Real Health Revolution Radio Show

Real Health Revolution.  It is a podcast radio show recorded via blogtalk radio.   The show begins at 8pm pacific/11pm eastern time.

It will be broadcast live, and anyone can listen.  Those who sign up for blogtalk radio as members will be able to participate in the chat room if desired.  There will also be a number for listeners to call in, although I may not have the time to actually take calls tonight.


Segments will include Reiki, various types of natural, healthy exercise, gemstone therapy, natural ways to alleviate depression, health news, etc.  For now, the show will be only 30 minutes long, so be sure to get to the show page early.  The reason is that it costs $40 a month to upgrade to a longer show.   With a large family, that's a big chunk for me.  So I do hope to increase to at least a one hour show, but that will have to wait until I know that there is enough demand for the show.  Until then, I will try to schedule two shows a week.  Episode two is scheduled for this Friday, October 29th, in the same time slot.


If you like Real Health Revolution and want to hear longer episodes, you can help by spreading the word.  You can even grab a link from blogtalk radio to put a BTR player into your sidebar that plays my show episodes.  Blog about it, tweet about it, mention it on facebook and other social networking sites, link to the show page and the Real Health Revolution blog, to this blog, and to my Reiki website, ReikiRenew.com.  There are also really great links in the sidebar of this blog for really great products, which I receive a small kickback on if you click and buy them, so that's another way to help support the podcast. The more revenue I can get, the better information and services I provide (as of this writing I've made nothing, but invested quite a bit of time between all my websites and prepping for the podcast).  I plan to start how-to videos on YouTube in the future, as well.

Also, if you miss the show, blogtalk keeps archives of old shows, which I've heard are usually available within a few minutes of the show ending, and at some point they are uploaded to iTunes as well.  There is a link to subscribe to the iTunes podcasts on the show page.

 Please visit the RHR blog.  Feel free to leave comments about the show, and if you have any questions, comments, or topics you'd like to suggest, please contact me at simplyZZZnaturalhomestead@gmailZZZ.com.  (Copy and paste the email address into your address bar, then delete the ZZZ's and hit enter.)

Toxins in Toys and Safe Alternatives

Unless you've been living under a rock (or tv-less like me, lol) you've probably heard the growing controversy over the last couple of years over lead, phthalates, BPA, etc. in toys and other products.

It makes me really angry that the government wants to regulate the heck out of thrift stores and second hand children's stores (thereby putting them out of business) over the lead issue, and yet major companies just somehow are accidentally letting lead-filled toys slip into this company.

These money-grubbing, child-endangering bastards need to be taught a lesson...and if the government won't do it, then we need to.  How?  Hit them where it hurts--their wallets!

Stop buying plastic crap for your kids.  (And if you just have to, buy it used.  That's right, used.)  I know, natural toys cost an arm and a leg.  But here's something I'm coming to find out...buying your child one or two expensive but well-made toys is more rewarding than buying her a bunch of plastic junk.  Here's why...

1.  It doesn't break a week later.  I have six children, and they can be hard on toys.  Doll beds and carriages--aren't they made to hold five-year-olds?  No?  My children don't seem to get that.  I've given up buying plastic doll strollers that break.  I'm saving up for a really good one.

2.  Children seem to appreciate the quality.  Really, they do.  I think they can sense when a toy is made well and looks good.  I bought Penelope Peapod dolls, and worried that they'd tear up the basket cradles.  Nope, still going strong.  They're reasonably careful with them, and treat them as they deserve (sort of).  Of course, I also made sure to tell my girls that they are expensive toys, and that they're special and  need to be taken care of if they want more of them. ;-)

3.  With fewer toys, children appreciate them more.  One Christmas we gave our children quite a few toys.  Then relatives gave them more.  It was a present-opening fiasco.  They just wanted to play with one or two items, but we had to make them keep opening, and they just got crankier and crankier from over-stimulation.  Most of the toys were forgotten right away, in favor of the one or two favorites.  What a waste of money.  Fast-forward to another Christmas: one quality toy given to each, plus two toys from relatives, for a total of three toys per child.  Best Christmas ever. Calm, peaceful, and the children loved their toys.

4.  Less worry over toxins.  If you choose your toys carefully, they are safer for your children, and you can feel good about them playing with them.  With the plastic toys we still have, I am forever telling them "get that out of your mouth!"  I need to ditch them.  (By the way, does anyone know if the Schleich animals are safe?)

5.  Less clutter from cheap, broken, unused toys.  We have tons of toys in boxes, half of which are broken, missing pieces, or rarely used. With Christmas and six birthdays every year, it's an exponentially increasing clutterific nightmare!  Now we're paring back, giving only a few, good-quality toys for presents, and slowly crawling out of the clutter.

I hope this gives you some food for thought, as Christmas approaches.  You can avoid the traditional binge of consumerism, while still giving gifts to your family, by choosing fewer, high-quality, natural toys.   

Send a message to greedy conglomerates that we will NOT stand for them poisoning our children to make a fast buck!

"Voting" with our dollars by buying safe toys is the most important way to make sure that in the future, more safe toys are available.

Future posts will tackle toys and toy companies that put your child's safety first. My goal is to post reviews of good, natural toys, but that will have to wait until my budget permits me to buy more toys.  I only have a few good toys so far, and I may be able to review those...if I can find the clothes that have been torn off the dolls.  ;-)

 Below are a few fun toys that are healthy alternatives for your child.  As a former teacher, I can heartily recommend natural wood blocks, but I recommend that you consider getting two or three sets, particularly if you have multiple children.  The more blocks, the higher you can build!  But you can get by with just 100 blocks (and that's a good price for that many.) 

Food Inc. Review

Oh. My. Gosh.

If you haven't seen Food, Inc., you need to buy it, rent it, borrow it, whatever it takes.  I'd heard sooooo many people say how good and how important this documentary is, but I just couldn't justify the $25 to buy it.

I was an idiot.

Seriously, this will change the way you look at food and at your family's health.  I was already into eating healthy.  And I'm pretty well-informed about the food industry.  However, they put it into such a neat little package, that I think it's really easy for anyone to follow and really "get it."

They condensed an amazing amount of information into it, and kept it interesting.  And I have to say that I'm impressed with the quality of the graphics they used, particularly with the opening credits.  It's not a blockbuster or anything, but I felt the quality of it was a step above the typical documentary.

One thing that will really impact you is how our food industry treats animals and the planet.  I do not consider myself an environmentalist or animal activist by any means, but I do believe that God gave us the animals and the planet to sustain us, but with that sustenance comes responsibility.  Plus, to be frank, you just don't poop in your nest.  Meaning that if we want the animals and plants to sustain us, we need to sustain them.

Don't worry, there aren't any overly graphic scenes, a la PETA undercover videos.  The producers did an excellent job of walking the fine line between lifting the veil on the inhumane treatment these animals get, without going to the extremes of grossing people out and making them tune out.  It was just sad, really.  My heart ached for those poor creatures.  And the workers aren't treated much better. 

For me, it was really an eye opener, because I've gotten really lazy with my eating lately. One thing I've learned is that the healthier you eat (at least in my case), the harder you fall "off the wagon".  Then it becomes REALLY hard to get back on.  This movie was just the push I needed, to remind me how bad the SAD (Standard American Diet) way of eating is.  It's not really food, people.  It's chemically processed fake crap that will kill you.

Which explains why I've felt so cruddy lately.  Which I already knew.  But the film really brought it home for me.  I'm spending the next few days coming up with an affordable meal plan.  I am the absolute worst meal planner in the history of mankind.  Which means I spend too much on stuff I want (but don't need) and forget to buy what I do need...leading to waste.  Not to mention the convenience foods I eat when I'm not eating healthy.

So I will be doing a series of posts about eating healthy, what we can do to change the system, frugal recipes and menu plans, as well as addressing common complaints about why we think we "can't" eat healthy.

Please leave a comment with your suggestion of what your own complaints or challenges are to eating organic, local food, and I'll try to address them and/or come up with solutions. I'm also considering doing a one-time linky party for cheap, easy organic recipes.  Let me know if you'd be interested in that.

In the meantime, buy this movie!  Or at least rent it.  I rented it, but it's so important that I feel I really need to buy it now, to be able to watch it on occasion when I need a kick in the pants!

Borders and Barnes and Noble stores usually carry it, and I think Netflix does.  I also believe you can rent it off of iTunes.

Please Note:  One of the links below is a regular DVD, one is a BLU-RAY, and one is the paperback book that followed the movie.  Be sure you're choosing the right one.
   

Antique Dining Set

Labor Day weekend I scored an entire antique dining set, including table, six chairs, buffet, and sideboard...for only $250!  What's the catch? Wellll...

The table is kinda in pieces.  Oh yeah, and the furniture is all water damaged, with the veneer warped and peeling off.

Still a deal?  You betcha!

The six chairs are very sturdy.  They could use some re-gluing as they are squeaky, but they can hold my weight--which is saying something!  Usually I see chairs like this for $40 a piece and up at yard sales, and they're falling apart.  The guy only wanted $300 for the chairs, and threw the rest in for free.  I talked him down to $250, and he threw in this chair...

and a wooden office chair on wheels (to be featured in an upcoming before/after post) for free.  Cool!

The guy is a furniture refinisher, and showed me how I could fix the veneer and refinish it.  He said he got it from an insurance company.  It had been damaged when the owners were away, and the sprinkler system in the house malfunctioned.  The owners kept the china hutch and the insurance company replaced the rest...and the refinisher bought it from them.  He's had it four years, and hasn't found the time to do it.  He had several projects he was selling.  He said it would be a $3000 set if he re-did it himself.  He and his wife were really nice...they loaded the set up for me (twice, it took two trips) and he gave me his phone number and said to call if I needed any advice.  People are so nice around here.

Now I'm no fool...I don't have his talent and experience.  It would take a lot of work and know-how to make this set really shine again by refinishing it.  But I'm not planning to...I'm going to paint it.  I'm starting with recovering and painting the chairs one by one this week (tutorial coming soon).  I think the pieces look worse than they are--the damage is all to the veneer.  So it's not as bad as it looks. It should be a real learning experience. I'm looking forward to it!

Here's the buffet (the sideboard is hiding  behind it)....

Here is the neato silverware insert for the buffet top drawer...

Be sure to sign up as a follower to receive updates on my crazy dining set experiment!  If I can do this (oh, I hope I can do this) SO CAN YOU!  ;-)

 

New Posts in the Works

   Fall is here!

 

Sorry for my blogging absence.  It's been sooo crazy.  We were spending tons of time looking for a new house to rent, packing our gazillions of possessions, and then moving.  We're all moved in, so look for some new posts very soon!

I still have to unpack, but I'm excited, because this house is nicer than most we've lived in.  Others have been bigger, with more potential, but this one already has painted walls (yes, other than "builder white")!  And though, as a renter, I'll be limited to what I can do, I have great plans.

I'll be transforming some old furniture and repurposing things, all on a very tight budget, so look forward to some really neat low-budget re-dos.  I just scored a water-damaged antique dining set for $250, and I plan to post pictures of my progress with it.  If I can find my camera usb cord, I'll post "before" pictures today.

So sign up as a follower to be updated on my latest achievements!

The Depression Series, Part 1: Why Are We So Depressed?

I am starting a new series of posts, focusing on depression.  It has literally become an epidemic in America, and is rapidly spreading across the globe.  The posts will cover the causes of depression, natural remedies, the dangers of anti-depressants, and more.

Why are so many Americans suffering from depression today?  What is so different about our society that almost 10% of our adult population are depressed? 

Some may say that our society is more accepting of someone seeking treatment, so fewer people are hiding their struggles.  But is that true?  Studies show that 41% of depressed women are too embarrassed to seek help.  80% of depressed people are going "untreated".  92% of African American males do not seek treatment.

But the problem doesn't end there. 

The rate of increase of depression among preschoolers is 23%!  Preschoolers?  Do you remember being depressed before you even got into kindergarten?  I don't.  And none of the kids I knew seemed the least bit depressed.  Assuming a child had a "normal" life (i.e., isn't facing abuse, poverty, etc.) the most depressing thing that happened to the four-year-olds that I knew is that they didn't get the toy they wanted for Christmas, or they got a swat for their misdeeds, or their big brother broke something that belonged to them.  What is there for the average preschooler to be depressed about?

Yet the preschool population is the fastest-growing market for anti-depressants.  Over a million preschoolers (at least 4%) are considered to be clinically depressed.  What the heck is going on?

By 2020, depression is expected to be the leading cause of death after heart disease, and the studies show that depression is a contributing factor of heart-related deaths.

There are many theories as to the causes of depression.  Some point to genetics, or to environment, to a history of abuse, to traumatic events in a person's life.  These are all factors that could predispose a person to depression.  But not everyone who faces these obstacles will become depressed.  So why do some of us become depressed, and not others?

Are there other causes that are yet unknown, or are not yet accepted by the profit-driven depression industry?  And make no mistake, it is an industry.  Anti-depressant sales alone garnered almost $11 billion in 2008!  That doesn't even take into consideration the profits from hospitalization, therapy, treatment programs, and other products, which have questionable rates of effectiveness.

Why am I writing a whole series of posts on this subject?  Because not only am I disturbed by the increasing effects that depression is having on our country, but I am infuriated at how women's lives are being slowly destroyed not only by this affliction, but also by the very industry that purports to be helping them.  They have become the targets of greedy corporations and so-called "professionals", and now they have their financial cross-hairs fixed on our children.

It is time we put a stop to the madness, and take control of our own lives, and find real solutions to the problem, instead of expensive treatments that only make the problem worse, and create even more health problems.

All this and more will be discussed more in the upcoming installments, along with my own story.


Update:  As of 3/21/11, I still need to continue this series of posts, but in the meantime, I've used Carlson's Vitamin D drops, they help, and getting some exercise (the rebounder is easy, just start with five minutes--or go for a walk, it's cheaper) can help a LOT.  Also St. John's Wort is supposed to be very effective, but I keep forgetting to take it. But one of the best things you can do is eat more raw organic food, especially green smoothies (the more greens, the better).  Raw food works WONDERS!
  

Old Post # 11: Book Review: Living on Live Food

This post is the eleventh in a series of posts taken from one of my old blogs.  It is a review of a book I still own and use to this day.
 

Living on Live Foods - originally posted July 22, 2007

This week I finally found Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book at my local raw food restaurant.


This book has it all. Most raw books I've bought or seen are little more than recipe books with a couple of chapters of very basic information about the raw food diet in the beginning. Alissa's book has very good information about the science behind the diet (but in a concise, easy-to-read format), the hows and whys, the benefits, success stories, before and after pictures, and much more. Plus all the recipes, which look really good. I'm really enjoying reading this book.


There are two negatives to the book, however. First is it's price. At first, I didn't mind the $30 price tag because it is a very large, high quality book. The pictures are great, the pages are glossy, and the layout keeps the reader's attention. But after reading the book, I realized quickly that this book didn't NEED to be so big...which brings me to negative point number two: the size.


This book is HUGE. It is very heavy. I feel like I'm carrying around a dictionary. It doesn't make for easy transporting. The easiest way to read it is to lie it flat on a table, or possibly in your lap, if you don't mind the weight. Laying on your side in bed is impossible...it is forever sliding off the bed, or slipping out of your hands. I dropped it spine-first onto the side of my foot while sitting in bed--a six inch drop--and it HURT!! Really hurt!


Also, the words on each page are in narrow columns, with one column per page. Only half of each page is used. Then, each chapter uses one whole page just to display the chapter number on it. And many of the chapters have less than one page to them...and remember, only half of each page is used! While this does make for an easy-to-read format, it goes too far. I think the book easily could have been condensed into a smaller, easier to carry book without sacrificing quality or readability.


I do like the heavy, glossy pages, as I think this will be a book I will read and use often, especially in the kitchen. But when so many people in the raw food movement are environmentally conscious, the amount of wasted space in this book seems to be a bad business decision. I think the size and weight of the book could be reduced enough to lower the price to $25 , which would make the book easier to sell to people on a limited budget.


All that being said, I'm still glad I bought it. I'm sure it will prove very useful. There is also a companion DVD available on Alissa's website. The price of that seems extremely high to me...$29.95! There is a discount if you buy the book with it, but again, people like me might not be likely to buy such an expensive DVD without reading the book first to see if they like Alissa's style. But having read half the book so far, I would like to check out the DVD someday, when I can afford it.


Alissa carries other products on her site, such as raw food items and appliances. Be sure to price shop, though. I think a lot of her prices seem to be okay, and she's running a really great special on the Vita-Mix right now. Her raw food forum is a great resource as well.


I haven't finished the book yet or tried any recipes, but based on the first half of the book, I'd give it at least four stars, maybe five. Definitely a great introductory book for those wanting to go raw.

UPDATE:  Some of her recipes I really like, and others I don't.  But the info and the before and afters you simply must read.  One great recipe is the regular salsa.  It's really good--even my husband likes it, and he hates fresh tomatoes.  The one thing is that the garlic is super strong to me.  Since the garlic is raw, you should keep that in mind when it's called for in recipes, and consider cutting it in half.  Or try elephant garlic, it's very mild.


 
 Note:  The first link pic is the book, the second is the DVD, and the third is another book of Alissa's.