Apparently they changed up the tour and intro a bit to talk more about the program there and the classes available, and less about the benefits of wheatgrass. That part was a bummer, but the tour and intro presentation were still interesting. And the raw, vegan dinner was surprisingly good and, even more suprising, FILLING.

Seems like a lovely place to go if you need some serious, hard-core detoxing. For now, I’m going to stick to my wheatgrass shots at People’s and my daily REVV.

Of course, once vertigo and nausea forced me to give up my morning over-indulgence, life became very difficult. Baby didn’t seem to care that I had to forego my morning boost. She continued to make sure I was waking up at least a couple of times a night. (Not sure what this Night Owl did with my Angel that could knock out a 12 hour sleep at 3 months, but if she didn’t have such a sweet smile, she surely would be looking for another bed in a room far from mine.)

Giving up the overly caffeinated lattes solved my vertigo and nausea issue, but now my energy level was so low I had trouble even concentrating by lunchtime.

Seeing my blood-shot eyes and barely-functioning body one afternoon, my friend reminded me about REVV. And he was right. REVV was what I needed, without being too much. The fact that I can easily and simply control the amount of the boost of energy I need is fantastic. Starting with two wafers, I can chew an extra wafer or two depending on how comtatose I’m feeling.

Best thing about REVV? It’s totally organic and good for you. The main ingredient is wheatgrass. Brilliant solution for me, actually. I’ve been trying to talk myself into liking wheatgrass for years because of it’s reputation for unsurpassed health benefits, but I’ve just never been able to become a fan. REVV‘s unique mint chocolate flavoring makes the tablets surprisingly edible. They’ll never put Godiva out of business, but the flavoring definitely makes the tablets easy to eat. (Note to REVV, if anyone from the company happens to be reading, please develop a couple other flavor choices. Ironically, I think a cappuchino flavor would work nicely, as well as a fruit or fruit mix.)

Additionally, if your looking for a healthier alternative to some of the over-caffeinated, high-sugar energy drinks, go “get REVVed“!

Yeah, I said it. I LOVE my hemp washcloth. May sound like a bold statement for such a minor player in the overall scheme of life-enhancing goodies, much less bathtime basics. But for today, I’m in love.

As someone that’s always searching for a better way of transporting bath gels/soaps/liquids from the bottle to my skin, I spend way too much time pondering and testing all the options available to the general public. I’m a bit like The Princess with the Pea issues when it comes to selecting what to lather up with. Pretty much everything I’ve tried in the past is too hard, too scratchy, too gross (didn’t dry sufficiently between uses), too bulky, too soft, too difficult to handle, etc., etc. Or does this make me Goldie Locks?

In any case, I don’t have any of these issues with my very simple, yet brilliant hemp washcloth. It’s long enough that I can get all spots on my back with no outside assistance, thin enough that I can fold or ball it up in one hand to use like one of those ubiquitous plastic poof-balls, loosely woven so that it completely dries in about an hour, and of course it’s hemp, so it comes from a eco-friendly, renewable source. When I finally wear it out, tire of it or just decide to move on to my next-greatest bathtime love, it’ll biodegrade faster than I can come up for an excuse for using something plastic with my Dr Bronner’s.

In the spirit of starting 2009 the right way, I’m going to share my top secret list of eco-friendly, yet very effective, cures. I’ve worked very hard over the years to compile this list, so I hope it brings you as much relief as its brought me.

1. Young Coconut Water – preferably ice cold, straight out of the coconut, sipped while sitting on the beach, safely out of the direct sunlight. Brings back memories of sitting on the beach in Copacabana (Rio de Janero) during Carnival. And, I’m telling you that anything that can get rid of a Carnival hangover can can rid of a simple New Year’s hangover! If you don’t have access to a supply of cold, green, young coconuts, the tetra packed version from O.N.E. does a nice job as well. DO NOT think you’ll get the same goodness from any of those other coconut water/juice drinks that have all the extra sugar added. Only the pure coconut water does the trick. Also, to be clear, I’m talking coconut WATER here, NOT coconut milk! (I know, I know, but I just wanted to be absolutely, 100% clear.)
2. Curing Pills – one tube with a glass of water before going to bed performs the magic that all those other phantom cures promise, but never deliver. These would be number one if they weren’t difficult to find. But believe me, its worth the extra effort to find someone who can procure these magic pills for you. They are distributed by San Francisco’s Herba Enterprise, but I can’t find a website for them. I recommend you find a Chinese Herbalist to purchase them for you.
3. Yoga – some of the moves (sun salutations, cobbler, hip openers, not to mention my all time favorite – child’s pose) just make you feel better. Can’t tell you what about them helps with the hangover, but I’m sure its related to getting your circulation really moving and processing all those lingering poisons.

Then, there are always the 2 comfort foods that may not be so green, but they ALWAYS make me feel better. Or, at least, they make me smile when nothing else can… B&B – biscuits and bacon!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyone!

I hope 2009 brings you much love, success and an abundance of joy.

The Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Safety Database covers it all: Makeup, Skin Care, Hair Care, Eye Care, Nail Care, Baby Care, Oral Care, and Fragrance. In addition to a rating between 0-10, the database helpfully tells you whether ingredients in the product are linked to:

• Cancer
• Developmental/reproductive toxicity
• Violations, restrictions & warnings
• Allergies/immunotoxicity
• Other concerns for ingredients used in the product: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes.

Its truly scary what the most advertised, most popular products contain. In fact, the most common names have the higher scores (and, of course, higher scores are NOT good in this case). Even more than being scared, we should all be disgusted with the companies who dare to misrepresent their products by slapping a “natural” or “organic” label on products that contain ingredients proven to be harmful.

I’ve been getting acupuncture for YEARS, but somehow managed to miss this little gem…

Seems that instead of many the topical laser burn-treatments, nasty invasive chemicals (“naturally” derived or not), or even nastier invasive surgical procedures there is a much healthier, and probably much more affordable, solution to improve many of the inevitable issues associated to being over 30! Happy Day!

Much like acupuncture for other issues, the premise of an acupuncture facial is that the acupuncturist will treat your issues from the inside out by restoring the balance and flow of Qi (energy) – the blockage or stagnation of which is why you’re getting those nasty wrinkles, sags and bags. Physically, the treatment is carried out by using very thin needles in and around the problem spots to stimulate circulation, boost collagen production and plump fine lines.

I saw this procedure in action just yesterday when watching an episode of “10 Years Younger” on TLC. It was a really nice surprise too, since I think the show usually jumps too fast to using surgery as a solution. In this particular episode, the pre-aged lady had some serious double chin and eye baggage that was very drastically improved after acupuncture treatment. In fact, had I not seen the fact that they used acupuncture, I would have assumed they took their usual surgery route to achieve the results. While they didn’t mention how many sessions were required to achieve the results, it really can’t have been too many since I’m sure the show is filmed over the course of days rather than weeks or months.

Of course, detractors in the medical community scoff at the possibility that a bunch of tiny needles can be as effective as a nice fat injection of botox. In fact, there are even detractors within the acupuncture community who don’t agree with the facial-only treatments since they don’t treat the whole body – a key principle or Oriental medicine.

For me, after the amazing success I’ve had with acupuncture (longer post on that subject later), I’m willing to give it a try! I’m aiming for some time this summer, when I’m sure my face reflects the extreme sleep deprivation associated with the first few weeks after bringing Baby home! Gotta email my acupuncturist now to get his thoughts on some sessions….