honey, maybe about a tsp. 

The hot brine infuses the spices and creates that tender crunch you get with pickling. Secure the lid, and cool at room temperature before refrigerating. Let the veggies refrigerate for at least 24 hours before enjoying.

Soft Boiled Eggs

When I’m tired or I have a long week ahead of me, I always turn to soft boiled eggs.

It’s so simple to grab my smallest saucepan, fill it with water, and set it on the stove. Turn the burner on high and get an ice bath ready while the water comes to a boil.

In next to no time the water is at a rolling boil and I’m slipping the eggs in, setting a timer for 6 minutes, and relaxing on the couch while my breakfast cooks.

When the timer is done, I scoop the eggs off with a slotted spoon into the ice bath and then begin peeling the shells off the eggs.

Sometimes I pair it with leftover meat from the night before or today I had it with one of my sweet potato muffins.

Coffee is it Good for You or Bad? Part 2 of Adrenal Fatigue

So health watch, coffee is it good for you? Is it bad for you?

I talked last week about my 30 Day Hormone Test Results and my Elevated Cortisol with 4 Foods to Avoid for Elevated Cortisol based on preliminary internet research.

Well I now have my Adrenal Fatigue book in so let us dive in and really look at a hot-button topic: Coffee

Coffee does have good health benefits. It has antioxidants. It can protect your liver reduces your risk of liver cancer. In a recent Harvard health study, it also lowered the risk of suicide and depression. Seriously though???

Coffee is it Good for You or Bad? Part 2 of Adrenal Fatigue

I'm going to cut through the bull honkey (Super Southern I Know) and just come right out and say it.

If you are a completely normal person with normal everyday problems and stresses...

IE: getting your kids on to the bus with lunch, preparing for the presentation you're giving at work, fitting in a quick workout, and cooking a meal or purchasing one on your way home from work, your significant other and you have the usual stress of cohabitating but nothing that is relationship ending, or maybe you're wondering if you are ever going to get married (speaking from past experience here).

You are normal.

There are a lot of people out there like you. You don't really suffer from pain, except for maybe that sprained ankle you got on your morning jog or a headache every now and then. Maybe your shoulders are a little tight, but nothing a good one hour massage can't help. You are in decent shape and eat relatively healthy or maybe not all the time because you've never lost your awesome metabolism. You have an occasional or the rare head cold, but that's it.

You maybe have dealt with the death of your grandparents but your parents are still alive and kicking, even if they are divorced or were never married in the first place.

You have a job that pays the bills, maybe you're not keeping up with the Jones's but you are doing ok for you or your family.

You've never honestly experienced a great tragedy even though that super painful breakup a few years back felt like one.

You may feel mired in stress but you don't stay in the valley for long, you get breaks in between stressful times.

Coffee is good for you. Drink it but don't go overboard and get the Marble Mocha Macchiato at Starbucks. This is a hidden menu item and I do suggest getting it at least once in your life...for a special occasion.

However, if you have experienced real actual gut-wrenching tragedy, grief, or severe illness, you might want to stay away from coffee (or switch to decaf for a while).

If you experience multiple painful chronic conditions or illness, you might want to stay away from coffee.

If you have had one stressful situation after another in a snowball effect that has gone on for a year or more.

IE: financial difficulty making ends meet, job loss, surgery, extensive dental work, hospitalization, moving, bronchitis or pneumonia, miscarriage, changing jobs (even if it's a better job), death, car accident, injuries, short incidences of severe - sharp pain, long-term chronic pain and debilitating conditions or diseases, unpleasant side effects to prescription medications, separation or divorce, abuse and trauma, etc.

Guess what? Any of the above issues can lead to Adrenal Fatigue and the more incidences you have the greater your risk for end-stage Adrenal Failure which is life-threatening.

On a scale of:
0 for Rarely or Never
1 for Occasionally or Mild
2 for Often or Moderately Intense
3 for Always or Severely Intense

Answer the following questions and be as pragmatic as possible

1. I suffer from Anorexia or Bulimia
2. I am chronically fatigued, a tiredness that is not relieved by one or two good nights of sleep.
3. I sometimes feel week all over
4. I have decreased tolerance for cold.
5. I have low blood pressure
6. I have times of nausea or vomiting for no apparent reason.

If you scored 12 or higher on the above six questions and answer yes to more than two of the next few questions you need to get checked for Addison's Disease immediately by your doctor. I would highly suggest getting the book Adrenal Fatigue by Dr. James L. Wilson.

The following areas on the body have become bluish or black in color:
1. Inside of lips or mouth
2. Around nipples
3. For women only: Vagina
4. I have frequent unexplained diarrhea
5. I have increases of darkening around the bony areas, at folds in my skin, scars and the creases in my joints
6. I have light colored patches on my skin where the skin has lost its usual color.
7. I easily become dehydrated
8. I have fainting spells

So coffee?

If you have adrenal fatigue coffee is not going to be good for you. You need to get your body, adrenals, and hormones back in order before you decide to reintroduce coffee or at least decaf.

Coffee actually has cortisol in it which will throw off your already stressed adrenals even more. The caffeine also raises your cortisol higher in conjunction with the natural cortisol in coffee. It is simply not good for you.

That said, going off coffee is hard. I've done it several times in my lifetime and I always have to have something to replace it in the morning. For a while it was green tea, then it was white tea, but I always picked up coffee again.

Well, it is delicious and I do love the taste and its ritual.

I even tried to give up coffee a week or two ago. I made it three days and then I was like nope, I'm not even functioning without it and I have an event coming up that I need to prepare for.

So just like a Whole30, I'm going to treat my coffee detox with picking the right time to do it. August 15 sounds like a good day. I don't have anything pressing on my schedule for the rest of the month provided nothing weird happens. I'm also going to prepare by doing black tea for a week, then green tea for a week, to work my way down to white tea.

When fall hits I'm going to live for some yummy hot drinks like the Paleo Sachlav I just discovered as well as more yummy treats.

So coffee is it good for you or bad?

It is good for some people but not for others. It all depends on your overall health.

Paleo Sachlav

So it's Wednesday night and I wanted something warm and as satisfying as coffee.

I literally Googled "hot drinks as satisfying as coffee."

I found this awesome article about Sachlav: The Hot Chocolate of the Middle East

I really suggest reading the original article by Devra Ferst simply because I found it fascinating.

Basically, a Sachlav is a hot, thick milk drink getting its name for orchid tubers called sahlab in Arabic. The orchid tubers is a thickening agent. Every country prepares it differently, some add orange blossoms or even rose water, which I suggest the later. A. It smelled amazing and B. The rose water was so soothing especially right before bed. Some places add toppers, some don't.

Apparently, the traditional method of using the orchid tubers is not really used anymore because of the scarcity and the expense and they have been replaced with other thickening agents.

The recipe listed in the article wasn't anywhere near Paleo compliant so I got creative with the listed ingredients and went to town.

Paleo Sachlav
3 C Unsweetened Coconut Milk (I used So Delicious because it is what I had on hand, but honestly, if you really want to indulge yourself, use a full-fat unsweetened coconut milk.)
2 T Raw Unfiltered Honey
2 t Organic Paleo Compliant Vanilla Extract
2 T Arrowroot Powder
½ t Organic Rose Water (This is easily found on Amazon if you don't have it on hand. I spray my face daily with rose water so this was simple for me - I'll research the orange blossom one though for future use)
1/8 t of Pink Himalayan Salt

I topped mine with cinnamon and pistachios. I also suggest:

Fresh Grated Ginger
Cacao Powder
Orange Zest
Dried Chopped Figs
Chopped Dates
Dried Chopped Cherries
Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

or if this is a party for winter or welcoming fall (I can't freaking wait) you could have little bowls out where guests could choose their own garnishes.

Make it!!

1. Simmer coconut milk, honey, vanilla, arrowroot, rose water, and Himalayan salt in a small saucepan over low heat, whisking constantly until hot and thickened, 3 minutes.

2. Serve in mugs and garnish!

Serves 2

It was pretty delicious even with the boxed, watery coconut milk. Since it's summer I thought this was fine but I could totally see using full fat in the winter when you need that extra boost. Hopefully by then I will have located some orange blossoms!

Stickee Bra Unbiased Review

I’m always on the lookout for products that are going to make my life easier. Especially now since I’ve had such a problem with my left shoulder. The shoulder impingement, bursitis, and rotator cuff tendinitis has really made wearing a bra hard.

So I cruised around the web looking for ideas to get away with wearing a bra comfortably. Now I know what some of you were thinking, just go without one!?!

I know there’s a lot of information out there about wearing a bra destroys your breast tissue and then your boobs can’t hold up anymore so don’t wear a bra. I think that if you look at other cultures that don’t wear bras. And you see pictures of these cultures....that is completely untrue. I think you know what I mean here.

You get older and you have less human growth hormone, less estrogen and progesterone, and less collagen production. There I said it, boom.

You want to know why breasts sag as you get older. It's caused menopause.

So back to my bra buying experience, all over the web on Facebook, Instagram, etc. you see these ads for the Stickee Bra. There are also several knock-offs on Amazon that you can get as well.
So I first tried the knockoff pictured above from Amazon, it wasn’t the official Stickee Bra brand but used the same bio gel, had the same shape, and had the same reviews and claims on the website.

This year I actually took the initiative to figure out what my actual bra size was, based on one of my good friend's reviews of Third Love. She tested them out and worked with them to find her size so I thought, hey, I should do the same because I definitely know I’ve not been wearing the right bra for probably most of my life.

I’ve always worn a 34C, but after doing their quiz and taking my measurements it turns out that I’m actually a 32E.

That’s a huge difference and after wearing the correct bra size for about four months now, I definitely notice it. However, that’s not helping my shoulder problems.

Stickee Bra Unbiased Review
Back to the StickeeBra, so I purchased a knockoff from Amazon and based on their size chart I got the D size.

So it didn’t fit, and it definitely didn’t work. It peeled right off my skin it wouldn’t stay in place even with the directions of washing your body and patting it dry, it just would not stay adhered to my skin. Luckily, I could return it to Amazon. So I DID WASH IT and then returned it.

I thought maybe I needed to try the real thing, that there might have been some proprietary element in the bio-gel that made a difference in fit.

So to the official Stickee Bra website...in the size chart for a 32E I needed a DD, which was different than the knock-off chart so I went with that.

It came in - paid for shipping in addition to the price of the bra - so my total was $45.00.

It peeled off my skin just like the fake one.

Argh.

Back to the website only to find they don’t have a return policy. I could have kicked myself because I almost always check to make sure and the one damn time I didn't...I messaged them on Facebook Messenger and told them of my 'sticky' problem.

Pun intended.

I will state that they did work with me to send me an exchange for free. After trying a DD and a D, I went with a C thinking this has to work/fit.

I also looked up ‘Stickee Bra Hacks’ and saw two suggestions.

1. Wash your skin and then use rubbing alcohol to fully remove any oil that may conflict with the adhesive.

2. Heat the bio gel up with a hairdryer.

I tried both with the new C bra and at first, I was super excited, IT STAYED!

I put my shirt on went into the kitchen to make breakfast and boom, it peeled off within 10 minutes of wearing it.

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So with all these *cough* great reviews about the Stickee Bra why the (insert adult word here) is it not working.

I know there are different breast shapes...Third Love has nice descriptions like athletic, relaxed, bell, east-west, and round just to name a few.

I think the success of Stickee Bra has to depend on your breast shape. I’m also wondering if age plays into this as well as skin type. I’m fair and have dry skin.

Anyway, I would say that if you want to give it a go, get one you can return from Amazon. I’m still pissed about my $45.00. It would have been more interesting to go somewhere and just make it rain.

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