Did you know that your skin is your largest organ? When you stop to think of it that way, it makes more sense why we should take better care of it. Between sun exposure, wind, humidity, lack of humidity, cold weather, rain, tattoos, and everything else- we’re pretty brutal to the organ which protects all others. Some of struggle with acne, dry skin, and even more difficult issues such as psoriasis. Beyond wanting to avoid wrinkles, warts and sun spots there are a multitude of benefits that come with taking good care of our skin. Here are some small, but very effective ways, to start making some positive changes to the quality of your skin. Most of these won’t be new to you, but from time to time, we all need little reminders…

• Moisturize! Dry skin can be pretty uncomfortable, and when winter sets in it can only get worse. Cold air doesn’t hold moisture like warm air, so if you live in a temperate climate, the dry air exacerbates any dryness you’re already dealing with. Any lotion is great to put on everyday, but if you want a super moisture boost, try putting on something like Eucerin lotion after you shower but BEFORE you dry off. When you shower, the warm water opens up your pores. When you get out and dry off, you immediately start losing moisture through those open pores. If you put lotion on before you dry off and get out, you seal all that moisture in. The difference you’ll see doing this vs. just putting in on before bed is huge.
• Use Sunscreen. Most people are pretty good about wearing it on hot sunny days in the summer, but fail to realize that even cloudy days or sunny winter days can bring sun damage to your skin. In many cases, the winter months can be worse; depending where you are the ozone layer can be thinner in the winter, making the sun more intense. Buy yourself a face lotion that has a daily SPF in it; there are body lotions on the market now that also contain SPF- Alba makes a great one. You’ll never have to leave home without it!
• Don’t be picky. One of the best things you can do for yourself if you suffer from acne is leave it alone. Picking at your skin introduces a multitude of bacteria, only making it harder for your body to heal and get rid of the zit.
• Water. We all know this one, but it can be difficult to get in the habit. Start slow, and by a bottle that makes it easy for you to measure what you’re drinking. I buy 24oz disposal bottles even though I hate throwing them away. The reason? Each one is exactly 3 “glasses” of water. If I drink two I’m doing great. If I get to three- even better.
• Nutrition. Some people will tell you that chocolate or fried foods don’t have any effect on skin condition, but I whole heartedly disagree. I see it with my skin anytime I “relapse” and decide that I have to have something greasy and bad. I’ve been eating my kids Halloween candy this week, and I have a big ‘ol zit to show for it. Eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables can make a big difference, and there’s obviously a ton of other benefits to healthy eating.
• Rid your addiction to “products”. Look in a woman’s make-up drawer and your sure to find at least 25-30 different things we put on our bodies and faces. Lotion, base, powder, blush, eye liner, mascara, perfume, etc. Here’s what’s in my drawer that I actually use: a 15 SPF face lotion, mascara, and some Burt’s Bee’s lip balm. Sure I have all the other stuff, but I found once I stopped using all that crap, my skin condition improved and I didn’t actually need all that “cover up”. As far as perfume goes, find a aromatherapy soap that you love. I use something called Zumbar and I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve had about how nice I smell.
• Exfoliate. I love using a body scrub in the shower after I shave. Aromatherapy stuff is best for me, so I look for a salt or sugar scrub that’s usually in a grapeseed oil base. Getting rid of all the dead skin that’s hangin’ around helps your health skin to breath.
• Get your fatty acids! This is easier if you love fish, or live on the coast somewhere, but if neither is the case, try a good Omega supplement, add flaxseeds to your diet (I sometimes put them in my cereal or in some yogurt), or eat some walnuts.
• For anyone with a specific skin condition that requires special treatment, here are some great sites dedicated to skin health.
  • Dermatology Care has some great tips, as well as treatments for specific skin ailments.
  • The Skin articles and Tips at Pioneer Thinking has some great information on creating your own natural skin products.
  • Got Acne? Visit the Acne Care Tips blog…
  • Check out ScienceDaily’s skin care page for some great articles on a mutlitude of skin related topics.

Got any other tips for readers? Share them here! Here’s my Mom’s #1 tip for me about my skin: “Don’t forget to take care of your neck… especially the back of your neck“. I believe this is purely coming from an anti-wrinkle standpoint, but nevertheless, good tip Mom.

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I love traveling. If I could make a career out of it I would. Unfortunately, I have yet to come up with a way to enjoy a career of travel while still enjoying a career of motherhood. Most of us I think tend to get away for a week here or there. Sometimes though it can be hard to get away for that long. Maybe it’s money, time at work- whatever. The fact is though, there is a good reason to get away. We all need it for our sanity. So, what about just a weekend getaway? I am big on weekend traveling. Love it. I am fortunate to live in Colorado, because just an hour or two driving west from where I live dumps me in the heart of the Rocky Mountains where I can camp, boat/water ski, hike, rock climb, snowboard, etc. This weekend I’m traveling to Salida, CO. It’s an “old west” town with a penchant for music, art and outdoor sports. It’s so nice there. My excitement this morning got me thinking, everyone should do this! It’s just a weekend, so it’s doable for nearly everyone. Here are my top ten reasons to get away for the weekend:

1. Change of Scenery. Ruts are bad. They stomp on our spirit and cause mindless droning for weeks at a time. A quick and cheap weekend trip can be awakening and refreshing. Break out of your rut!
2. Exploration. I myself can tell you that of all the cool places to visit in Colorado, I have probably not scratched the surface. So many of us think of a vacation as leaving the place we live… so naturally, we go far. As far as we think is necessary to feel as though we are free from our life. In doing so, we skip right over all kinds of great places. Do some searching on the internet about your state or region. I bet you’ll find some great places to explore. I always figure for a weekend trip, a 4 hour drive is no big deal, and if it’s something supercool, then a 6-hour drive is ok, too.
3. Budget-friendly. Yep. There’s nothing better than a vacation that is kind to your pocketbook. This weekend for instance, I will pay only for gas and food (my sister lives in Salida). Next weekend I’m taking my kids to a hot springs town where we will soak and eat ice cream and drink coffee and repeat. That trip will cost me less than $250, and that’s including the hotel. You can’t beat weekend getaways when it comes to cost.
4. No Time off Work. Taking a weekend trip saves you time off from work. In turn this can allow you save up your time for a bigger trip later.
5. Fewer Mental Health Days. Anytime I’m feeling overloaded, tired, or frustrated about my job, I take a “mental health day”. I consider it to be a valuable tool towards keeping me on-track and motivated at my job. Taking weekend trips seriously reduces the number of “mental health days” I need to function. This in turn also helps with number 4: saving time off for the BIG trip.
6. Education. Any trip away from home is a chance to learn. Whether it’s about yourself, history, geography, or something else, you learn. The more stagnant and routine our life, the less our body takes in and absorbs. I mean lets face it, if your weekend is currently a regimented two-day shopping and eating spree, what have you left to learn from it? Do something different!
7. Variety. The cool thing about quick trips is the variety of things you can do. A full length vacation requires planning so that you can do this and that, and go here and there. With a weekend trip, you pick one thing, and then each time you a take the weekend to travel you pick something else. It great. Here’s an example of the various things I could do here, all within a four-hour drive (some of them I have yet to do). Camping, stay at one of the Hot Springs, tour the Anasazi Indian ruins, go four-wheeling in the sand dunes, stay in a fancy hotel at a ski resort and ski/snowboard, rent a cabin the middle of nowhere and be a hermit, find a Ghost Town, or visit the vineyards on the west side of the state for a weekend wine tasting adventure. I’m sure there are even more things I could do.
8. Kids. OK, so maybe you don’t have any. For those of us that do, weekend trips are by far the best way to go. It’s long enough for them to learn and play and build great memories, but not so long that they get cranky and over-stimulated. A weekend trip geared towards kids can be fun even for parents. Our annual fall hot springs trip is something I look forward to all year long.
9. Purpose. Sometimes I get caught up in the “why” of life. Why am I doing this day-in and day-out? What’s the point? It’s easy to feel like your putting into life more than you’re getting out if you only really getaway once a year. Weekend trips are great reminders of what you can do in your life… they can answer the “why”.
10. Your health. I do believe whole-heartedly that weekend getaways can improve your health. Health is so much a part of your attitude. And sometimes the best fix for your attitude to run away from your life. Even if it’s only two days.

SO there you have it; as if you needed 10 reasons to take a weekend trip! Do some searching and find something that’s not to far from where you live (but still far enough away for it to feel “foreign”), pick an activity and then jump in your car on Friday afternoon. I truly value my little getaways, and I think everyone should incorporate them into their life. Happy Friday….

**Photo of Pagosa Springs, CO.

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As a woman, I am aware everyday of my body. As an American Woman, I am particularly aware of its flaws. My awareness begins when I wake up and put clothes on, then repeatedly throughout the day when I eat. It can sometimes be overwhelming to be expending so much energy on something such as this, but it is nevertheless, a huge part of my day.

I would never claim to know what or how all women think, but most of the women I know are just like me; Forever fighting an ongoing struggle to be or look like someone we’re not. It’s a difficult habit to break too, because we are inundated with images that remind us of what we “should” look like.

In the last two weeks, I’ve started to become far more aware of how much energy it takes to worry about and think about my body image and the need to change it. Last week, my focus was on just not thinking about it any more. Eliminating it as a focus in my daily life was an incredible change. Until it was gone, I had no idea how much time I spent feeling guilty. I began to wonder how long I have been dieting, and I realized that since about 7th grade, I have never stopped. Yikes. Needless to say, it was an uplifting experience.

This week I have focused on acceptance. Realistically, I have always known in my heart that no matter how much fretting and dieting and worrying and anger and guilt I put on myself about my body, I’m never going to fit the American image of a woman. Personally, the older I get the less I want to. I don’t really want to weigh 80 pounds and walk around with my hip bones poking out of my jeans. This is something I think all women realize deep down somewhere that they are unique; the trick is being proud of the uniqueness rather than punishing yourself for it. Bringing it into your conscious thought is difficult though because we have years of programming that tells us we are unacceptable.

Here’s how I have changed my thinking. I remind myself in the morning that this is Me, and this body is mine. There’s a line from the movie The Secret that I often think about. It is the idea that our life today is a residual of our past actions and choices. I remind myself that while I accept myself today exactly as I am, I am also making choices today that will affect my tomorrow- that I am living today to improve my tomorrow. Making this daily assertion allows me to make proper, healthy decisions about my life; whether its about body image or attitude or something else.

In this way I have learned to think different- not just about my body and my body-image, but to also successfully believe what I’ve always known: that my body is what it is and getting caught in the trap of trying to be something akin to a Cosmo magazine is neither healthy nor realistic. You see, even though I knew this, there was programming going on in my brain that still made it difficult for me to truly believe. So, here I am today. I am less stressed out; I feel no guilt for eating a bowl of oatmeal in the morning; I spend almost no time thinking about food or dieting; I feel free.

Earlier this week, Goddess was tagged to participate in the Think Different Challenge by Peter at I Will Change Your Life. Visit Peter’s site for information on how to participate. I tag the following:

• Bloggrrl…
• Millionaire Mommy Next Door
• Scott H Young

So, here’s to thinking differently. Thanks to Peter at Iwillchangeyourlife.com for the great idea, too.

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So, I thought to compliment a post earlier this week on the 5 power fruits we should eat everyday, I would give a little love to the vegetable world. Here are my top 5 veggies I try to always have in my refrigerator. Vegetables are like free food. They don’t cost you anything, and you have so much to gain in health. The more you eat them the more your body craves them. I have removed much of my grain/starchy foods and replaced them with vegetables. It has made a huge difference in my health.

• Broccoli. Bean-O anyone? There may be a couple side effects to eating too much broccoli, but it’s worth it. To keep this short, I won’t try to list all of vitamins and minerals that it’s packed with, but it provides a ton of good stuff, including more than your daily requirement of Vitamins C, K and A in just one serving. In addition, the calcium provided by broccoli can be absorbed easily by your body (up to 50%), so it’s an efficient calcium provider as well. Broccoli contains the phytonutrients sulforaphane and the indoles, which have significant anti-cancer effects. These phytonutrients have been shown to fight several different types of cancer, suppress tumor growth, and these compounds actually signal our genes to increase production of enzymes involved in detoxification.
• Asparagus. In addition to providing more than your daily requirement of Vitamin K, this baby packs a Folate punch, delivering over 65% of your daily requirement. Folate is essential for a healthy cardiovascular system. Folate is involved in the methylation cycle. Asparagus is also loaded with B vitamins and minerals. Asparagus is a very good source of potassium (288 mg per cup) and low in sodium (19.8 mg per cup). Its mineral profile, combined with an active amino acid, asparagine, gives asparagus a diuretic effect. It has also been used to treat problems involving swelling, such as arthritis and rheumatism.
• Bell Peppers. Most of us know that you can get a green, red or yellow bell pepper. But did you know they also come in orange, purple, brown and black? Different colors indicate different vitamins and minerals. Red bell peppers are loaded with lycopene and beta-carotene for example… this is what gives them their red color. The red’s also have three times more vitamin C per weight than any citrus fruit (green’s have twice as much)! Loaded with antioxidants, bell peppers help to neutralize free radicals, which can travel through the body causing huge amounts of damage to cells. Free radicals are major players in the build up of cholesterol in the arteries that lead to heart disease, the nerve and blood vessel damage seen in diabetes, the cloudy lenses of cataracts, the joint pain and damage seen in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, and the wheezing and airway tightening of asthma.
• Spinach. So, I’ll have to admit, I can’t eat the stuff cooked. I absolutely refuse to eat something that is squishy, slimy, warm and green. But, I do eat tons of fresh baby spinach. It’s good stuff. As far as density is concerned, dark leafy vegetables such as spinach deliver more nutrients per ounce of weight than any other food. Here’s a site dedicated to spinach so you can read up on all that it has to offer you. Researchers have identified at least 13 different flavonoid compounds in spinach that function as antioxidants and as anti-cancer agents. The vitamin K provided by spinach is almost 200% of the Daily Value in one cup of fresh spinach leaves (vitamin K can help maintain bone health). It’s also loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. Talk about a power food!
• Carrots. Easy to find, easy to eat, and they’re a great snack when you’re craving something crunchy and sweet. Carrots are an excellent source of antioxidant compounds, and the richest vegetable source of beta-carotene. Carrots’ antioxidant compounds help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer and also promote good vision.
• Avocado (my honorary favorite “vegetable”). It used to be that buying an avocado was an excuse to make guacamole; now, making guac is my excuse to eat the avocado. I love them! I love putting them in my salads, on a sandwich with turkey and bacon… yummmmm. And yes, it is actually a fruit but like tomatoes… I’m going to assume you’ve always thought of it as a veggie. One of the most nutrient-dense foods, avocados are high in fiber and, ounce for ounce, top the charts among all fruits for folate, potassium, vitamin E, and magnesium. The delicious healthy monounsaturated fat in the avocado is one of its biggest health claims. The monounsaturated fat in avocados is oleic acid, which may help lower cholesterol. One study found that after seven days on a diet that included avocados, there were significant decreases in both total and LDL cholesterol as well as an 11 percent increase in the “good” HDL cholesterol.

When buying veggies, organic is best (especially bell peppers and broccoli) and make sure to lightly steam your vegetables rather than boil them. All the good stuff tends to leach out into the water when they’re boiled. If you’re on a budget (and lets face it, who isn’t) frozen veggies is good alternative to fresh. Definitely go with frozen over canned. These are my favorites, but I also eat tons of cucumber, artichokes and other leafy greens. I hate tomatoes (another veggie imposter), but I know that they’re good for us. Adding a healthy amount of vegetable servings can only be a good thing, and when you consider that almost no vegetables “cost” any calories, they’re even better! So, here’s to happier, healthier eating. And on that note, We the change has a great article on how to get the most out of your food, regardless of what it is! I recommend checking it out.

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Fruit is underused by so many people. It’s also misused. Some claim the sugar content is to high; others mistakenly believe that they’re getting all the benefits of fruit from the juice they drink. Wrong! There are so many great things about fruit that are lost when it is juiced. My son loves fruit. He’ll eat any kind of fruit I put in front of him. In fact, each night before he goes to bed he asks, “Mom? If I stay in bed can I have strawberries (or an apple, banana, etc) for breakfast?” 80% of the time he’ll choose fruit over fruit gummies or other sugary treats. It got me thinking that he could teach us all about how much we can get out of adding a few servings of fruit to our diet. Here is my list of the top 5 healthiest fruits and why.

• Berries. If I took the time to break them down, they would take up all five slots on my list. Blueberries top this “sublist” in that they contain 14 mg of Vitamin C in one cup and are filled with antioxidants. Then there’s strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, and the list goes on. Berries are extremely nutrient-dense. A one cup serving has less than 50 calories and packs a serious punch. Berries should always be purchased organic. Pesticides are not only very heavily used on berries to increase yield, but also have an ability to retain the chemicals which are used. Check out my article on buying organic if you’re interested in learning more.
• Cantaloupe. Cantaloupes have significant amounts of Vitamins A and C and are a good source of potassium and other minerals. In fact, a one cup serving will provide you with more than 100% of your daily requirement of Vitamins A and C, as well as good amounts of Vitamin B6, Folate and Dietary Fiber. It packs an extra bonus in that it is very sweet and juicy. When you’re fighting a big time sugar craving, this is the fruit to go to (and at roughly 60 calories per serving, you can’t go wrong)! It is primarily in season from June to August, but these days you can typically find it year-round at your local grocery store. Since we don’t eat the rind of this fruit, it is generally safe to buy non-organic.
• Grapes. Grapes are low calorie, sweet and wonderful in texture. Aside from providing a good amount of manganese, these gems are packed with flavonoids. Flavonoids have been found to protect blood vessels, enhance Vitamin C uptake, and even control inflammation. Generally, the more purple/red the grape is, the more flavonoids they contain. A one cup serving is just 60 calories… beat that snickers. Add this fruit to your must-eat-organic list.
• Apples. So yeah, there’s really something to “An apple an day keeps the Doctor away“. Besides being rich in antioxidants and Vitamin C, a group of chemicals in apples could protect the brain from the type of damage that triggers neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Studies done at Cornell University found that the apple phenolics, which are naturally occurring antioxidants found in fresh apples, can protect nerve cells from neurotoxicity induced by oxidative stress. Apples are another good sugar-buster, and studies have found that organic apples actually contain higher levels of phenolics than pesticide-laden alternatives. Why? The apples that have to defend pests on their own create more phenolics to defend themselves.
• Tropical Fruits. This might not have been the expected 5th choice for the list, but I think there are so many great benefits to nearly all fruit in this category not to mention how absolutely divine they taste. If you’re an athlete then you already know what a banana can do for you! While bananas are probably the most common tropical fruit there are many others to take advantage of. Here’s an article which boasts the benefits of pineapples, bananas, papayas, coconuts and more. While these fruits are generally higher in calorie content and fat, they make up for it in flavor and nutrients.

Here’s how you can make fruit work for you (besides all the healthy benefits they provide). For the next week, instead of your typical sugar fix… candy, soda, cookies, etc… eat a piece of fruit instead. Overtime, you body adjusts to crave what it has been given. If you replace your sugar craving with fruit instead of sweets, eventually you’ll find that what you crave is that piece of watermelon or pineapple… not the m&m’s. Experiment in your produce isle and find your own top 5 favorites. No matter what you choose you can’t go wrong.

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